Bringing back larger wood carvings

[markandjannett]

Each year we bring back a couple of small wood carvings from the vendors at CSA. I have always wanted to bring back one of the larger items that they have also. Not one of the really big ones, but one of the bigger ones about two or three feet tall, like a parrot, monkey, etc. I know they say they will wrap and pack them for you, but I am concerned about the airplane. How much trouble have you had getting it on the plane and back home safely. I know it will have to fit in an overhead bin, and I really don't want to make it on the plane and either not have enough space or a flight attendant thats picky take it and have it tossed into the luggage area. I can't see paying for a nice piece and then seeing it tossed around by baggage handlers and rolling around and off luggage racks and belts. Anybody have any experience with this ???

[JamaicaHound]

We brought back a very large wood carving by Brother Albert from our last trip to CTI (back when it was still COR). There was no way it would have fit in the overhead bin or under a seat, so we were faced with the choice of shipping it home seperately or checking it.

Captain Kirk assured us that he could wrap it well enough that it could be checked without being damaged. He did an amazing job. It was a very large, oddly shaped piece, but he used several large cardboard boxes and combined them in such a way that every area of the piece was covered by at least two layers of cardboard. We checked it along with our luggage and it arrived intact, without a single nic or dent. You could tell by looking at the cardboard that it had been tossed around quite a bit, but Kirk's packing protected the piece from any damage. Hopefully someone at CSA can do the same for you.

[WandA]

I have seen Jason McKenzie, the wood carver at CSA, wrap some huge pieces for travel. He knows what he is doing and he will accomodate you as far as delivering the piece to you at the hotel. He is there on Friday's.Even small pieces have to be wrapped properly. We buy all our carvings from him and nothing has ever arrived home damaged.

[Amy]

You can either have someone at the resort wrap it so well that you feel comfortable checking it as luggage. Or, you can have it shipped back to the states. We did this one year when we bought a didgeridoo in Australia. I'm sure someone at Couples would assist you in finding the place to ship.

[fawnridge]

Back in the late 80s we stayed at Couples Jamaica (which became COR which then became CTI) and bought several very large pieces from a carver in Ocho Rios. The folks at the resort wrapped all of them for us, the rest went into large cardboard boxes along with our dirty laundry. I can tell you honestly that the wrapping and boxing procedure took several hours.

Well, on our arrival in Miami, US Customs opened and emptied every single box (I recall 4 or 5 of them. Karen says there were 8 in total, including three wrapped pieces, too large to box.) No mystery what they were looking for, no surprise that nothing was found. Of course, when they were through, I asked the Customs Inspector who was going to put everything back in the boxes and re-wrap the large pieces so we could re-check them for our flight to Newark. He just smiled and walked away.

The irony of this story is that when we moved to Florida in 1998, we gave away all but a handful of the smallest, most interesting pieces, to our friends up north.

[gap639]

I brought back a giraffe carving one year.... just shy of 6'.

Aside from Jamaica having no wild giraffes that I am aware of, the fellow that sold it to me put it in so much carboard and packing tape, i think it would have taken a bomb to damage it. I took it on as a carry on, and stuck it behind my seat. They xrayed it in customs, but did not open it.

[markandjannett]

Thanks for the info folks. I feel better about bringing something larger back now. I don't plan on shipping anything though. I work for UPS and rates are high enough just shipping around the country, let alone from out of country.

18 days to go !!! OH HELL YEAH !!!