Box

[wontongirl]

Shipped my box Monday afternoon June 1st. I got the call at 11am today Friday June 5 that it has arrived! Happy dance! Happy dance! Woo hoo! I'm headed to the lake for the weekend. Thinking of mixing up a batch of painkillers to celebrate. 13 days to go. I think I can make it.

[Coconuts]

WG: Yeah, Priority Mail (which I presume you used) has definitely upped its game over the last few years. We ship a lot to the VI, and the rates via USPS dwarf those of FedEx or UPS. The Feds treat the VI pretty much as if it were another contiguous state when it comes to shipping costs. There used to be a lot of horror stories about lengthy delays, either in Puerto Rico or Saint Thomas, but some scandals a few years back led to a pretty thorough overhaul of their system. In addition to some long delays or lost packages, they had photos of piles of packages left outside for the night in unsecured areas at post offices in STT. Since then, the performance has improved to the point where we have seen delivery times of less than three full days to STJ! The mean is 4 to 5 days, and it has been a long time since we saw a package be really late or go missing; that last time we lost a package, a few years back, it included a set of 20" long, 5 1/2" jaw channellock pliers that must have just been too irresistible on X-ray. The flat-rate Priority packages are a great deal; you can stuff them to the gills; anything that will fit in their 12" x 12" x 5.5" box for only $17.90.

If your tastes incline toward gambling, you can try shipping via Express Mail. This has a shorter, guaranteed delivery or your money back, but doesn't quite factor in the tropics effect. We shipped about eight packages that way in one volley a couple of years ago; total tag over $400; all cheerfully refunded when they showed up a day late. My odds haven't been so good lately.

All the best,

Kevin

[wontongirl]

That's interesting Coconut. I guess I should of waited a week! I had no idea it would travel that fast. I'm on GO!

[jimg20]

We mailed our villa payment in an ordinary first class letter on the Saturday morning of the Memorial Day weekend at the post office where we knew it would get a Saturday pick-up. We were hoping that it would travel some of the way over the long weekend. They had it the day after the holiday. That sounds like a new record to me.

JIM