Experience with Luggage Forward

[lovetosew]

Because I am traveling solo, I am considering the service of Luggage Forward and was wondering if anyone had any comments on the service. It would be wonderful to have my bag waiting for me in my cabin when I arrive on ship.

[JM0115]

18 minutes ago, lovetosew said:

Because I am traveling solo, I am considering the service of Luggage Forward and was wondering if anyone had any comments on the service. It would be wonderful to have my bag waiting for me in my cabin when I arrive on ship.

They are very good at what they do but it is not inexpensive.

[SantaFe1]

3 minutes ago, JM0115 said:

They are very good at what they do but it is not inexpensive.

Agreed, but Viking gets you 20% off.  We have been using them for five years.  Always on time.  

[millybess]

23 minutes ago, lovetosew said:

Because I am traveling solo, I am considering the service of Luggage Forward and was wondering if anyone had any comments on the service. It would be wonderful to have my bag waiting for me in my cabin when I arrive on ship.

We have often considered Luggage Forward.  But there are many restrictions on contents and I believe you have to send your luggage unlocked.  At one time they had a restriction on AirTags.

 

We will probably have to use them for a 2026 cruise, so I'm interested in reading about recent experiences.

[JM0115]

4 minutes ago, millybess said:

We have often considered Luggage Forward.  But there are many restrictions on contents and I believe you have to send your luggage unlocked.  At one time they had a restriction on AirTags.

 

We will probably have to use them for a 2026 cruise, so I'm interested in reading about recent experiences.

We had AirTags in ours and followed the journey of our bag. It was at a bar for a couple of weeks at one point! 😀

[SantaFe1]

We’ve used them twice this year, (and will use them again this fall for our Rhine River cruise)  Once domestically to L.A. for our Hawaii cruise and once to London for our British Isles cruise.  They can go locked domestically, but not internationally.  They still don’t allow air tags, but I guess you can sneak them in.  The website allows you to track the bags’ progress anyway.  The content restrictions aren’t bad—mostly things I would carry on anyway, like medications.  The strangest one was no clothes with the price tags still on them (go figure).  But the convenience really outweighs the restrictions.  Coming back from Iceland three years ago, we would never have made our connection at JFK if we had had to claim our bags!

[Jim Avery]

We agree with Santa Fe they’re very good. We used OBC for the return shipping.

[millybess]

17 minutes ago, SantaFe1 said:

The strangest one was no clothes with the price tags still on them

I wonder if that was because of the barcodes on clothing price tags.

[millybess]

@SantaFe1  I could be mistaken, but was it you who had a problem with Luggage Forward a few years ago after the cruise?

 

Not that it would matter to us so much, as long as it was after the cruise.

[SantaFe1]

1 hour ago, millybess said:

@SantaFe1  I could be mistaken, but was it you who had a problem with Luggage Forward a few years ago after the cruise?

 

Not that it would matter to us so much, as long as it was after the cruise.

Yes, we had problems twice.  We used them the first time on our WC in 2019.  I had bought a cheap suitcase to take because we had so much stuff.  It was in our room in FLL when we arrived with the zipper broken.  I guess you get what you pay for.  I still had the receipt and they reimbursed me.  The second time we had a problem was last year in Alaska.  We got to our stateroom on the ship and the suitcase was on the bed.  Great! Opened it up to get things out to wear to dinner and everything was damp and mildewed.  It had been sitting in a warehouse for a week and had gotten wet, I guess.  Viking, in a colossal act of kindness sent everything to be laundered, pressed or dry cleaned before dinner!!  But, my white cashmere sweater had had something bleed color onto it, and it was ruined.  Unlike the cheap suitcase, this was an expensive sweater.  But I had bought it online at Nordstrom the year before, looked up my past orders, and sent them the e-receipt.  LF paid the full price back to me.  So, not too bad an experience either time.   

[jasardeax]

3 hours ago, JM0115 said:

It was at a bar for a couple of weeks at one point! 😀

Me too. 😎
 

Seriously, great service and

fantastic convenience, although very pricey. 
Maybe well worth it depending on your circumstances. 

[Zippeedee]

I sent my suitcase home from Los Angeles last December. Simple process at the port and it arrived a week earlier than promised during Christmas week. I’ll be using them again in two days to ship my bag home from Vancouver.

[lovetosew]

Perhaps on second thought, I can manage on my own.  The stress of worry of getting my suitcase is not worth it.  Appreciate all the comments.  It sounds wonderful until you hear some of the stories.

[Jim Avery]

1 hour ago, lovetosew said:

Perhaps on second thought, I can manage on my own.  The stress of worry of getting my suitcase is not worth it.  Appreciate all the comments.  It sounds wonderful until you hear some of the stories.

I have had plenty of issues with airlines checking my bags so LF is actually less worry.  Whatever cranks your tractor, or so they say.🍹

[Mich3554]

We used Luggage Forward for the world cruise.  Our 2 bags made it to the ship without issue to FLL.  In London, since we were going on to NYC, we chose to use some of our OBC to send back a bag of scuba diving equipment and summer clothes that we weren’t going to use anymore.  We found it very useful and effective, but doubt we would hav3 paid for it if it came directly out of our pocket.  

[Peregrina651]

22 hours ago, millybess said:

I wonder if that was because of the barcodes on clothing price tags.

 

Bags have to be left unlocked and no sales tags on clothing because the bags go thru customs and are subject to inspection. Your bags go thru duty-free on the assumption that your clothing is "used." A tag still on the clothing is proof that it isn't. Also, tags may contain RFIDs which may mess up scanning equipment along the way. The same may be the reason that AirTags are forbidden; they may interfere with the processing equipment.

 

If you ignore the restrictions and something goes wrong because you did, the company is not liable.

[CurlerRob]

4 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Bags have to be left unlocked and no sales tags on clothing because the bags go thru customs and are subject to inspection. Your bags go thru duty-free on the assumption that your clothing is "used." A tag still on the clothing is proof that it isn't. Also, tags may contain RFIDs which may mess up scanning equipment along the way. The same may be the reason that AirTags are forbidden; they may interfere with the processing equipment.

 

If you ignore the restrictions and something goes wrong because you did, the company is not liable.

 

Interesting info on the clothing tags - thank you. The LF prohibition on AirTags is based on the lithium batteries inside them ("Lithium based, or Alkaline batteries"). It's ludicrous - the batteries are tiny and are not a hazard, but the memory of problems encountered with cell phones bursting into flames some years ago lives on. 🍺🥌

[tubeamps]

Can anyone comment on the Luggage Forward process when disembarking?

We have used LF several times on the outbound leg of our cruises but have never used them when returning home.

 

Our next Viking cruise is NYC to Reykjavik and we would like to try sending luggage home to Atlanta after cruise. How does this process work? Appreciate any advice or comments.

thanks

[SantaFe1]

3 minutes ago, tubeamps said:

Can anyone comment on the Luggage Forward process when disembarking?

We have used LF several times on the outbound leg of our cruises but have never used them when returning home.

 

Our next Viking cruise is NYC to Reykjavik and we would like to try sending luggage home to Atlanta after cruise. How does this process work? Appreciate any advice or comments.

thanks

Well, this is the million dollar question.  It changes by the port and I can’t for the life of me remember how it worked in Reykjavik during Covid.  Often, you just set it out the night before and never see it again, you don’t have to claim it the next morning, it just arrives at your house the next week.  And again, you can track it on their website.  But sometimes if they aren’t allowed admission into the terminal you have to retrieve it and take it somewhere else when they are stationed.  This happened to us in Barcelona and Los Angeles.  But on your printed instructions it will say, and Viking Guest Services is always happy to double check for you.  I’ve never really had a problem. 

[tubeamps]

Thanks for your response

[Zippeedee]

I just disembarked in Vancouver this morning. I collected my luggage, went through customs and met the driver outside the terminal. The same process as Los Angeles last December. Simple and easy.