Cruises - Luggage/Valet Services

Does anyone have any recommendations or firms to avoid to use for sending luggage to the ship?
Thanks!

What do you mean sending luggage to the ship? Won't you be taking it with you? If so, there are porters at the dock that will get your luggage to your cabin

I want my large suitcase picked up at my front door and see it next in my cabin. I am older with some mobility issues and travel alone for the most part. I have no intention of schlepping my suitcase by myself. I usually cruise for 14-21 days at a clip. Over the years I have discovered that porters can be non-existent or on strike or too few to be of any assistance. Yes, this service is expensive, but worth it to me.

Plus, I do it for the return and have no waits at Baggage Claim. Can sail right through to transportation. In London, I stay at a hotel , that will take care of non-arrived/mis-marked luggage. Never had to use it, however. Also, I always arrive a few days early for the cruise, so can use a small carry-on and don't need the items in my larger case.

I plan to use Luggage Forward, which is the firm that HAL and Seabourn use. But there are others so I was hoping for others recommendation.

If the additional cost is reasonable to you I would just stay with the one the cruise line uses. That way you know for sure that it will be in your cabin and you can deal with the ship's staff. I guess most cruise line has same policy about ensuring that you or your belongings get to the ship if you use their services(like port excursions).

My parents, in their late 70's in age, used a service book through HAL and the cruise agent. One trip due to weather in Toronto the bag did not make it on board at sailing but was there 2 hours after docking at the first stop the next morning. The ship's concierge was in constant contact with my parents regarding the status and location of their two suitcases and a shipboard credit of $250 was given for luggage service inconveniences.

When you use other services not affiliated with the ship you might end up sailing off without your bags and no way or very costly to communicate with the service.

Good info to know. I didn't realize this was really an option, but then again, I rarely check bags when travelling. Good luck. As the other poster suggested, if you have used a service before and found it OK, use them again ??

Enjoy your cruise

There are lots of options.for example, I can FedEx the suitcase to London but then have to bother with it when I get to Dover. There are lots of services.
The trouble is that HAL has taken over running Seabourn and Seabourn had a wonderful agent who always handled everything. My faith was in her, such as when I had to cancel a cruise and my suitcase was already in Istanbul. However, she (and many others) lost that job, and it's been subcontracted by HAL to Luggage Forward, which has had mixed reviews. But I shall try them. It makes the process so easy for me.

Crystal Cruises uses Luggage Concierge
http://luggageconcierge.com/
Right now they're having a special...not sure which line you're travelling on.

It does say on their Terms & Conditions that your bag(s) have to be picked up 10 days prior to sailing.

You might also ask the cruise line if you could send the luggage to yourself
in care of the port agent at the port of embarkation. That way, FedEx could take it and you'd be able to lock your luggage, which you can't do according to Luggage Concierge.