Shipping and Shopping

In my last post, I shared my personal packing list. The items are many, expensive, and large. You may be wondering how I'll be getting all of those things over to Dominica. Well, it isn't easy and it isn't cheap! As I was researching all of my shipping options, I compiled all of the information I found from different sources and typed it up. Here it is:


For Shipping To and From Dominica
Mail can be picked up at the school. If you decide to pick your mail up on campus, please use the address below. A posted mail list can be found daily next to the mail room in the 4th semester building. Allow 2-4 weeks for delivery of mail and an additional 2 weeks for packages. A notice will be sent to you if you have a package. You will need to take the notice and your passport to the post office in Portsmouth in order to pick up your package and pay customs charges. If you have a package sent through an independent carrier, it can be picked up at the appropriate airport. If shipped other than airmail, it can be picked up at the port authority in Roseau. The school transport drivers may be available to pick up packages for a small fee.

Amerijet, DHL, Federal Express, UPS, and/or Tropical Shipping can assist you with shipping your items to Dominica.

Amerijet (approximate transit time is 2 weeks)
Amerijet sends packages to Miami and then ships them to Dominica.
For more details, please call (800) 276-5387.

DHL (approximate transit time is 5-7 business days)
Visit www.dhl-usa.com or call (800) 225-5345.

Federal Express (approximate transit time is 3 business days)
Visit www.fedex.com to view International Shipping.
Customer service number for calls placed within the U.S……..(800) 247-4747
Customer service number for calls placed from Dominica….…(747) 448-0992

UPS (approximate transit time is 3 business days)
Visit www.ups.com or call (800) PICK UPS

Tropical Shipping (approximate transit time is a week)
Visit www.tropical.com or call (800) 367-6200

Laparkan (approximate transit time is 1 week)
http://www.laparkan.com/

When shipping packages, use this address (EXACTLY):
Student’s name (Identify which semester)
(767) 255-6500
Ross University School of Medicine
P.O. Box 266
Portsmouth Campus
Roseau, Commonwealth of Dominica, West Indies


The US Postal Service
You can experience terrific mailing through the US Postal Service. The box arrives directly into the Portsmouth Post Office. You spend $1 EC (or about $1 USD divided by $2.65); they open the box in front of you and then you pay a small tax (usually $10-20 EC or about $8 USD). It is necessary to print 5 labels on each box (i.e. one for each side and one for the top.) Although the address contains Roseau, it is never necessary to pick up the stuff in Roseau; they always deliver directly to Portsmouth. Make sure you spell out "West Indies"; otherwise if you put WI, it’ll be sent to Wisconsin.

- FedEx and UPS charge around $40-50 per pound for the 1st pound and on a sliding scale thereafter; for example, 10lbs came out to $100 and 25 lbs came out to $200.

- Tip: when you have your parents or whoever send you stuff make sure they don’t have the prices listed as customs opens your packages and will assess the value and charge a value added tax.

- Stuff like food and books will not be assessed a big fee, however electronics will be charged a 50% VAT. Electronic items on the island are expensive for purchase so if you need anything bring it with you such as an iron, coffeemaker, George Foreman grill etc.


I have spent countless hours researching everything related to Ross. I compiled all of the information I found and made it into a sort of "Guide To All Things Ross" on Microsoft Word. It's 40 pages long. If there is one thing I have learned while researching is that you must take everything with a grain of salt. One person's experience is just that, one person's. Often the information is biased, outdated, or just plain wrong. Therefore, look into and verify all the information you come across.

If you're wondering why anything needs to be shipped in the first place, here's why:
- I chose to go with American Airlines (they offer a Ross University Student Discount Code).
- Their luggage policy for flying to Dominica (different countries have different weight restrictions): 2 pieces of checked luggage totaling 70 lbs with no individual luggage weighing more than 50 lbs, 1 carry-on weighing no more than 40 lbs, and a personal item such as a purse or book bag or laptop bag.
- Total weight per passenger on American Airlines = 110 lbs MAX plus your personal item

If you've gone through my packing list, it is blatantly obvious that everything I need/want to take is above and beyond 110 lbs. That being said, I chose Tropical Shipping as my preferred shipping method.


With Tropical Shipping, you can ship on a wooden pallet, in a crate, or in a barrel. Prices on the pallet and crate are based on cubic feet (length x width x height). However, if you ship in a barrel, the price (also determined by cubic feet) is fixed irregardless (yes, it's a word!!) of what you put in the barrel or how much it weighs. There are two options for the barrel. There is a 55 gallon barrel and a 75 gallon barrel. Their corresponding prices are listed below.





My cousin and I bought five 75 gallon barrels. Each barrel is approximately 4 feet in height and 2 feet in diameter. The total cost of shipping was $555.00 (or $111.00 per barrel). This may sound like an astronomical amount of money but we shipped FIVE barrels each weighing a few hundred pounds. It was really quite a good deal considering the amount of items we shipped (you saw the list!) and how much they weighed.

In case you were wondering, I mentioned in my packing list that I bought TSA locks for my luggage and barrels. The barrels have a hole on the lid that allows you to lock them. I opted to lock my barrels because I have some expensive items inside of them. However, I assume I will have to go to customs with the keys. I doubt customs will release the barrels without opening them and looking through them. This is an added inconvenience but I'd rather lock my barrels and be there with customs when they open the barrels than risk leaving them unlocked and having items "disappear."

Side note: See how ugly the barrels are? They are just made of plain, brown cardboard. Well, my mom decided it might be a good idea to decorate my barrels. While I was busy packing barrels, she took it upon herself to "decorate" the barrels I wasn't working on. I use the word decorate loosely because if you saw what my barrels looked like when she was done, you would have died either from laughter or shock. My mom bought TWO 675 count multi-colored reinforcement labels packs. She proceeded to sporadically place the labels one-by-one on each barrel. All 4 feet in height and 2 feet in diameter of the barrels have a yellow, green, red, and purple reinforcement label. Of course, this was done so that "I could easily distinguish which barrel was mine." To make matters worse, she thought the labels weren't enough and put her drawing skills to use. She drew a heart with "love Mom" in its center on one of my barrels and a drawing of what she says is my dog but I say is a Who from Dr. Seuss on another barrel. I seem to be blocking out what other "pictures" she drew on the barrels. Needless to say, I get to Tropical Shipping with my chicken pox barrels and NO ONE else has decorated their barrels. So Mom, mission accomplished because I will DEFINITELY be able to distinguish my barrels from the rest when I pick them up. Naturally, the man who came to pick up my barrels with the forklift was rolling over in laughter for what seems like minutes. Between gasps of breath, he managed to say, "I've been here 10 years and I have never seen anything like that." And I'm sure he never will. Thanks, mom.

Tropical shipping was also the best option for me because of location. I live in Miami and they have a warehouse in Miami (specifically Doral). I went to the warehouse and bought the 5 empty barrels, went home and filled them up, and took them back to Tropical Shipping. They do all of the paperwork and give you a shipper letter of instruction. You need to take that letter with you on the plane in order to be able to pick up your barrel in Dominica. Tropical Shipping ships every Wednesday and your barrels are delivered to Dominica the following Wednesday. They ship your barrels to Roseau, so you need to figure out a way to pick them up since Roseau is about an hour away from the school.

This is where I am at right now. I have no idea how I'm going to pick them up. On ValueMd, they say you can hire someone to go pick them up but I think I'd like to be there in order to make sure nothing goes missing. There have been stories floating around of items being stolen from people's barrels when the barrels go through customs. I'll be finding out in about a week when I get to the island. I'll keep you posted.

I know this post wasn't exceptionally entertaining but I sure hope it was helpful. And if you're interested in that "Guide to All Things Ross," then feel free to download it from the link below.

http://flyupload.flyupload.com/?fid=4574757