Lost Luggage

[Project_gal]

I tie matching ribbons to ALL of the handles on all of my bags....That way, they are pretty distinctive. Hubby is awful at finding our bags, and he knows our "ribbon scheme"...he just has lots of trouble with colors, so a dark red bag looks black to him, I guess!

 

There are very many people using this system. Just stand and watch any luggage carousel. We use distinctive patterned luggage, coloured luggage tag AND coloured locks. I can recognise our luggage from a long distance. As our porter came towards us with the other person's bag I said "that is not our case" as soon as he came in sight. Our problem was[if you read my earlier post] that OTHERS are not so discerning disregarding size, number of handles and locks just because the case fabric was the same pattern and had the same luggage tags.

 

Unfortunately, being able to recognise your own bags is not the issue. Rather it is other people's stupidity [in our example] or dishonesty [as a previous poster suggests].

 

In our missing case, there was all our formal wear. My newest dress, alone. cost US$435 just two weeks pre-cruise. I cannot understand why anyone travels without insurance.

[sandancer]

I know I am going (slightly) off post here but I would like to ask if anyone has used the luggage delivery service provided by some US airlines. We are going to be in Florida for 3 weeks pre-cruise and will take a couple of internal flights where for a reasonable fee, the airline will deliver our luggage to the hotel. Has anyone ever used this service? I feel a little nervous about being out of control although the idea of not hauling bags on and out of taxis etc. is very appealing.

 

 

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[HappiTravels]

I just thought that I would come back with an update on my lost luggage. After 5 weeks Celebrity decided that my luggage was officially lost and offered $600.00 as I had some of my stuff and my daughters in the case. I will now need to open a case with my travel insurance company and hope that they will offset the rest of the costs. Thankfully I wasn't carrying any electronic equipment or jewellery. When I created a speadsheet of our ordinary belongings that were in there it was just over $2000.00. What a pain to have to replace this stuff.

[middlehaitch]

Thank you for updating us on your luggage.

I am sorry to hear it is officially lost, and hope that between Celebrity and your insurance you can replace the items that were in the case.

The sad part is, somethings, though of no great value, just can't be replaced; the good part is, you and your daughter get to go shopping, hopefully together with a nice lunch break.

 

Cheers, h

[freddiebud]

I buy bright color duct tape and make huge X on my bags. It helps me identify it quickly and others realize it is not theirs. With that said, my luggage (all of it!) went missing for an entire cruise. It finally arrived at home 4 days after I got home. Luckily I purchase insurance, which covered basics but unfortunately, there was no place to buy clothes on the cruise. :( It did not stop me from enjoying my travels - any day on vacation is better than a day at work!

[AyseErinc]

We have disembarked from Celebrity Infinity on 13th March, at Valparaiso. It turns out that my parents have left a small suitcase in their room 9167, under the bed. I have contacted the lost luggage of the Celebrity and I am told that the suitcase was never found. As it was never taken out of the room to be picked up, how can Celebrity claim that it is never found out?! Infinity should still be on its way to Miami so I would assume the suitcase would still be on the ship. Does anyone know how to reach the cruise hotel management as any contact information I reach is far from the actual management. Thanks

[4774Papa]

HappiTravels -

 

I'm a bit surprised that more folks have not posted here about their experiences. I'm guessing this is NOT a representative sample of how often something like this happens.

 

Interesting that you had this issue on the Reflection at the port of Miami.

 

I had an issue with lost luggage in 2013. I was returning from Europe on the Reflection 2013 westbound transatlantic. Since my partner and I were staying in Miami post-cruise, there was no need for us to rush off the ship. We signed up for the latest time possible as we were going to try to avoid the lines and then proceed on to our hotel and hope for an early check-in.

 

Anyway, I'll move things along here... we left the ship around 9:45 AM and went down to the area to collect our luggage. I had never disembarked anywhere that a series of carousels were used. Finally, we started to see our luggage appear. We found 3 of the 4 pieces pretty quickly. Unfortunately, the one piece that didn't show up was my carry-on piece. It was TUMI (quite expensive) in a color (Spruce) that is no longer available for sell. I have several pieces in this color. After 20+ minutes, the carousel stopped turning and no more luggage came out. At this point, all you can do is flag down an employee to fill out a form for lost/damaged luggage. My piece of lost luggage was probably filled with 500-700 USD of clothes and other irreplaceable personal effects. The piece of luggage alone is valued at $500 (if it could be replaced). If you don't have travel insurance, the most you will get from Celebrity is $300 (regardless of the value of the contents).

 

My baggage was clearly marked (inside and out) with my contact information. Had someone taken my bag by accident, they would have been able to easily contact me using my mobile number on the luggage tag. I would have been happy to have made arrangements to pick up the luggage myself (had it been someone local). Unfortunately, nobody called me during the 24 hours I was in Miami before catching my flight. I was heart-broken.

 

I suspect that my luggage was intentionally taken (STOLEN) by someone.

 

The Celebrity customer service for this part of the process SUCKS. They are not very helpful and do not follow up in a timely fashion. It's like you are left doing all the work and Celebrity doesn't seem concerned at all. After all, it wasn't their property and they seem fine with applying an amount of $300 to anyone/everyone regardless of the value of luggage and its contents. Probably one of the many things stated in the "cruise contract" that we are forced to accept whether we agree or not.

 

I am sorry to hear about your situation. I hope you receive some good news.

 

 

P.S. The moral of the story for me is that I no longer allow the ship to handle my luggage at the end of the cruise. Since NOV 2013, I have cruised twice and have self-disembarked with ALL of my luggage on each trip.

 

I seem to remember reading that luggage theft is more prevalent in some cities. I think Miami is one of those cities. Not sure if that applies to airport and/or cruise terminal.

http://pandce.**************/thread/306364/worst-airports-luggage-theft

 

Here is the list of airports from that post.

According to 2012 data the TSA provided to ABC News, the worst airports for luggage thefts are:

 

 

1. Miami International Airport

 

2. JFK International Airport

 

3. Los Angeles International Airport

 

4. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport

 

5. Las Vegas-McCarren International Airport

 

6. Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and New York-Laguardia Airport

 

8. Newark Liberty, Philadelphia International, and Seattle-Tacoma International airports

 

11. Orlando International Airport

 

12. Houston-George Bush Intercontinental Airport and Salt Lake City International Airport

 

14. Washington Dulles International Airport

 

15. Detroit Metro Airport and Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport

 

17. Boston-Logan International, Denver International and San Diego International airports

 

20. Chicago O'Hare International Airport

 

 

Read more: http://pandce.**************/thread/306364/worst-airports-luggage-theft#ixzz43LyXAHUT

[cruisestitch]

""We have disembarked from Celebrity Infinity on 13th March, at Valparaiso. It turns out that my parents have left a small suitcase in their room 9167, under the bed. I have contacted the lost luggage of the Celebrity and I am told that the suitcase was never found. As it was never taken out of the room to be picked up, how can Celebrity claim that it is never found out?! Infinity should still be on its way to Miami so I would assume the suitcase would still be on the ship. Does anyone know how to reach the cruise hotel management as any contact information I reach is far from the actual management. Thanks"

 

It's practically impossible for passengers to contact hotel management, but Captain's Club can do it. I would call that number and give them all the details, and ask them to send an email to Infinity. Be polite and persistent -- it can be done.

[fantasy51]

A very bad place for lost luggage is Rome. A friend and I were on a Cunard cruise last August. Our flight back to London was a charter flight and unfortunately we were put on the last bus to arrive at the airport. Imagine standing in line for over an hour waiting to check in, as there were only 2-3 desks open trying to process everyone at once. The flight was slightly late leaving; the pilot said he was waiting for the last of the luggage to be loaded. When we arrived in London, we were among the first off the plane but had to wait until the carousel was clear before the authorities would admit that both of our suitcases were missing. There was quite a line from our flight waiting to register missing luggage, and all of us had been in that last lot to check in. We were told by someone that there are often luggage problems out of Rome. I think they are too slow to load the luggage and so the plane leaves without it. The cases were delivered to our house 2 days later.

 

Recently among the Cunard posts there was a very sad one about a woman whose case (containing her wedding dress and other memorabilia, taken on the ship when moving to a new country rather than sent through a carrier) went missing at the end of the voyage. There was a very similar case left and she took down all the details and tried to contact the owner with no luck. Possibly the owner was still on holiday and had disposed of the case rather than carry it around. Cunard tried contacting the person, but they only make 3 attempts and if there is no answer, then they give up. I think if you have sentimental contents then you should try self-disembarkation with that suitcase.

[Jane2357]

Lost or stolen luggage - what a sad ending to a vacation! If someone wants to steal luggage hoping for goodies inside or the luggage itself - they will chose the expensive stuff. Tumi, Hartmann, Vuitton, etc. expecting a bigger payoff on the contents.

 

Thus - I now use my Tumi or Vuitton carry-ons - which are never out of my hands - and buy inexpensive luggage at TJ Maxx - for anything that leaves my control. The more beat up it looks the more likely that they won't be choosing that bag to steal.

 

I also pack all of my expensive evening gowns in a rolling garment bag - that also does not leave my control. What Celebrity is offering as compensation is an absolute joke.

 

While I do continue to tie a neon pom pom to each bag - I also take brightly colored duct tape and wrap around each handle - pink is what is on currently and yes I even do DH's. :o And because the luggage is inexpensive - if it is a light enough color like red - I take a permanent marker and put our last name visibly right on the material of the bag.

 

Remember to always have your cell phone number on your luggage tag, if an honest person finds or needs to return it - they can quickly contact you.

 

 

Vulcan1971 - so sorry about your Tumi :( I had mine for about a month when an airline worker insisted it had to be in the hold even though it was my carry-on (very small plane) they then THREW it - missing the luggage cart, of course it was scratched and they claimed "wear & tear". :mad:

 

 

 

[4774Papa]

I have never understood why some people spend three figures on luggage. I suppose it is a personal thing.

 

We travel a lot and in the past 6 years we have gone through two suitcases each. Of course, those suitcases cost $70 each. We did decide to upgrade to something more resilient and now have luggage that probably cost about $200 each. This luggage will wave no red flags of expensive to any potential thief.

[Dall]

We bought straps in bright colors with our names embroidered on them in BIG letters. Knock on wood, no problem with our luggage being taken accidently.

[ptrpanpens]

Can someone who has put in a claim to their insurance please explain what documentation you need to provide them to get reimbursement? Do you give them photos if the items, a list, etc. ? I often take new clothing on a cruise with the price tags still on but cannot imagine that an insurance company would just take your word that a t shirt was worth $80 or even more, etc. even when true.

 

Or do they just give you the max allowable as long as you give them a list.

 

I always keep valuable and/or irreplacable items in a carry on or dont take them at all because anything can happen with the airlines or when luggage is left after a cruise no matter what precautions you may take. I know people who take old clothes on a cruise and throw it away as they go, but this does not make for an enjoyable cruise, IMO.

[awhfy]

I have Large neon straps with our last name (not a normal name) embroidered on it -- neon duct tape & neon ribbons on our cases. DH was horrified the first time he saw them until we got off the ship in San Juan & saw someone wheeling our cases away (good thing DH is a runner). He caught up to the young couple & said I believe those are my cases. The man said, no they're mine. My DH asked to see something with his last name on it & the man put down the cases & left. Obviously they were trying to take something that didn't belong to them. We are now big fans of Luggage Valet

[az_tchr]

got off late and our bag not there. Waited 45 minutes until only 1 bag left. called the number on the tag and the miserable SOB had my bag and refused to bring it back. Called police. Reported my bag stolen. FedEx delivered my bag 2 days later. We carry ours off now as people simply do not look.

 

PS - My bag was black like all the rest with a giant florescent orange stripe in spray paint. The idiot that took it said he did not see the stripe!

[Ereggae]

My last experience disembarking in Miami was a nightmare so I will never cruise from there again. The carousel system was a disgrace as it took us well over two hours to get our bags. They changed the system because of the longshoremen who did not want to do the heavy lifting.

Fort Lauderdale, on the other hand, still uses the old color-coded system where they stack the luggage in order so it is much more efficient.