Ever have luggage stolen from terminal after disembarking?

Getting my son off the ship is always a struggle and we tend to always be the last ones off. Is there a risk that our luggage could be stolen in the terminal while we are taking our sweet time getting off the ship? Has anyone ever had their luggage stolen? I know it's risky at airports where thieves take bags off the carousel before their owners can get to them. Was wondering if this is an issue at ship terminals as well.

Thievery is rare, but mistakes happen. People pick up bags which aren't theirs on occasion. Put some brightly colored, unmistakable markings on yours and this is less likely to occur.

Thievery is rare, but mistakes happen. People pick up bags which aren't theirs on occasion. Put some brightly colored, unmistakable markings on yours and this is less likely to occur.

Agree with CRUISESTITCH.

Mr Sloop and I rarely plan to travel very far on D-Day... We like to intentionally avoid the whole crazy scene. We take our time cause we don't have a flight to catch. D-Day for us is a relax day... Often the last of our vacation... We intentionally choose to fly out the next day

So we opt for a late departure with Celebrity... And even then are known to take our sweet time getting off the ship, preferring to go up to top decks when others are fighting over elevators to go down... We spend our last few hours aboard sipping coffee and soaking in "the rays" ... Anything to avoid the inevitable... The mad rush and the crazy crush.

We stay til after 9 AM... But leave before 10 AM and the "all off now announcements" ( we never want to overstay our welcome and be a pain to our excellent hosts)

When we leave the exit has been easy. Never crowded. Yes our luggage may sit alone in the terminal by a long ago called departure number marker... But it is safe and sound. As this is still Celebrity / RCCL property.

Now to be sure mistakes happen... And people may walk off with one's bags by mistake (more so if you have the ever present non descript black luggage) which is why we have invested in some brightly coloured items for our luggage (tags, handles, straps) to help them stick out from the crowd. That certainly cuts down on mistakes happening.

As well we have noticed that US Customs on occasion checks the baggage tags to make sure that we and they match up

Lol, beyond that we also have Travel Insurance on our bags... And by the time we get off the ship our checked bags don't hold much more than dirty clothes... Anything of real value (monetary or sentimental) is in our carry on and with us the whole time

Hope this helps,

Cheers!

long enough to be a pain

We nearly lost one suitcase when we disembarked a RCI cruise in Dubai. All our suitcases have our old Continental airlines wooden ID tags on them and this was a huge help. We looked for 1 suitcase for at least half an hour and ended up finding it with another woman's luggage, with HER RCI luggage tag on it. We were able to prove it was ours because we had our current United FF card with us that uses the same number as our old Continental FF number but my husband also puts several of his business cards in each suitcase, so we wouldn't have had a problem.

Now, I don't know if she intended to steal it but it's strange how her tag appeared on my suitcase. She was on a totally different deck to us. I guess the crew could have torn the tags off when moving the bags but you would think they'd check to make sure they were putting a correct tag on the bag.

I wouldn't spend the time worrying, just do a couple proactive things. Get some 2" wide colorful printed ribbon or cut some from some sturdy cotton fabric and tie them in two or three places with a triple knot on your luggage.

We have red and white zebra strips of fabric on our luggage - all of it - and it sticks out and there's no confusing it's ours. Or if you're able, just carry it all off yourself (self-disembarkation). We leave among the first handful and that's what we do, so there's no having to go claim luggage - you have it all along.

Have a great time, and enjoy those last moments on board.

We nearly lost one suitcase when we disembarked a RCI cruise in Dubai. All our suitcases have our old Continental airlines wooden ID tags on them and this was a huge help. We looked for 1 suitcase for at least half an hour and ended up finding it with another woman's luggage, with HER RCI luggage tag on it. We were able to prove it was ours because we had our current United FF card with us that uses the same number as our old Continental FF number but my husband also puts several of his business cards in each suitcase, so we wouldn't have had a problem.

 

Now, I don't know if she intended to steal it but it's strange how her tag appeared on my suitcase. She was on a totally different deck to us. I guess the crew could have torn the tags off when moving the bags but you would think they'd check to make sure they were putting a correct tag on the bag.

That is weird how your suitcase ended up with someone else's tag. Never heard that one before.

Because my son likes to stay onboard until the very last minute (I've joked that I might have to call security to have them help me escort him off the ship or that I think he would stow away and hide in the tenders if he could), quite a few times we get to the terminal and see our bags standing alone in the massive hall looking quite conspicuous. So I've wondered about the theft issue, mainly because of what happens at airports.

Thanks to all for your responses. I do make sure that our luggage is clearly marked since I know how easily people can mistakenly take what they think may be their own luggage. Just was curious about the ones who might deliberately try to steal and if it was a problem at the ship terminal.

Since we do not travel light, taking our own luggage off the ship is never an option for us. We've even encountered porters in the past that have made comments about the amount of luggage we have.

Nope, we have carried our bags off the ship for years. We don't want to take the chance

Guess it could happen (luggage thief) but the luggage room in US cruise terminals (it can be different in other countries) is a secure area under the control of CBP (Customs and Border Patrol) so there are only authorized personnel in the area (plus passengers). Reading CC over many years we only recall one major luggage incident...and that happened in Amsterdam.

And we another couple (like another poster) that tries to make arrangements so we can be among the last to leave the ship. We love to cruise, love being on ships, and figure there is generally no good reason for us to shorten our time on the ship by rushing off that last morning. We see folks working up a sweat, tempers flaring because of delays, passengers waiting nervously worrying about making an early connection, folks standing in long slow moving queues, etc. Meanwhile, we are usually relaxing up on the pool deck with our books and usually a cup of java and enjoying our last morning. Then, sometime after 9 or 9:30, when just about everyone is off the ship we grab an elevator (no wait at this time of the day) go down to the appropriate deck, walk right off the ship (no lines or delays), stop at the luggage area and quickly find our luggage among the few remaining pieces, walk outside the terminal and grab a taxi (usually no lines by this time).

Hank

We have been among the last 20 people off the ship with Celebrity in Vancouver, Baltimore and Ft. Lauderdale, with no problem. The only "lost" bag issue we had was one time when our group tag got ripped off in the handling and one bag ended up in the "Unknown" area. As noted above, anything really valuable is in our carryon. Our bags in the barn are full of laundry, and covered by our travel insurance until we pick them up.

We also enjoy the no hassle leisurely departure day. While I do not understand the rush of the people that carry off as soon as we dock, I am glad they have the option and appreciate that it takes pressure off the rest of the process. A win-win for everyone.

A few years ago, we disembarked in San Diego, after a Pacific coast cruise from Vancouver. We had an afternoon flight, and waited to get off the ship, later than usual. We found all of our suitcases, except for one. It was a large black suitcase. After spending at least an hour in the cruise terminal, looking, and filling out forms, we went to the airport without the one suitcase. We arrived back in Atlanta, late that evening, and we're already asleep, when the phone rang about 12:30. There was a man on the phone calling from LAX. He had been a passenger on our cruise. He was traveling with a large group, and their flight was cancelled, and their group ended up taking a bus to LAX, instead of flying out of San Diego. Their luggage had been loaded on to a tour bus at the port in San Diego, and they had an all day tour on the way to LAX. He noticed an unclaimed suitcase after everyone had claimed their luggage at LAX, and decided to investigate. He went to the trouble of calling us, and informing us that our suitcase had mistakenly been loaded on their bus, and wanted to help us get it back. We were so grateful to this Good Samaritan. What ensued, was that we had to deal with TSA agents, and Delta Airlines representatives, and we were finally informed that our suitcase would be on the next flight to Atlanta, and we would need to go to the Atlanta airport to retrieve it. To our pleasant surprise, the next morning , there was a knock on our front door, and our suitcase had been delivered from Delta.

Wanted to share this happy story.

Vicki

That was a nice story...happy ending!

Our story is about another misstake, not stolen....but I am sure that happens too. No one checks very carefully the way airlines used to make u show your check in tags..,too many folks in a hurry, many bags look alike...

Our incident was getting off Connie at old Manhattan Port....one bag missing. Somehow I spotted it with its ribbon. It was going at a very fast clip out the door in a cart.., Sprinted to the entrance where it was about to be loaded into someones big limo...The man gave me a hard time b/c he was in a rush but then I convinced him he had our bag....

I considered that a lucky save...always worry about luggage...

I have noticed that in some of the foreign ports, where you do not need to clear customs, the baggage area is fairly open and not protected from someone just walking in off the street. In those situation I would be more concerned then in ports where you must claim luggage before clearing customs.

We had already arrived at the airport after our cruise last Nov when I realized one of our carry on bags was missing. I hustled back to the the port, but was stopped by cruise personnel from reentering the luggage area to search for my missing bag, until every person from my cruise had left. Time was running out to get back to the airport, or I would miss our flight home. As I started to leave, someone coincidentally rolled my carry on toward me. A porter had noticed the name on my suitcase did not match the name on the others he was loading into a taxi!

We were lucky.

Shaco

Somehow I spotted it with its ribbon.

See, you can put ribbon or yarn or stickers on your bag, and someone else could grab it anyway.

I once read a story in Reader's Digest in which a guy was waiting for his suitcase at an airport carousel. He had put a lot of ribbons and stickers on his suitcase so that no one else would grab it. He saw his suitcase on the carousel, but before it reached him, he saw someone else grab it. He went over and said that it was his suitcase. He asked, "Didn't you see all the ribbons and stickers on it? Didn't you know that it wasn't yours?" The man who had grabbed the suitcase said, "Yes, I did see them. And I wondered who the heck did that to my suitcase."

My next door neighbor found out that his suitcase was missing when he disembarked. He spoke to a customer service person who said, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, wait a few days. It will probably turn up." After a day or two, he received a phone call from a woman who kept screaming that it wasn't her fault, but she had his suitcase. She said that she had cruised with a big bunch of people, and they had all put their suitcases together and told a porter to take them out of the terminal. No one noticed that there was an extra suitcase. My neighbor felt obligated to mail her enough money so that she could ship the suitcase to him. She did not want to pay, because she kept screaming that it wasn't her fault.

In a very old cruisecritic thread, someone once posted that he/she and the family had four green suitcases, but they accidently went home after a cruise with five green suitcases.

A lot of people just don't care if they accidentally take someone else's suitcase.

Nope, we have carried our bags off the ship for years. We don't want to take the chance

We do the same thing. Not so much worried about theft..it just eliminates having to wander around looking for luggage.

This is not a cruise mistake but I accidentally took someone else's suitcase at an airport once. I flew into Fairbanks and landed about 1:00 AM. I have a sort of unique looking suitcase which I grabbed at the luggage area and took to my motel. It was not mine. It also had absolutely no identification either outside of or inside of the suitcase. I immediately took the suitcase back to the airport which was closed by that time as it was about 2:30 AM so nothing could be done about it at that time.

Everything got sorted out the next day. I got my stuff back and Mr. X got his back. I am more careful now but mistakes do happen.

In my defense if any was needed, I had been flying all day and I was really tired.

DON

This is not a cruise mistake but I accidentally took someone else's suitcase at an airport once. I flew into Fairbanks and landed about 1:00 AM. I have a sort of unique looking suitcase which I grabbed at the luggage area and took to my motel. It was not mine. It also had absolutely no identification either outside of or inside of the suitcase. I immediately took the suitcase back to the airport which was closed by that time as it was about 2:30 AM so nothing could be done about it at that time.

 

Everything got sorted out the next day. I got my stuff back and Mr. X got his back. I am more careful now but mistakes do happen.

 

In my defense if any was needed, I had been flying all day and I was really tired.

 

DON

It was about 30 years ago, I was travelling as part of a group with a large number of less than abled so the able bodied of us had certain tasks to keep the group moving like collecting luggage from the carousel. The tour director had told us all to have yellow ribbons tied to our luggage and we counted the pieces off. On getting to our hotel everyone recognised their luggage. Only one blokes suitcase did not contain male clothing. It was the same suitcase and it had a yellow ribbon in the same place on the handle. Both people were reunited with their correct luggage but it was a salutory lesson for me in my travels from then on. I have always taken some action to personalise my luggage to aid in rapid identity but I always check for my name tag as well.

I took our fairly inexpensive black luggage and painted vinyl fabric paint in bright Caribbean colors using a stencil with our initials, all over them random pattern. I used to have a photo of it but I can't find it.

Pretty hard to confuse it with some one else!:cool:

I wasn't able to locate my medium sized luggage in the terminal baggage area. It was well marked with large bright colored ties. Looking across the terminal, I saw a woman with rolling bags, one in each hand. One was mine. This was not a mistake on her part. She did return my bag to me when stopped.

I pack lighter now, carryon luggage only.

Interesting "wandering luggage" stories.

Lol, amazing how many of them involve yellow ribbons... I will make a note that that Colour is too popular ;)

Mistakes happen.

But I have also heard (at least in regards to Airports) that there are luggage thieves who often cruise the carousels.

It would suck to have our luggage "wander off" with someone else.

I would think tho an honest mistake and like many of you here have experienced, the person would also make an equally honest effort to find us the owner.

A crook, well like I said he'd just end up with a pile of clothes as we don't pack anything of value in our suitcase... Not even a hair dryer (gave up bringing one years ago as all the Hotels etc now have them)

I took our fairly inexpensive black luggage and painted vinyl fabric paint in bright Caribbean colors using a stencil with our initials, all over them random pattern. I used to have a photo of it but I can't find it.

 

Pretty hard to confuse it with some one else!:cool:

Stand out from the crowd / Memorable indeed.

Lol, I have either seen YOUR luggage in my travels... Or there is another person out there who has done the exact same thing !!

I remember thinking at the time who does this to perfectly good luggage...

But truth is luggage takes a big beating, and eventually it all looks scuffed & scraped or ends up falling apart. So it doesn't matter a whole hill of beans what it looks like otherwise.

You've got me thinking now... Maybe I could decorate our boring basic black bags with some cool design

Cheers!

 

I once read a story in Reader's Digest in which a guy was waiting for his suitcase at an airport carousel. He had put a lot of ribbons and stickers on his suitcase so that no one else would grab it. He saw his suitcase on the carousel, but before it reached him, he saw someone else grab it. He went over and said that it was his suitcase. He asked, "Didn't you see all the ribbons and stickers on it? Didn't you know that it wasn't yours?" The man who had grabbed the suitcase said, "Yes, I did see them. And I wondered who the heck did that to my suitcase."

 

LOL! Thanks for that "oldie but goodie". :D

I wasn't able to locate my medium sized luggage in the terminal baggage area. It was well marked with large bright colored ties. Looking across the terminal, I saw a woman with rolling bags, one in each hand. One was mine. This was not a mistake on her part. She did return my bag to me when stopped.

I pack lighter now, carryon luggage only.

This is the kind of story I was afraid of. I guess although an unusual occurrence at ship terminals, it confirms that there may be thieves anywhere and it can happen. As other posters have pointed out, I keep all my valuables in my carry on, have insurance and mark my luggage to the point where my son is embarrassed at how they look (he thinks it's uncool, but I don't care). But it's still a major PITA to have anything stolen. I don't think I will worry all that much, and since my son won't be changing his preference of getting off the ship until the last minute, I will do as we always have done and just be thankful when I see that all my luggage is waiting for us when we finally get to it.

Thanks to all for your stories and experiences.

I took our fairly inexpensive black luggage and painted vinyl fabric paint in bright Caribbean colors using a stencil with our initials, all over them random pattern. I used to have a photo of it but I can't find it.

 

Pretty hard to confuse it with some one else!:cool:

That is a GREAT idea!

Off the Infinity Hawaii cruise, back in 2002 or 2003? One of our suitcases was not in the correct collection location, it took a good hour and a half for it to be located, & there was never any explanation of where it had been or why... Now we always self disembark, we pack light, & have extra narrow roller bags that are bright orange, easy to spot, & can roll down a train or plane isle without bumping into anyone.

Yes. we got off the ship and one of our luggage was no where to be found. We waited till every one was off the ship and no luggage was left. We also had yarn and name tags, ect on the case, We called the airport to see if anyone had just left a piece of luggage sitting around. We filled out all the papers and even called where they take lost suitcases...We NEVER saw or heard anything about our luggage again...We had travel insurance, I felt it was the ship's mistake...they gave us like $300, I thenhad to turn it into my home owners insurance, and then the travel insurance paid. They wanted receipts for everything...I still think about some o the clothes and swimming suits I lost. What happened we never found out. I had a number of things inside the suitcase with our names on them and even our phone number. If someone made a made thy could have found us.