How did you move your belongings?

[John&Lena 17]

Hey y'all!

I'd like to know what the best option is to move all your belongings to America.

It might be different for me though,

since all I really need to move are clothes, books, dvds, games, other small belonigings, etc. Just no furniture at all.

What did you all do, with what company, how long did it take, how much did it cost?

Do you recommend something else for me?

[Soojung 4]

Hi,

In my case, I used postal service. I sent three boxes (books, clothes, shoes etc.) to America.

I do not exactly know if you can do that, but it is very convenient.

Hope it helps you a little.

[HK12 273]

I sent most of my belongings via DHL - 10 big boxes of 20/30 kg each plus a couple smaller ones. I only had clothes, books, and other small things, so it made sense not to use an expensive moving company. I spent about 800 Euros (so approx. $1.000) on postage. It took between 3-5 weeks for all of my boxes to arrive.

I also took four big bags with me on my trip to America. You know, things that were too dear to me to send (such as my laptop, wedding dress, photos of my family, etc.). I immigrated by cruise ship and could take as many bags as I wanted to.

Edited September 13, 2013 by HK12

[John&Lena 17]

Hi,

In my case, I used postal service. I sent three boxes (books, clothes, shoes etc.) to America.

I do not exactly know if you can do that, but it is very convenient.

Hope it helps you a little.

I sent most of my belongings via DHL - 10 big boxes of 20/30 kg each plus a couple smaller ones. I only had clothes, books, and other small things, so it made sense not to use an expensive moving company. I spent about 800 Euros (so approx. $1.000) on postage. It took between 3-5 weeks for all of my boxes to arrive.

I also took four big bags with me on my trip to America. You know, things that were too dear to me to send (such as my laptop, wedding dress, photos of my family, etc.). I immigrated by cruise ship and could take as many bags as I wanted to.

Thanks for the info, both of you!

I am wondering, the boxes that you did sent by postal service, how did you do that?

Did you have to drop them off somewhere, did some company pick them up, or how does that work?

[HK12 273]

Thanks for the info, both of you!

I am wondering, the boxes that you did sent by postal service, how did you do that?

Did you have to drop them off somewhere, did some company pick them up, or how does that work?

I'd say that depends on the service that you will be using. In my case, I paid 3 Euros extra for DHL to come by and pick up all my boxes. Poor DHL guy, he must have been sweating a lot hauling all those heavy boxes to his truck.

[Harsh_77 716]

Depends on how much stuff you have it might be just worth to pay for an additional bag and get it all with you when you come.

I used a freight company as I had half a pallet of stuff so if you don't have much stuff you might be even able to use like Fedex or UPS.

[John&Lena 17]

Okay, I'll look into that!

[Nina and Erwin 16]

I sent most of my belongings via DHL - 10 big boxes of 20/30 kg each plus a couple smaller ones. I only had clothes, books, and other small things, so it made sense not to use an expensive moving company. I spent about 800 Euros (so approx. $1.000) on postage. It took between 3-5 weeks for all of my boxes to arrive.

I also took four big bags with me on my trip to America. You know, things that were too dear to me to send (such as my laptop, wedding dress, photos of my family, etc.). I immigrated by cruise ship and could take as many bags as I wanted to.

Is there anyway you can share what cruise line that you used?

[John&Lena 17]

How does that even work by cruise, I guess it's way different having a port instead of an airport as POE? Sounds neat though, how long did it take you?

[Nina and Erwin 16]

That's what I was wondering.. I would like to take the Cruise way... wonder how they did that.

[HK12 273]

I used the Queen Victoria (Cunard Line) from Hamburg to New York. It was an absolutely amazing experience, especially passing Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty in New York - just felt like it was the real immigration experience that way! It took us 12 days from Hamburg to travel to NYC including two one-day-stops in Zeebrugge and Southampton.

Cunard Line is one of the more expensive lines, and I would not necessarily recommend it if you are traveling with (small) kids (seems like it is more for the older crowd, very quiet and classy - perfect for me to relax my nerves after all the visa madness though!). I do know there are other cheaper lines out there that are geared more towards the younger crowd, such as Royal Carribean, Celebrity, NCL, etc. You could also check for repositioning cruises, as they are a lot cheaper than the regular ones. I have seen Transatlantic passages for as little as €500.00.

The immigration procedure at the POE is pretty much the same as on an airport. I have written a review for my POE if you are interested. http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=126144 (at the end of the page)

Good luck on your immigration journey!!

[John&Lena 17]

I used the Queen Victoria (Cunard Line) from Hamburg to New York. It was an absolutely amazing experience, especially passing Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty in New York - just felt like it was the real immigration experience that way! It took us 12 days from Hamburg to travel to NYC including two one-day-stops in Zeebrugge and Southampton.

Cunard Line is one of the more expensive lines, and I would not necessarily recommend it if you are traveling with (small) kids (seems like it is more for the older crowd, very quiet and classy - perfect for me to relax my nerves after all the visa madness though!). I do know there are other cheaper lines out there that are geared more towards the younger crowd, such as Royal Carribean, Celebrity, NCL, etc. You could also check for repositioning cruises, as they are a lot cheaper than the regular ones. I have seen Transatlantic passages for as little as €500.00.

The immigration procedure at the POE is pretty much the same as on an airport. I have written a review for my POE if you are interested. http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=126144 (at the end of the page)

Good luck on your immigration journey!!

500 bucks sounds good to me, that's cheaper than my planeticket..

Any sites where I could find those on? I've been looking around but all I find is the big fancy expensive ones..

[HK12 273]

Well, it depends on when you will travel and which destination you will be departing from/going to. The cheap repositioning cruises usually take place in fall and spring.

You can just type in "cheap cruises" or something similar on Google, and you will find there are lots of websites that you can search.

One example would be Expedia: http://cruise.expedia.com/Search.aspx?ds=Transatlantic&dp=Southampton%2c+United+Kingdom&sb=price&tpid=1&eapid=0, but there are lots more out there. Just keep your eyes out for good deals; it took me several days back then to find a real good deal.

(By the way, I don't know if all cruise lines do this, but I had originally booked a cheap interior cabin, but since this was my first cruise with them, Cunard upgraded me to an exterior cabin. That was pretty nice )

Edited September 17, 2013 by HK12

[pluis 2]

I only moved my books (but I have a lot! Well over 1000), some clothes and keepsakes such as photo albums. I did this through an international moving company. I boxed everything up, they came with a truck to pick it all up and then they put it in a 'shared' container that goes on a freight ship.

Once in the US, customs had to clear the goods, the container needed to be broken up into it's several shipments and then my freight would be transported from the port to the final destination (which is on the other side of the country). I've been here for two months and I expect them to deliver everything in the next week or so.

It's not cheap and it takes loooong, but for over 600 lbs (300 kg) of stuff, it is well worth it.

[John&Lena 17]

Thanks for the reply, that is helpful!