Theft from safe on Equinox - is it worth reporting it to head office?

[poolreader]

Hello:

 

Luckily I have not had any thefts onboard any ships. That said, we sailed 7-8 times on Silversea with a very wealthy distinguished English couple. Very kind people and on the first cruise we were together His gold Rolex disappeared and she lost a diamond earring. They called housekeeping who turned over their room looking for it and these items were never to be found.

.

 

Two months after her death we received a note from him that the watch had been found and so had the diamond earring which his daughter was going to make into a pendant...It has somehow made it into a pocket of an old handbag.

 

 

 

I had necklace go missing on a ship. It was not expensive, but it was my favorite. I think my husband had actually knocked it into the trash the morning after I wore it last, because I heard a clunk and when I asked him what he put into the trash he said it was nothing. I went to wear it the next night (the last night of the cruise) and it was missing. I reported the loss and they searched the cabin. We grabbed our bags from under the bed, packed, and put our bags in the hallway.

 

When we got home I found the necklace in an outside pocket of my DH's suitcase. I think the cabin attendant found it in the trash, but got nervous after the reported loss and stuck it in the suitcase. So maybe the missing Rolex was put into the purse by a guilty party.

[hulamoon]

I am not Sherlock but I guess I could play one on CC. I do think it would be terribly unwise to steal all money and jewelry from a safe. So much better to skim and have everyone wondering if the money was miscounted.

 

I misplaced a necklace on a ship once. I told my cabin steward about it and asked him to keep an eye out for it. It turned up a couple of days later in a drawer, I was perplexed how it got there, I guess I shall never know. Not being an expensive necklace it would be hard to believe someone would take it.

 

I have also found single earrings under the felt in safes left by others.

 

For those winning large sums, is there another option other than cash?

[warmwinds]

We had ALL our shore excursion tickets go missing on this last cruise. Whole envelope full. Not a big deal since we were sure we could get them replaced, they keep records.

 

We were waiting for the SEO to open when we got a call from THEM. Someone had put the envelope of our tickets in their office.

 

Only thing we could think of was that the shelf we had them on had a slight space in the back and they slid down - right into the trash can below (this is on the M class, the shelves by the desk). Someone must have seen them in the trash and retrieved them for us.

 

We tore the room apart looking for them.

 

What was odd was that if the room steward saw them in our trash, he could have just left them in the room. It had to happen with the NEXT step of where the trash goes, when it was commingled with other's trash. Very strange.

[caladezi]

 

What was odd was that if the room steward saw them in our trash, he could have just left them in the room. It had to happen with the NEXT step of where the trash goes, when it was commingled with other's trash. Very strange.

 

I really doubt that the room stewards go thru the trash to see what is there. I seriously doubt that anyone would take excursion tickets out of your room to use them, specially crew members. People need to learn to take responsibility for their own actions and not blame others for everything that happens.

[warmwinds]

Huh? What's your theory as to how they ended up in the shore excursion office? We keep the envelope on the shelf and only take out day by day what we need.

[runnerandme]

On one of our "behind the scenes" tours, we were told all trash is gone through and seperated. That is likely how the tickets were found and returned to shore excursions office.

 

I remember thinking I would hate that job!!

[caladezi]

Huh? What's your theory as to how they ended up in the shore excursion office? We keep the envelope on the shelf and only take out day by day what we need.

 

No theory, just asking why you would expect your room steward to go thru your trash and find your ticket envelope.

[warmwinds]

Show we where I said I "expected" the room steward to go through our trash.

 

I said "if he saw them".

Edited October 25, 2014 by warmwinds

[wacruiser77]

From Celebrity's point of view they have a daunting task balancing honest cruiser's situations with those other types who will do anything to scam the cruise line. Not saying yea or nay to this thread but there are always various sides to any question.

[Orator]

Excursion tickets in all probability would be useless to room stewards. They have short time on shore and most remain on the ship while in port. A few crew are rewarded for outstanding service by getting a tour as an "Escort".

In terms of this thread: None of us know the entire story and can only speculate. Would like to see a follow up by the OP once some time has passed.

[Maz_1]

Yes, definitely report it. It is theft at the end of the day & it shouldn't happen.

 

I will be double checking our safe every time I leave the cabin in future & also checking how much is in the safe.

 

They must have a a master key to unlock the safes because I am sure there will be someone on a cruise who locks their safe & forgets their code.

 

Marion.

[warmwinds]

I NEVER said or implied the room steward took our tickets! I said they accidentally fell in the trash and someone found them (thanks to the other poster, I now know they DO go through the trash at the second stop, makes perfect sense).

 

My POINT was that stuff happens...would we ever expect our tickets to fall down the back of the shelves into the trash can? Well, that's exactly what happened. So my POINT was before you go accusing room stewards or anyone else, and you are SO SURE you put things where you put them, that even if you DO put things where you put them, the strangest things can still happen.

Edited October 25, 2014 by warmwinds

[Orator]

Yes, definitely report it. It is theft at the end of the day & it shouldn't happen.

 

I will be double checking our safe every time I leave the cabin in future & also checking how much is in the safe.

 

They must have a a master key to unlock the safes because I am sure there will be someone on a cruise who locks their safe & forgets their code.

 

Marion.

 

Twice the batteries died while my safe was locked. They had to use a drill to open the safe.

[Orator]

According to two different security sources the most common spot to lose something in the safe is the small gaps at the front sides of the safe. Be sure to use to check for rings and such by feeling inside the space. I know someone who thought they lost a ring and that's where security found it.

[fleckle]

According to two different security sources the most common spot to lose something in the safe is the small gaps at the front sides of the safe. Be sure to use to check for rings and such by feeling inside the space. I know someone who thought they lost a ring and that's where security found it.

..... or just put a zip lock bag or 2 inside the safe and keep all small items inside a closed zip lock bag.

 

Things do shift around inside the safe with the motion of the ship.

 

[Caribbean Chris]

From Celebrity's point of view they have a daunting task balancing honest cruiser's situations with those other types who will do anything to scam the cruise line..

 

Or do anything to scam their insurance company, with a theft report form to back it up, after they return home, in the case of tangible property like expensive jewelry.

 

Truly, they see it ALL on the ships.

[blindrid]

Hello:

Moral of the story is: We are all human.....We all make mistakes. We all forget doing something and then remember when we find that item. For what does not appear to be a lot of $$ these people made this situation uncomfortable for the cabin attendants and IMHO I would have just let it go....These people still had to interact with the people they accused every day.....For $100....ugh. Choose your battles. This is not one I had chosen.

 

I agree. I've found things that I knew we lost in cracks and crevices in safe. Lost stuff around the house, to find them wherever, etc.

 

I blame it OB busy minds (work wise) but I have to admit I do a lot of things on auto-pilot not even thinking. AND I'm getting older (but won't admit it to DW :rolleyes:).

 

I prefer to trust people as a result (albeit some do not deserve it). Take the normal precautions and don't look back.

[Cruise Raider]

I would definitely write the e-mail address provided by Celebrity earlier in this thread. They tend to make things right, within reason and it sounds as though you are being reasonable.

They certainly don't want to lose paying customers over something like this.

I was on a Carnival cruise once and we always put lemon wedges in our water glasses, tea mugs, etc. We would leave the dirty glasses in the room and all was well until our toilet plugged. It was obvious that our room steward was tossing the lemon wedges into the commode instead of the garbage. The plumber came to fix our problem per our request (not knowing it was lemons causing the issue) and he down right accused us of doing it. Well, my dad was a plumber and never would I throw anything down the toilet except those items for which it was meant to handle. We told him we hadn't done that and he actually called us liars. I was so furious...never booked with them again. I knew we hadn't thrown even one lemon wedge down there but he insisted we did and that we were lying and the worst part ... he showed us the proof...that was beyond gross. But the moral of the story, besides sailing on Carnival, is that business is lost when passengers are made to feel like they aren't believable. It leaves a bad taste ... and it could be avoided with some decent customer service skills. I would take it further and then give Celebrity another chance....this is not the norm.

[Charles4515]

I'm also of the opinion that the room steward did not do it and the OP is mistaken than the cash is missing.

 

I don't believe the cabin attendents took it either. Or any other crew member. I think the OP is mistaken. I can think of a number of ways that could be. Just the description the OP gives of how they counted it and divided it up leads to many possibilities.

Edited October 26, 2014 by Charles4515

[ladylemondrop]

Just want to say hello to wine-o and eddies girl, lovely to hear from you and to know you still enjoying cruises, as are we, sadly not all at the same time this time! Sorry for hijacking thread, please continue...:D

[genian_travels]

I will be emailing Celebrity's HO to express my disappointment at how the situation was handled and the unprofessionalism of the staff who dealt with us. I will post an update with their response as and when I get it.

 

In the meantime, I just thought I would respond to a few more points/issues raised. To be honest, I'm pretty surprised at how quick most people are to think I must be mistaken and in the wrong, or suggest my husband is lying to me, despite already explaining the situation. It's nice to see how much benefit of the doubt the stateroom attendants are being given - it's a shame I can't be afforded the same luxury...

 

For what does not appear to be a lot of $$ these people made this situation uncomfortable for the cabin attendants and IMHO I would have just let it go....These people still had to interact with the people they accused every day.....For $100....ugh. Choose your battles. This is not one I had chosen.

 

It was $220 that went missing - for some people, that is a lot of money. If you can afford to lose that amount without concern, then maybe you could donate a similar amount to me to make up for our loss ;) The attitude of 'just letting it go' is probably how and why a lot of small thefts go unreported on cruises. So yes, this is a battle I would choose to take up.

 

I'm also of the opinion that the room steward did not do it and the OP is mistaken than the cash is missing.

 

I agree with this opinion. However, there is another possibility that perhaps the husband (they are newlyweds) decided to borrow part of his new wife's share and along with his money try to double their winnings. He may have lost it all and either been embarrassed or afraid to tell the new wife. What better way to explain the loss than to claim that the steward took it?

 

I don't believe the cabin attendents took it either. Or any other crew member. I think the OP is mistaken. I can think of a number of ways that could be. Just the description the OP gives of how they counted it and divided it up leads to many possibilities.

 

Fair enough, that's your opinion. I don't really appreciate the accusation my husband was deceitful and is actually quite offensive. I'll explain the circumstances again and Charles4515 do please tell me how this leads to the many possibilities you can think of how we are still mistaken.

 

- we took a picture of the casino slot machine win stating how much money we won ($490). The cash desk gave us the winnings in 4x $100 bills, 1x $50, 2x $20.

- after the roulette ($50 bill) win we immediately went back to our cabin @12:30am and counted the winnings. We split this equally between us - handily this meant we each had 2x $100, 1x $50, 1x $20. I folded my share in half (so the $100 was visible) and put it in my evening purse - the only purse I took on holiday and the $270 was the only money in it - and put it in the safe. My husband folded his in half, put it in a money clip and put in the safe.

- we went to bed together - he didn't leave the cabin again, didn't go back to the casino, nothing. The next day we were in port so the casino was closed i.e no opportunity to spend it.

- we went to breakfast the next morning around @8.45am. The money was gone by 12pm. We spent the entire time in each other's company - to go into dull detail, playing table tennis and Xbox Kinect.

- as I only had 4 notes in the purse, how could I be mistaken when one of the notes goes missing, especially when of the notes is a $100 bill and accounts for almost half of the money?

- as we were with the money for almost 9 of the 12 hours (during which time we were asleep), and the only other people confirmed in our cabin for the other 3 hours were the attendants, how can they unequivocally be ruled out of taking it?

 

Our money is always in the safe, unless we are in the casino or using local currency on shore. We don't leave it on desks, put it in pockets, bags etc. The first thing we do when we come back from anywhere is put money in the safe.

 

The only doubt we are willing to accept is we didn't lock the safe after we put the money in it and then went to bed, forgetting to lock it again when we went to breakfast. We know we definitely locked it just after midday when we put our rings in it and went to the spa, but it's possible we didn't notice it was unlocked at the time, thinking the other party had opened it. If the safe was unlocked, yes that was down to us, but somebody still entered ours, opened the cupboard containing the safe and tried the door to find it unlocked. Then opened a purse and money wallet to take the notes out. We didn't leave it out in plain sight - some effort was made to get the money.

 

Caladezi - I don't really see how being newlyweds has any relevance to the situation. Are you suggesting newlyweds lie to each other? My husband and I have actually been together for 10 years and are fortunate enough to have a loving relationship where we're totally honest with each other. If he wanted to gamble more of the money, believe it or not he'd want to do with me by his side.

 

I appreciate we all misplace things sometimes or can be forgetful, however I would hope the above illustrates this is not the case in this instance. Myself and my husband are 34, have been on a dozen cruises and are pretty streetwise. Indeed we may have forgot to lock the safe in the first place, but you still expect your possessions to be secure in your locked cabin.

 

In any event, the purpose of this thread wasn't asking for people to pass judgement on whether I'm telling the truth or not, whether the money went missing, or who the culprits were. I was asking if I should report the poor subsequent treatment we received from staff to HO. You're entitled to your opinion as to what you think happened after looking at all the evidence, but negative or offensive comments aren't really helpful to anyone.

[blindrid]

Good afternoon:

 

I don't think anyone was malicious in their responses. I just they they relayed experiences on when and why things were not stolen. In doing so I don't think anyone suggest NOT reporting it.

 

As I mentioned earlier, I would. My complaint would be more about the staff indifference and then the missing money.

 

I don't recall you saying that you left the safe unlocked for a long period of time nuts that does not change my response. Report it.

[warmwinds]

Demon, again I'm just trying to help, since I know my husband and I are both very forgetful these days. Before we leave the cabin (or hotel room), it's a checklist of "do we have our keys? did we lock the safe? did we flush? (sorry) do we have the phone?". You'd be surprised how often it's "no, I need to go get that! thanks!". Our last morning in a hotel we BOTH go around checking through every drawer and closet. And I STILL lost a pair of shorts on this last cruise (I think it was up on the shelf in the closet and was way back where we couldn't see it).

 

But I'm curious as to where you kept the "other" money for your trip - you never mention it, just this newly-won money...was all the other money you had for other casino gambling, buying things on shore, paying for your taxi to the airport after the cruise, etc., also in the safe? And none of that was touched?

[Charles4515]

Good afternoon:

 

I don't think anyone was malicious in their responses. I just they they relayed experiences on when and why things were not stolen. In doing so I don't think anyone suggest NOT reporting it.

 

As I mentioned earlier, I would. My complaint would be more about the staff indifference and then the missing money.

 

I don't recall you saying that you left the safe unlocked for a long period of time nuts that does not change my response. Report it.

 

I have been on 48 cruises and have absent mindedly left my safe open a few times. I always have about $500 in the safe. Never had any missing from the safe or anything missing from the cabin. Knowing what I have experienced and what I know about ships crew I extremely doubt that regular cabin staff servicing a cabin would have anything to do with anything that was missing. I don't believe they took it.

 

With the recounting of how they won the money and divided it I can see multiple means for error in believing it was stolen.

 

Even that someone might have tried to increase their winnings at the casino and lost. Gamblers tend to get into it after having some wins and don't keep track.

 

As for the staff response, unless they have some hard evidence of a theft, or someone admitted to it, I don't think there is anything they could do.

Edited October 26, 2014 by Charles4515

[warmwinds]

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- we took a picture of the casino slot machine win stating how much money we won ($490). The cash desk gave us the winnings in 4x $100 bills, 1x $50, 2x $20.

- after the roulette ($50 bill) win we immediately went back to our cabin @12:30am and counted the winnings. We split this equally between us - handily this meant we each had 2x $100, 1x $50, 1x $20. I folded my share in half (so the $100 was visible) and put it in my evening purse - the only purse I took on holiday and the $270 was the only money in it - and put it in the safe. My husband folded his in half, put it in a money clip and put in the safe.

- we went to bed together - he didn't leave the cabin again, didn't go back to the casino, nothing. The next day we were in port so the casino was closed i.e no opportunity to spend it.

- we went to breakfast the next morning around @8.45am. The money was gone by 12pm. We spent the entire time in each other's company - to go into dull detail, playing table tennis and Xbox Kinect.

- as I only had 4 notes in the purse, how could I be mistaken when one of the notes goes missing, especially when of the notes is a $100 bill and accounts for almost half of the money?

- as we were with the money for almost 9 of the 12 hours (during which time we were asleep), and the only other people confirmed in our cabin for the other 3 hours were the attendants, how can they unequivocally be ruled out of taking it?

 

.

 

So, I'm again confused (that old age thing)...so what you wrote above makes it seem like you didn't count and divide the money until AFTER the roulette $50 win. Which you said in the first post was the second night - not the same, first night, when you had the bigger win.