Our son will be heading off to Japan to meet his MSC ship soon. Along with his clothes and sextant, he has a heavy box of books that weighs around 60lbs.I really don't want him bringing these heavy books on the plane. Is there a way to FedEx the books ahead of him to MSC?
Sending books overseas to our Mid
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kp2001
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If your son is bringing 60lbs of books I recommend he go back through them and make sure he actually needs to take them. All ships will have pretty much any book a deckie will need, minus just a few.
Anything having to do with celestial navigation can be left behind.
If he still wants to take a ton of the books I recommend that he take them with him on the plane. The reason for this is how easy mail gets lost when being sent to ships. With a "home-based" MSC ship that doesn't travel to different ports very often it's a bit easier, but can still be a pain. If you still decide to ship I recommend your son find out the APO address for the ship if you want to mail it to him and that way you will only pay shipping to the port of exit instead of all the way to Japan. He could find this by calling MSC or probably even looking online.
Anything having to do with celestial navigation can be left behind.
If he still wants to take a ton of the books I recommend that he take them with him on the plane. The reason for this is how easy mail gets lost when being sent to ships. With a "home-based" MSC ship that doesn't travel to different ports very often it's a bit easier, but can still be a pain. If you still decide to ship I recommend your son find out the APO address for the ship if you want to mail it to him and that way you will only pay shipping to the port of exit instead of all the way to Japan. He could find this by calling MSC or probably even looking online.
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While I agree you can almost always use the ship's sextant, I'm old school and I would never not bring my own, even though in this day and age celestial navigation is a dying art. The books part I agree whol-heartedly about. Further it's been said elsewhere - even though the extra baggage charges have gone up, they are still p[robably cheaper then trying toFedex books internatioanlly and if you show a military ID you might get some leeway there when you check your seabag.
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If you are traveling under orders many airlines will waive the excess baggage fees. It might be worthwhile giving your airline a call.
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Yup. Check with the airline for policies for sure. And sometimes..... it might simply depend upon the guy that checks them in & the mood of the day. Showing official orders: Flying out of NY was not a problem. Same airline out of CA made the boy pay $60.00 bucks for the same gear. 
Anyhow, I'd advise those flying to print out some written proof of policies (if they can be obtained) so it brooks no arguments. They deal with enough crazy globe trotting without having to add the ridiculous in there. Can you tell this is a sore spot? 
Anyhow, I'd advise those flying to print out some written proof of policies (if they can be obtained) so it brooks no arguments. They deal with enough crazy globe trotting without having to add the ridiculous in there. Can you tell this is a sore spot? Shipping books overseas
Thank you to all of those who offered their insight. Our Mid leaves tomorrow out of Newark to Tokyo and then to Sasebo. 16 hours of flying! He will bring his own sextant but was able to pair down some of the books to just the most important.
Thank you to all of those who offered their insight. Our Mid leaves tomorrow out of Newark to Tokyo and then to Sasebo. 16 hours of flying! He will bring his own sextant but was able to pair down some of the books to just the most important.