Cruising Without Luggage!

[jeana]

Has anyone had the experience of having to cruise without luggage -lost /delayed by the airlines? :eek:

 

How did you cope?

 

Jeana

[lougee1043]

Has anyone had the experience of having to cruise without luggage -lost /delayed by the airlines?

How did you cope? Jeana

 

have never been this unlucky but its the reason i fly into a port a day early-- if something happens to my luggage i have a chance of getting it back in the 24 hrs before i have to board ---if not --- we will have to do some shopping at every port

[jp2001]

It never happened to me but it's probably not fun at all.

I always bring a carry-on for the items you should never check:

Cruise docs

ID

money

credit card

copies of ID

medications

prescription for the medications.

Jewellery

 

I also bring a few clothing items and minimum makeup, it usually lists like that:

- Lip balm (can't live without that)

- Lip gloss

- Mascara

- 2-3 elastics for my hair

- 2 underwear sets (panties, bras, socks). They can be washed if needs be.

- 1 bathing suit

- 1 pair of shorts

- 1 short skirt

- 3 cute t-shirts or tank tops (not plain cotton t-shirt but not glittery or anything like that, they would be ok with shorts or even with the skirt for dinner if needs be).

- casual sandals

What I wear to board the ship is usually sneakers and casual pants and top but the pants and top could be worn to the dinning room if needs be.

 

I would buy more items at the first port. Let say we get stuck on the ship for a full week without any ports? I could even live with only what I brought in my carry-on (sure, I prefer to have 2-3 outfits a day but they are not an absolute necessity).

Really, 1 short, 1 pants, 1 skirt and 4 nice mix-and-matching tops + 1 pair of nice casual sandals and a pair of sneaker if I want to walk a lot would be doable.

[newmexicoNita]

I did read about someone not too long ago that lost thier luggage. I think it was on NCL. The story was not a fun one. Our daughter did leave one of her pieces of luggage at home when we did Alaska about 7 years ago. Thank goodness we always fly in early. In this case we had planned on spending about 3 days in Vancouver. As soon as she realized what she had done, it was off to the nearest mall. One time we were doing our yearly trip to Vegas: We were about 2 hours from home, stopped for breakfast and I asked DH about our hanging bag. It contained most of our clothes; well, after thinking for about 20 seconds some words I would rather not write on this thread came out of his mouth. Without having to tell me, I knew it was still hanging in his closet. Where else does a hanging bag belong?

Because we were stopping for the night in Flagstaff, AZ, we were saved. Our credit card and Ross' became very friendly that afternoon. We were in Vegas the next day, new cloths and all....Nita

[DonLou]

We always got our luggage except for once and that was our fault.

 

We were sitting at the airport on the way to Miami for our very first cruise. I looked at my wife and asked her where the carry on bag was. She looked at me and said she thought I had taken it.:eek: Too late to go back home (thank God we didn't need a passport).

 

In Miami, we bought the minumum amount of toiletries and I found a bank to withdraw some more cash. My wife also found some cheapie jewelry at a local store there. When we got home after the cruise, the carry on bag was sitting atop our bed in the bedroom. It looked so lonely.

[SuzMate]

We had it happen to us, not because of the airline, but the hotel. You can read about it here.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=420600

 

At first we were devastated, but we determined not to let it ruin our cruise. Now it's something we laugh about.

 

What I've learned is - CROSS PACK!!!

[dyslexic pirate]

We traveled with a large group and somehow at the dock my luggage and one of DH bags were never loaded onto the ship. (even though we watched it get loaded with the other 200 pieces from our group!)

 

I had a gut feeling by 8pm that first night that I was in for quite an adventure over the next 7 days.

 

I wore a dress out of the lost and found box for a formal night. Borrowed shoes from a lady in our group. Wrapped up in a sheet for another night. (Costa-toga night)

 

Had free laundry service from the ship, this enabled me to wear my shorts/shirt over & over again! Picked up a few t-shirts on islands.

 

But it was very liberating not having to fuss about what to wear. I didn't have any makeup so unless I tracked some down (from teen daughter and friends) I just slapped on sunscreen and pulled my hair back and went and had fun each day.

 

I figured I could be pissed and make an issue of it and rain on everyone's parade...or I could file the proper forms etc on board and deal with it when the cruise was over.

 

Quite a few passengers found out about our dilema and would stop by to chat about how we were doing, had they found the bags etc. Also heard from others about how they'd coped when they lost bags.

 

If your bags are lost it is a pain in the keester getting everything settled (home owners insurance/cruise line covered a good portion of value) but DON'T let it ruin your cruise. Just look at the fact that it will probably never happen again and it was part of the adventure of this ONE cruise you were on.

 

My only regret was that my teen daughter's formal clothes/shoes/jewelery were packed with mine and she wasn't able to dress up. But we still went to dinner and she held her head high in her flip flops and casual sundress. :)

 

BTW- I never pack cash, credit cards, documents, passport. They were all with me in my carry on. All the stuff that was lost was easily replaced.

[Sheffie]

We have never had this happen to us, but we try to plan for this "what-if" scenario.

 

As JP2001 suggested, we always have one change of each kind of outfit in our carry-on luggage. We also carry-on our garment bag with one fancy outfit w/ shoes, etc. for each of us.

 

We also cross pack. My DH and I each pack our bags, and then we take out half of each kind of outfit from each bag and pack it in each other's bags. That way each bag has a variety of outfits for each person, so if one bag is lost, not all is lost!

[okiemom]

Our luggage was lost back in 1987 when we sailed on NCL on the Southward out of Miami. The only things we had were two formals and our tolietries. I told my mom that we needed to carry on our bathing suit and an extra set of clothes but she wouldn't listen to me. After all I was only 17 at the time. Anyway the ship gave us each $100.00 to spend at the boutique so we were able to get a change of clothes and a swimsuit. The ladies in the boutique rounded up some shoes and other extras for us from the staff. We went three days without our luggage and received it at our second port of call. It was very nice to see things that were ours. We had an awesome time and would do it all over again in a heart beat! A cruise is what you make of it!:)

[jeana]

Reminds me of a quote from one of my favorite travel essays, which I read in a National Geographic Traveler many moons ago. It was by Steve Chapple: "What starts out as a horrible experience can lead to a memorable adventure-to meeting new people, experiencing the kindness of strangers, muddling through with style."

 

Looking back, I realize that some of my best travel memories originated from near-'disasters'. Congratulations on your ability to handle such a situation with humor and style!

 

Jeana ;)

[Happy ks]

I'll agree to that! Some of our best times have come from being lost, plans gone awry. It's what you make of it.

 

I think now with the restricted liquid allowances on air travel, I'll start carrying a couple changes of clothing and one bathing suit in my carry on. They always say to not check-through your valuables, they have no idea what I've paid for cosmetics :) !

 

We do cross pack, have our itinerary inside our luggage, etc... and to date have been fortunate to never have a piece missing.

 

I suppose the way I'd cope is to go shopping onboard and at every port stop!

[Flyer]

Last October on a Transatlantic from Copenhagen to Fort Lauderdale, all our luggage (except carryon) went to Tokyo instead of Copenhagen.

 

We did go in a day early but the luggage did not make it before we sailed. Three days later it caught up to us in Dover.

 

We felt the Pursers did a good job of tracking it and they were helpful with an offer of a toiletries kit and free same day laundry.

 

The second night was a formal night and they sent a rental tux to me, and my wife was loaned a black pants and blouse outfit. I did have to buy Tux accessories though. We also had to buy some cold weather clothes for the first port.

 

When we returned home we did file a claim with the trip insurance company which they paid promptly. This is not a fun situation but, it certainly didn't ruin our trip. We just adjusted, bought a few things and had fun. There was one lady who also didn't receive her luggage and she wasn't pleased with the way the Cruise Line handled her situation. I thought it was OK.

 

I have mixed feelings about buying the trip insurance but, on this same trip we were delayed arriving at our destibation port, missed our flight and was booked out two days later. In addition to our extra cost at beginning of the cruise the insurance payed for our unused airline tickets and extra days at the hotel along with the food. I thought they were more than fair.

[LHP]

It happened to on of our fellow cruisers (Phinfan) who would be here to relate the story...but she is on the Saints and Sinners cruise on the Conquest right now. (Hopefully with all her clothes this time)

 

The brief details are that they flew in the day of the cruise (her second cruise) a 4 or 5 day on the Sensation. It was she and a couple of friends. They made it to the port with just minutes to spare and their luggage did not!

 

The airline just sent their luggage back to Memphis. Thank goodness she did have cruise insurance and was able to buy more clothing at the first port.

 

She is a real trooper and did not let it disrupt her cruise in any way. We jokingly now call it her "naked cruise". And she says...it just gave her a better excuse to drink more!!

[bonitah69]

This happened to me several years ago. We took a bus to the New York pier that was provided by the travel agency we used. When we got to the ship, all the luggage was offloaded & taken to the loading area for the ship. After all luggage was distributed, my garment back was missing. Since this had my formals & most of my dress clothing in it, I wasn't sure what I would be wearing each night. I was traveling with my cousin & we were close enough in size that I did borrow a dress on formal night but the shoes were a killer. I wore a 10 & she wore an 8.They never did find my garment bag...so I figure there are some nice dressed fish swimming in the Hudson :)

 

Bonnie

[jeana]

This happened to me several years ago. We took a bus to the New York pier that was provided by the travel agency we used. When we got to the ship, all the luggage was offloaded & taken to the loading area for the ship. After all luggage was distributed, my garment back was missing. Since this had my formals & most of my dress clothing in it, I wasn't sure what I would be wearing each night. I was traveling with my cousin & we were close enough in size that I did borrow a dress on formal night but the shoes were a killer. I wore a 10 & she wore an 8.They never did find my garment bag...so I figure there are some nice dressed fish swimming in the Hudson :)

 

Bonnie

 

So now I know why those crusty old fishermen are out there every morning at the Jersey City pier! I never thought they could actually catch a fish worth eating there! :D