Sad end to our Grand Cruise

[sjgertz]

We spent a wonderful week on the Grand (where no one went off their balcony!) and returned home yesterday morning. When my Husband unpacked his bag he realized his dress watch was missing. It was a Movodo given to him this past Christmas by his parents. We won't even discuss why he packed it in his bag (he feels very guilty and stated he never owned jewelry before and did not know not to pack it). We reported the theft to the Galveston port PD and as we did not see the bag from Friday night until Saturday morning have no idea if it was stolen by crew on Princess or by customs agents in Galveston although the police officer siad it was likely on the Grand just given the timing (hundreds of bags being processed by customs in an hour - they would just take the whole bag not a single item). Interestingly I unpacked prior to my husabnd and realized my bag had been gone through very thoughly and was surpised - usually customs does not search so aggresively - retropectively I think it must have been gone though on the Grand. It was a very sad end to what was otherwise a very nice cruise. I really enjoyed Princess and my balcony but doubt that my husband will be willing to sail them again:( Just a warning - hand carry your valubles - and make sure your spouse realizes what constitutes valubles!

[envy4u]

Sorry to hear of the incident but try not let that discourage you from cruising Princess again.

[gonna go cruising]

It could easily have happened after you set the bags out for the night by anyone passing by the cabin. I told my family to only put out what they can afford to lose. I am sorry this happened to you. When I set my bags out I put the color tie wraps on them so I know if they were gone through when I pick them up the next morning.

[karen sharpe]

Very sorry and thanks for the heads up! It is horrible to feel so violated.

[Toto2Kansas]

A terribly hard lesson to learn, but it does happen. I have never chanced putting anything of great value in my checked bags, from jewelry to cameras or anything inbetween.

Sorry to hear the watch was stolen, but as said, you just never know where or who could have done it. Was your luggage locked when you put it in the hallway the night before you disembarked?

Such a shame when things like this happen. :(

[paradiseseekers]

Its a chance when you travel...

Don't let that ruin your trip... think of the great memories you made and the chance to go on vacation!!!

Lots of folks out there that would love to be in your shoes... for example our military

And don't forget... its not the cruise people... its customs and they are always quite aggresive.

Remember... Life's too short... Enjoy

[Casshew]

Did you have insurance? sorry to hear of the loss :(

[Coral]

I would look into cruise insurance or home owner's insurance.

 

I would also contact Princess corporate. It is possible there were video cameras and maybe they can review them.

 

Hard lesson for your husband to learn. Sorry about that.

[spongerob]

I agree, you should contact Princess. It's unlikely they can do anything for you, but at least you've made an attempt to alert them to a potential problem. Sorry this happened. You might also see if the watch was left in your cabin...on the off chance that it was and someone located it.

[macy]

I'm so sorry to hear about that. I know that was an expensive watch and probably meant a lot to your husband. I feel really bad for him!

 

If you had travel insurance, it just might cover that. Maybe homeowners will cover it. You just never know, so I would check with any insurance agency you have.

 

Sorry, but glad you had a great cruise.

 

We lock our bags with the TSA locks, so hopefully the cruise line employees or passengers can not get into them. I'm sure customs and the airlines can.

 

Mary

[SaylorGirl]

I agree, you should contact Princess. It's unlikely they can do anything for you, but at least you've made an attempt to alert them to a potential problem. Sorry this happened. You might also see if the watch was left in your cabin...on the off chance that it was and someone located it.

 

I agree with Spongerob, I would contact Princess. There is always the possibilily that it was left in the safe or in a drawer. Sorry this happened to you.

[Julia’s Journey’s]

Sorry to hear this happened to you, it is a chance we take by putting our luggage out for anyone to go thru hours before we see it again.

Amazing how one bad apple can ruin some thing:eek:

[DrTravelBugPhD]

Sorry to hear about your husband's watch. Although you can't get the original one back, hopefully your cruise insurance or homeowners ins. will replace it. (Or you may try your credit card company too. Our bank provides some travel insurance for us because I paid for the cruise with my debit card; although I did take out travel insurance to cover the difference between what was provided by my bank and the cost of the vacation, just in case)On a side note, I have a stupid question. Does anyone know the policy about bringing jewelry in your carry ons on flights? I know you aren't supposed to bring any sharp objects, so I have usually been wearing the same earrings for small trips but would like to bring different ones on our 15 night cruise. I don't want to have to check my jewelry for fear of what happened to the OP, but I would like to bring some with me.

[whenistrivia]

On our pre-cruise tour in China before boarding the Sapphire last October, one of our tour-group members had their luggage gone through.. In this case, the owner of the luggage had placed xeroxed copies of their credit cards in with their luggage.. It was taken out, and the person found out about it after boarding the ship and being called to the pursers desk to say that the credit card on file had been "maxed out" recently.. what a shock that was. This individual also had a daughter that had some of her nice designer clothes stolen from a different piece of luggage.

 

In this case, we had to put our luggage out in the hallway of the hotel in Beijing (I will not name the hotel) the night before, so it was impossible to tell where the theft occurred.. although I'm guessing the hotel, but at that point it could have been anybody in the hotel, not necessarily the staff.

 

It may not have been very smart to leave copies of credit cards in your packed luggage, but it points to the fact brought up already.. If you can't afford to lose it, don't pack it in luggage that may be left unattended for a period of time.

 

Gary

[Toto2Kansas]

I always carry my jewelry in my carry on, never have a problem one. What they are looking for are things like sissors or knives, earrings and other jewelry aren't a problem at all. In fact, even knitting needles and crochet hooks are allowed, which has never made any sense to me.

[Nanatravel]

Very sorry to hear about your loss. I too hope you had travelers insurance but maybe your homeowners would help with the financial loss as it happened in the USA. It could be anyone and unfortuanately you will probably never know. This similar thing happened to my dear friends, novice cruisers on their first cruise. Even though you are not supposed to lock your luggage for the airport, you should always use cable ties or TSA locks and not tempt others.

 

Hope your cruise memories were good ones.

Bon Voyage

[tawcat]

its been said TSA or cable ties. problem with cable ties is that if they are cut off you still never know by whom. TSA locks with the "it was opened" indicator is the way to go.

[DrTravelBugPhD]

its been said TSA or cable ties. problem with cable ties is that if they are cut off you still never know by whom. TSA locks with the "it was opened" indicator is the way to go.

 

We actually use the plastic zip tie thingamabobs (I believe that is their formal name) that you can buy to keep electronic wires together, similar to what police use instead of handcuffs, only smaller, and twice they have been cut by TSA and a note was left in the bag from TSA that our bag was gone through by them (two different trips, so it wasn't the same TSA person checking two bags on one trip). I would think if they were missing and there was no note, that it wasn't TSA that went through them. Maybe we just got lucky by the agents that went through ours that they left the note though . It was a pre printed form thingy that was on the top when we opened the bag.

Thanks for the heads up on the carry on jewelry Toto. I wasn't sure so I haven't brought any on recent trips as I did not want it taken and my bags had already been checked before going through security.

[landofozcruiser]

We were on the Grand last week too and had a wonderful cruise. Sorry to hear that yours ended in such a crummy way.

[whm]

If the TSA opens your bag they are required by law to place a notification slip in the bag. That way you know that it was the TSA. No slip = theft! There is absolutely no rule that says that you can't lock your luggage as long as the locks are TSA approved locks. Zzip ties are fine, but they will cut them if necessary.

[sultan_sfo]

I have those TSA locks in which the "Green Dot" changes to "Red" if opened by TSA. The last three flights, it became red. But only once there was a note that the bag was opened. In the other cases, either the two different locks both malfunctioned or the TSA just took a quick look and locked it without leaving a note. The contents were not disturbed in both these other cases. /Sultan

 

If the TSA opens your bag they are required by law to place a notification slip in the bag. That way you know that it was the TSA. No slip = theft! There is absolutely no rule that says that you can't lock your luggage as long as the locks are TSA approved locks. Zzip ties are fine, but they will cut them if necessary.

[DALSAL]

I NEVER take expensive jewelry on a cruise since Im too busy to try to keep up with it:) I do take jewelry in a ziplock bag which I put in my purse when flying or when taking a cruise.Then on the ship,you can put it straight into your safe.

 

About 12 years ago when leaving a hotel in Las Vegas,I sat my bag down beside the car thinking my hubby would put it in the trunk..he thought I was going to put it in the car.You guessed it,we drove off and left the bag sitting in the parking lot.Someone picked up the bag but I guess they didnt want to dig thru a ladies makeup bag,so they tossed it in bushes at the hotel.If they had gone thru the bag they would have found my emerald/diamond ring.I called in my home owners insurance and they cut me a check right away...a few days later,the bag appeared on my front door steps,with nothing missing.I had called the hotel and the security guard rode around in his golf cart and found it!

 

So,you never can tell..I hope you have a happy ending too. Dot

[jlp20]

After setting your bags out on the last night, they were there one minute to six hours, who knows. We have all read of bags being taken into another cabin and be searched by other passengers. I have also read of bags being thrown overboard by kids.

 

Princess employees take the bags and are “staged” below decks. Bags are out of sight, but packed so tight that they cannot be opened.

 

After docking, bags are transferred to containers and moved to the hatch of the ship.

 

Longshoremen/Stevedores then take control of the containers and move them to the cruise center. These people then move the bags about this area. I personally have witness Longshoremen intentionally damage bags in San Pedro.

 

I’m not saying the Princess employees didn’t do it; just there are other people who had equal opportunity to do it.

 

By the way, anyone remember the news story of the airport baggage handlers who had a rings of keys to open 99% of all bags?

[slgjhg]

Hi All,

 

We have been cruising for years as well as world travelers (due to business) and with the world change on 9/11, and then this new liquid thingy, we use TSA approved locks, and all I carry on is in a wonderful bag I purchased in Frienze. It contains, Passports, keys for luggage locks, keys for car and house locks, DH medications, Vitamins, Jewelery, a book, PJ's, clean underwear for us both and our travel calendars. I used to carry my DH dopkitt and my makeup but no more do to the liquid stuff.

 

Now I make one of our Hartmann roll-aboards a moving dopkitt and luggage bag and check it. On one side are the dopkitt items and on the other are shoes. This is because I have found that overloading this size of bag is impossible. So load up that other side with heavy items.

 

Get a travel scale from Megellans.com and other travel essentials. Good luck in the future. I am so sorry for your loss, I am just getting ready to have my battery replaced in my Movato, which I adore and have note worn for a while. I plan on wearing it on the Grand 4/28 Galveston to Rome.

 

Good luck to you in the future,

 

Regards,

 

Shannon

[Pam in CA]

I'm so sorry to hear this happened. Unfortunately, hindsight is perfect and you'll never put valuables in your luggage again. Hard lesson.