Question About International Port Services

[Paint Horse]

To ship luggage Regent only suggests International Port Services. So far I am unimpressed with their suggestion. The company cannot send documents via email. They insist on faxing them, but they never arrive. When you call both the 800 number and the direct number it says it is the voice mailbox of Jim Wilson, which is full. Does anyone know of a reliable, I emphasize reliable company, that can deliver several bags to the Mariner in Los Angeles? Luggage Free is not an option as they say they have never heard of Regent.

[bigdipper]

We have one experience with IPS on a HAL cruise and it was less than perfect. It was interesting to see that RSSC also uses them. We had trouble with the pick-up, trouble with delivery back home, damage to suitcases, and general problems communicating throughout. Since we have an upcoming RSSC cruise, I put a call in for this Jim Wilson to ask whether they do anything differently for the high line company. To date he has not responded. I do not wish to launch a public tirade, but if anyone wants to PM with specific questions, I'll be glad to respond.

[wishIweretravelling]

I don't think I've ever encountered anyone with something good to say about IPS.

 

I have heard good things about First Luggage, which i understand is UK based.

[LOGHL]

we have used ."luggage forward" many times with Regent& other lines,and they are wonderful. Items arrive on time...never any problems..

If you want any other info please email me at travelsluts@gmail.com.

If you mention my "real" name you will get a discount.

[Grothj]

We have used LuggageFree very successfully. Have used IPS before with problems both times.

[Margate Cruiser]

At a hotel before you get on the ship? What we do is send our bags either DHL or UPS. We put the bags in a carton that fits the bags. They pick up deliver and put on hold for arrival at the hotel you are staying. All the forwarding companies use either DHL or ups and put an up charge on them.

 

I would call the hotel in advance and tell them to expect your bags.

 

 

Good Luck

[JoAnne B]

I used IPS a year or so ago and had a positive experience. But after reading of others' problems I used Luggage Free for my latest cruise and was very happy with their service. They made an appointment for pickup and were right on time. The luggage was in my cabin on embarkation. Although they had said they would plastic wrap the bag, that had not been done. Otherwise I was very pleased. i think they were slightly less expensive that IPS as well.

 

And considering that two passengers did not receive their bags at all from the airline and spent the entire crossing with the clothes on their backs, I'm sure I'll use them again.

 

JoAnne B

Houston

[Host Dan]

we have used ."luggage forward" many times with Regent& other lines,and they are wonderful. Items arrive on time...never any problems..

If you want any other info please email me at travelsluts@gmail.com.

If you mention my "real" name you will get a discount.

Is that really your email address??? :D

 

Host Dan

[Paint Horse]

My travel agent tells me Crystal is now using Luggage Concierge. I have been in contact with them, but they do not have a direct relationship with Regent. To do this they say they need a contact on the ship, such as the concierge. This is all getting to be very troublesome. Maybe I will try Luggage Free as well.

[LOGHL]

Is that really your email address??? :D

 

Host Dan

 

this is the one that I will give out to those whom I do not know~!!!!

[canadagal]

Is that really your email address??? :D

 

Host Dan

 

I had the same reaction and it was my laugh for the morning! Thanks, Dan and Chelonia.

 

Pat

[luvtojump]

Under no circumstances would I use IPS. Not only did they not get our three pieces of luggage to Rome (they had 3 weeks to do this), we NEVER received it while we were gone. Can you imagine traveling in Italy for 9 days with only the clothes on your back?

 

To make matters worse, they could not get it back to us after we returned to the US. After one month of waiting...we utilized the services of Luggage Free. They located our luggage and delivered it to our front door in three days!

 

Luggage Free is the best. IPS definitely not!

[Paint Horse]

Thanks for all of the replies. I gave up on IPS. They never answer the phone. If you ever get to talk to them they are unhelpful to say the least.

 

I am using Luggage Concierge. They are the Crystal provider. Although this is problematic as well. They do not want to just ship to the port agent. They insist on having a shipboard contact, which Regent cannot or will not supply. Therefore, I am having them ship the bags to the hotel. We will handle them ourselves from there I guess.

 

For the return hopefully it will be less trouble. Surely, I can find a contact for them once onboard.

[luvtojump]

Paint Horse,

 

Use Luggage Free. Ask for Jeff Boyd. He is the owner.

[sea lover]

I have never had a problem with IPS. Jim Wilson and Betty at the office have always been most helpful and I am surprised that others have had a negative experience. IPS is now using Fed Ex Ground instead of Linden so that might make a big difference in their operation. Hope you have better luck next time.

[xrvlcruiser]

I agree with Sea Lover.

 

We have only had good experiences with IPS. Jim and Betty and everyone else I've spoken to have been polite and helpful. FedEx is coming for my luggage tomorrow . . .

[Paint Horse]

Interesting. I have found them to be hard to get in contact with, disagreeable when you finally do, and distinctly unhelpful.

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

So I will post my rant again...

 

Everything International Port Services (I.P.S.) could mess up, they did:

 

- Did not pick up the luggage on the day scheduled (luggage sat outside for a day). Excuse was "the driver was on vacation".

 

- Delivered luggage on wrong day to wrong cruise line and wrong ship! Due to the problem with the pick-up, I happened to have called the freight forwarder (Lynden) in Ft. Lauderdale the day before our departure, just to check, and they said the luggage was already on board another ship. They sent drivers out and they combed the dock/ship and finally found our luggage. They got it to our ship the next day around 1pm, just in time. (We had both types of Regent tags on all of our bags...).

 

- Luggage was damaged and absolutely filthy. When I brought that up, IPS said "Oh, shrink wrap is available on request". It would have been nice if they had mentioned that before they picked up the luggage...

 

- When we disembarked with our luggage, we looked around for the IPS person with a sign that was supposed to be there, but could not find one. I found a Regent rep and she said she was upset also because they could not locate an IPS rep. She had us put our stuff off to the side and said she would look after it. We had a plane to catch so we had to just leave our stuff on the sidewalk and hope Regent sorted it out.

 

- IPS said they would return our luggage on a Saturday while we were home, but it arrived on a Monday and sat outside (behind our gate, fortunately) for the day (fortunately no rain).

 

So unless I absolutely had to, I would not ship luggage again. It greatly added to the stress rather than relieving it.