Dawn cruise problem...

[Baarb]

Made it on the Dawn.... Seems like everything was going great... Till, we were missing a suitcase... I got mine bout, 2ish.... Mom, did not get hers.... We asked in the lobby about it around 3ish... They said, come back after 5pm... Ok... So we showed up at 5pm... Nope, was not there.... They said, come back later.... Yep, we did... Bout, 8pm we showed up again.... No suitcase.... But, they took us to where the luggage was that did not have any tags.... Nope, not there..... Then to another place.... Nope, not there either.... Later, they said... Ok.... We asked our cabin ppl bout it, they said they did not know... I then went out to the main desk, bout midnight.... Both mom and I were so upset... Maria, was her name, she said, after we complained, 'I apologize, did you leave it on the street when you got off the bus??? Did you leave it in the taxi when you got to the pier???' Duh!! We told her we paid to have the suitcase brought in and put on the ship... She said, 'Are you sure?' OMG!!! I can not believe how she acted.... I could feel the tears... She then said, 'did we have tags on the suitcases with our name on them.' We told her, YES!!!! She seemed so unconcerned, I could not believe it... I asked her, how she would feel if, it were her in our place.... She said nothing.... She then sent someone somewhere to look again... It was bout 12ish that someone brought a suitcase with a tag on it, with, my moms name.... They found it on deck 5.... She told us that there was no name on the suitcase... We then showed her the tag!!!!! She said nothing..... She did offer to take our suitcase to the room, but we said we would take it.... So, off to our room, everything was there.... The next day, I went up to her and asked her what she was going to do to make the mistake right... She said, 'chocolate covered strawberries.'... I told her she must be kidding!!! She then said, 'a fruit basket?'..... I laughed at her.... Then said, 'I can get all the fruit I want in the buffee'.... She said, 'then how bout some wine?' I told her we don't drink.... I asked her who's fault this is with the lost suitcase??? She said, 'no ones'.... All that time, thinking mom would have no clothes to wear!!! BTW, she did give mom a t-shirt to wear to bed... LOL.... Also, laundry service.... So, she was to wait in the room while clothes were to be washed... Great!!!! Someone needs to go to charm school... I know, we should have had more clothes in our carry on.... Who would have thought??? This was our excitement on our first two days.... I would not wish this on anyone.... Yeah, we did get the suitcase back... But all that time, the stress, of thinking, 'what are we going to do???'....... We did try to get over it... Move on.... How would you have dealt with something like this....

Anyway... We went to the m/g... It was great to meet everyone there... Jolena, you are an angel.... Such a beautiful person you are..... Everyone was..... Thank you for taking the time to do this for us... Suzanne and Eric.... All the wonderful guests on the ship we got to know....

We did enjoy the island... The carriage ride was the best thing we did... I think, till I begin to think of everything else we did.... Swizzle Inn was so nice.... The lunch was great, along with the drink.... Dinner on the ship??? Was great also... Fredrick was our waiters name... He was a doll!!! I tried to get him each time we went to dinner.... We did do Salsa.... Food was wonderful.... The new menus.... I did not really care for it too much.... JMO.... The trip was over before we knew it.... Would I go again???? Will have to think bout it.... Barb

[mbisson]

I'm sorry for the mess up with the luggage. I'm afraid that there is nothing that the gal you talked to could have said or done that would have made you feel better (short of doing a magic act and somehow making the bag appear). And to me, it's understandable that you felt that way

 

BTW-I once had someone elses luggage delivered to my cabin (I don't know why or how it happened) but had I just kept it in my cabin and not notified them that i had a 'wrong bag', they probably would have never known

[Mooder]

Made it on the Dawn.... Seems like everything was going great... Till, we were missing a suitcase... I got mine bout, 2ish.... Mom, did not get hers.... We asked in the lobby about it around 3ish... They said, come back after 5pm... Ok... So we showed up at 5pm... Nope, was not there.... They said, come back later.... Yep, we did... Bout, 8pm we showed up again.... No suitcase.... But, they took us to where the luggage was that did not have any tags.... Nope, not there..... Then to another place.... Nope, not there either.... Later, they said... Ok.... We asked our cabin ppl bout it, they said they did not know... I then went out to the main desk, bout midnight.... Both mom and I were so upset... Maria, was her name, she said, after we complained, 'I apologize, did you leave it on the street when you got off the bus??? Did you leave it in the taxi when you got to the pier???' Duh!! We told her we paid to have the suitcase brought in and put on the ship... She said, 'Are you sure?' OMG!!! I can not believe how she acted.... I could feel the tears... She then said, 'did we have tags on the suitcases with our name on them.' We told her, YES!!!! She seemed so unconcerned, I could not believe it... I asked her, how she would feel if, it were her in our place.... She said nothing.... She then sent someone somewhere to look again... It was bout 12ish that someone brought a suitcase with a tag on it, with, my moms name.... They found it on deck 5.... She told us that there was no name on the suitcase... We then showed her the tag!!!!! She said nothing..... She did offer to take our suitcase to the room, but we said we would take it.... So, off to our room, everything was there.... The next day, I went up to her and asked her what she was going to do to make the mistake right... She said, 'chocolate covered strawberries.'... I told her she must be kidding!!! She then said, 'a fruit basket?'..... I laughed at her.... Then said, 'I can get all the fruit I want in the buffee'.... She said, 'then how bout some wine?' I told her we don't drink.... I asked her who's fault this is with the lost suitcase??? She said, 'no ones'.... All that time, thinking mom would have no clothes to wear!!! BTW, she did give mom a t-shirt to wear to bed... LOL.... Also, laundry service.... So, she was to wait in the room while clothes were to be washed... Great!!!! Someone needs to go to charm school... I know, we should have had more clothes in our carry on.... Who would have thought??? This was our excitement on our first two days.... I would not wish this on anyone.... Yeah, we did get the suitcase back... But all that time, the stress, of thinking, 'what are we going to do???'....... We did try to get over it... Move on.... How would you have dealt with something like this....

Anyway... We went to the m/g... It was great to meet everyone there... Jolena, you are an angel.... Such a beautiful person you are..... Everyone was..... Thank you for taking the time to do this for us... Suzanne and Eric.... All the wonderful guests on the ship we got to know....

We did enjoy the island... The carriage ride was the best thing we did... I think, till I begin to think of everything else we did.... Swizzle Inn was so nice.... The lunch was great, along with the drink.... Dinner on the ship??? Was great also... Fredrick was our waiters name... He was a doll!!! I tried to get him each time we went to dinner.... We did do Salsa.... Food was wonderful.... The new menus.... I did not really care for it too much.... JMO.... The trip was over before we knew it.... Would I go again???? Will have to think bout it.... Barb

 

Barb, I am so sorry this happened to you. There is no excuse for bad attitude at the front desk so nothing I post here is trying to excuse that. But you asked how we/I would have handled it. Lost luggage is a fact of travel, I always try to be prepared for it. Not only by having extra in my carry-on but also sharing suitcase space with my travel companion since chances are both suitcases won't be lost. I understand how concerned you were, but the mistake is in letting it ruin your vacation. You actually did not have to spend a single day without the suitcase. I once took a cruise with my mother and sister and my Mom's suitcase was not returned until we were home. She handled it with good humor because such is life. When I consider all the suitcases that reach the cabins in a short amount of time, it amazes me we don't hear more stories like this one. I am very sorry, but I do not think you deserved further compensation. While you can get fruit in the buffet, it is the gesture of apology that matters. What were you hoping for in terms of compensation??

 

I am very glad the rest of your cruise was enjoyable. Good luck on the next one!

[sparks1093]

If they offered me a bottle of wine I would have countered with "how about dinner for two in Le Bistro or Impressions". Glad the rest of your trip was okay. (And I know it doesn't help, but they have to ask if you possibily left the bag behind because it does happen.)

[jmcdon7230]

Did anyone else.....get a headache.....reading this thing?

[njhorseman]

You were inconvenienced for a few hours because your luggage was temporarily misplaced. Unfortunate, but it happens. What type of compensation were you expecting? How was this your "excitement for two days" if you got the suitcase back the first night?

 

If the employee at Guest Services had a bad attitude, did you ask to speak to a supervisor? When you went to the Meet and Greet the next day, were there any officers attending? Usually the hotel director or a representative attends. You could have used that opportunity to discuss the problem with the appropriate person. Believe me, they are quite responsive. The last thing they want is for someone to post a complaint on Cruise Critic.

[Mooder]

The next day, I went up to her and asked her what she was going to do to make the mistake right... She said, 'chocolate covered strawberries.'... I told her she must be kidding!!! She then said, 'a fruit basket?'..... I laughed at her....

 

I'm sorry again, but the more I read this...You laughed at her?!?!? :eek: Did it occur to you that she was trying to make you happy and that was what she is authorized to offer you? Do people laugh in your face when you're trying to do your job? :confused:

[iheartbda]

Let me see if I read this correctly, although it was rather hard to follow with the font and all the dots.

 

Even though it was late in the evening, you DID get your suitcase, correct? Seems like you were unnecessarily worrying about not having any clothes, which did not happen, and wanting something to makeup for the mistake before you found out the bag was not completely missing. Mistakes happen and in your case, everything worked out

 

I can understand the person asking if you left the suitcase on the curb. Something almost exactly like that happened on a cruise I was on. Cab driver did not give the bag to the dockworker and pax did not check. It was the cab's fault but NCL gave the pax money to purchase what she could on the ship in spite of the fact they were under no obligation to do so.:)

[LOWTYD]

Hey don't feel bad. My sister and her family of 5 went on 2 cruises with no luggage except what they carried on. You were lucky to get it back in hours not days! Don't sweat the small stuff!:)

[*Wink*]

Did anyone else.....get a headache.....reading this thing?

LOL

 

Sometimes what upsets one person wouldn't upset someone else. I "plan" on hiccups like that, and "expect" those things to happen. I feel if I'm going to travel, I have to be ready for mistakes on part of people. I'm not perfect, therefore I don't expect anyone or any event to be such.

 

I understand the stress, but you are very lucky. There have been posts on these boards about luggage not being found until the last day.. in another person's closet, no less. lol

 

I would have expressed what I wanted to the young lady instead of allowing emotion to rule the moment. But the difference is, I wouldn't have expected anything for the mistake. It just wouldn't have been an issue for me.

 

But that's just me.

 

Glad you had a good cruise otherwise and a fun M&G. If you are not sure whether or not you'd go again because of the luggage problem, that's a little hard for me to understand. Different strokes.

 

Thank you for posting. It's an important lesson on packing for the worst. lol

[michigan tim]

My headache started toward the end of the post when the OP demanded retribution. The baggage delay and desk clerk's attitude is annoying, however, you got the bag, and it was what, 12 hours after you boarded. This sort of thing is very common. The bag was likely placed outside the wrong room where it sat for the evening. If this was the biggest bump in the road I'd consider it a very good trip. :confused:

[iheartbda]

 

 

The Dawn's capacity is 2,224 pax so as a conservative estimate, it's probably around 5,000 pieces of luggage they have to deal with.:eek:

[Mooder]

The Dawn's capacity is 2,224 pax so as a conservative estimate, it's probably around 5,000 pieces of luggage they have to deal with.:eek:

 

And when's the last time someone posted how quickly their luggage was in their cabin?! I'm as guilty as anyone. While I have had to wait on some occasions, more often than not I am amazed to find it in my cabin so fast! But I don't think I ever reported that happy event here on cc. :o

[mbisson]

OK everyone. I think we get the point (and I'm probably as guilty as anyone). But I think we need to put ourselves in Baarb's place for a minute and just think how we would feel if it happened to us. After all, it wasn't their fault that the luggage was misplaced so maybe we should all go easier on her

[LOWTYD]

Now that I think of it, I beleive they make a statement in the Daily about being able to wear shorts in the MDR ithe first evening in the event that all the luggage isn't delivered in time. I think somebody panicked just a little too early:rolleyes:. I had one suitcase come an hour or so after the rest on my last cruise. Who cared. I was on a cruise! I was given a flyer the next day on some some msising luggage so all the passangers could see if they had it by mistake. Three pieces of luggage out of thousands. Not too bad. Again, as mentioned earlier, sometimes it is not the cruiselines fault but the Taxi driver (which I relaly don't tend to blame as the passnager should be watching to make sure all their bags are there) the Airlines, the Porters and the passanger themselves. (oops I left it in the car) I really don't feel there was any compensation necessary beyond what was offered you and you turned it down. I think that was being unresonable. Instead you got nothing. Oh wait! I forgot you got the " My luggage is missing and all I got was this lousy tee shirt" prize. :p

[hateswaterloves2cruise]

I'm just grateful that the "Dawn cruise problem" wasn't a major problem with the Dawn. We are booked for Feb and all I want to hear is "no problem". We always cross-pack so that if a bag is delayed, or God forbid-lost, we still have some things to wear. Different things upset different people, I know my mom would have freaked if her bag was missing, and I agree with whoever suggested talking with the hotel director at the m&g. I'm sure they would have had some action taken.;)

[iheartbda]

And when's the last time someone posted how quickly their luggage was in their cabin?! I'm as guilty as anyone. While I have had to wait on some occasions, more often than not I am amazed to find it in my cabin so fast! But I don't think I ever reported that happy event here on cc. :o

Hey, I'll report it. As soon as we were permitted to go to the cabins, guess what was sitting at the door?:):):)

 

[sottovoce]

If every minor glitch in everyone's cruise was cause for a new thread on Cruise Critic...

 

British Air lost my luggage on a connecting flight to Barcelona and the Jewel. It came later that day. They didn't offer me strawberries let alone dinner for two. I wouldn't have dreamed of starting a thread on the internet to complain about it. When you travel, stuff happens.

[Harleycat]

Now that I think of it, I beleive they make a statement in the Daily about being able to wear shorts in the MDR ithe first evening in the event that all the luggage isn't delivered in time. I think somebody panicked just a little too early:rolleyes:. I had one suitcase come an hour or so after the rest on my last cruise. Who cared. I was on a cruise! I was given a flyer the next day on some some msising luggage so all the passangers could see if they had it by mistake. Three pieces of luggage out of thousands. Not too bad. Again, as mentioned earlier, sometimes it is not the cruiselines fault but the Taxi driver (which I relaly don't tend to blame as the passnager should be watching to make sure all their bags are there) the Airlines, the Porters and the passanger themselves. (oops I left it in the car) I really don't feel there was any compensation necessary beyond what was offered you and you turned it down. I think that was being unresonable. Instead you got nothing. Oh wait! I forgot you got the " My luggage is missing and all I got was this lousy tee shirt" prize. :p

 

We didn't get our two main cases until 4 or 5 o'clock. I kept thinking I was going to be sent to the naughty room for my box of wine. I think it's amazing that they get approx 5000 pieces of luggage to all the cabins so quickly.

 

I think Tuesday or Wednesday there was something in our Freestyle Daily about 3 missing pieces of luggage. This is why I don't just rely on their luggage tags, I have tags with my business card, which includes my name and home number on my bags and hubby has something similar. I also put something inside with our names.

 

I agree the OP is being a bit unreasonable. They offered 3 different things none of which was good enough. People are not psychic. If you think something else is warranted speak up..the OP probably would have gotten a meal in a speciality restaurant. If this was an airline, and the luggage was delayed for a few hours, nothing would be offered except maybe a cheap toiletries bag.

[luddite]

First off, help us out by finding a different font. That typeface is REALLY annoying.

 

On to the important stuff. Obviously it was annoying to have had your bag misplaced for about 4-6 hours. Misplaced, not lost. We've had bags arrive after 9:00, so it was not that far past due. Annoying? Sure. Problem? Not a chance.

 

The desk clerk asked serious questions and you may be certain that it wasn't the first time thay had been asked. Why would they ask such questions? Because people leave bags in cabs, on curbs, etc. Lighten up, they have a job to do. She never told you 'stick it in your ear, I don't care'. Finding fault here is pretty well impossible.

 

You asked what would you do? Most of us would have rolled with the punch and enjoyed ourselves. This didn't approach being a worst-case scenario. You suffered a mild case of inconvenience, not a devastating trauma.

 

A good horse-trader would have accepted the bottle of wine and traded it for something else. My in-laws, both non-drinkers, regularly bring us the complimentary rum they are given. And to top off? They ask for nothing in return!

[myasmommy]

I am so new to the board, only found you guys days before we left for the cruise, but i have to comment on this because I was online right behind this poor lady when she was asking about her luggage. It seemed to me that these people did not care less that she may not have her cloths for the trip. I had so many issues with this cruise that I will post my own thread, but had to comment that I obsurved first hand this poor lady and how she managed not to break down in tears in front of them is beyond me. I wanted to break down in tears for her.

 

I am glad it worked out for you but they really should have shown more concern.

 

Thanks

 

Dawn

[LJH1]

Made it on the Dawn.... Seems like everything was going great... Till, we were missing a suitcase... I got mine bout, 2ish.... Mom, did not get hers.... We asked in the lobby about it around 3ish... They said, come back after 5pm... Ok... So we showed up at 5pm... Nope, was not there.... They said, come back later.... Yep, we did... Bout, 8pm we showed up again.... No suitcase.... But, they took us to where the luggage was that did not have any tags.... Nope, not there..... Then to another place.... Nope, not there either.... Later, they said... Ok.... We asked our cabin ppl bout it, they said they did not know... I then went out to the main desk, bout midnight.... Both mom and I were so upset... Maria, was her name, she said, after we complained, 'I apologize, did you leave it on the street when you got off the bus??? Did you leave it in the taxi when you got to the pier???' Duh!! We told her we paid to have the suitcase brought in and put on the ship... She said, 'Are you sure?' OMG!!! I can not believe how she acted.... I could feel the tears... She then said, 'did we have tags on the suitcases with our name on them.' We told her, YES!!!! She seemed so unconcerned, I could not believe it... I asked her, how she would feel if, it were her in our place.... She said nothing.... She then sent someone somewhere to look again... It was bout 12ish that someone brought a suitcase with a tag on it, with, my moms name.... They found it on deck 5.... She told us that there was no name on the suitcase... We then showed her the tag!!!!! She said nothing..... She did offer to take our suitcase to the room, but we said we would take it.... So, off to our room, everything was there.... The next day, I went up to her and asked her what she was going to do to make the mistake right... She said, 'chocolate covered strawberries.'... I told her she must be kidding!!! She then said, 'a fruit basket?'..... I laughed at her.... Then said, 'I can get all the fruit I want in the buffee'.... She said, 'then how bout some wine?' I told her we don't drink.... I asked her who's fault this is with the lost suitcase??? She said, 'no ones'.... All that time, thinking mom would have no clothes to wear!!! BTW, she did give mom a t-shirt to wear to bed... LOL.... Also, laundry service.... So, she was to wait in the room while clothes were to be washed... Great!!!! Someone needs to go to charm school... I know, we should have had more clothes in our carry on.... Who would have thought??? This was our excitement on our first two days.... I would not wish this on anyone.... Yeah, we did get the suitcase back... But all that time, the stress, of thinking, 'what are we going to do???'....... We did try to get over it... Move on.... How would you have dealt with something like this....

Anyway... We went to the m/g... It was great to meet everyone there... Jolena, you are an angel.... Such a beautiful person you are..... Everyone was..... Thank you for taking the time to do this for us... Suzanne and Eric.... All the wonderful guests on the ship we got to know....

We did enjoy the island... The carriage ride was the best thing we did... I think, till I begin to think of everything else we did.... Swizzle Inn was so nice.... The lunch was great, along with the drink.... Dinner on the ship??? Was great also... Fredrick was our waiters name... He was a doll!!! I tried to get him each time we went to dinner.... We did do Salsa.... Food was wonderful.... The new menus.... I did not really care for it too much.... JMO.... The trip was over before we knew it.... Would I go again???? Will have to think bout it.... Barb

 

Stuff happens, airlines lose peoples lugage everyday why should the cruise lines be any different.

 

But line is you were not going to settle for anything less than a credit for your entirecruise right! Get over it!

[iheartbda]

.......I am glad it worked out for you but they really should have shown more concern.

 

Thanks

 

Dawn

Just wondering how should they have shown more concern?

 

I would venture to guess that "missing" luggage happens quite often on a ship and the employees know that 99,999% of the time it is not really missing and it will show up and not something for great concern.

 

They need to maintain a certain amount of neutrality so as not to upset the customer, who thinks their luggage is gone for good, does not get even more upset.:)

[pieshops]

i would have come across the counter and given her a big hug

[Kathyh1313]

It's got to be pretty upsetting to think about an entire cruise with only the clothes you wore on to the ship.:eek:

 

I have empathy for the opening poster...especially once the ship had sailed. Yes, it happens frequently that a bag is misplaced and then turns up, everything works out. But it also happens that people don't get their bag back as quickly. I am a large, fluffy woman, it would not be easy for me to replace my clothes, definately not on board, and still difficult in a port. I do pack some essentials in my carry on....BUT....I am an experienced cruiser...so I have learned.

 

Perhaps this cruiser's MOTHER is not an experienced cruiser and did not consider to pack some stuff in a carry on......

 

I think this person derserves some consideration for her feelings.....wouldn't you be upset, frustrated and maybe even scared, if YOUR luggage with ALL YOUR clothes didn't turn up until MIDNIGHT!

 

The front desk staff are customer service staff, it is their reponsibility to facilitate resolution to cruisers issues, concerns and problems AND to do it with empathy and understanding of that person's emotions and feelings. Sounds like empathy and understanding were lacking...that tends to get people who are upset even more upset. To the front desk person, this is routine...to the upset cruiser...this is far from from routine...therefore the front desk person must bring compassion to the cruiser.

 

You have to deal with the emotion first...then the rational makes more sense. A simple statement of understanding of how the person is feeling followed by a confident statement with issue will be resolved goes a long way. Then rationale questions like where did you last see your bag? Cab? Dockside? are tolerated. If the understanding is not shown first, then those questions feel like BLAME to the cruiser, increasing the upset....

 

Now, the choc covered strawberries/fruit basket/wine was not offered as compensation but as a gesture of apology and good will. As the luggage was found...compensation was not required....the gesture should have been sufficient...for the OP it was not...and that's too bad. Sounds like her emotions were still to raw for these gestures to seem sufficient...IF the front desk staff had demonstrated empathy in the first place, the OP emotions would not have been so raw THEN and NOW!

 

I would have taken the chocolate covered strawberries (double order please:D) as a token gesture of apology....

 

Getting down off my customer service soap box now......:o

 

Happy cruising, Kathy