Mailing postcards from ship

[Dr.Dobro]

A friend told me that I can send a postcard, stamped with U.S. postage, to a U.S. address from the ship's front desk.

She said they put it into some sort of package or pouch going to Seattle, and it will be mailed from there, so it can take a while (which would be fine).

In all the cruises I've taken, I've never heard of this. Has anyone done this?

[towhee]

Yes, I've done this in the past and it seems to take a couple of weeks before the postcard arrives.

[Sue from Canada]

A friend told me that I can send a postcard, stamped with U.S. postage, to a U.S. address from the ship's front desk.

She said they put it into some sort of package or pouch going to Seattle, and it will be mailed from there, so it can take a while (which would be fine).

In all the cruises I've taken, I've never heard of this. Has anyone done this?

 

I've mailed many a postcard from the ship but it's like 'snail mail.' Now I mail all my cards when I disembark the ship for the final time.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Your friend misled you a bit. If you happen to be cruising near the USA, sailing from a US home port, yes you can do that.

But if your ship is sailing outside the USA, you will need local postage, which is normally sold by the Reception Desk. Just before the ship departs a port, the mail is given to the local port agent, who mails it locally.

 

 

This is correct.

We have always had to buy the stamps of the local port/country that we visited.

[KirkNC]

Your friend misled you a bit. If you happen to be cruising near the USA, sailing from a US home port, yes you can do that.

But if your ship is sailing outside the USA, you will need local postage, which is normally sold by the Reception Desk. Just before the ship departs a port, the mail is given to the local port agent, who mails it locally.

 

This is right. Depending on where you are, you may get home before your post card does. We mailed one to our daughter and HAL mailed it in Panama, it took two months to arrive :o

[jhannah]

CHPURSER has it right. Our postcards have sometimes taken up to three months to reach their recipients.

[Wehwalt]

On the World Cruise, I asked at the front desk and they said they would accept mail and charge my account for the postage. I did not however actually do so.

[TiogaCruiser]

Your friend misled you a bit. If you happen to be cruising near the USA, sailing from a US home port, yes you can do that.

But if your ship is sailing outside the USA, you will need local postage, which is normally sold by the Reception Desk. Just before the ship departs a port, the mail is given to the local port agent, who mails it locally.

 

Wish we had this “discussion” earlier. I would have liked to mail cards at each port (while in town). I did send one from Ushuaia and one from Falklands. Only Falklands arrived.

[Randyk47]

We mailed four or five cards through the front desk in Barbados. We were charged the postage but not one made it to the US. Previous mailings took three or so weeks.

[Krazy Kruizers]

When my mother was alive, she used to love getting postcards from all the places and ports that we visited whether it be a land vacation or a cruise. She loved all the different stamps.

Yes -- it took a while for some of them to get to her.

Only place she didn't get the card was from Venezuela.

[IslandThyme]

I would love to send postcards from my upcoming Grand Asia cruise, but I'm not really understanding why they wouldn't arrive, or be so delayed. I'm guessing that it has nothing to do with mailing them through the ship, and more to do with the fact that postcards aren't really considered to be important mail, since the postage is so low. Any other ideas?

[bcummin]

There are mysteries that we do not begin to understand. We mailed a letter from China on our 2007 Grand Asia & Pacific Voyage to welcome our new baby granddaughter. It was not received until after a year later. But it did eventually make it.

Barbara

[Silverback969]

Your friend misled you a bit. If you happen to be cruising near the USA, sailing from a US home port, yes you can do that.

But if your ship is sailing outside the USA, you will need local postage, which is normally sold by the Reception Desk. Just before the ship departs a port, the mail is given to the local port agent, who mails it locally.

Exactly on target. Some of our favorite souvenirs are post cards we mail to ourselves from the ports we visit. Sometimes we've bought post cards while ashore, or sometimes it's a post card of the ship we're on. Just a couple of lines about the port, maybe the weather, anything unusual that may have happened, and our favorite shore excursion we took there.

So, we have double, triple--sometimes QUADRUPLE souvenirs--the card, the postage stamp, the cancellation over the stamp (name of the place, and date it was mailed) and the remembrance. So what if it takes a couple weeks to be delivered--we're likely not going anywhere else immediately, and it's ALWAYS a surprise when it finally shows up in our mailbox. We also send these post card souvenirs to our children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews. The younger ones, especially, are excited to be receiving mail with pictures from far-away places, especially since it's ADDRESSED TO THEM.

[Silverback969]

I would love to send postcards from my upcoming Grand Asia cruise, but I'm not really understanding why they wouldn't arrive, or be so delayed. I'm guessing that it has nothing to do with mailing them through the ship, and more to do with the fact that postcards aren't really considered to be important mail, since the postage is so low. Any other ideas?

Understand that you're dealing with bureaucracies and infrastructures that, in many instances, don't function nearly as well as our own U.S. Postal Service, no matter how much we make fun and generally "dis" it. Occasionally, we fail to receive one of our souvenir cards, but most often, they'll arrive, even two or three months after they were mailed. No matter how bad we talk about it, our own U.S. Postal Service provides timely delivery of just about anything you can stick a stamp on.

[Reagan0712]

Your friend misled you a bit. If you happen to be cruising near the USA, sailing from a US home port, yes you can do that.

But if your ship is sailing outside the USA, you will need local postage, which is normally sold by the Reception Desk. Just before the ship departs a port, the mail is given to the local port agent, who mails it locally.

 

And the cost of postage can vary wildly. I was going to send postcards from one of our port stops in the Med, I forget which one, and the person at the desk said I should wait a day as postage from that particular port was $3 a card whereas it would be 70 cents the following day at the next port.

[POA1]

Is this a nostalgia thing?

[whogo]

I watched a cruise show in German where it was the cruise director's staff that took the postcards to the local post office, bought stamps, and affixed postage to hundreds of cards. That line also carried a supply of local postcards, even though they were cruising to some infrequently visited ports on a world cruise.

 

 

 

In 2008 I submitted postcards to the front desk at all eight ports on a Royal Caribbean transatlantic, turned out they were all mailed from our final port in the Dominican Republic. The first postcards arrived six weeks after our cruise ended.

Holland America probably still offers free HAL ship postcards on their cruises.

[sail7seas]

Front office will sell you s gtamps you can use o send mail form upcoming port on your iitinerary

 

 

 

Port Agent in each port takes the ship's mail and posts it same day or next after ship is in port.

[haladdict]

I didn't know that people still bothered with postcards.

Sandra

[ithaca gal]

I didn't know that people still bothered with postcards.

Sandra

 

Not only do we send cards from every cruise, I sometimes get off the ship at frequently visited ports JUST to buy and mail cards!

[*Miss G*]

I would love to send postcards from my upcoming Grand Asia cruise, but I'm not really understanding why they wouldn't arrive, or be so delayed. I'm guessing that it has nothing to do with mailing them through the ship, and more to do with the fact that postcards aren't really considered to be important mail, since the postage is so low. Any other ideas?

Sometimes cards and letters get trapped inside those coupon flyers or local newspapers. If you don't see one sticking out you would never know it was there. So now we shake them before putting them directly in the recycling. There is usually one or two which will drop out.

[jhannah]

I didn't know that people still bothered with postcards.

Sandra

My DW does, and always has. She sends them to our grands. When they were younger, they were home schooled, and their mom used the cards (when they arrived) to tie in a geography or history lesson. They still have them.

 

They serve another purpose, too. When we're dead and gone, the grands can see where their inheritance went! :D

[catl331]

We've had too many cards never arrive, whether mailed on the ship or in port, so now I write them as we go along but mail them all at a US port or airport at cruise end.

[Storylady]

I would love to send postcards from my upcoming Grand Asia cruise, but I'm not really understanding why they wouldn't arrive, or be so delayed. I'm guessing that it has nothing to do with mailing them through the ship, and more to do with the fact that postcards aren't really considered to be important mail, since the postage is so low. Any other ideas?

Be aware that postage from Australia is extremely expensive. It was $3.00 a card. In Singapore, the tourist information office pointed out where to mail the cards. I think I bought cards and stamps from them. In Hong Kong, one of the people selling items had postcards and stamps and also mailed our cards.

 

As far as the ship, we were charged about $.70 per card to have the ship mail cards in Costa Rica and they are the only cards from all the ports that we mailed cards from that we didn’t receive the card.

 

As for why mail cards. I was buying cards for young cousins, but at the same time, I mailed cards to our neighbor, my brother and several friends. They were all extremely appreciative to receive a “handwritten” card. I only did it as young people never receive mail. But it turns out adults really enjoyed receiving them also.

[Silverback969]

I didn't know that people still bothered with postcards.

Sandra

If you have grown children, young nieces/nephews/grandchildren, how can you not? They're good souvenirs--especially if you bought them in port, with local motifs--and, even with exorbitant postage, they're still excellent souvenirs. We also send post cards to ourselves, with just a line or two about the port, what we did, weather--whatever might remind us of the good times we had, and where we had 'em.