17 days to Coral Bay: Shipping Boxes

[Xislandgirl]

The boxes are mailed but only after….well after all that follows.
I stopped at the post office to pick up 2 Priority Mail Boxes. They rack was nearly empty so I inquired if they had any of the medium boxes behind the counter.
I was faced with a look of confusion, a few seconds of silence, and then “I doubt it.” No offer to look, no explanation as to why the entity that floods my TV with commercials about their “If it fits, it ships” campaign has no supplies to fit things in to ship.
I resign myself to extra large flat rate shipping boxes. That posed a second problem. What the hell else can I find in my house to make sure that these extra large boxes are packed tightly?

The toiletries and the trip gifts for our traveling companions fill one box perfectly.
The second box of snacks is lacking, so in goes peanut butter, cans of tuna, and a few other random things from my kitchen. I am fairly confident that none of it will get eaten and I will leave it behind for the next renters or the cleaning staff.

As I am online trying to choose the correct size box for my shipping labels, I discover that they do not show the massively large box, so I have to call and swim through the sea of options to get a human who confirms that they do not show that option on the website and that I need to make another selection and it will be “just fine.”
Then there were issues with my printer, of course.

Start to finish, the label printing took me 45 minutes, $29 and some change, the increased need for a rum cocktail , and left me with one question….
Why don’t I check I bag?

[CBama]

whew! that made me tired just reading about it....I am really disheartened with the Post Office. We have a new Post Office in the town where I work. They stopped accepting bulk mail with bar codes....so every time we do a bulk mail someone has to leave the office an hour early..drive 13 miles to the next town...then all they do is enter data on the computer, and the mail is loaded up and trucked to Birmingham...it is 13 miles closer to Bham from our town...Government...built a brand new big building that is not full service. wasted money....

sorry you had so much trouble....

We had originally planned on one carryon...but 25 each way...decided to just buy what we needed on island...we will see how much more we spend for future reference...sunscreen and snacks are my main concerns..I think between the four of us we can take small bottles of shampoo, etc to make it for a week.

Is there something I am not thinking about that I should send from home??

have a great trip and please let us know about restaurants and beaches on Coral Bay side when you get back !!!

[bevm]

Seriously X.....I have two failed attempts at mailing and from now on I'll just buy my stuff there. I can't be bothered. Or I will check a bag if need be.

[loverotties]

Traveling with carry-ons only isn't as hard as you think . Four yrs. ago we were traveling to St. Barts for 10 days & didn't want the hassle in SXM so we decided to try it . Now I'm the kind of girl who has lots of bathing suits with sarongs that match & flipflops . I always have to bring lots of hair products as my natural curley hair goes crazy in the humidity . I managed to bring 9 dresses, capris, shorts, shirts & 6 prs. of shoes al the the carry- on . My quart size bag in my huge purse was bursting at the seams with sunscreen etc. but we did it !! Now I just have to figure out where to put the dog bones we are bringing for the ACC !!

[CBama]

We did 12 days in Europe with only carryons also...we flew airline in Europe that only allowed one item per person...(no personal item)..so had to stuff our purses in carry on bag, and their dimensions for carry on were also smaller..

washed items in sink of hotel room, dryed on heated towel racks while in England


It would be my luck to send package USPS and it would not arrive before we did....or be lost forever..especially with my rant against Post Office..

[PA Girl]

Because we were starting our STJ in PR, I had every intention of shipping boxes down in February but then was too lazy to go to the post office.

I don't want to jinx anyone but the airlines were taking peoples carry-ons left and right during our last two trips.

[CBama]

Guess if everyone does carryon only there isnt eniught room to store it all. We r flying midweek in June. So maybe we won't have problems.

[loverotties]

We also are flying mid week in Sept. so hopefully we won't have any problems . Wonder if they charge you if you have to check your carry on bag ?

[Xislandgirl]

We travel very light so as long as I can ship a few things, I have no need to check a bag.
We have LL Bean expedition backpacks that fit under the seat in front of us, se we rarely need to use the overheard compartment.
I have lost luggage forever and had it delayed so I only travel with carry on now.

[GotToGetAway]

Next time you can have the boxes shipped to your house. Go on the USPS website and order the right size boxes (or even a variety pack). It's free and they ship them right to you. Just order them in plenty of time to have them arrive before you need to pack them up and ship them off.

[CBama]

well I was rethinking my decision...might save a few bucks to ship a box ahead...

but when I checked usps website: it states

Hazardous Materials
Items that are considered a hazardous material or a dangerous good, in most cases, may not be mailable. Many common household items cannot be mailed through the US Postal Service™.

Examples of household products that may be mailable but have specific restrictions:

Aerosols
Cigarettes
Perfumes
Nail Polish
Batteries
Medicine or Drugs

Examples of non-mailable items:

Explosives
Ammunition
Alcoholic Beverages
Air bags
Gasoline
Poison


so I am assuming I cannot ship aerosol sun screen??

[mindehankins]

I hear ya, on the pain in the neck shipping. We did it two years, and then decided to check a bag and if it gets lost, it gets lost. That was mostly because we don't stay in villas and don't have someone to accept boxes.
CBama, I don't think you can mail aerosols, no. And one thing that takes no space and is handy is 10 or so pieces of aluminum foil. Fold them together. They take no space, weigh nothing, and you don't have to buy saran wrap on island. I have millions of uses for foil, from my camping days. It's like duct tape for me

[CBama]

thanks...mindehankins....guess I will just buy everything when I get there..

I had planned on packing some foil and ziploc bags in my carryon. you can never have enough of those

[JJShaw]

We just always check a bag...my luck if I mailed something it wouldnt get there. Ive read a few stories where things never show up. With checked bags(knock on wood) we've never had any problems...I just check a big bag and have lots of room for sunscreen and all that stuff that cant be carried on..shampoo etc. I just bag that stuff up in a zipper bag seperate and then add what snacks we want I can usually pack more in the bag so that we save enough on not having to buy things while there to almost pay for the bag...and if the checked bag if it doesnt make it the Ins would cover it..we have thought about checking a bag one way and donate the bag while there..Last time I went to NYC I put a bag in a bag and, checked 1 on the way there and 2 on the way back...that way have lots of room for "extras" we mind find...

[nuendelcapecod]

We just spent 2 weeks in Cinnamon Bay in a platform tent. We brought a Polar Bear cooler with steak, swordfish, chicken, scallops and shrimp frozen solid and put the cooler in our largest checked suitcase. It weighed 54 lbs but they let us get away with it. The second checked bag weighed 48 lbs and was mostly clothes, french press, coffee, juices, dry foodstuffs (we only had dinner out x3)and we paid $25 to check another cooler of cold stuff. We felt very well prepared, still can't understand why people mail ahead when it's affordable and not inconvenient to check an additional bag. Knock on wood. The other really smart thing we did was to buy 2 inflatable chair/floats. The cushions were attached by a vinyl flap so that one could be folded under the other. That way you are sitting on the beach at the height higher than a sand chair. And when you want to stretch out, you just unfold the thing. And you can take it in the water. Many people commented on our "thrones" - I sold one when we left and gave the other to new acquaintances. Will buy two more this summer to save for March 2013. Would love to post a photo of our thrones but can't figure it out. [/img]