Just off Rotterdam w/ a luggage "mix-up" - now what? (Also, I packed an AirTag...)

[jb008]

Turning to the crowd for some advice and hopefully some reassurance here.

Disembarked Rotterdam yesterday in Port Everglades and couldn't find one of our two large suitcases (we use a neon vertical strap, plus it had a standard luggage tag and the paper and disembark plastic tags when I stuck it outside our stateroom the night before). Spent a ~20 minutes looking for it, went through every black roller of similar size and no joy. Filled out the missing bag form, did another search along with a shoreside employee, finally called it quits and got in a cab to go to the airport.

 

Leaving the port, I get a ping on my iPhone as it turns out I'd stuck an AirTag in that bag (totally forgot and only my 2nd time traveling with it). My bag shows as 20+ miles North of me on the interstate and steadily progressing further North. I keep neurotically checking my "Find My" app throughout the day and I get home to WNY about the time my bag stops at its (temporary?) new home in Northern Florida (Zillow describes it as a >1MM home in a luxury resort area). I called the Lost Bags dept and had a nice chat with a Princess-HAL gentleman describing my adventure and sent him an email of my lost bag receipt and AirTag screenshot. We're hopeful this is all a silly mixup and that I might get my dirty laundry, my $8.50 in Puerto Rican coffee, and my probably irreplaceable Rotterdam Inaugural Season mug sometime soon. He reassures me people grab the wrong back regularly, and that the neon strap though helpful often fall off.

 

1. How often do luggage mixups like this happen?

2. At what point though does this transition from a "funny" to "but not funny ha ha, funny weird"

2. Anyone wanting to make bets on whether I get my stuff back?

3. Suggestions on next steps?

 

For grins, I actually priced out a flight down since I considered trying to reclaim my lost bag... but it was too expensive to actually do. I have a lot of frequent flyer miles... so a random flight to FL may still end up in the mix depending on how the next day or two goes.

[rodndonna]

It happened when we sailed the Rotterdam last September.

 

Luckily, the guy with the wrong luggage was on our HAL transport bus, and they figured out it was him since his luggage was all that was left at the port. Someone from HAL came on board and explained what they thought was happening, and then arranged for the parties to swap luggage at the airport (since they were both headed there).

 

Maybe not that uncommon? The guy who took the wrong luggage was seated behind us on the bus back to Amsterdam and it was funny hearing him talk it out with his wife. In the end .. he really didn't actually know which luggage they took on that holiday .."was it the blue or the black bag?" .. not what you want to hear after someone has left with luggage....

 

Really standout colour tags and ribbons are a good idea I guess. 

 

When the person gets home and realizes they have the wrong luggage, I assume (hope) they would contact HAL and that should start the road to recovery ...Good luck!

Edited December 29, 2022 by rodndonna

[jb008]

A relatively boring update to the story, the person who has my luggage reached out and we're in the process of arranging how to get my bag to me. His bag is still at the port, and the local port team is holding it hostage. They told him to take care of my bag first, and then they'll discuss how to reunite him with his bag 🤪

 

He heard the airtag pinging and is how he knew immediately his family member had grabbed the wrong bag.

[waiting2retire]

Always blame it on the “family member” 😁. Hope you get your bag soon!

[rodndonna]

12 minutes ago, jb008 said:

A relatively boring update to the story, the person who has my luggage reached out and we're in the process of arranging how to get my bag to me. His bag is still at the port, and the local port team is holding it hostage. They told him to take care of my bag first, and then they'll discuss how to reunite him with his bag 🤪

 

He heard the airtag pinging and is how he knew immediately his family member had grabbed the wrong bag.

 

 What is that pinging??? .. do you hear a pinging??? 🤔 😊

 

Great approach by HAL. Glad it is all going to work out... I figured he should be responsible for any effort or cost for you to get your bag back.

 

Love the way he blamed "another" family member - 😎

 

Edited December 29, 2022 by rodndonna

[jb008]

Person offered to ship it overnight on his dime as way of apology (we're using ground because its cheap and fast enough). He was very apologetic on the phone, and been cool to work with on this. I sent him a FedEx label and will try to get reimbursed by travel insurance - if not I'm happy to cover the modest shipping charge for his efforts to get it shipped to me so promptly. I'm feeling pretty comfortable that this is just a silly mixup and I'll end up having to do my post-cruise laundry after all, ETA on a shipment departing today is end of day Saturday to me.

 

The AirTag definitely provides some peace of mind for me, and has helped expedite getting this resolved. I'm sticking AirTags in all my luggage from now on fwiw.

[Daisyloo]

Glad that you will be reunited with your bag!

We bought suitcase covers that are super colourful and there is no way anyone could mistake them for their bags.  They are really easy to spot in the sea of luggage in airports and cruise-ports.  They were relatively cheap - about $25 each on Amazon.  

We also bought Air tags and they gave us peace of mind being able to see where our luggage was at all times.  

 

[Vict0riann]

Quite a story!  We love Air tags.  DH had a bag left behind at Heathrow and missing for two days in Copenhagen.  Eventually they let us in behind the scenes in Copenhagen and we used my phone like a Geiger counter to locate it under a pile of bags lying on the floor near a carousel.  People watched as my phone told us 50 metres, 40 metres, etc.  we wouldn’t have heard it pinging under the pile of bags, but I do check the sounds at home.  
 

we were a bit nervous flying this time, too, but I could at least be sure the bags were on our flights with us..

 

PS I even put one in my carry-on, just in case…

Edited December 29, 2022 by Vict0riann

[Love the beach]

9 minutes ago, Vict0riann said:

Quite a story!  We love Air tags.  DH had a bag left behind at Heathrow and missing for two days in Copenhagen.  Eventually they let us in behind the scenes in Copenhagen and we used my phone like a Geiger counter to locate it under a pile of bags lying on the floor near a carousel.  People watched as my phone told us 50 metres, 40 metres, etc.  we wouldn’t have heard it pinging under the pile of bags, but I do check the sounds at home.  
 

we were a bit nervous flying this time, too, but I could at least be sure the bags were on our flights with us..

 

PS I even put one in my carry-on, just in case…

Good idea about the carry on.  I've had to check my carry on due to no room in overhead bins!

[jb008]

2 hours ago, Daisyloo said:

Glad that you will be reunited with your bag!

We bought suitcase covers that are super colourful and there is no way anyone could mistake them for their bags.  They are really easy to spot in the sea of luggage in airports and cruise-ports.  They were relatively cheap - about $25 each on Amazon.  

We also bought Air tags and they gave us peace of mind being able to see where our luggage was at all times.  

 

 

I didn't ask, but I'm wondering if my neon strap is what got me in to trouble this time. There was only like 4 in total in the sea of luggage, so I'm wondering if they grabbed the big black bag with the neon yellow vertical strap and assumed it was their bag because the strap was so unique? <shrug>

I have an AirTag in my laptop bag and on my dog's collar. It was reassuring but a bit sad to check in from ST. Thomas on Christmas day to know she was safely at the boarding facility but to also see she was like 1,500 miles away. I wish I'd thought to watch my bag though yesterday morning - I might have caught it before leaving if I'd thought to beeline for it because of the AirTag. Live and learn on this one.

[57redbird]

43 minutes ago, jb008 said:

 

I didn't ask, but I'm wondering if my neon strap is what got me in to trouble this time. There was only like 4 in total in the sea of luggage, so I'm wondering if they grabbed the big black bag with the neon yellow vertical strap and assumed it was their bag because the strap was so unique? <shrug>

I have an AirTag in my laptop bag and on my dog's collar. It was reassuring but a bit sad to check in from ST. Thomas on Christmas day to know she was safely at the boarding facility but to also see she was like 1,500 miles away. I wish I'd thought to watch my bag though yesterday morning - I might have caught it before leaving if I'd thought to beeline for it because of the AirTag. Live and learn on this one.

We have yellow straps as well but I had our last name sewn onto the strap --- hard to grab the wrong bag, I hope.

[GeorgeCharlie]

We just returned from a South American cruise on the Oosterdam, which included a stop in the Falkland Islands to see the penguins.

 

We thought our suitcases reflected our expectations. 

 

They were also easy to spot on the luggage carousel.

🤠

[3rdGenCunarder]

I always thought ribbons, etc on bags were because people were too dumb to know what their own bags look like. Now I know that it's so those dumb people don't take mine!

 

I couldn't find my bag in Brooklyn after a QM2 transatlantic. The port staff were wonderful, helping me look and giving me the paperwork. We took one last look at the color/number area where my bag SHOULD have been. There was another black garment bag sitting all alone. It had a tag for Something of the Seas leaving Bayonne that day, so we were pretty sure we knew where my bag was--on its way to Bayonne.

 

The woman in charge called the Bayonne port and put a hold on Mr. Idiot's file so that when he checked in, the question about luggage would come up. They did ask him, and he said he had all of his bags, which means he was counting mine as one of his own. His bag was put on a van to Bayonne, and the Brooklyn woman made a few more calls, but nobody in Bayonne found my bag. I got a call the next day saying the good news was that they knew where my bag was. The bad news was that it was on its way to the Caribbean. It had been found in a hallway on the Something of the Seas. If it was delivered to Mr. Idiot's cabin, he didn't have the decency to do anything about it. When the ship returned to Bayonne, my bag was delivered to my house by port services, no charge. When I opened the bag, everything looked as it should, so I guess Mr. Idiot didn't try to wear any of my evening gowns. 

 

[iflyrc5]

One time we were doing the self debark.  They had us wait in BBKing and called us by group number to leave.  They called our number and as I get up I see a woman hauling my roller duffle off down the hall.  It is a somewhat unique bag with a neon yellow strap.  She had no idea she had the wrong bag.  Some people are just space cadets.

[jb008]

I have blaze orange duct tape - it will be going on my black bags before I leave for cruises from now on as an extra layer of visibility.

 

The gent dropped my bag off at FedEx this afternoon, and the tracking number shows it is now in transit with an ETA of later this week. My bag will be a little late arriving home, but all's well that ends well.

[BermudaBound2014]

I’m in the market for a tag. Any brands better than others? Anything I need to be careful buying? I have an iPhone 14 promax if that matters.

[oakridger]

@jb008Thanks so much for posting your experience!  I thought I had my bags uniquely identified but I'm going to enhance the visibility even further!!!

 

~Nancy

[propwash]

As a another safety note, we use TSA approved luggage locks on our bag zippers. Luckily we've had no problems.

Danny

[TiogaCruiser]

Glad to hear your bag is on the way.

 

23 hours ago, jb008 said:

A relatively boring update to the story, the person who has my luggage reached out and we're in the process of arranging how to get my bag to me. His bag is still at the port, and the local port team is holding it hostage. They told him to take care of my bag first, and then they'll discuss how to reunite him with his bag 🤪

 

 

Good on HAL or the port. 
 

I have a non-descript black suitcase that I spray painted large purple circles on. The decorations add no weight and really make it stand out.
For places where I want a bit more security I use a bright purple cover and locking strap, to make it just a little harder and take longer to get into.

[DaveOKC]

If this happens to you, an idea (if you have time) is to wait in the baggage claim area to see if any similar looking suitcases are not claimed.  Then take note of the information on the tag.

[Tn gal]

My husband stenciled stars with white paint on our luggage (pretty inexpensive luggage). Never had a problem and we can usually spot our bags getting put into the cargo holes on the airplane.

[GeezerCouple]

Yes,

"His bag is still at the port, and the local port team is holding it hostage. They told him to take care of my bag first, and then they'll discuss how to reunite him with his bag "

is pretty impressive.

 

As for us, we are among those with the bedraggled ribbons (REALLY ugly and tacky - as they break or fall off, we just add a few more) - and we added some duct tape that is clearly meant for something like a 10 year old's birthday party, incredibly sparkly.  Some of those strips have fallen off, so we'll be on the lookout for something else obnoxious.  (Yes, we just LOVE checking in at something like the Four Seasons with luggage that looks like that, ahem...!)

 

But what we finally feel (no pun intended) is going to help most is:  the handles, what someone would grab first without really looking, is wrapped in something with a very odd texture to it.  I really have trouble imagining someone starting to pick it up without doing some sort of doubletake, "What the &$%# am I FEELING on this!?"

 

Yes, it could be removed (very strong velcro, but not gorilla glue... but hmmmm...!) but this is for the UNplanned snatch the wrong bag, not for the bag thief types.  Those latter are a different category entirely.

GC

[shack]

One word or maybe two - depending whether you count the hyphen.  25+ cruises CARRY-ON only.  Pack to dress in comfortable layers and don't do formal nights.

 

1. Buy the laundry package or cruise on a ship with launderette(s) - Viking is great for this

2. Roll aboard the airplane

3. No baggage claim at airport or cruise terminal

4. No ass-pain pre-packing the night before disembarkation and wondering what will show up in the terminal with what straps/tags/penguins

5. No air-tags

6. No stress

7. If you need something that wasn't packed in the rollaboard you can usually buy it on the ship or ashore

 

Why make it harder than it has to be?

[0106]

6 hours ago, shack said:

CARRY-ON only.

People are amazed that I cruise with only a carry on. Two weeks through the Panama Canal, didn’t even need to do laundry.  My friend who had 5 suitcases was borrowing things like hair ties from me.🤣. Two weeks on European transatlantic- stuffed a bag of laundry for $30  once.  My keys are to roll clothes and to limit shoes.

[jb008]

UPDATE: The gent dropped my bag off to FedEx on Thursday afternoon. FedEx relocated it to a local depot where my AirTag shows that it still sits (Saturday AM), about 400 miles south of the delivery spot. I'm thinking FedEx is not going to make their advertised delivery date of end of day today. 🥺

 

This is the strap and style of how I'd had it on my bag (pic from Amazon, so not my bag)

 

The last night of the cruise, DW and I discussed whether to carry our bags off or leave them outside the door. I wanted to do self-assist and she really wanted to just leave it outside the door... oh the irony. 

 

Edited December 31, 2022 by jb008