Norfolk Sailors - Family & Friends

What a fantastic Idea!! I am now done with deployment boxes as my Norfolk Sailor is out of Navy in September. His twin deploys on a sub and there are no care packages sent just a card or two when they let us know we can send one. I can send him the B day box to base though. 

Seasoned Mom:  My son is on an aircraft carrier.  His address includes this:

Name

VFA (his squadron)

Unit ########, Box ###

FPO (Rate, for ex: AE)-#####

I don't think Amazon can ship to a APO or FPO.  Hope this helps.

Thanks abuon18!  I'll remember that for next time.

Thanks everyone for the welcome and the help. It is most appreciated! My sons b-day is in early August, so I had better get a box going now I guess. I am going to make it a priority to get him some stuff sent from Amazon, and my boxes are on their way from the post office too. He loves his sisters chocolate chip cookies, but really, neither of my kids are big on eating sweets. So perhaps birthday cookies, and some fun dvd's and other items will work well. Thanks again!

Another question about phone cards...Anyone have a great one they can recommend, that I can buy and send my son the pin numbers through FB? I'm telling you, I tried to get him to plan ahead, but he was home for a week before deployment, and I had to go out of town much of that week, and so we fell behind. So frustrating! Thanks!

SeasonedMom, great question - and one that's frustrated me.  As far as I know, AT&T Ship to Shore calling cards are the only ones that work on ships, and you can't buy them online, even through the NEX website; they can only be purchased in person at the NEX.  If anyone has updated info for purchasing these online, I'd love to know.  AT&T's other options - their Global prepaid card, and Virtual Worldwide Prepaid Minutes - did not work from the ship on my son's last deployment.

SeasonedMom, If you do find that your son needs a card, does this site through the Navy Exchange work to get one? https://www.shopmyexchange.com/scs/  It looks like this site allows people who are not "authorized exchange users" to buy gift and calling cards.

CL, the question remains whether those work from a ship.  There is also this link, but these did not work from the ship https://www.shopmyexchange.com/scs/calling-card

SeasonedMom and Marcy - Good point. The website says "The AT&T Ship-to-Shore Prepaid Calling Card is the only prepaid card that can be used on board Navy ships and Coast Guard cutters. You also have international access to over 200 countries worldwide. The dollar amount varies by call locations." But doesn't say if that is what these cards are.

It might be safest to call the Exchange and ask.  Their customer service contact information can be found here: https://www.shopmyexchange.com/mobile/customer-service/faqs

Hopefully some moms here with deployed sailors can give an update on this!  :)

My son just returned from a deployment and he purchased his AT&T Ship-to-Shore calling cards in the Ship Store, onboard. These cards are reloadable. If your sailor can, he should buy 2, they are $20 each. That way, when one runs out, he'll have a backup until he (or you) can add more money to the other one. He just needs to give you the numbers on the card. There is a card number, a PIN number and the 1-800 number for you to call. This is what we did while my son was deployed and it worked really well. Best advise would be to go on a purchase the cards now, rather than waiting until he has to have them, because the ship and/or NEX will run out of them quickly, if a deployment is about to happen.

Yay TJC'sMom!  I have no idea why neither the NEX nor AT&T have them available to purchase online.  I've been round and round on this one with calls to each.  Frustrating.  I hope SeasonedMom's son can purchase them on his ship.  Or she lives near a base (unlikely for most of us).

I didn't understand if he is currently deployed or about to be deployed. If he is currently deployed, have him check in the Ship Store. My son said they restocked the store each time they received replenishments, but they ran out quickly, with everyone onboard waiting for them to come in. He kept an extra one in his wallet. When one would run out, I'd call AT&T and reload it, but he always had one ready to use. You can add as much money as you want to them, but they sell them with $20 on them. Hope this helps!

Thank you so much everyone. My son has already left, but weirdly enough, he commented on something I posted on FB today. He must have had a few free moments. I sent him a FB message about the phone cards. If he buys one on board, we can add money to it once we receive the pin numbers. I will update in case anyone else has this issue. I don't expect him to get to a port anytime soon, although he has only been gone since Saturday and said on FB that they had been replenished already. I joked that they were probably out of beer! 

So glad you heard from your sailor!!

Yvonne, your birthday care package idea rocks!  I copied and added it to this group.  If you're not a member there, you should be!  http://navyformoms.com/group/carepackageideas

My daughter is going to be stationed in Norfolk VA. on the Bataan Ship. can you recommend a good rental agency? it will be me and her looking for nice 2 or 3 bedroom 

Weloome Rach_Bre!  USS Bataan is awesome, congrats to your daughter.  Call Kerry Tanner, she's with Abrams Realty,  757-831-9266.  

Rach_Bre,

Are you helping your daughter look or will you both be living here?

Yvonne 

And by the way, welcome to this group! :)

Yvonne and John

Just an fyi on care packages, items are exposed to extreme heat (they can sit on the deck awhile)and food can melt!  My son is on a carrier and I sent him gummy bears, he got a gummy "blob"!  He said it still tasted good.

that's what happened to fudge I once sent one of the sailors. :) So I don't sent chocolate or fudge anymore.

Yvonne

How long does it take (on average of course) for packages to get to our sailors while they are at sea? I've sent two boxes, but haven't heard if they have been delivered yet. And if you send something from Amazon, when they tell you it has been delivered, does that mean to your kid, or to the place it will get to your kid? Confused newbie here, lol!

Thank you Tonya. My son hasn't gotten anything yet. He pretend sobbed on FB, but I know he will be excited when he finally does get the packages and cards. I mailed his birthday box, with his sisters special chocolate chip cookies. Who knows if they will get there in one piece, or melt into one big piece, lol! But he will be happy to see a slice of home coming to him.

Thanks for the "heads up" Marcy-Corpsman Mom!

Ryan's proud mom,

Just wanted you to know that my husband and I open our home and invite the sailors to come over on the weekends. We feed them, play board games, watch movies, go mini-golfing, go to special events in the area, etc. We would love to invite your son over. I can pm you our cell phone number if he is interested.

You can go to our page on this site to find out more about us.

Yvonne and John

BBS, my son was assigned to a ship that went to the shipyard for over a year, shortly after he arrived at Norfolk. In the very beginning he lived on the ship, but then he got barracks, which were pretty nice.  There were two bedrooms and they each had to share a room.  After that, he got moved to brand new barracks and was only there for a short time when he applied for and got an apartment on base.  He still has a roommate, but he doesn't have to share a bedroom.  They have a kitchen, living room, flat screen tv, laundry.  It's really nice, and living in this apartment he doesn't have to endure random room inspections, which were awful for him as he was on the night shift at the time! 

I should also add that the barracks were as nice as the apartments--they had laundry, tv, living room, kitchen, but there is more privacy with his own room in the apartments and no room inspections.

BBS NavyMom93

Just wanted you to know that my husband and I open our home on the weekends and invite the sailors over. We feed them and play board games, watch movies or sports , go mini golfing, and special events in the area. Whether or not they have their own apartment or not they are still invited. We hope you pass this on to your sons. :) We can pm you our cell # if they would like to get in touch with us.

Yvonne and John

BBS:  My son was also assigned to a ship back in 2010 that was in dry dock for over 3 yrs.  Many there would deploy with other ships to get their experience.  Others did "workups" on ships coming out of dry dock...which are short-term sailings close to home to test whatever they just repaired.  

BBS, It may depend on your sailor's rate and the type of ship. After 2.5 years of training, as an ETN2 (E5) my son reported to his first assignment on a carrier that was in the shipyard for maintenance. He was given living quarters on board a barge. He described it as 12 sailors to a room, berths up to the ceiling, sharing a bathroom, rampant theft, smelly, and worse than boot camp. He and a buddy ended up renting an off-base apartment at their own expense until his BAH kicked in.

He worked on the ship, mostly overseeing civilian contractors (making sure the welders didn't set anything on fire,) cleaning out piss-laden bilge water and trying to earn his qualifications on the ship's reactor.

Has anyone's sailor ever looked into living in an efficiency hotel while on base? Just seems like it would be cheaper when they head out to sea not having to pay rent. Thoughts?

Cerena, I am supposing that your husband is here alone? My husband and I would like to invite him over if he has the time for dinner on the weekends. We invite sailors over to give them a place to hang out and eat and play board games, watch movies, etc. Let him know about us and we can pm you our cell number if he's interested. :)

Yvonne and John

Something for your sailor to do this weekend!  Navy Motion Picture Service is hosting a sneak preview of “Sully" on Sunday, September 4, at Oceana at 2 p.m. (Aero Theater) and at Yorktown at 6:30 p.m. (Washington Auditorium).  
"Tom Hanks stars in this thrilling portrait of heroic airline pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, re-enacting his incredible successful emergency landing of an Airbus A320 full of passengers on the Hudson River."