Deliver to "Carnival Freedom, Docked At The Harbor, Charlotte Amalie"?
December 30, 2014 11:45 AM Subscribe
Is it possible to send a physical envelope or small package (not an email or radiogram) to a Carnival cruise passenger, specifically the Carnival Freedom on the January 25th cruise? It looks like you can send mail to employees but I haven't found anything about passengers in the middle of a cruise.
Presumably FedEx won't be delivering airmail to the ship so I'm assuming I'd have to send the letter to one of the ports where it will be docking. In this case, that will be throughout the Eastern Caribbean.
Is something like "Carnival Freedom, Docked At The Harbor on January 28th, Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, USVI" going to do the trick or do I need better postal-fu?
I will accept "not possible, and here are some sources backing me up" as an answer to this. Bonus points for telling me where I can mail something to be picked up during a shore excursion, in that case.
Presumably FedEx won't be delivering airmail to the ship so I'm assuming I'd have to send the letter to one of the ports where it will be docking. In this case, that will be throughout the Eastern Caribbean.
Is something like "Carnival Freedom, Docked At The Harbor on January 28th, Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, USVI" going to do the trick or do I need better postal-fu?
I will accept "not possible, and here are some sources backing me up" as an answer to this. Bonus points for telling me where I can mail something to be picked up during a shore excursion, in that case.
Your best bet would be to call Carnival directly and ask. Looks like they have an online inquiry form as well.
posted by erst at 11:55 AM on December 30, 2014
posted by erst at 11:55 AM on December 30, 2014
I would expect you to be able to mail something to the post office for collection. Here's info for the Charlotte Amalie office.
posted by corvine at 12:02 PM on December 30, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by corvine at 12:02 PM on December 30, 2014 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I don't have the first clue about how to mail a ship in harbor, but getting articles (and in the past, information) to people traveling is exactly what the Poste Restante (known in the US as General Delivery) system is for. In the US, you address an article to Person's Name / GENERAL DELIVERY / City, State ZIP and it will be held at that post office for thirty days or until the person comes in with ID to claim it.
Note that not all post offices will do this. You need to call the one you want to use and check. They may tell you the address for the "main" post office in the area instead, and it may be more difficult for your traveler to reach. But I suspect the nearest post office to a cruise ship harbor is fairly used to this, just as P.O.s along the Appalachian Trail are used to hanging on to boxes of food for through-hikers.
And, as I should have guessed, there's an article with all you could ever need to know over in wikispace
posted by CHoldredge at 2:35 PM on December 30, 2014
Note that not all post offices will do this. You need to call the one you want to use and check. They may tell you the address for the "main" post office in the area instead, and it may be more difficult for your traveler to reach. But I suspect the nearest post office to a cruise ship harbor is fairly used to this, just as P.O.s along the Appalachian Trail are used to hanging on to boxes of food for through-hikers.
And, as I should have guessed, there's an article with all you could ever need to know over in wikispace
posted by CHoldredge at 2:35 PM on December 30, 2014
Oops, sorry Zamboni. Beat me to it
posted by CHoldredge at 2:36 PM on December 30, 2014
posted by CHoldredge at 2:36 PM on December 30, 2014
Just a note of caution on sending something to a passenger on a cruise ship at a port where the ship is not based. There is always the chance that they will miss the port due to the ship having a mechanical issue or just bad weather to prevent docking. While the odds may be good just be aware that it is not certain that a given cruise will stop in their scheduled ports.
posted by bhdad at 6:41 PM on December 30, 2014
posted by bhdad at 6:41 PM on December 30, 2014
The main post office on St. Thomas is right in the heart of the cruise-ship-passenger wander area, so getting there wouldn't be much of a hardship for the intended recipient. The USPS site indicates that General Delivery is a service offered on site. And it's a bit of an attraction in and of itself, so at least there are interesting murals and architecture to look at while standing in line.
posted by the christopher hundreds at 8:06 AM on December 31, 2014
posted by the christopher hundreds at 8:06 AM on December 31, 2014
Response by poster: Wonderful. I'd never heard of General Delivery / Poste restante, but that's exactly what I need.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 10:31 AM on January 13, 2015
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 10:31 AM on January 13, 2015
Response by poster: Partial follow up:
St. Maarten doesn't do Poste Restante at all, and it took several postal workers before anyone knew what it was (apparently they used to offer that service). Presumably they'll send back the letter as undeliverable.
St. Kitts does offer this as a service, but it turns out 2 weeks isn't enough time for mail to arrive from the states.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 3:23 PM on January 29, 2015
St. Maarten doesn't do Poste Restante at all, and it took several postal workers before anyone knew what it was (apparently they used to offer that service). Presumably they'll send back the letter as undeliverable.
St. Kitts does offer this as a service, but it turns out 2 weeks isn't enough time for mail to arrive from the states.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 3:23 PM on January 29, 2015
Response by poster: It didn't work for Puerto Rico (or at least the post office in Old San Juan, right by the cruise ship docks), and the letter was returned as non-forwardable. I'm confused by this one because I addressed it for general delivery exactly as prescribed by the postal regulations.
It was still a fun thing to do, and I sent along photocopies of each letter to be read on the appropriate day, so all was not lost!
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 3:29 PM on March 9, 2015
It was still a fun thing to do, and I sent along photocopies of each letter to be read on the appropriate day, so all was not lost!
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 3:29 PM on March 9, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Faint of Butt at 11:52 AM on December 30, 2014