Household Goods

After you receive your orders to Naples you will want to contact the Personal Property Office located in your area. You will need to make arrangements for your household goods shipments. You will have the Unaccompanied Baggage (Quick-Ship) discussed using the "Quick-Ship" link located on my Home Page, Stateside Storage and Household Goods shipments.

Please be aware that your Household goods will take an average of two to three months to arrive in Naples. Plan accordingly, I will discuss below what will occur when you arrive and your Household Goods haven't.

Naples is not a weight restricted area so you may ship your entire weight allowance, but, remember, the weight of your Storage, and Quick-Ship are included with your Household Goods weight to arrive at the total weight amount.

Homes on the economy are built similar to fortresses. Most are located in neighboorhoods (parco's), rarely are the homes located in remote areas or areas without many other homes. Most are built behind large walls and/or fences. We have a problem here with theft, which is the reason for the walls and fences with locking gates. We have found though, that if you are careful to not leave anything outside in your yard, or leave your home open when you aren't there, you probably will not have any problem. All you really have to do is use your head, not leave anything visible, and close your windows. All houses have roll down type shutters (similar to Florida hurricane shutters), steel shutters, or steel bars on all windows and doors. This is a requirement of the Housing Office. Many of the homes you look at will also have alarm systems installed. There is normally no air conditioning in homes on the economy. Most houses with central heating use old fashioned style raidiators with no thermostats, and it is difficult to maintain a specfic temperature, you may want to think about using space heaters as an add-on or supplemental source of heat.

Homes on the economy vary the same way they do in the U.S. You have the choice of apartments, single family, or duplexes. Some have yards, some don't. Some are located in mainly Italian areas and some in mainly American/British areas. The choice is yours. At this point we live in a parco that is about 50% Italian. The previous home we had was located in a mainly Italian parco and we loved the area. There is so much to be learned from another culture.

Government Housing, is located in Gricignano, is located behind military gates, and any one entering will need an ID Card. This is also where the dependent schools are located. There are other Governent Leased Quarters located on the economy, these are also located behind walls and gates. These homes are very similar to what you are used to in the U.S., 110 volt electricity, central heating & air conditioning and full size appliances including dishwashers. Government Leased Quarters may or may not have all the items above.

What to put in stateside Storage while you are living in Naples. Having orders overseas gives you the availability of placing some of your household goods into non-temporary storage at government expense for the duration of your tour. You should place into storage items that have little or no use during your stay here. Consult your sponsor concerning what not to bring. Take into consideration the items listed below, will be supplied to you by the government during your tour as Partial/Full Tour Furnishings. You are allowed to request shipment of all or part of your storage items once you get here if you decide you need them. This must be done within the first six months of your tour.

Please be aware that NFCU does not have Safety Deposit Boxes. We left our box open at home, had our daughter and son-in law added to the box, and left them a key. I highly recommend you do not bring your important papers with you, but be sure to have someone stateside that can send you anything you may need while on tour in Naples.

At the present time there is a ban on the importation of firearms into Italy. The possession of any type of firearm is strictly controlled and requires the owner to obtain a special permit. Even if the ban is lifted it is recommended that firearms not be included with your household goods shipment as this may cause a delay in your property cleaning Italian customs. The definition of firearms includes any weapon that is designed for or can be readily converted to be used for attack, defense, sports, games or hunting by driving a projectile through the barrel. This includes, air pistols, air rifles, and firing replicas of antique firearms. If you have any question about what items are restricted contact your Personal Property Shipping Office.

You may want to consider purchasing an insurance policy on some of the dollar value of your household goods. The government will only cover up to a certain dollar amount, if you exceed that amount, some items will not be covered. You can contact you Personal Property Shipping Office for the exact dollar amount they will cover.

What in the world do you bring to Naples with you? I will give you many suggestions of what to bring, store, and what to leave home. The first bit of important information that you must know is that the houses/apartments located in Naples are not quite what you are accoustomed to. When you rent an unfurnished home on the economy, that is exactly what you get....unfurnished!! There are normally no closets in any of the rooms (including bathrooms), built-in or otherwise, no laundry facilities, the kitchen will have cabinets, countertop and sink only, and electrical fixtures can be few and far-between.

When you first arrive in Naples your Household Goods in all liklihood won't be here. The government has set up what they call "Loaner Furniture." There are two types of loaner furniture, available to you. The first type is for the items you will need until your household goods arrive, this is "temporary," you can borrow: beds & mattresses, dressers, dining room furniture, living room furniture, lamps, etc. When you go to Housing to negociate your contract with your landlord you will be able to pick out what you need at that time, it will be delivered to your home for you. There is also a "Loaner Closet" from which you may borrow linens, pots & pans, etc. The second type of loaner furniture you will use is Partial/Full Tour Furnishings, these will include many of the items that will not be found in your home, that you will need. In this catagory you will receive: wardrobes (one for each family member and one extra for the military members uniforms), gas stove (five burner, chice of large or small), refrigerator (choice of large or small), washer & gas dryer, microwave (small), two or three door kitchen/dining room hutch (size depends on if you are accompanied/unaccompanied), freezer (chest), two transformers (choice of size), and two floor fans. The listing I have supplied above is to let you know what you don't need to bring with you.

What should you bring with you? Bring everything you would normally move in the U.S. with a few exceptions. The table below will offer suggestions of things you may want to purchase stateside prior to your Household Goods pack-out date. We have many of the items listed below available on base, but variety and quantity available vary from day to day.

You may want to send a list of grocery items that you can't live without to your sponsor, and ask them if they would be kind enough to see if we have that item here. Due to the size of our commissary there are only a limited number of brands and items available on base.

When preparing your computer or electronics for shipment, it is a good idea to pack them in their original boxes if they have been saved. You may pack them prior to the moving people getting there, leave the boxes unsealed so they may verify what's on the box is actually what's inside. Ensure that when the shipping paper work is made out that each electronic item is separately listed with it's serial number.