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Do you have a funny story or not so funny story about lost luggage?


robthens
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I recognize that lost luggage is really never funny but expirences regarding this might be interesting.

 

On our 2nd cruise, we arrived in Venice but our luggage didn't. This was a time when women packed an entire suitcase of shoes. (your shoes had to match every outfit)

 

We tried to make the best of the evening. We went on our own for a walking tour of Venice. Like our luggage, we got so lost. We wandered the street & finally got back to our hotel. Once in the room, I got on my knees & prayed "God, if you intended for me to enjoy the trip please let my luggage arrive". Prayers answered at about 11 o'clock. Luggage was delivered.

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No issues since we switched to carry on only after retiring.

 

Same here.

 

Only issues with missing bags have been when I've flown to Hawaii and taken my golf clubs (can't carry those on!). Yep, they get to HNL, but it's a crap shoot if they make it to the flight on to KOA. But, they always show up on the next flight or two. They must use full-size trucks to deliver all the late-arriving bags over there!

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We've been lucky...but we ALWAYS cross-pack...something for each of us in EACH suitcase....including the shoes to go with those items! It's unusual for ALL bags to go missing, unless they put them on a different plane altogether.

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Lost only for about an hour. When my DIL finally gave up after about an hour searching for her luggage at disembarkation, and filling up forms with the cruise line rep, another passenger suddenly returned it back to port after mistakenly picking it up as their own.

 

 

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An elderly couple told us that their luggage didn't arrive before we left Dover but it was ok as their insurance had given them enough to buy better clothes anyway in Copenhagen. The lady said she was a bit miffed about a favourite evening dress that had got lost.

 

I never met them again so cant say if/when their luggage showed up.

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We found out not to get maroon bags. When lost at the airport they’ll show you a huge double-sided page full of pictures and colors to describe your bag. Marroon/wine/burgundy is not a color choice. Red and purple are the closest.

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For our honeymoon (in the 70s) we wanted to go somewhere neither of us had been so it would be new for both of us. We couldn't decide between Mexico City and Canada so we decided to go to both. We were taking the only direct flight from Mexico City to Vancouver which was on JAL. It flew from Mexico City to Tokyo with a stop at Vancouver. We get to Vancouver and DH's bag doesn't appear. We look at the bag tags and find it was tagged to Tokyo instead of Vancouver.

 

When we checked in in Mexico City, they had one desk for checking in to Vancouver and another for Tokyo, but they had checked a tour group to Tokyo on the Vancouver desk just before us and still had those bag tags there and mistagged his bag. (Back then, baggage tags were preprinted for the destination - the didn't have a printer to make it when you checked in and, of course, no bar codes yet.) We were new travelers and didn't glance at the bag tags until the bag didn't show up.

 

Fortunately, I'd suggested to my husband that he should have at least a change of clothes in his carry-on.

 

The turn-around time in Tokyo was short and his bag didn't make it onto the return flight. The next flight was in two days. We were scheduled to spend a couple of days in Vancouver, then ferry to Victoria, ferry to Prince Rupert, then on by train to Jasper before going to Banff and flying home from Calgary. We left the whole itinerary with the airline and hoped his bag would find us.

 

He picked up some additional clothes in Vancouver but not a jacket. The suitcase finally caught up with us just in time for him to have his jacket when it was needed in Jasper.

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On our 2nd cruise, we arrived in Venice but our luggage didn't. This was a time when women packed an entire suitcase of shoes. (your shoes had to match every outfit)

 

We tried to make the best of the evening. We went on our own for a walking tour of Venice. Like our luggage, we got so lost. We wandered the street & finally got back to our hotel. Once in the room, I got on my knees & prayed "God, if you intended for me to enjoy the trip please let my luggage arrive". Prayers answered at about 11 o'clock. Luggage was delivered.

If I'd been God, I'd have delivered the luggages and then let you fall off the balcony as a punishment for wasting my time. :rolleyes:

 

I once flew from the UK to Green Bay; the plane to Chicago made it on time, but the Green Bay plane was cancelled. After waiting for a seat on all other planes, and failing, I had a free night in a Chicago hotel; but without my luggage, which had made the transfer to another flight and had made it to Green Bay without me.

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The funniest luggage story was my parents in Europe. Not lost, forgotten. My Dad was over for extended business (a couple of months), so my Mother went along and they got an apartment. Near the end, two of my Mother's sisters flew over and they did a week or two driving trip around Europe.

 

As they were getting ready to leave the apartment, my Dad was running around making sure everyone got their luggage in the car, double and triple checking. Off they go.

 

First night, guess who didn't have their luggage? Yeap, my Dad left his bag hanging on the door handle to the bedroom in the apartment.

 

So everyone worn the same outfit the entire time, so he would not feel quite as bad.

 

:D

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Last January we flew to St. Maarten - after all the bags were off the carousel. my wife's red suitcase was not there - but a darker red one was. Fortunately, they had just started scanning all incoming bags as passengers left the arrival area - and there was a long line of people waiting for their bags to be checked. Walking over there with that darker red bag, we soon spotted someone just about to hoist her bag onto the scanner --- as soon as she saw our bag, her face lit up - and that infuriatingly unthinking woman actually said : "I thought this bag looked funny".

 

Without apology or other comment we swapped bags - sadly, I am afraid that woman is still traveling without a custodian. My wife, however, now agrees to my putting a distinctive marking on her bags with white reflective tape which no one could not notice.

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When my sister lived in France she always made a point of coming home for the holidays. After one such trip home, she packed up her brand new luggage, including the full sized quilt I had made for her, and flew back to France. Well, she flew back. We have no idea where her luggage went. She checked it in with United, but there is no record of United handing it off to Air France. Her luggage was never found and someone else is enjoying the quilt I made for my sister.

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I have 2 stories, fortunately both with good endings.

 

Years ago, PapaTwick was coming home from a work convention in Las Vegas in January, when they hit a snowstorm in Chicago. Flights changed, and eventually got back to his originating airport of YUL (Montreal), which is where he was flying from despite living in Quebec City due to travelling with work colleagues, but no luggage. Filed the relevant reports, and hopped into his car for the drive to Quebec City. Fortunately, his bag was located quite quickly, and popped onto a flight to YQB as per his instructions, from which it was delivered to our door by Air Canada. Which means, his luggage arrived home before he did :D.

 

Was flying to WAW on LOT a couple years ago, on awards tickets. Due to award availability, had a 7-hour layover at YYZ, made much easier by having lounge access due to flying business class. Now, LOT has 2 flights daily YYZ-WAW; we were flying on the later flight, but actually arrived at YYZ before the 1st flight had left. Once arrived at WAW, no luggage on the carousel. Went to see the lost luggage office, and looking over the nice man's shoulder, saw our bags in the pile of unclaimed luggage. Yep, they had been put on the 1st flight... :rolleyes:

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Our very first cruise was almost luggageless. We were newbies and flew in the morning of, cutting it close but we still had a few hours cushion and was told that it would be fine. Our connecting flight was delayed, but we arrived in Florida right on time. After standing around waiting for our luggage on the conveyer belt for long after everyone else already had theirs l, we finally headed to the airline’s customer service desk and was told that our luggage missed the connecting flight and would hopefully arrive within a few hours. They would bring it to the port directly as soon as it arrived OR send it to the next stop (2days later) in the Bahamas. They send us to the ship with tiny bags with a A spare tshirt, toothpaste, a few other basic necessities. THANKFULLY we learned that our luggage shows up just before the ship pulled away! Learned a valuable lesson though. We will always arrive the day before now.

 

 

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Many years ago we overpacked for a week-long vacation. When we got to the resort we realized we were missing a medium sized suitcase.

 

Don't remember what we left at home, but we managed to have a great time without the contents of that piece of luggage.

 

It was right there waiting for us when we returned.

Edited by tbmrt
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On our first flight together DW got a text alert saying that she needed to check with the baggage office at the airport because her bag was missing. We went to the carousel first to get mine and hers was there, too. We never did go to the baggage office.

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I sometimes say my luggage must have a secret code saying "Lose me" since over the years I've had delayed/missing/late luggage on 5 different occasions. So for the last dozen years or so I've been a carry-on only traveler.

 

But my first lost luggage was my honeymoon 46 years ago. Our luggage didn't make it on a connecting flight and didn't show up for 3 days; we had 1 carryon with toiletries and swimsuits...but it was our honeymoon and we didn't miss it much.

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An almost disaster.

 

I was at a company convention and then going on to Hawaii for vacation from there. I had all my clothes dry cleaned at the hotel in Los Angels and carefully packed them into my carry on and garment bag. Got into the shuttle to take me and others to the airport and mentioned to a coworker that we had the same garment bag. Well, Dale got off the shuttle first and just before the shuttle was about to leave, I yelled "are you sure you got your garment bag"? He looked and no, he had mine. Thankfully the disaster was averted, because if I didn't say anything, I would have ended up in Hawaii with a bunch of dirty men's clothing.

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After a nail biting experience with seriously delayed connecting flights and finally making it to LA for a flight to Auckland, NZ, we found out on a stop in Fiji that our luggage didn't make it. It was interesting trying to convince the customs/immigration people in NZ why we didn't have any luggage. One bag caught up with us on the 2nd day of the cruise. Two others on the 3rd. From our balcony we watched a taxi pull up to the dock and take our suitcases out of the trunk.

 

This was the trip where I learned about cross packing. But now I usually just take carry-ons whenever possible.

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This is barely related, but I was on the ship in Cozumel and we were on our balcony watching the late pier runners coming back to the ship. I had my binoculars looking at all the people coming back slowly even though all aboard was an hour passed. I saw a local guy with a cart, stopped at security. I don't know if he was bringing supplies to a ship or was working on the pier itself. The pier that Royal uses in Cozumel goes about 300 yards, makes a right turn and then about another 100 yards you board the ship. While talking to security this guys cart starts to roll/blow away an neither of them notice . It rolls all the way to the end of the first section, almost makes it around the corner before falling into the ocean. Then both the security guy and this port guy look confused as to where the cart went.

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I am just curious - do bags ever get "lost" after you give them to the porters at the port? I get flights but I often wonder if they ever get lost at the port.
Yes. On my last cruise they sent a notice around asking if anyone had a suitcase that didn't belong to them, because there was one missing.
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