I'm an Air Force officer in South Korea. I've been active duty for almost 16 years. I was a Navy brat for most of my life as well. Or so it seems. Lol.
I've been deployed, I've lived in Saudi, I've been stationed in Europe. They finally got me for Asia.
Unless the package is huge, mail to the APO AP (Pacific) and AE (Europe) goes from either Chicago, San Francisco, or New York (APs are California ZIPs, AEs are New York ZIPs) goes from the collection point to us via AIR, usually military airlift or government contract flight, not by ship. I can get mail from the East Coast, where my husband is at the moment as my assignment is unaccompanied, here in Korea in 10 days. I've had items from
Amazon show up in four. No kidding. (When it says the item shipped from the West Coast, I know it'll be here crazy quick!!)
I ordered a small set of shelves via
Amazon Prime that arrived in five days and were sent via Air through Incheon Intl in Seoul. Big ICN sticker on the side of the box. God bless Prime. That's certainly the exception!
My dad did two tours in Hawaii; I was born there and then we later returned there. Even in the late seventies and early eighties, mail got there pretty quick. (Commissary restock, which pretty much always cane by boat back then, was another story. Lol) Not like it does now, but impressive for the era.
Our delivery, if delayed, is usually held up due to airlift missions, contingency operations, congestion (like this time of year), or weather. As the saying goes on the wall of our post office - no mail, no morale. [emoji6] And yes, when it is delayed, which is rare for us - some get unreasonable. I've heard them in the post office. Mail here is practically religion, but it's no excuse for being out of one's pram.
Yes, some stuff goes by water. But it's extremely rare.
With that said, I'm picky about what I order and what I have mailed to me. Our APO system is far better than it was in the past, but I definitely understand not sending high dollar bags via it. I wouldn't either. That's why I've sucked up the price difference on a couple of things here and just bought it on the economy.
An APO outside of United States or her territories is a US address, but not on sovereign US territory. That's why you have to fill out Customs forms to ship, say, to me or to Germany. (That's also why US Air Force bases are called Air Base and not Air Force Base: they aren't ours.)
Most of us are extremely appreciative when folks assist us with shipping to an APO. But as I said - I don't blame you for refusing. I've passed on stuff because sometimes it makes me nervous, so I completely understand it from the seller's viewpoint.
Hope I didn't intrude. [emoji177][emoji177][emoji177][emoji173]️[emoji173]️[emoji173]️