"Lost" luggage after disembarking Eclipse in HNL

[luvthec]

Seeking advice from anyone that has ever had their luggage "misplaced" after disembarking an X cruise.

 

Long story short, we disembarked the recent 18 night Sydney to Honolulu (ended 5/9) sailing and went to retrieve our luggage from our group # and one of our bags was missing.  We waited for 1.5 hours until every piece of luggage had been brought off the ship, just in case our tag had fallen off.  The luggage was nowhere to be found.  

 

I filled out the "Personal Property Report" at the pier, was told to contact X's Risk Management Dept in a week to see if it had been found.

 

We left for the airport and prior to boarding our plane, we get a call that our bag had been found on another bus and they would be shipping it to us.  Okay, easy enough.  NOT!

 

I contacted X, was told I need to go to chargerback.com and fill out a claim form.  Done.  Called again to see if there were any updates, was transferred to the retreat desk, they told me the bag is probably back on the ship and would be sent from the next port.

 

Has anyone ever gone through this before?  If so, did you ever see your luggage again?  

 

 

[luvthec]

Side note, the person that had called us from the HNL pier is no longer answering our calls & texts. 

[NutsAboutGolf]

I travel more than most, I want to share this should be a wakeup call to everyone:

1) Buy apple air tags or tile tracking devices

2) Never put anything irreplaceable in the luggage you're going to put outside your stateroom or will check on a plane

3) PRO TIP, while more geared towards traveling on a plane, its still good advice for a cruise...In your carryon, always have a toothbrush, TSA-size-approved toothpaste, deodorant and any other toiletries you may need if you have an unexpected overnight stay.  If you have the room, throw in a pair of boardshort and Tshirt

 

In 2019 I did have a missing bag, I didn't hear a peep until 7 days later on turn around day, it most likely went on another cruise or it was lost in the terminal.  Filed a claim with X, was told if it wasn't found I COULD be reimbursed UP TO $250 yet because it was found I'm not sure how that process would work.  They called me, told me they found it, confirmed my address and to my surprise overnighted it (not cheap) to me and didn't charge me

[luvthec]

8 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

I travel more than most, I want to share this should be a wakeup call to everyone:

1) Buy apple air tags or tile tracking devices

2) Never put anything irreplaceable in the luggage you're going to put outside your stateroom or will check on a plane

3) PRO TIP, while more geared towards traveling on a plane, its still good advice for a cruise...In your carryon, always have a toothbrush, TSA-size-approved toothpaste, deodorant and any other toiletries you may need if you have an unexpected overnight stay.  If you have the room, throw in a pair of boardshort and Tshirt

 

In 2019 I did have a missing bag, I didn't hear a peep until 7 days later on turn around day, it most likely went on another cruise or it was lost in the terminal.  Filed a claim with X, was told if it wasn't found I COULD be reimbursed UP TO $250 yet because it was found I'm not sure how that process would work.  They called me, told me they found it, confirmed my address and to my surprise overnighted it (not cheap) to me and didn't charge me

This was a huge wakeup call for me.  I've always been concerned about missing luggage from a flight, I never gave it a second thought that someone could take our bag in error after disembarking a cruise.

 

I'm buying my husband a bright green suitcase with yellow ducks on it.  No one will every take it in error again.  I'm sure it was an innocent mistake, but it has left us with a huge mess.  

 

The airtag type device is a must from now on.

 

Thanks for your saga, I'll keep up hope.

[DogLover]

4 hours ago, luvthec said:

This was a huge wakeup call for me.  I've always been concerned about missing luggage from a flight, I never gave it a second thought that someone could take our bag in error after disembarking a cruise.

 

I'm buying my husband a bright green suitcase with yellow ducks on it.  No one will every take it in error again.  I'm sure it was an innocent mistake, but it has left us with a huge mess.  

 

The airtag type device is a must from now on.

 

Thanks for your saga, I'll keep up hope.

Our luggage has all kinds of reflective tape and ribbons on it ... there is NO way anyone can mistakenly think one of our bags belongs to them. We have been very lucky when it comes to cruising/international travel on flights and luggage. Last year, we purchased Airtags and have used them for all travel (including a trip to Australia) knowing exactly where our bags are.

 

I'm so sorry you are dealing with this mess and hope you are reunited with your possessions at some point.

[diesel1973]

You mention buying some distinctive looking luggage. We did this in the past with a wierd design on them. Sure enough someone had the same luggage as us and without looking at the tags took our luggage, Caught him luckily just before he went thru customs. Some people just never learn !!

[NutsAboutGolf]

Can also use something like this which are affordable

 

[DaKahuna]

 

We use the baggage straps with the TSA approved three digit combo locks.  

 

They are there more for identification than for security. 

 

 

[IrishMis]

This is a luggage story that’s half “confession” half “embarrassment”but fully happy ending. We live in Orlando and cruise quite a bit out of Lauderdale.  Most times we carry our luggage off so we can hit the road quickly.  But since turning 70 I have been badgering my semi-control freak husband that we should SLOW DOWN and let them do the work for us.  Soooo this past New Years cruise on the Reflection he allowed us to do that. We pack fairly light,  each 1 medium bag.  Mine is purple with lime green tags….pretty easy to find.  We were the first group off, each grabbed a bag and off we go to the turnpike.  2 hours into the drive I get a call from X saying they have MY BAG with my name on it in the terminal and believe I have someone else’s.  As no doubt you can imagine the next 30 minutes were pretty “unpleasant” though stronger words could apply😂.   I’ll spare you the rest of the gory details but  we were blessed beyond believe that the other couple lived in Fort Pierce and would be driving up the turnpike with our bag while we waited VERY PATIENTLY to correct my mistake.  They were as nice as could be which could have been WAY different…..because the delay didn’t improve either of our days but nothing as awful as you encountered.  Both bags WERE identical, Travelpro purple with lime green tags.   All of us were about the same age, had eaten next to each other in BLU 3 nights earlier.   Ohhh…..and just for a laugh….they said they spent the first hour looking for a black bag because they thought that’s what they brought.🫣😜watch out us old folks WE are everywhere🤷‍♀️.  If I meet you in a cruise I’ll see you at the walkoff.  Sue

[luvthec]

4 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

Can also use something like this which are affordable

 

Love it, I may go with this idea as my husband hasn't loved any of the "unique" luggage ideas.

 

[luvthec]

2 hours ago, IrishMis said:

This is a luggage story that’s half “confession” half “embarrassment”but fully happy ending. We live in Orlando and cruise quite a bit out of Lauderdale.  Most times we carry our luggage off so we can hit the road quickly.  But since turning 70 I have been badgering my semi-control freak husband that we should SLOW DOWN and let them do the work for us.  Soooo this past New Years cruise on the Reflection he allowed us to do that. We pack fairly light,  each 1 medium bag.  Mine is purple with lime green tags….pretty easy to find.  We were the first group off, each grabbed a bag and off we go to the turnpike.  2 hours into the drive I get a call from X saying they have MY BAG with my name on it in the terminal and believe I have someone else’s.  As no doubt you can imagine the next 30 minutes were pretty “unpleasant” though stronger words could apply😂.   I’ll spare you the rest of the gory details but  we were blessed beyond believe that the other couple lived in Fort Pierce and would be driving up the turnpike with our bag while we waited VERY PATIENTLY to correct my mistake.  They were as nice as could be which could have been WAY different…..because the delay didn’t improve either of our days but nothing as awful as you encountered.  Both bags WERE identical, Travelpro purple with lime green tags.   All of us were about the same age, had eaten next to each other in BLU 3 nights earlier.   Ohhh…..and just for a laugh….they said they spent the first hour looking for a black bag because they thought that’s what they brought.🫣😜watch out us old folks WE are everywhere🤷‍♀️.  If I meet you in a cruise I’ll see you at the walkoff.  Sue

if there had been any bag left in our group, I would have thought this was the answer.  They just grabbed the wrong bag in their haste to get to the airport.  But, there was not a bag left.  So, my next hypothesis is that it was a porter assisting a guest and just grabbed one too many bags.

[luvthec]

One of the most disappointing things about this situation is the lack of contact from anyone at Celebrity.  Since the original phone call from the cruise terminal worker, there has not been one Email, text or call from ANYONE at Celebrity.  It's been 10 days, you'd think there would be some contact.

 

 

[luvthec]

Lost luggage update.... one month to the day, our bag finally arrived at our house!

 

I want all of my mistakes to help any other poor soul that may have this happen one day:

 

1 - Do NOT wait to contact the cruise line as instructed by the port personnel.  

2 - Do NOT listen to the shoreside personnel that tells you, "there is no way the ship would have left the bag in Honolulu" (or whatever port you disembark).  "They would have put it back on the ship and taken it to the next port to ship it".

3 - Don't wait to escalate, go straight to the top if you have to.

 

It was 3 weeks before anyone at Celebrity bothered to get in touch with the port manager in Honolulu.  It was only after my DH contacted the president's office (of X, not the White House) that they finally called the port.  The port manager tells them he has the bag and was just waiting for instructions from X to tell him what to do.  

 

It was on a Fedex truck the next day and we got it in a week.

 

Between my DH and myself, we talked to 15 different people at Celebrity before we got this resolved.  Horrible follow-up on every level.  

[lienf]

I had this happen on an MSC cruise and the bag was found 2 months later. MSC were not helpful at all and when they found the bag the choices to return the bag were to pay $200 for the return or if not they would keep the bag. I tried to escalate the charge up the line but eventually I got no response. Now have Air Tags. Sounds like Celebrity handled the problem much better than MSC. 

[Jim_Iain]

On 5/18/2023 at 8:29 PM, DogLover said:

Our luggage has all kinds of reflective tape and ribbons on it ... there is NO way anyone can mistakenly think one of our bags belongs to them. We have been very lucky when it comes to cruising/international travel on flights and luggage. Last year, we purchased Airtags and have used them for all travel (including a trip to Australia) knowing exactly where our bags are.

 

I'm so sorry you are dealing with this mess and hope you are reunited with your possessions at some point.

 

I thought the same thing with a very unique bag.   One trip it was missing.    I contacted the Customer Service Rep... she spoke into a walki talki and then told me it was outside Customs that someone had picked it up in error.

 

I now have a bright Green Handle Wrap that says -   This Isn't Your Bag.     Also have my AirTags on them.

[PTC DAWG]

4 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

 

I now have a bright Green Handle Wrap that says -   This Isn't Your Bag.     Also have my AirTags on them.

Good ideas..

[luvthec]

56 minutes ago, lienf said:

I had this happen on an MSC cruise and the bag was found 2 months later. MSC were not helpful at all and when they found the bag the choices to return the bag were to pay $200 for the return or if not they would keep the bag. I tried to escalate the charge up the line but eventually I got no response. Now have Air Tags. Sounds like Celebrity handled the problem much better than MSC. 

Oh, the first of the 15 reps we talked to told me I'd be responsible for the cost of shipping it (from Honolulu to Virginia).  After that conversation it was decided that X would pay.  

 

I will be purchasing some kind of tracking device before the next trip.

[NutsAboutGolf]

8 minutes ago, luvthec said:

Oh, the first of the 15 reps we talked to told me I'd be responsible for the cost of shipping it (from Honolulu to Virginia).  After that conversation it was decided that X would pay.  

 

I will be purchasing some kind of tracking device before the next trip.

Like @Jim_Iain said, in addition to the trackers, get something like this.  Three reasons why:

1) For yourself, can identify them quickly and also when flying internationally and go through passport control, by the time you get to baggage claims, airport workers may have already pulled all luggage off, pack them tight off to the side

2) Prevent a other people from mistakingly grabbing it

3) Lowers your chances of a thief stealing it because It stands out so much, they usually want a generic black or silver/black bag as if they’re confronted they can’t push the excuse they took it by mistake

[dlh015]

5 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

Like @Jim_Iain said, in addition to the trackers, get something like this.  Three reasons why:

1) For yourself, can identify them quickly and also when flying internationally and go through passport control, by the time you get to baggage claims, airport workers may have already pulled all luggage off, pack them tight off to the side

2) Prevent a other people from mistakingly grabbing it

3) Lowers your chances of a thief stealing it because It stands out so much, they usually want a generic black or silver/black bag as if they’re confronted they can’t push the excuse they took it by mistake

I use the black and green straps (one of each) with these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07C2TRY1Y/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Looks atrocious but it's unique...lol...

[NutsAboutGolf]

45 minutes ago, dlh015 said:

I use the black and green straps (one of each) with these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07C2TRY1Y/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Looks atrocious but it's unique...lol...

I’d be begging for someone to steal that…lol

[ldubs]

1 hour ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

Like @Jim_Iain said, in addition to the trackers, get something like this.  Three reasons why:

1) For yourself, can identify them quickly and also when flying internationally and go through passport control, by the time you get to baggage claims, airport workers may have already pulled all luggage off, pack them tight off to the side

2) Prevent a other people from mistakingly grabbing it

3) Lowers your chances of a thief stealing it because It stands out so much, they usually want a generic black or silver/black bag as if they’re confronted they can’t push the excuse they took it by mistake

 

We use the wide bright yellow ones.  Have our names boldly written on them in indelible ink.