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Unattended backpack on beach


julpet01

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My DH & I will be on the Caribbean Princess in October. We will be going to the beaches while in the ports at St. Thomas, St. Martin, & Princess Cays.

 

DH will carry cards & $ in waterproof wallet while we are in the water. But what to do with my back pack that will have towels, sunscreen, camera, sunglasses, clothing, etc. Will it be safe just to leave it on a towel?

 

Thanks....Julie

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My DH & I will be on the Caribbean Princess in October. We will be going to the beaches while in the ports at St. Thomas, St. Martin, & Princess Cays.

 

DH will carry cards & $ in waterproof wallet while we are in the water. But what to do with my back pack that will have towels, sunscreen, camera, sunglasses, clothing, etc. Will it be safe just to leave it on a towel?

 

Thanks....Julie

Absolutely not safe to leave anything valuable. Don't bring or leave anything on the beach that you can't afford to lose, particularly your camera(s). If you're planning to go to the beach and leave stuff there, your best bet is to get waterproof disposable cameras and bring those with you.
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When we visit a beach in port, we always try to hook up with others doing the same thing from the ship. That way there always has seemed to be someone available to watch the items left on the beach while everyone takes turns swimming. Only place I have ever left things unguarded was at Princess Cays and never had a problem there.

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We usually ask other pax from our ship if they would mind watching our things, if they were close by.

I had someone from another ship ask if she could place her things next to mine while she went in the water...

I have never had any problems. Nor have I seen anyone steal....I usually keep an eye out on my surroundings....

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I don't take anything really valuable to the beach, only what I could lose without feeling more than mild annoyance, ie sunscreen, hat, towel, etc. We only take our good camera if we have enough people along that someone will be with our stuff all the time. Other times we take disposable waterproof cameras; we've had more than one good camera ruined by water/sand in a beach setting.

 

Some beaches have lockers to rent also, and you can use a water wallet for the necessities like money, credit cards, ID and cruise cards.

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You're kidding right?

 

If you are not, think of it this way: expect anything you leave on a beach unattended to be stolen, because it is definitely a possibility. Don't leave anything you can't afford to lose. If it isn't stolen, then it's a bonus that you got it back.

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I bought my DH swimming trunks that have a small zippered pocket for our cruise ship cards, a Visa card and a few small bills. We also take a disposable camera and a mesh bag for our snorkel gear, towels, sunscreen, etc. It has sure worked for us.

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They make a waterproof fanny pack for snorkeling. It is large enough to put your camera, money, and keys (for when we were driving one time in Hawaii. Obviously not necessary on a cruise.)

 

The only thing left that might get stolen was our towels, but they have not been stolen yet, but I have asked someone nearby to watch them before.

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No joke......
I understand that you're asking a serious question but I also understand where he's coming from. Put in another light, if you were visiting NYC and spent the day in Central Park, would you consider leaving your valuables on a towel unattended or with strangers? When you're on a cruise, you're in a foreign country so common sense would equally apply.

 

On our recent Sea Princess cruise, a couple from our CC roll call were in London pre-cruise and having lunch at McDonalds. They put their backpacks under their chairs and enjoyed their lunch. As they were leaving, they realized that one of the bags -- the one with their cameras -- was missing. Long story short: McD's ran the security tape and it turns out that the woman sitting directly behind them had reached back and under the chair without turning around, removed the bag, passed it under the table to her male companion who placed it in a newspaper. Someone walked past the table and was handed the newspaper. The couple finished their lunch and strolled out. Very slick. Who would have thought?

 

When you're in a foreign country, don't assume anything.

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If you must leave things on the beach take them all out of a backpack and

lay them around your open towel. Things like sunscreen, other towels, etc.

Most people are not likely to steal those things. A full backpack on the

other hand could contain valuables, and a would be theif can just grab the

whole thing not realizing there is nothing they would want inside anyway.

I always put valuabes in a small waterproof bag inside a fast drying

fanny pack and swim with it. It has worked for us so far.

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When you're in a foreign country, don't assume anything.

 

I wouldn't assume anything, even in my own country. Others have posted here the same sentiment. When you are out and about treat it as though you are going anywhere else. Don't flash expensive stuff, don't attract too much attention to yourself, and don't tempt the less moral individuals who may cave to the temptation.

 

More importantly, have fun.

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Like others have said, we don't bring anything valuable with us.

 

What's usually in my tote bag is extra clothing, sunblock, books. Whatever we were wearing over our suits is usually on our towel or chair, we've already applied our sunblock before going to the beach and before going into the water, so stuff in back pack is "extra".

 

That said, we do leave our unaccompanied back pack/tote bag on the beach and so far have never had anything happen to it. We don't try to "hide" it, under a blanket or under a chair, but leave it smack dab in the middle of the chair/towel.

The bag and/or back pack that we use are old and not expensive, our shoes when we go to the beach are well worn sandals and flip flops, so that discourages interest.

 

Also, my usual "tee shirt cover up" is bright red. We can spot it almost a mile away, so I make sure that THAT is prominent - it is easier to keep our eye on our stuff when we can easily pick out our stuff from the water. Not that we could ever get out of the water quickly enough if someone was stealing it...

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