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I am a member of Brian's fan club, and I belonged before he blew up. I met him in Las Vegas before he became YouTube famous. He's a nice guy. I give him props for getting famous recording slot play. Playing slots takes no skill, but becoming successful on YouTube and sustaining that success appears to take some work. I did a November cruise with him, and I have another one scheduled in May. I've met some fun people attending his events and made a few friends It's like belonging to a group that has a common interest, in this case it is playing slots.

This happened to me returning on the Mardi Gras in Port Canaveral last year. I think someone picked up my bag by mistake and then put it back in the wrong area. Anyway it was a very stressful situation. Carnival paid to have my bag returned to me. I have a Carnival cruise in a few weeks. I've already purchased an AirTag for my bag. I wrote about my experience.

Have Fun!!!🙂

I really enjoying reading along!

I had to leave the cruise area because I had a plane to catch. Looks like I am already over my Carnival boycott, because I have a deposit down on the Celebration for April.

Update: Sorry to leave you hanging. I received my luggage on Saturday afternoon, November 19th. One week after my Mardi Gras cruise ended. I did finally talk to a "real" person at Carnival. If you need to speak to a person, call the 305 area code number. You can talk to an operator. They were all very nice, and sent me the tracking number for my luggage. Maybe they would have sent it anyway. Everyone at FedEx was great too. I signed up with FedEx so I could have real-time tracking. FedEx was supposed to call or text me when I was the next delivery, but they didn't. Because I kept checking online, I was able to see when my bag was delivered. My bag was sitting out in the package area. I was able to grab it before someone else did. I live in a mid-rise and packages aren't usually delivered to our doors. I noticed they removed the tags from the outside and placed them in the bag. I guess to protect the bag from being caught on something during shipping. A few side notes: The bag would have been delivered on Friday, but there was a problem with the shipping label. I now see where the Tile needs a battery. I'm sure it's dead since it has not been replaced since it was purchased a few years ago. About my driver's license...I got to the DMV at 7:00 am. It opens at 7:30 am. About 60 people were already in line. At first, I was given a 1:30 pm appointment. I was able to explain my issue, and they let me in. After an hour and a lot of phone calls, they determined my license was okay. I flew out of Dallas-Fort Worth a few days ago. When I went through security, they didn't scan my license. After I got through the line, I told one of the not-busy TSA agents what happened in Orlando. He scanned my license, and it checked out fine. The agent said I should always travel with my passport, but I don't think I want to do that. Hopefully, I didn't come off as too negative and whiny, but at the time to me, it was a stressful situation. I gave the Christmas present I bought for my Mom in Amber Cove early. I guess I'm having a "life is too short" moment. I hope everyone had and has a happy holiday season. I'm not sure if I will do a Mardi Gras review. There are already a ton of wonderful live ones out there. I will say Great Cruise. I would do it again, but try to pack using carry-on only!

I would love to, but so far no luck finding a human to talk to. I'm trying.

Darn, I didn't know that. I bet that's what happened.

I have learned a few lessons. Pack light, carry my bag, and buy an AirTag...or at least make sure the Tile in my bag is working. Yes, this could have happened on Royal too and I would have been upset. I was thankful it was not at the beginning of my vacation. I would not have had time to purchase replacement clothing. My bag is no longer missing, but the logistics of me being home to receive it are not clear. That's a me problem, not Carnival. In one of my responses, I did mention that the actual Carnival employees weren't helpful until I started crying. The first woman (I wish I had her name) was dismissive, which is part of the reason I started crying. I've totaled up my lost items. Along with the suitcase, it's only around $2000. I've actually replaced a few things this morning. I probably can claim it on my homeowners if the bag delivery fails. I'm staying optimistic that it won't. Knock on wood, I've never had a bad experience with Royal Caribbean or Celebrity. This was my first time on Carnival in 14 years. It's an unfortunate comeback event.

We'll have to see if I sail Carnival again. I'm waiting to see if Carnival sends me a shipping number so I can manage the delivery of my luggage. Since I will be out of town for two weeks starting Monday, I really need options. On the bright side, my bag might come before I leave. Fingers-crossed! I had not cruised on Carnival for 14 years, I've stuck with Royal Caribbean and Celebrity. It's unfortunate the baggage thing happened with Carnival, since I don't have the built in loyalty. It's nice to have cruising options. If my offers on Royal Caribbean continue to be better than Carnival, that will also be something I will have to consider.

I had a Tile in my bag, but for some reason it isn't working. It did work when I cruised 6 weeks ago. I will definitely get an AirTag.

I wondered about that too. Even though it was crowded I'm pretty sure at least two of us checked zone 3, where my bag was located. Lesson learned. Pack less and carry my bags off.

I was waiting for this post. It wasn't until I started crying, that someone with Carnival actually assisted me. The first person I went to with a Carnival name tag pretty much blew me off. So no Carnival didn't misdirect my bag, but the onsite Carnival employees weren't exactly helpful until I was in distress. I thought the Royal Caribbean jab was funny, not dramatic. But sarcasm doesn't always translate well on the Internet. Not everything on that cruise was great (elevator wait times, cash out at the casino, the app not always connecting), but it was not horrible. We are all entitled to our opinions.

Thanks. I didn't want to cut it too close for my flight. I was already on my way to the airport when my luggage was located.

This is the plan, but I don't know if I will have a shipping number. I have signed up for advanced tracking with FedEx. Fingers crossed they can track my bag by name and address. I plan to go to a local FedEx office before I leave for Thanksgiving and see what they can do.

You are correct, the dock workers and porters are not Carnival employees. The persons that assist you with claims are. I had a very understanding lady named CoCo Turner, with a Carnival name tag, that helped me with my lost luggage claim. She is the one that called me to let me know my bag was finally located.

I was ready to sing the praises of my November 5th Mardi Gras sailing until Carnival lost my luggage. My inner voice told me to carry off my bag, but my lazy voice overruled. I left my luggage outside my cabin door at 8:45 pm. The zone 8 tag was filled out and firmly attached. I even used a metal luggage tag ring to secure the Carnival zone tag. My bag also included a cute, fabric luggage tag with my sorority name (my name and phone number) and a big red and white polka-dot grosgrain bow. Off the ship at 8:10 am, at zone 8 at 8:18 am, no bag! Walk the area three times, and nope, it's not there. Try the adjoining zones, but no luck. Ask for help, and receive minimum assistance. I start walking up and down the aisles sobbing, and assistance shows up. Having a crying, elderly woman wandering around the baggage claim area is not a good look. Two, sometimes three of us look for 30 minutes, but the bag can't be found. I will say the cluster surrounding the luggage claim zones, impedes one's ability to locate anything. Trying to look through my ugly crying did not help my situation. I apologize to anyone that saw my meltdown. I had some clothing items that will be difficult, if not impossible to replace. I also had some gifts (not expensive) from ports I doubt I will be back to any time soon in my bag. Dare I say Amber Cove will be off the list forever if Carnival doesn't fix this. It soon got to the point where I needed to leave for the airport, so I filled out a claim form and left. Sad and dejected. I've done a lot of travel, and I've never had this happen. Yes, ship happens, and it looks like I was due. Twenty minutes into my bus ride, I get a call that my zone 8 luggage was located in zone 3. But, we looked in zone 3. As I said before, the free-for-all that Carnival calls line management, probably caused three sets of eyes to not see my misdirected bag. The good news, the bag will be shipped on Wednesday. Bad news, I fly out on the following Monday for Thanksgiving. So if my bag doesn't come before then, I'm up yet another tree. I live in a "luxury" apartment complex where stealing items from outside your door helps finance rent payments for some of my neighbors. We have a package valet unit, but I don't know if my luggage will fit. Just more to stress about. Receiving and holding packages is a luxury my apartment complex will not provide. About the only luxury they provide is cookies and coffee in the clubhouse at a time when most people are at work. As I said, I was ready to give the Carnival Mardi Gras a kudo. But despite the wonderful food outlets, my excellent room steward, fabulous entertainment, and an overall beautiful ship, Carnival, for now, is on my "no-go" list. While I am feeling sorry for myself, I celebrated my birthday while onboard. I got a nice gift from Carnival. Nothing like getting a gift from someone, then having the same person take it back. Just to make sure my trip had a cherry on top ending, when I went through Orlando security, they told me my license was expired. I checked the date months ago, and it clearly has a 2025 expiration date, so it appears the bar code is incorrect. The TSA agent was perplexed. It was a first for him. Go Texas! I have my passport and can travel with it if I can't get my license fixed this week. Tomorrow, I will be at the DMV at early-thirty, 7:30 am, to get in line. Unfortunately, you can't make a "you screwed up my barcode" appointment online. My Mom listened to my tales of woe. She pointed out that my life is usually pretty drama free, and I have it pretty good compared to others. Case in point, at least I could afford to go on a cruise and can afford to replace some of the items I lost. I did point out that one of the things that can't be replaced is something I bought for her. She had no comment on that. She also remarked that since I am retired, I have time to stand in line at the DMV without missing work. I feel about 5% better after my Mom's words of wisdom and I typed out my rant. But still, I want my stuff! If you made it this far, I will update you on my luggage and license situation, once they are resolved. If Carnival comes through with my bag, I might even write a somewhat positive review of my cruise, with minimal pictures. Here's a teaser. Oh wait, that's from my Royal Caribbean Cruise six weeks ago, where my luggage was in the correct zone at debarkation.

I purchased two $100 gift cards. I didn't receive a confirmation for the first one, but my credit card was charged. I checked my spam filter and the confirmation was there. I added the AARP email address to my contacts, and ordered a second gift card. Once again the confirmation went to my spam folder. I used one gift card toward my internet. I used the second one as cruise cash. I don't drink enough to buy a package, so this will cover the few drinks I will have here and there. I've also printed out all my receipts in case there is an issue.

I just realized we’re neighbors today. I’m on Freedom of the Seas. I’m staying on the ship taking naps as wanted.

What a great trip. Thank you for sharing!