Luggage Forwarding

[millybess]

I have searched the forum and have found minimal information on forwarding luggage. We are considering using this service for a Viking cruise out of Barcelona and I am cringing at the thought of sending my luggage unlocked. Anyone with thoughts and/or experience with this?

[Heidi13]

46 minutes ago, millybess said:

I have searched the forum and have found minimal information on forwarding luggage. We are considering using this service for a Viking cruise out of Barcelona and I am cringing at the thought of sending my luggage unlocked. Anyone with thoughts and/or experience with this?

 

Sent our cases down to San Pedro without issue.

 

I believe that anyone that wants into a suitcase, will get in, whether it's locked, or not. Hence the reason we weren't concerned.

[millybess]

41 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Sent our cases down to San Pedro without issue.

 

I believe that anyone that wants into a suitcase, will get in, whether it's locked, or not. Hence the reason we weren't concerned.

Thanks. I agree with that — and, of course, DH agrees with you as usual — but leaving it unlocked would make it a tad easier for theft. And it’s all the way to Barcelona.

[SantaFe1]

I have to chime in here and say we have had nothing but the absolute best experience with Luggage Forward.  We first had LF offered to us on the domestic leg of our 2019 world cruise and sent our bags to Miami.  After that, we were hooked.  At the end of the WC we sent the bags home from London on our dime.  They arrived 4-5 days earlier than expected.  Then we used LF both ways to Iceland last summer.   Absolutely nothing but the best experience.  Bags waiting in our room when we got on the ship and again, bags arrived at home several days early.  Then used them both ways on the Panama Canal cruise over the past holidays.  I think that you do lock your bags domestically,  but not internationally. (Or maybe vice versa). But never anything but the best experience with LF and as we are getting older, and my husband’s back fussier, I think we will always use them going forward!

[millybess]

1 hour ago, SantaFe1 said:

I have to chime in here and say we have had nothing but the absolute best experience with Luggage Forward.  We first had LF offered to us on the domestic leg of our 2019 world cruise and sent our bags to Miami.  After that, we were hooked.  At the end of the WC we sent the bags home from London on our dime.  They arrived 4-5 days earlier than expected.  Then we used LF both ways to Iceland last summer.   Absolutely nothing but the best experience.  Bags waiting in our room when we got on the ship and again, bags arrived at home several days early.  Then used them both ways on the Panama Canal cruise over the past holidays.  I think that you do lock your bags domestically,  but not internationally. (Or maybe vice versa). But never anything but the best experience with LF and as we are getting older, and my husband’s back fussier, I think we will always use them going forward!

Thanks very much. Were you able to track your luggage?  Did you think it was necessary to have them insured?  

[SantaFe1]

23 minutes ago, millybess said:

Thanks very much. Were you able to track your luggage?  Did you think it was necessary to have them insured?  

Yes, tracking was easy.  They give you a little bit of insurance, but we always upped it a bit.  Depends what you have in the luggage, and we never had anything besides clothes and shoes.

[CTLeeA]

We considered luggage forwarding but thought that if we sent the luggage out, and we failed the covid test at home, we'd never see our luggage again.

[millybess]

2 hours ago, CTLeeA said:

We considered luggage forwarding but thought that if we sent the luggage out, and we failed the covid test at home, we'd never see our luggage again.

Good point.  

[SantaFe1]

5 hours ago, CTLeeA said:

We considered luggage forwarding but thought that if we sent the luggage out, and we failed the covid test at home, we'd never see our luggage again.

When we went on our Iceland cruise last summer, the very first of the Welcome back cruises, I asked this very question.  They had it covered.  If you end up not going, you call LF and they take your luggage from the holding area and ship it back to you.  You have to pay, but if you’ve paid for round trip anyway, there is no added cost.  That was enough to make us feel safe about doing it.  

[CTLeeA]

5 hours ago, SantaFe1 said:

When we went on our Iceland cruise last summer, the very first of the Welcome back cruises, I asked this very question.  They had it covered.  If you end up not going, you call LF and they take your luggage from the holding area and ship it back to you.  You have to pay, but if you’ve paid for round trip anyway, there is no added cost.  That was enough to make us feel safe about doing it.  

Our outbound is less predictable.  We're doing the Great Lakes from Milwaukee and they do not have a holding area at the pier or airport.  They offered to ship it to a Fed Ex office in Milwaukee where I could pick it up on the way to pier but that involves taking a taxi to the Fedex Office and them getting our luggage to the airport (not a typo, the airport, not the pier).  For our cruise, Viking is having check in at the airport, where they'll take our luggage and truck it to the pier.  after we check in and pass covid, they'll bus us to the pier.  Either way, we're stuck with luggage.  

[Janie1229]

@SanteFe1 , thank you for the information on Luggage Forwarding (LF). I've never used it when my husband and I travel, and sadly we don't travel nearly enough - but hoping that will change in the next few years when we retire. 

 

I will look into this - is it a website you go to, called "Luggage Forwarding"? 

 

We are in good health, but as we get older, the less I want to lug my luggage around 🙂

[SantaFe1]

Once you book a trip with Viking and put it into My Viking Journey, you will find a section called “Before You Go.”  Scroll down and you will see Luggage Forward.  When you click on it, it will take you to Viking’s special LF page, offering you 20% off.  If you do not have a Viking cruise booked, the LF web page can be found here:  https://www.luggageforward.com/

 

This fall, on our trip to the Italian Lakes on our own, will we use them, but without the 20% discount that Viking gives you.  It gets a bit pricy that way, so we look forward to using Viking’s discount in Summer 2023 for our Alaska cruise.  

[millybess]

@SantaFe1you’re a wealth of information on this topic. Thanks!👍

[SantaFe1]

I have learned so much here.  Glad to pay it forward in a small way!

[Zebra2]

Thanks for all the great info.  We are considering this service, but we’re also concerned about would happen, if we tested positive & could not go on cruise.  Now we know that LF has it covered.

[UWDawg]

Here are some comments and links related to Luggage Forwarding service that Viking uses which others might find useful... [which I pulled from the 22/23 World Cruise conversation].

 

You might find this Luggage Forward article useful:

https://support.luggageforward.com/article/242-ship

 

With the Viking World Cruise complementary Luggage Forwarding service for embarkation you are allowed one 50 Lb Standard Bag per person

https://app.luggageforward.com/baggage_category

50 lbs (22 kg)

MAX WEIGHT
62 in / 157 cm (L+W+H)
MAX DIMENSIONS

 

And I had captured this page this past December 2021:

 

 

Suggestion:  Since Luggage Forward bags are picked up for shipment about 3 weeks in advance of the cruise, make a list of what you packed in that luggage (or boxes) so you will remember what not to duplicate when you pack the luggage you will be taking with you on your way to the ship.  These days a quick cell phone photo might take the place of a physical list.

 

[SempreMare]

I am thinking about using Luggage Forward to ship my luggage To my London hotel where I will be for four nights before the cruise starts from Greenwich.

 

Two questions

 

One, has anyone used luggage forwarding to a hotel and how did it work with your hotel?

 

Two, did you give  luggage forward  an extra buffer of a couple days before you actually arrived to the hotel? 

 

I could see why you would not want to add a buffer if you’re shipping directly to the cruise, but maybe to a hotel it would be a good idea?

[Twitchly]

This is a long shot, but has anyone tried to use Viking vouchers toward this when booking through the MVJ link? We have quite a bit of credit we need to use up before our cruise.