Missing/Stolen Item From Room...Need Opinions On What To Do!

I hate to say this, but I think our Stateroom Attendant stole from us:(

The evening of disembarking Allure last Sunday, we discovered that were were missing our portable DVD player which included 15+ DVD's. Immediately, I recalled it was under the nightstand next to bed, which is where I had first placed it when we unpacked all our belongings. We never used it during the cruise as we brought it for our kids to use during the flight to/from Florida. We completely forgot about the item when were in the rush of packing but my DH insists that he checked that whole area for toys that my kids may have dropped and did not see it. This was the evening before we disembarked.

We placed a report to RCI but they came back and said the item was not found. I pressed them further to inquire again, but I do not have hight hopes.

So, my question is what is the best way to handle this? The Post Cruise Department (includes lost luggage and lost/found) is not being very helpful. They said that they will send another email to the ship to follow up, but I want this to be investigated and elevated appropriately. Is there someone else we should be calling?

Unfortantely, I have to suspect that the stateroom Attendant took it. Based on the fact that my DH looked in that area it must have been taken prior to us leaving the room. Even if it was moved accidentally to another place they would have found it when cleaning the room for the next set of guests.

Somebody is not telling the truth and although I truly do hate to to believe it the only person that could have taken it was the Stateroom Attendant. There is the chance that the next occupants found it, but I find it very unlikely that it was not noticed prior to them arriving (it's not that small or hard to miss).

We are 1 cruise away from being Diamond and DH says we will not be sailing with RCI again if they don't do something. I hate that it would come to that....

Sorry to hear about your missing DVD player.

I cannot imagine any room attendent willing to risk their job stealing something such an item. And even more odd for them to remove it during your cruise. But you never know.

As far as I know - if you contacted the ship directly and sent a note to customer service in Miami then there is not a lot you can do. I'm not real sure what you want from RCCL - you can file a claim with your homeowners but I'm sure your deductible is higher than the replacement cost of the missing item.

Unfortunately, there is not much that you can do. If you noticed it missing while on the ship, perhaps security could have searched your attendant's room.

It is possible that your attendant took it. It is also possible that someone else came into the room (they are left unlocked while cleaning is done- I have often walked by and seen a room open and no one inside). It is possible that it got packed and lost/stolen in transit. It is possible that the stateroom attendant didn't see it but the next passenger did and pocketed it.

You have learned an expenisve lesson- valuables need to go in the safe. When traveling with a lot of stuff, checklists can be very handy so that you are sure that you are leaving with everything you came with.

It would also be sad if you stopped cruising with RCI, a company you seem to enjoy, because of this.

Imagine if RCI reimbursed everyone for everything they lost/said they lost? They would be out of business in a year. If they say it wasn't found, I doubt that much else can be done.

I don't think you'll have much luck with RCI. You've done all you can at this point. Did you have trip insurance? Most people buy trip insurance to cover missing the ship or if they have to fly home in an emergency. Check your policy. There will be a category for baggage. Baggage is different from luggage. Baggage is the personal items you carry with you. Most policies will cover lost/stolen/damaged items. We accidentally dropped and ruined a camera on a shore excursion a few years ago. Our trip insurance policy covered it.

It sounds like you didn't report it until you were off the ship. So you left without it and maybe it was still in the room. I think there are land based staff who come aboard to help with cleaning. Unfortunately no way to know where it is or who may have it in their possesion, so there's really nothing RCCL can do. There are what, over 2000 rooms being cleaned in a few hours in a ship swarming with staff? Imagine the things left behind every cruise. How exactly would they "elevate appropriately" every single claim like this?

I left a new pair of eye glasses on Adventure last winter. Called and filed a report but didn't really expect anything, which is what I got:D So be it, life goes on.

FYI if I had an electronic item like that I wasn't going to use during the cruise I'd leave it out of sight in a suitcase or in the safe it it fit.

have you discussed the missing item with your kids? Is it possible that one of your children took the dvd player out of the cabin and neglected to bring it back?

Not blaming anyone, just bringing up the possibility.

I understand you are angry and want someone to pay one way or the other, but there are just so many variables that it would almost be impossible to figure out what exactly happened.

If in fact it was the attendant or assistant, that wouldn't really be RCL's fault-a dishonest person might just as easily get a job on Crystal.

In the scheme of things, it is no big deal. Chalk it up to bad luck.

Happy Sails to You

OOOEEE :D:D Bob and Phyl

There is the chance that the next occupants found it, but I find it very unlikely that it was not noticed prior to them arriving (it's not that small or hard to miss).

 

We found several items of clean clothing in the drawers on Adventure. Obviously things can be missed.

Your cabin steward probably didn't take the DVD player. However, s/he could have left the cabin door open long enough for someone else to find it.

On my last RC cruise, my mom and I had started packing but weren't able to finish before we needed to leave for dinner. I know it was bad on our part, but we left some things out that were valuable, thinking we would come back after dinner and finish the packing.

While at dinner, my mom realized that she had left her camera in the cabin. I offered to run back and get it for her. When I reached the cabin, I saw that the door was propped open and the steward was no where around. Inside my cabin was a strange man, looking at the open suitcases that we had left on the floor. I did not notice anything missing, and he claimed that he just walked in to see what a balcony cabin was like. I was upset that someone would enter a cabin without permission and made sure he knew I found his behavior inappropriate. I'm not sure what would have happened if I had showed up 5 minutes later.

It looked like the steward had already cleaned the cabin so I removed the wedge, closed the door and tried to find her. I didn't find the steward but I did see several doors along the hallway that were left propped open. I didn't go inside any cabins to see if the man I chased out of my cabin was going through another one.

Not sure why everyone is in an unkind mood, I was asking for suggestions on where to go next.

I would have liked to contact the ship directly,but RCI makes this very difficult. If anyone knows a way or someone on Allure specifically that I can email, please let me know.

To addressa few comments:

-My kids are 4 & 6 so they didn't leave the room with the player as we were always with them.

-I know we didn't lose it in transit becuase we fully recollect that we did not pack it. Basically, we forgot about it until we got to our hotel room and started to rearrange our things to fly home the next morning.

-Nobody besides our room attendant was in the room during a cleaning and took it because it was in a location (on the floor underneat the bedside table) that would have taken time to find it and nothing else was missing.

-It was too big to fit in a safe and I kept in a location that was out of obvious sight.

I also find it very hard to belive that our Stateroom Attendant would have taken it. He was a very nice man and he loved our kids. However, the player just didn't get up and jump overboard. Someone took it and they were an employee....Sad, but true.

It's really not a monetary issue, but rather the principle of it.

On a prior cruise, while unpacking, I found some VERY nice jewelry and scarf in a drawer. I took it down to Guest Services hoping that they could get it off the ship before it left port. They put it an envelope and sealed it in front of me. They took it very seriously to document everything - even had 2 staffers witness it and had me sign papers that it had been received.

The reason I mention that is that it is quite possible the player will turn up when Allure arrives back after its current sailing. The truth is that things just don't move as quickly as we wish sometimes.

I too agree that it is unlikely a stateroom attendant would take it. It's grounds for dismissal - and in the grand scheme of things, a dvd player is unlikely to be tempting. Many of them have dvd players or access to them during their off hours.

I'm also not ASSIGNING any blame but since you didn't pack it and left it, it's not RCI's fault if it's not found. Sure, they should do everything possible but any business is going to tell you that your personal belongings are your responsibility. So while I understand your distress and I understand your husband's first reaction never to cruise RCI again if it doesn't turn up, I would hope that once he calms down he will realize that that is not a big enough reason to never sail them again.

Another option I would advise is to ask to contact the head of Housekeeping on Allure and explain the problem. Best of luck.

I am not sure but I would ask what it is that you expect or would like them to do?

In my opinion I would think it should be handled the same way as if something was stolen for a hotel or at home. Report it to the Police and speak with your insurance company.

I know we miss place our camera one trip and looked all over the room and could not find it. We reported it and some came up and Basil with us in attendance look and turned over every area of the room ( they did fix it back up). It turned up on the floor of the closet under one of the shoe trays. We have now idea how it got there as we always left it on the vanity table by the mirror plug in to charge the battery. So again not sure how but we did get it.

Your cabin steward probably didn't take the DVD player. However, s/he could have left the cabin door open long enough for someone else to find it.

 

On my last RC cruise, my mom and I had started packing but weren't able to finish before we needed to leave for dinner. I know it was bad on our part, but we left some things out that were valuable, thinking we would come back after dinner and finish the packing.

 

While at dinner, my mom realized that she had left her camera in the cabin. I offered to run back and get it for her. When I reached the cabin, I saw that the door was propped open and the steward was no where around. Inside my cabin was a strange man, looking at the open suitcases that we had left on the floor. I did not notice anything missing, and he claimed that he just walked in to see what a balcony cabin was like. I was upset that someone would enter a cabin without permission and made sure he knew I found his behavior inappropriate. I'm not sure what would have happened if I had showed up 5 minutes later.

 

It looked like the steward had already cleaned the cabin so I removed the wedge, closed the door and tried to find her. I didn't find the steward but I did see several doors along the hallway that were left propped open. I didn't go inside any cabins to see if the man I chased out of my cabin was going through another one.

Sorry to hear that hapenned toyou! Can't believe someone would do that! Against popular belief, I really do want to believe that something similar happened, I just find it HIGHLY unlikely given it's location. I had other things in the room that would have been easier to take. I know I'll probably never get the player back, and I'm grasping at staws but I have to try!

We did have trip insurance and plan on calling to today to see if something like this is covered.

Sorry to hear that hapenned toyou! Can't believe someone would do that! Against popular belief, I really do want to believe that something similar happened, I just find it HIGHLY unlikely given it's location. I had other things in the room that would have been easier to take. I know I'll probably never get the player back, and I'm grasping at staws but I have to try!

 

We did have trip insurance and plan on calling to today to see if something like this is covered.

Your trip insurance should cover it. We had a basic policy through TravelGuard when we lost a camera and it was totally covered. Just had to fax in some paperwork.

I'm sorry that you think people are being unkind. So far it seems that everyone sympathizes with you but once an item is lost, it's lost.

I know how to contact the concierge and dining services on a ship but not anything else like security or the pursar's desk. I'm not even sure they could help, since lost items are taken offshore. O.k. someone just suggested the head of housekeeping- that might be an option too.

If you want to make a report about your cabin attendant, you would be better served to talk to someone on land but I strongly advise you not to do this. Despite what you say, you cannot know for sure that this person took it. How awful it would be for them to lose their job based on this, not that I think that RCI would act without proof. But if you really feel the need, I would contact the Resolutions department. But be prepared for them to tell you exactly what others have already told you on this board.

Best wishes,

All I am asking of RCI is to do a thorough check. I imagine all they did when the report first came in was to see if they received a lost item from that particular room on that sailing. It would hve been nice they checked the room again when the report first came in. I know they didn't do this, because they said they didn't. Although there were new occupants, the S.A is in there twice daily and could check.

I am not asking RCI to refund me anything, but I am asking for them them to go slightly above and beyond. I don't think this is asking too much.

BTW, I called the travel insurance and this is covered. However, as mentioned previously it would be preferred if the player and dvd's were returned.

I think it is more likely the room stewart went to the closet to get supplies or something and left the room unattended with the door open. I have returned to my room on a few occasions to find my door proped open and no one cleaning it. The people down the hall were demanding something and he stepped out to take care of it. I asked him to please not do that again.

Or the man in the bathroom cleaning and I could have taken anything in my own room and been gone before he knew it....

I think a room attendent would have no where to hide any stolen items. I think they need the job and would not risk it for a DVD and some movies. A big diamond, maybe.

I think someone-a passenger got into your room during a cleaning session and grabed it and kept going.

 

I think someone-a passenger got into your room during a cleaning session and grabed it and kept going.

I truly do hope you're right!! I also find it hard to believe that the steward would risk his job over this, and trust me, I was trying to convince myself of this before I even posted here.

I guess I'll just have to let it go and file the claim through insurance. I just started buying trip insurance the last few cruises and this is the first time we've ever needed it. I'm going to wait another day or so just to see if the follow up through the ship results in anything. I know...it's doubful but I had to try.

It could be that the RC person that you spoke with didn't understand what you meant for the location. When you stated that it was under the bedside table, I was thinking that the bedside table had a top drawer with an open shelf under it. I thought you meant that the DVD player was on the shelf. Now it sounds like you physically picked up the bedside table and placed the DVD player on the floor under it. It could be that the DVD player is still under there but no one picked up the table to look for it. Maybe you should try calling them again and clarify the location. I wouldn't think to lift up the furniture to check for missing things

When I brought my laptop that was too big to fit in the safe, I put in in a suitcase under the bed when I wasn't using it. It wasn't in an obvious location so someone would have to pull the suitcase out to steal it, but I wouldn't accidentally leave it behind.

-Nobody besides our room attendant was in the room during a cleaning and took it because it was in a location (on the floor underneat the bedside table) that would have taken time to find it and nothing else was missing.

I'm not sure if you are aware, but there is also a mini-bar attendent. He/she services and checks your fridge.

A couple things:

Your DH *thinks* he didn't see it one night. It could have been pushed off and ended up underneath the bed. You cannot conclusively say it was NOT in the room, because you did not search specifically for it.

Second, we have lost things and they showed up on the next sailing when the ship came in. Sometimes the next guests find it, report it, and then they don't get turned in until a week later. It's not like they'll fly your stuff back from a port.

So, hang tight. Make sure you have everyone's names that you spoke with and ask them to be sure they send a message to the hotel manager, who can forward a message to your stateroom attendant. I KNOW this can happen because our stateroom attendant came into our room on day 1 of a cruise to check for missing jewels (which were in the safe and no, we hadn't opened it yet to report it). Then call back next week after the ship docks....leave a day or two for items to be transported to the Miami office.

Thanks to everyone for the input. I am "holding tight" which is why I asked the supervisor I spoke to to send another inquiry to the ship and am waiting to file the travel insurance claim. I realize that it may take some time to get it processed and in the right people's hands.

As for the location of the player, when the attendant made up our room the first night he took the coffe table and put it next to the bed and placed the bedside table on top of that in order to make more room when pulling out the sofa bed. I placed the player on the floor undeneath thecoffee table. The coffee table bottom is not solid but but has a cross like structure hodling it up creating 4 quadrants at the bottom. I placed the player in one of those quadrants.

I know we checked under the bed which is where it could have been kicked and saw nothing. Anyways, I will keep and open mind and will have to let it go....

I too thought you meant it was on the floor. It is very likely that it got overlooked on the first round if they were looking on the floor and not at the coffee table itself.

I will keep my fingers crossed for you!

Not sure why everyone is in an unkind mood, I was asking for suggestions on where to go next.

 

I would have liked to contact the ship directly,but RCI makes this very difficult. If anyone knows a way or someone on Allure specifically that I can email, please let me know.

 

To addressa few comments:

-My kids are 4 & 6 so they didn't leave the room with the player as we were always with them.

-I know we didn't lose it in transit becuase we fully recollect that we did not pack it. Basically, we forgot about it until we got to our hotel room and started to rearrange our things to fly home the next morning.

 

-Nobody besides our room attendant was in the room during a cleaning and took it because it was in a location (on the floor underneat the bedside table) that would have taken time to find it and nothing else was missing.

-It was too big to fit in a safe and I kept in a location that was out of obvious sight.

 

 

I also find it very hard to belive that our Stateroom Attendant would have taken it. He was a very nice man and he loved our kids. However, the player just didn't get up and jump overboard. Someone took it and they were an employee....Sad, but true.

 

It's really not a monetary issue, but rather the principle of it.

I don't think you can conclude that an employee took it. As others have already told you, there are plenty of opportunities for your fellow passengers to get into the cabin.

Try AL_guestservicesmanager@rccl.com to get hold of somebody at Guest Services. There's an underscore between "AL" & the rest of the address. Good luck!

[

quote=tropiclvrs;29351575]Immediately, I recalled it was under the nightstand next to bed, which is where I had first placed it when we unpacked all our belongings. We never used it during the cruise as we brought it for our kids to use during the flight to/from Florida. We completely forgot about the item when were in the rush of packing but my DH insists that he checked that whole area for toys that my kids may have dropped and did not see it.

[

quote=tropiclvrs;29352090]

 

-I know we didn't lose it in transit becuase we fully recollect that we did not pack it. Basically, we forgot about it until we got to our hotel room and started to rearrange our things to fly home the next morning.

 

-Nobody besides our room attendant was in the room during a cleaning and took it because it was in a location (on the floor underneat the bedside table) that would have taken time to find it and nothing else was missing.

As for the location of the player, when the attendant made up our room the first night he took the coffe table and put it next to the bed and placed the bedside table on top of that in order to make more room when pulling out the sofa bed. I placed the player on the floor undeneath thecoffee table. The coffee table bottom is not solid but but has a cross like structure hodling it up creating 4 quadrants at the bottom. I placed the player in one of those quadrants.

 

I know we checked under the bed which is where it could have been kicked and saw nothing. Anyways, I will keep and open mind and will have to let it go....

Tropic, I'm confused with your story. The only reason I bring this up is that you will need to be very clear with RCI about exactly where the DVD player was and what furniture it was under. It was under a coffee table that was next to your bed, correct? And the table's were stacked? It seems to me that if the stateroom attendant switched around the tables the first night of your cruise then he/she would have had to lift the coffee table to put it back in it's original place after you vacated the cabin...