Lost luggage

[brillohead]

At the end of a Mariner cruise out of PC, I couldn't find my suitcase..... but there was a kinda-similar suitcase there. 

I searched for contact info on the similar suitcase, and tried calling them (they were from England).  I got in touch with their son in England, who then tried to contact his parents, but they were driving to Orlando and didn't have their phones turned on.  

In the meantime, I had to get going to catch my flight.  I filled out the RCI form for my missing luggage and headed to the airport.  Halfway there, I got a call from the guy in England; he had finally gotten in touch with his parents, and they were headed back to PC with my suitcase to switch it out with their suitcase.

A few days later, FedEx delivered my suitcase to my house.  Royal picked up the tab on the shipping.  

[papaflamingo]

15 hours ago, rudeney said:

 

Yep:

 

https://www.unclaimedbaggage.com/

 

It's just over 2 hours from where I live, but I've never bothered to go look.  I have heard people getting some amazing deals and also some "interesting" finds.

My Daughter in Law is from Scottsboro Alabama.  I've been to the Unclaimed Luggage store a few times. Yes... you CAN get some amazing deals.  If you're ever in the area, worth wandering and see what's there.. 

[loman]

10 hours ago, seasidemama said:

 

Seriously though, who packs jewelry in their checked suitcases? 😵

We dont bring any jewelry while on vacation. Just basics .

Not interested in impressing anyone in poorer locations while on vacation.

[BND]

First, we never cruise with black luggage.  Ours are light blue, red, green.  I also have a piece of unique cloth tied around each handle. We also have luggage tags that only people who worked for the same company my DH did (2000 employees) as we used to take annual trips with the company and they gave us unique tags for the places we were going to.  32+ cruises and we've never had a bag taken by mistake or misplaced/lost.  I also don't pack anything of value in our luggage. It all goes in our carryon's-jewelry, cash, prescription meds, cameras, laptops.  All someone who took my luggage would get is dirty clothes, shoes and some toiletries and possibly my travel hairdryer depending on which bag was taken.  It literally is just lack of attention to detail which is a huge pet peeve of mine.  It's very easy to confirm that a suitcase is yours so why just grab one that "looks" like it?  Makes no sense.

[rudeney]

1 hour ago, BND said:

First, we never cruise with black luggage.  Ours are light blue, red, green.  I also have a piece of unique cloth tied around each handle. We also have luggage tags that only people who worked for the same company my DH did (2000 employees) as we used to take annual trips with the company and they gave us unique tags for the places we were going to.  32+ cruises and we've never had a bag taken by mistake or misplaced/lost.  I also don't pack anything of value in our luggage. It all goes in our carryon's-jewelry, cash, prescription meds, cameras, laptops.  All someone who took my luggage would get is dirty clothes, shoes and some toiletries and possibly my travel hairdryer depending on which bag was taken.  It literally is just lack of attention to detail which is a huge pet peeve of mine.  It's very easy to confirm that a suitcase is yours so why just grab one that "looks" like it?  Makes no sense.

 

I traveled for years with a black Delsey bag that looked like everyone else's black bag.  Like your husbands company, my company had distinctive, bright yellow luggage tags made with the company logo made for trade show schwag.  On more than one occasion, I'd see someone grab my bag off the carousel, with the big yellow tag flopping around.  Ugh!

[CGinMTL]

This is why I self disembark.  One less thing to worry about. 

 

[Diver2014]

This won't get your luggage back but.....I go to some place that sells cut rate luggage and buy the ugliest bag I can find.  Last one was an ugly beige with little pineapples all over it.  No one ever touched it.  I don't understand folks who spend a lot of money for brand name bags.  If you ever saw what happens to those bags once they are handed over.....

[cruiselvr04]

7 minutes ago, Diver2014 said:

This won't get your luggage back but.....I go to some place that sells cut rate luggage and buy the ugliest bag I can find.  Last one was an ugly beige with little pineapples all over it.  No one ever touched it.  I don't understand folks who spend a lot of money for brand name bags.  If you ever saw what happens to those bags once they are handed over.....

While I wouldn’t buy LV bags I do invest some in our bags just because I want them to last a few years of travel.  I want them to also be lightweight so I can pack a lot in them.  Suitcases do take a lot of abuse.  We use Samsonite and Delsey.  
 

I tie bath poofs in bright colors on the top handle.   So far so good. I keep them short so they don’t get caught in machinery.  I’ve thought about marking them with neon X’s on the outside to identify them too.  
 

We have not had trouble so far on ships.  When we used to fly out of Omaha our bags were often delayed, literally almost every time.  DD bags for her honeymoon were never found.  Someone got cute tiny dresses and lingerie.  The airport we use now is much better and of course nonstop flights whenever possible.  

[rudeney]

11 minutes ago, Diver2014 said:

This won't get your luggage back but.....I go to some place that sells cut rate luggage and buy the ugliest bag I can find.  Last one was an ugly beige with little pineapples all over it.  No one ever touched it.  I don't understand folks who spend a lot of money for brand name bags.  If you ever saw what happens to those bags once they are handed over.....

 

I don't buy expensive luggage, but I also avoid those "second-tier designer bags" they sell at places like TJ Maxx.  You know, the Vince Camuto, London Fog, Steve Madden, etc.  My daughter bought a set of luggage like that for about $120 and it didn't make it through the first trip.  My wife once bought some expensive luggage with cute red and white stirpes and a lot of fancy trim.  The first trip we took, they ripped off one of the handles and the white fabric was horribly stained.  She learned her lesson. 

 

My 25+ year old Delsey finally bit the dust - all the plastic stiffening inside disintegrated due to age, but the rest of the bag was still going strong.  I replaced it with a TravelPro.  We'll see how it does. It's survived two trips so far.

[orville99]

34 minutes ago, cruiselvr04 said:

While I wouldn’t buy LV bags I do invest some in our bags just because I want them to last a few years of travel.  I want them to also be lightweight so I can pack a lot in them.  Suitcases do take a lot of abuse.  We use Samsonite and Delsey.  
 

I tie bath poofs in bright colors on the top handle.   So far so good. I keep them short so they don’t get caught in machinery.  I’ve thought about marking them with neon X’s on the outside to identify them too.  
 

We have not had trouble so far on ships.  When we used to fly out of Omaha our bags were often delayed, literally almost every time.  DD bags for her honeymoon were never found.  Someone got cute tiny dresses and lingerie.  The airport we use now is much better and of course nonstop flights whenever possible.  

Man walks up to the counter at the airport with three bags to check for his flight to Los Angeles. He tells the agent to send the first bag to Omaha, the second bag to St. Louis, and the third bag to Memphis. That agent says, “sir, I can’t do that” to which the man replies I don’t see why not, that’s what you did to them last week.😇

[BND]

43 minutes ago, rudeney said:

 

I don't buy expensive luggage, but I also avoid those "second-tier designer bags" they sell at places like TJ Maxx.  You know, the Vince Camuto, London Fog, Steve Madden, etc.  My daughter bought a set of luggage like that for about $120 and it didn't make it through the first trip.  My wife once bought some expensive luggage with cute red and white stirpes and a lot of fancy trim.  The first trip we took, they ripped off one of the handles and the white fabric was horribly stained.  She learned her lesson. 

 

My 25+ year old Delsey finally bit the dust - all the plastic stiffening inside disintegrated due to age, but the rest of the bag was still going strong.  I replaced it with a TravelPro.  We'll see how it does. It's survived two trips so far.

We use mostly Samsonite, a couple of Amazon Basics and a couple of American Tourister's.  We own quite a few pieces.  When we drive, we take 30" bags but when we take the train we take 28".  We also have small bags and a rolling duffle.  None of them cost over $175 per piece and they have all lasted for years.  We just tossed our 20 yr old 30" Samsonite.  It had been on so many trips and was literally falling apart.  My DH used to travel a lot for work also up until about 4 years ago.  

[Seville2Cabo]

Our 25 year old Samsonite wheeled garment bag is starting to pull from a seam.  We really like the bag as we just pull hangers and put in closet - much faster to pack.  Having hard time finding replacement.  I guess no one uses them much any more.

 

On another thought - I think the reason people take the wrong bag is that no everyone travels 4 or more times a year.  Some travel once every year or 2 and they really don't remember what their bag is or what their bag tag looks like.  They are in a rush, see a bag that reminds them of what they think they have and grab it.

[orville99]

14 minutes ago, Seville2Cabo said:

Our 25 year old Samsonite wheeled garment bag is starting to pull from a seam.  We really like the bag as we just pull hangers and put in closet - much faster to pack.  Having hard time finding replacement.  I guess no one uses them much any more

This one from Amazon is virtually identical to the one I used throughout my career. Bought this when mine finally bit the bullet.

[Seville2Cabo]

2 minutes ago, orville99 said:

This one from Amazon is virtually identical to the one I used throughout my career. Bought this when mine finally bit the bullet.

Thank you. This is one we are considering.  

[seasidemama]

3 hours ago, loman said:

We dont bring any jewelry while on vacation. Just basics .

Not interested in impressing anyone in poorer locations while on vacation.

 

Well seems enough people do AND pack them in checked luggage. I looked at the website selling articles recovered from lost luggage and there are diamond rings, tennis bracelets etc. Not sure what kind of logic/planning prompted this packing strategy..

[CruisinNole]

18 hours ago, Marie51 said:

The name, address and phone number is on the outside of the luggage so they know who we are but how do they get it to us?

When we were not able to find one of our bags in Miami, I reported it to a woman in the baggage claim area who took all the info. Our tag was #2. We searched through bag tags numbers into the 30s and gave up because we rode down with friends who wanted to hit the road. About 2 hours later we get a call. The bag had been placed in the wrong bag tag area, in with bags with tag #38. They wanted us to drive back and pick up the bags. Of course, we told them that was not going to happen and since this was their fault, they needed to ship it to us. We were told that we'd have to pay. I called C&A to complain and we had our bag two days later, no shipping fee. I took a photo of the bag with its two #2 bag tags still attached in case they tried to charge us later on. You should have gotten a special number to call for status on the bag.

[okiedrifters]

21 hours ago, 14Terry said:

I pack an Apple air tag in every piece of luggage. 

Will not travel without one!!! Know exactly where your bags are… 

[cruiselvr04]

I have found suitcases in the wrong numbers and had to search for them.

 

We have 2 Samsonite rolling garment bags.  These are my favorite for cruising.  Everything for evenings stay on hangers.  It also has room for more stuff toward the bottom for packing cubes and a big outside pocket we sometimes use for dirty clothes on the way home.  Love those bags!  

[loman]

29 minutes ago, Seville2Cabo said:

Our 25 year old Samsonite wheeled garment bag is starting to pull from a seam.  We really like the bag as we just pull hangers and put in closet - much faster to pack.  Having hard time finding replacement.  I guess no one uses them much any more.

 

On another thought - I think the reason people take the wrong bag is that no everyone travels 4 or more times a year.  Some travel once every year or 2 and they really don't remember what their bag is or what their bag tag looks like.  They are in a rush, see a bag that reminds them of what they think they have and grab it.

You are being too kind . Anyone that takes a bag that looks like theirs and doesnt check the name tag is an idiot .🤣

[love to cruise 2017]

1 minute ago, cruiselvr04 said:

I have found suitcases in the wrong numbers and had to search for them.

 

We have 2 Samsonite rolling garment bags.  These are my favorite for cruising.  Everything for evenings stay on hangers.  It also has room for more stuff toward the bottom for packing cubes and a big outside pocket we sometimes use for dirty clothes on the way home.  Love those bags!  

looking for suiycases with garment brackets to replace our old ones.....cant find anywhere ...any thoughts ?? 

[ZoeyVictoria]

The only time we had a bag delayed at debarkation, the tag had fallen off.  We had gone to Guest Services to request earlier debarkation tags.  We were given the tags, but the numbers were not updated online.  The tag fell off the bag, the i.d. on the outside of the bag was checked, his account was checked and the bag was placed in the area of the original tag number.  

[orville99]

15 minutes ago, love to cruise 2017 said:

looking for suiycases with garment brackets to replace our old ones.....cant find anywhere ...any thoughts ?? 

Best for hanging garments.DW puts all of her dresses in it, and it still has room for my suits (and nothing wrinkles). When I travelled for a living, I could pack everything I needed from suits and shirts to shoes undergarments and Dopp Kit for two weeks in one of these with no problems.

[love to cruise 2017]

thanks ...will take a look. do they still make suit cases with hangers?? 

[rudeney]

25 minutes ago, love to cruise 2017 said:

looking for suiycases with garment brackets to replace our old ones.....cant find anywhere ...any thoughts ?? 

I like those brackets, too  Check out the TravelPro - it has the bracket and is what I bought last year. 

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DL4DYMW

 

[rudeney]

1 hour ago, BND said:

We use mostly Samsonite, a couple of Amazon Basics and a couple of American Tourister's.  We own quite a few pieces.  When we drive, we take 30" bags but when we take the train we take 28".  We also have small bags and a rolling duffle.  None of them cost over $175 per piece and they have all lasted for years.  We just tossed our 20 yr old 30" Samsonite.  It had been on so many trips and was literally falling apart.  My DH used to travel a lot for work also up until about 4 years ago.  

 

I had an old hard sided Samsonite that was one of the first suitcases with wheels.  It was great!  I now have an ultra-small Samsonite carry-on that I use mostly for my computer and it's great, too.  They make very good luggage.  I only chose the TravelPro that I have now because it has the internal bracket system for folding and securing hanging clothes.   I find that works best to keep my clothes looking god when traveling.