We too are on the Nov 3 grand CROSSing. We are going to Provence a couple of days early. We are seriously thinking of shipping luggage ahead. I checked IPS, they seemed a little high and a company that was recommended to me called First Luggage and they seem reasonable. In addition the lady I emailed with told me that if you are flying any portion on BA, and book thru the link on ba.com, there is an additional 5% discount,and they will ship the luggage to our pre hotel, so that is what we are considering doing.

Good luck. Hope to meet you onboard.