Making lemonade out of lost luggage and other daunting challenges.

[Liz Masterson]

I have a friend cruising with Viking now. Their luggage never made the trip! They are hoping to pick up a few things when they get to the next city. 

But I have to say she has a great attitude.

 

She’s been texting me things like:

::::::::
It’s such a lovely 🛳 ship .

We made a reservation in the Italian restaurant tonight …
Waiting for our one set of clothes to dry here in the launderette  so we can go to dinner .

I had a simply delightful  day …. Flash rained twice and cleared right up 
❤️💦
:::::

And:
::::::
I am on my veranda ... watching the sunrise 🌄 
with my cup of coffee and the soft, sweet swish of our ship gently sailing north ..., heaven !!!

One outstanding 
taste / experience 
after the other!❤️🛳
:::::::

And:
::::::::

This is an EXTRAORDINARY cruise experience... 
FABULOUS food 
and the staff treats us like royalty .
Sadly our 🧳luggage is lost and we only have the clothes on our back ! 
 We were excited to dock n go ashore today to shop for a few items , but alas we could not dock due to high winds …. We will be at sea ALL day cruising around until the ship can dock in The next city ❤️🚢💜💦
:::::::::

She really does have a wonderful attitude. 
She’s one of many mentors I have in my life and who I hold dear. 
 

So… if something goes wrong as we travel during this chaotic summer of 2022… perhaps we can try not to let even difficult challenges interrupt our joy more than a moment or two. 
 

Let’s do our best to enjoy our adventures together. Let’s try to enjoy the people, places, and things around us no matter where we are. 
 

I think we will have a more enjoyable trip if we try this, but it is up to you of course.

[Jim Avery]

Nice post.  Who needs clothes anyway?😎

[LindaS272]

Yeah, so next time someone judges a cruiser in a bathrobe in the World Cafe, best think twice! Could be these unfortunate souls! 😂

[Peregrina651]

 

On the pratical side, that's one good reason to pack a complete change of clothing, or at least clean undies, in your carry on  -- along with ALL of your expensive electronics and ALL the meds you will need for the entire trip and maybe a bathing suit.

 

Travel insurance barely covers the cost of your lost clothing let alone replacing cameras and computers.

[DGHOC]

What an absolute delight your friend is! I would be besides myself if my luggage was lost. On our pre-cruise extension in Umbria, two separate ladies lost their luggage. Our wonderful tour guide spent many hours on the phone chasing it down, eventually finding it and arranging delivery to the ship for the start of our cruise. Both ladies were wonderful too, we all offered items that they might need but again the lovely tour guide took them off into the local town to buy basics but with every excursion in every town visit they sneaked off to 'shop'.

[Liz Masterson]

1 hour ago, LindaS272 said:

Yeah, so next time someone judges a cruiser in a bathrobe in the World Cafe, best think twice! Could be these unfortunate souls! 😂

Exactly that! 
It could be you next time if the luggage transfer Gods decide to make it so!

[Liz Masterson]

My husband will be at work meeting in Europe the week before we sail. So I’m sending a set of PJs and undies and my bathing suit ahead with him… just in case. 

[Clay Clayton]

Good attitude from your friend-I agree that let’s hope everyone can have it when we cruise.
 

It’s an oldie but goodie-if you’re checking a bag per person, split your clothes among the two bags. That way if one of them is delayed you’ll at least have half your clothes.  
 

Of course the easier thing to do is to learn to pack light and never have your bags leave your sight. We can travel for 12 nights in our rollaboards and DH custom made underseat bags. 
 

[jasardeax]

What a great attitude your friend has in handling this situation. 
Happy that she is enjoying the cruise anyway. 
She would be a joy to travel with, and seems to take one day at a time. 
She, apparently, has no baggage. 

[Mich3554]

We met a cruiser on our last ocean cruise whose luggage was lost and she was on the trans Atlantic from Barcelona to Buenos Aires.  She did try to go shopping, but as she was a larger woman she didn’t find much she could wear that fit in Barcelona.  Between what she was able to find, and what other women on the cruise loaned her, she managed to make do.  

[lackcreativity]

Liz,

Tell your friend I hope I get to travel with her one day. I would be happy to buy her a drink! I am sure she would be a pleasure to spend time with.

[lackcreativity]

4 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

On the practical side, that's one good reason to pack a complete change of clothing, or at least clean undies, in your carry on  -- along with ALL of your expensive electronics and ALL the meds you will need for the entire trip and maybe a bathing suit.

I could live without a bathing suit, but every time we set out on another adventure I am amazed how much I can actually fit in my small carry on. I wear a pair of jeans, and stash spare tops, black dress pants, and a couple tunics along with some undergarments in the carryon. Throw in the meds and camera, squish in a pair of ballet flats, and I could manage for  a while. People might wonder why I was wearing the same clothes every other day, but I would not have to confine myself to quarters. 

I have my friends here on Cruise Critic to thank for that advice, and I didn't even have to learn it the hard way!

[Peregrina651]

4 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

Of course the easier thing to do is to learn to pack light and never have your bags leave your sight. We can travel for 12 nights in our rollaboards and DH custom made underseat bags. 

 

 

It took a while, but we finally figured it out. And, it saves us money because there is no room for souvenirs. 😉 

 

Clay, tell DH that every time I see those bags he made, I am in awe.

[Peregrina651]

4 hours ago, jasardeax said:

She, apparently, has no baggage.

 

Groan! But still LOL.

[bbtondo]

Last fall for my Viking Ocean Med cruise my checked luggage was "lost" for 46 days.  I have posted about my experience before, so I won't re post that. LOL

 

BUT, tell your friend to talk to Viking guest services onboard  and ask for free laundry.  Viking immediately gave us free laundry services when our luggage didn't show up on the ship.

[Clay Clayton]

12 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

 

It took a while, but we finally figured it out. And, it saves us money because there is no room for souvenirs. 😉 

 

Clay, tell DH that every time I see those bags he made, I am in awe.

I am also!  They work great for us for a weekend also. 

[Clay Clayton]

1 hour ago, bbtondo said:

Last fall for my Viking Ocean Med cruise my checked luggage was "lost" for 46 days.  I have posted about my experience before, so I won't re post that. LOL

 

BUT, tell your friend to talk to Viking guest services onboard  and ask for free laundry.  Viking immediately gave us free laundry services when our luggage didn't show up on the ship.

Same was true for folks on our first TA when they didn’t have their luggage until we got to Madeira.  As I recall, they also comped them some clothes from the shop. 

[TayanaLorna]

57 minutes ago, bbtondo said:

Last fall for my Viking Ocean Med cruise my checked luggage was "lost" for 46 days.  I have posted about my experience before, so I won't re post that. LOL

 

BUT, tell your friend to talk to Viking guest services onboard  and ask for free laundry.  Viking immediately gave us free laundry services when our luggage didn't show up on the ship.

Our luggage was lost on our very first Viking cruise.  We did not pack clothing changes in carry on at the time but we flew from a warm to cold climate so wore layers to travel.  We did not use Viking Air but Guest Services were excellent in tracking our luggage for us.  We had Chefs Table reservation and asked if my DH could dine without wearing a collared shirt.  They said no but asked his size and provided a collared long sleeve shirt for him to wear as well as a polo shirt.  They also gave us free express laundry service for our clothing.  Instead of going to the WC for lunch in our robes, we ordered room service. We did the planned all day Viking excursion and had no time to shop.  Our second piece of luggage arrived in our room minutes before sail away fortunately.  

[Mich3554]

Our first TA, we arrived in Lisbon without our luggage.  As we had never been to Lisbon before, we chose to arrive 3 days early.  Our luggage did show up before we left, but DH and I had a plan that if it didn’t arrive by a certain time, we were going to need to do some shopping.  I halfway expected our luggage not to make our flight, as we had a horribly tight connection in AMS as our flight was nearly 2 hours late getting in.   
On that cruise, our next stop was the Azores, then nothing until Bermuda.

[jasardeax]

20 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Groan! But still LOL.

The bad “DadJokes” have matured  into bad

“Grandad Jokes”

[Peregrina651]

5 hours ago, jasardeax said:

The bad “DadJokes” have matured  into bad

“Grandad Jokes”

 

You should hear them when they turn into even worse "Great-Granddad Jokes." I learned at my father's knee and he hasn't given up the franchise yet. My mother just turns a deaf ear -- always has.

[Liz Masterson]

Wow...

Apparently my fiend is not the only one traveling in Europe without her baggage! Yikes...

 

Hoping there's a lot of lemonade being squeezed and memories being made beyond those quick shopping trips!

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10929565/Heathrows-great-mountain-uncollected-luggage-gets-BIGGER.html

[Peregrina651]

Liz,  how could one ever hope to pick out their luggage in that mess?

 

Well, I have a choice here: I can look for my luggage or I can make my connecting flight. Guess what my choice is!

 

 

 

 

[Liz Masterson]

15 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

Liz,  how could one ever hope to pick out their luggage in that mess?

 

Well, I have a choice here: I can look for my luggage or I can make my connecting flight. Guess what my choice is!

 

 

 

 

MAKE THAT FLIGHT! 🙂

 

And it's a warning to pack essentials in your carry on! 

I'm making sure I have:

Meds, bathing suit, LBD that I can wear as a cover up and to dinner, fresh undies including socks, an extra shirt & PJs. (I actually have PJs that could pass for dinner... so those.) And I'm going to wear my black dress walking shoes onto the plane. They slip on and off easily and will do if they are all I have for a day or two.

 

I'll have a few things in my husband's checked bag and visa versa... so if only one bag is lost it won't be too bad. And it's actually now an advantage that we are not traveling to the start of our adventure together. He has to be in Europe for work the week before... so we will meet up in Oslo. Me via BOS and AMS. Him via BER and FRA.

 

I think that's a pretty good plan.

 

 

[Peregrina651]

1 hour ago, Liz Masterson said:

MAKE THAT FLIGHT! 🙂

 

That right! To perdition with the luggage! I have everything I need in my carry-ons.