mailing clothes home from Italy
 

would like to mail home our formal wear after our week cruise so we do not have to carry it with us for the next 2 weeks. Has anyone ever mailed anything from Italy. we will be in Venice after cruise so would like to do it there. Should I bring a flat box with me or what..also was wondering about the expense too.....
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I have never sent anything home from Italy, but twice I've sent things home from Germany and Spain. In Germany the post offices are very organized, with boxes of different sizes, and tape that comes with the box. The box even has marks to show you where to put the tape.

I'd just be sure to insure your formal wear, since I assume it's expensive.

There are UPS stores in Venice. www.ups.com/dropoff?loc=en_IT

Have heard horror stories about the postal system there. What other country are you going to before Italy? I would mail in another country or carry them for two weeks if you like those clothes. Don't you have a LBD that you can just take and switch up with accessories?

you might send it to your last hotel on the trip. You could send an actual suitcase, probably fairly reasonably in comparison to overseas to the states..

Sorry to be blunt, but I recommend you totally ignore what flpab posted.

I mail large things from Italy all the time through the post office. I mail it regular mail. it arrives without incident. The post office sells boxes or can direct you to a store where you can purchase one bigger if they don't have one big enough. You will need to wrap it properly with shipping tape, etc.

However, you probably would do best with UPS in Venice, For one thing, they are more likely to have English speakers and perhaps even English-language forms. And they will have all the right packing stuff (boxes, tape, labels).

I would not send a regular suitcase through the Italian post office or even UPS. They may not allow it, but even if they do, it will be repeatedly opened at predictable checkpoints (probably including the United States).

If you don't get an answer here you can try asking your question on a message board like Cruise Critic. I would think many people taking cruises have the same idea you have, and either they have done it successfully or learned it was too expensive or came up with some other solution.

I doubt anyone can tell you what the expense would be without knowing whether your formal clothes are ball gowns and cumberbunds and patent leather shoes etc. or something simpler.

thanks for info. will use UPS in Venice. Just curious what is LBD that was mentioned.

I think LBD is "little black dress."

I shipped purchases home from a shipping store in Venice, via DHL I think. Worked well but be prepared to pay quite a bit.

It was in Canareggio .

We haven't done this, but have friends and relatives who ship their clothing whenever they travel. DHL (competitive with Fed Ex, not as ubiquitous in Europe) charges about $200 for a 10k package of clothing, second day delivery. Your hotel will probably be able to provide the box and arrange pick up.

Or, if you want to send a whole suitcase home in 5-7 business days, luggagefree.com charges $6.18 a pound from Italy to the U.S. + a $50 delivery fee for suitcases (pick up and drop off must be within 40 miles of a major airport). Your cruise line might have an arrangement with a similar service.

Do you absolutely HAVE to wear formal attire on the ship's "formal night?" It is, as I suspect you are aware, becoming less and less common but perhaps that's one of the reasons you plan on doing it.

If the "send to last hotel" idea appeals to you - mailboxes sends luggage within italy for €20, for luggage upto 30kg.

vinorama.. that is what I know in Spain and has worked out for friends more than once. The local postal system is a few euros less, I believe.

I mailed something home from Venice from the Post Office near San Marco. It arrived safely and quickly.

LBD Duh! I could use the black dress thing and avoid several dresses. The cruise ship is Silver Sea and they really do have formal nights. $200 to send home clothes is a bit much. Might rethink this. But hauling around DH suits is a pain when we want to go with smaller suitcases....To have such a problem....I am blessed....

Shar, I'm ignoring a certain poster here. Use UPS or DHL but would still be careful with the Italian postal service. We have had some very bad luck with mailing. We are military and can use the base post office in some countries but many we can't if not on orders. Last trip my package had been opened and many items were taken. I was bummed because it was food and cooking items. I miss certain things I can't get here so mailed a few things home. Our friends did the same and they are still fighting with the store that mailed their very expensive purchase. I think they wrapped it well but looked like it had been rolled over with a truck.
Little Black dress that you can change up several ways. Eliminates a lot of packing.

http://italiannotesfromabroad.org/20...rvice-arrrrgh/

kind of interesting.

I'll throw in with those who have no confidence in the Italian Postal Service. I've mailed many packages home from Europe over the years. All have arrived safely except the two mailed from Italy. When the first failed to arrive, I thought it simply bad luck. When the second, mailed a few years later, failed to arrive, I decided it was a pattern!

if you want to avoid the expense of mailing clothes home, and pack less, then definitely go with the Little Black Dress, one pair of dressy shoes (heels or flats your choice), and a few small and easy to pack accessories such as scarves or fun costume jewelry. Your husband can manage with one suit, a few dress shirts and a pair of dress shoes and a tie..he can wear the suit pants for the informal nights too. If he has a dark suit no one is going to pay attention if he wears it more than once.

as you are unlikely to see any of the cruise people again, do you really care if you wear your dressy things more than a few times?

there are suit bags that fit flat into a suitcase, so that may work for your husband if he doesn't take more than one suit. He can always pay to have the suit pressed on the cruise and again when you get home.