Cabin THEFT or stealing from room safe - anyone had problems?

Just returned from May 2006 cruise aboard the Holland America's Westerdam to Alaska, and experienced suspected thievery from our cabin. Has anyone else experienced this situation?

The item was a yellow change purse which contained all of my money, my drivers license, and our credit card which disappeared from our cabin while we were at dinner. I had carried it with me to shore for an excursion and removed it from my jacket pocket when we returned to our cabin. I had stupidly placed it on the desk next to the ice bucket and forgot to put it in the safe when we left for dinner. (The only time all week that I had forgotten.) Yes, very stupid, I'll admit, but I'm not sure it would have mattered. Read on.

We didn't notice it was missing until next morning, and after tearing apart the cabin, we spent the rest of our day dealing with cruise personnel (the front desk staff, security staff, housekeeping supervisors, the spa staff (we had to cancel appt. for that day), the credit card company, etc. Not a great way to spend the last day of your cruise!

Now here's where it gets interesting. We knew the change purse had been in the cabin when we left for dinner, so there was a specific window of time (from 8pm to 1am) when the cabin was unoccupied and it could have disappeared. After our many searches throughout the day, the cabin was thoroughly searched times twice by HAL personnel, once by the housekeeping supervisor, and the second time by HAL's security force of three men. My clothes were all searched, as well as under the beds and inside the pull-out couch, drawers, bathroom cabinets, etc. -- all inspected. Most importantly, they searched the small room-safe in the closet. In fact, the room-safe had been opened and inspected thoroughly FOUR different times with items taken out and placed on the bed --- once by myself, twice by my partner, and lastly, by the HAL three-man security team. Nothing was to be found there, or anywhere else.

The cabin door was checked electronically to see who had been in the room other than my partner and myself. Only one other person had entered the room that night - the cabin steward. Actually, we had spoken with him immediately upon finding it missing that morning and he said how sorry he was to hear it was gone, he would search for it that night, but perhaps it was lost on shore. We assured him that it had come back to our room with us because I had used the drivers license to get back on the ship from the Canadian port. We hated to suspect him, and the head of security assured us that they had never had a problem with him before. We were stumped after hearing that he had been the only one to enter the room. Could someone have entered the room while the door was open during his cleaning of the cabin?

The security personnel were equally stumped and said that they usually found "lost" items when THEY did their search of the cabins, but they also had no luck. However, it was going to be reported as a theft and not a lost item in their reports, and an investigation would be continued, including "talking" to our cabin steward.

It all seemed a lost cause....until after the final night's shore excursion when we returned to our cabin, which had been readied for the night by the cabin steward, and we began to pack our bags. We opened the room-safe one last time to empty it and, lo and behold, inside the safe sat the missing change purse (including the credit card and drivers license, but minus approx. half the money)!!!!

Now, tell me how FOUR different inspections of the safe (which included emptying it of all its contents and sorting through them) could have missed a bright yellow/gold change purse? How did it mysteriously appear again when it had not been placed in the safe in the first place?

When informed, the security force admitted they had defintely not seen that item in the safe during their search, but had no explanation as to how it got there. They denied that any personnel could have figured out how to get inside the safe. However, after some searching on the internet, we discovered that the newest thing that thieves are using is some sort of waxy substance that can be applied to the keypad of the safe, and the next time you use it, you leave an impression of which four numbers were entered. Hmmmm, very interesting.

Well, I WAS grateful that the item was returned and I didn't have to get a new drivers license upon my return home, although the hassle of cancelling a credit card is not always fun. And the missing money....well, I always figure the thief needed it more than me if they took the risk of stealing it in the first place. :rolleyes:

AND I guess, the best advice I can give to future cruise travelers is to wipe the keypad clean every time you use it, so that no one can figure out your code.

I should note that we enjoyed all other aspects of our cruise and would certainly sail with Holland America again in the future. :) Anxious to hear though, if anyone else has experienced any thievery on board any cruise ship. Thanks!

Thanks for posting this over here as well for everyone to read.

After rereading this - another thought came to mind. When you discovered the case in the safe, did the security people take any finger prints?

Also did you use your birthdate that was on your driver's license as the code?

hmmmmm...That's very interesting. I'd planned on bringing some of my jewelry for this trip. I guess not. Am I supposed to wear it while we are out snorkeling? I find this very disappointing, but sadly, it does happen.

Hubby left his wallet sitting on a table in our hotel room (in Las Vegas). He hadn't been feeling well, and met me for dinner, which is why it was left in the first place. Normally, he wouldn't have done this.

Someone came into our room and took his AMEX. Once we noticed this, we contacted AMEX and reported it stolen. A week later, AMEX called and told us someone was trying to use our CC in the gift shop at the hotel. Turns out, a former employee had our card. They figured someone who was still working for the hotel lifted the card, and either sold it to this guy, or gave it to him.

He was caught...since they knew who he was. They knew his name and it wasn't the same name as on the CC. Duh.

It just disappoints me to no end when these things happen...but they do. Now I don't think I should bring my jewelry with me. It's insured...but I am ot sure I want to risk losing it.

I certainly hope HAL gets to the bottom of who stole your wallet.

Reminder to self: Take plenty of alcohol wipes to clean the keypad after using safe........jean:cool:

Jean

I was thinking the same thing!!

Yonnie

We've never had anything stolen from us on a cruise and only once in a hotel 20 years ago in Berlin, Germany. Maybe we've been lucky. On our cruises we use the safe for money, jewelry, passports, etc., and either use a credit card or a special code, depending on the type of safe. The special code is known only to us and it has no relationship to any information about us....like birthdays, anniversary, home phone number, address and so on. On the other hand, I've accidently even left money....nothing larger than $5-$10 out....that was in my pocket from shore time and never had it taken. The OP's experience is an eye-opener and we'll be even more careful on our next cruise. Sorry to hear about that kind of thing on a cruise!

Maybe I am all mixed up here but I thought the Westerdam had the kind of safe that you used a card with a magnetic strip like a library card or auto club card. I do not remember coding in numbers. :confused:

I am so sorry you had this problem, Knock on wood we have always been extremely fortunate except the time on a RCCL ship tthat our camera was stolen.

Sue, Thanks for the head up on this. I've never had a problem. After reading the entire post I do have one question.

After the coin purse reappeared in the safe did security run another list of who had entered the room?

Also as far as the wax - I guess it wouldn't hurt to touch all of the numbers on the key pad when using the safe.

Another idea... when the cabin steward cleans your room, he leaves the door open, and if Room Service or the MiniBar guy comes, he will just walk in without using his own key, leaving no evidence of being there.

We've never had anything stolen from the cabin... I have jewelry in the bedside drawer, and leave the camera out charging and the laptop in plain view. On one trip, though, the lock was cut off one suitcase and the camera was taken between the cabin door and the warehouse. Now we use TSA locks that show you when someone's been inside. When we left the Caribbean Princess last month, they had cut the new locks off two suitcases! We can't tell if anything was taken, but the locks are pricey!

Candy the ZuiderPrincess

Wow, I am sorry this happened to you. I, fortunately, have never had anything missing, even when I did exactly what you did, left some of my expensive jewelry and money on the desk. When I returned from dinner, everything was there. Again, sorry.

On one trip, though, the lock was cut off one suitcase and the camera was taken between the cabin door and the warehouse. Now we use TSA locks that show you when someone's been inside. When we left the Caribbean Princess last month, they had cut the new locks off two suitcases! We can't tell if anything was taken, but the locks are pricey!

Candy the ZuiderPrincess

Our last trip home a few weeks ago was almost like this. We had 3 suit cases with us all with TSA key locks. When we got home one of the locks at been replace with a rather large heavy masterlock and our TSA lock was missing:confused: Of course non of our keys we had at home would open it so we had to get bolt cutters to break the lock. I have no idea if this happened in US airport or Canada??? But if they took ours off and replaced on someone elses they were also in for a problem with getting into their luggage:eek: Nothing was touched inside just the change of the locks.

Wow, now 1 more thing to remember to takes, wipes. I always leave my video camera on the desk, maybe I should put it in the safe or in a locked suitcase. What a pain.

Another idea... when the cabin steward cleans your room, he leaves the door open, and if Room Service or the MiniBar guy comes, he will just walk in without using his own key, leaving no evidence of being there.

I've always wondered why they are allowed to leave the doors open when they're cleaning the staterooms. We walk by and often the steward isn't even in the room, and he's left the door open while gone to fetch something. :eek: So really anyone could walk in and take anything they like. For this reason, we try to never leave anything out that would interest anyone.

Robin

After rereading this - another thought came to mind. When you discovered the case in the safe, did the security people take any finger prints?

 

Also did you use your birthdate that was on your driver's license as the code?

No, we didn't use a birthdate as a code. :p It was a random number we picked.

And, no, the security staff did not come back or seem to take the outcome very seriously. They sort of laughed (obviously as happy as we were that the purse was back in our possession), said it was very mysterious, but reiterated that there was no way that the cabin stewards would be able to get into the safes without dragging the decoder box from the front desk up to the room.

It didn't take us long, however, after a short search on the internet to find info on how to open these keypad safes. In fact, on the Travel & Leisure website there is an article called "How Secure is that Hotel Safe" http://www.travelandleisure.com/arti...hat-hotel-safe. It was here that we read, "If you use a keypad-operated safe, wipe the pad clean before you input the combination. 'The latest thing among criminals is to leave a thin coat of wax or oil over the keypad — after you punch in your code, they can go back and see which keys have been touched,' says Al Boza of the Miami Beach Police Department."

I've always wondered why they are allowed to leave the doors open when they're cleaning the staterooms. We walk by and often the steward isn't even in the room, and he's left the door open while gone to fetch something. :eek: So really anyone could walk in and take anything they like. For this reason, we try to never leave anything out that would interest anyone.

 

Robin

Yes, we have noted many doors open and no one around. I thought of that immediately because I hated to suspect our cabin steward (who, I must add, took spectacular care of us all week!). That would have been an easy explanation had it not been for the final outcome of finding it in the safe AFTER four separate searches had not discovered it! We didn't have much IN the safe, so believe me, it would have been spotted during the inspections. Very, very strange, eh?

Yes,,,,,,,, very, very strange. I'm happy you have your purse and license back.

My assumption is that the reason the stewards leave the cabin door open while they clean is precisely to prevent this type of suspicion. When they are in the room anyone can walk by and glance in and see that the steward is just cleaning, doing his job -- and not going through your things or opening your safe. Theoretically this protects the stewards reputation.

The downside, is that others can also walk in while the door is open because sometimes the steward steps away or is VERY involved in, say, cleaning the bathroom and it is possible that the steward might not notice someone who does not belong creeping in and doing something less than honest.

I am sorry that this happened and I am as puzzled as you are as to how. We board the Westerdam on Sunday so this is food for thought and planning.

Is there a way to circumvent the electronic lock recording an entry? Could someone without ID get an additional guest key card from the desk for a particular cabin? It is all a mystery to me.

I had a similar experience on the Disney Magic. My sister brought her iPod to my cabin to charge it using my dock. I took my iPod off the dock and put on the table next to her charging iPod. Later in the day, my iPod was gone (hers was still there). We checked the room, blah blah blah. Talked to the front desk... Eventually the iPod was "found" while we were eating dinner, supposedly on the floor. I don't believe it for a minute. But at least we got it back.

Oh, and the important point: It was also the LAST DAY of the cruise. My feeling is if theft is going to happen, the cabin steward will wait until the last day so there is very little time to make a stink and a high probablity of not noticing until it is too late. So if you are going to be lax, be lax at the beginning of the cruise and lock up everything on the last day!

Sue,

Sorry that this happened to you! How scary. We haven't been on a Vista class yet, and the safes on the S classes are operated by any mag-stip card (except the room key). Not that I'm a big detective or anything, but I find it interesting that the purse reappeared at all. That would suggest that someone on the ship's staff knew it was missing and put it back. (i.e. the room steward or bar steward knew it was being looked for and decided to put it back.) Otherwise, the purse would have just disappeared for good. The fact that it reappeared kind of makes it look like an "inside" job.

I'm also a little disturbed by the luggage lock discussion. Two years ago my suitcase was delayed (I blame TSA in Denver) and missed the sailing! When I finally got it (in Ketchikan) it had been rifled pretty good. BUT NO TSA NOTE INSIDE, as they are required to do. I wondered.........

Hope this doesn't become a trend. Slowly everyone's confidence about traveling in safety is being eroded. Thanks much about the tip on wiping the pad off. Are we being paraniod, or just "better safe than sorry"?

Also of note is if you don't make sure the room door is pulled tight, the latch may not engage, and anyone can just push the door open.

Mark.....

Re locks on luggage, I just don't underestand the point. If someone really wants to get in your luggage they can do it, lock or no lock. All it does is slow them down and perhaps leave evidence of the tampering, but what good will that really do? It just isn't prudent to put anything of real value, such as a camera, in a suitcase that leave your possession.

In all my travels I have never had anything taken from my cabin or from the safe. Even when I've had a guaranteed share and she got to the safe first I've not had a problem in that regard. In that case I use the lock drawer in my nightstand, then hide the key.

I do take care to put things away, though.

I'm sorry to read of the OP's theft. And since the wallet was found with some money missing, it sure does look like a theft. I can't understand someone risking their job for a few dollars. But I also know that it happens all the time right here at home.

After rereading this - another thought came to mind. When you discovered the case in the safe, did the security people take any finger prints?

 

Also did you use your birthdate that was on your driver's license as the code?

Thank God I've never had a problem such as this. But then I try to always keep my valuables in the safe ... taking the time to put my money pouch in the safe as soon as I return from shore. I always keep about $20/$25 in ones in the desk drawer for things like room service tips and the collection box at services. I've never, ever found anything missing.

As for using birthdates as codes for the safe (and for lots of other stuff too), I never do that. I have a secret "code" ... a four-digit number that has special meaning to me (actually it was a long ago telephone extension on one of my jobs) ... that no one would be able to guess. I always use that for passwords, computer logons, and even to lock the shipboard safe.

It's sad to hear the OP went through this. But I guess as nice as the HAL service folks are, you're always gonna get a couple of bad apples.

Blue skies ...

--rita

Also of note is if you don't make sure the room door is pulled tight, the latch may not engage, and anyone can just push the door open.

Mark.....

That's an excellent point. On the Amsterdam this year, I had a door that had a tendency not to close all the way. I always had to make sure to pull it all the way closed when I left the cabin.

If that door is not properly locked then anyone can get into your cabin ... without showing up on the electronic door locking mechanism. And, that's sad ... because if something is stolen, the cabin steward could very well unfairly get the blame.

Blue skies ...

--rita