Has anyone had experience with NCL regarding a lost bag that is found?

[yoyocruiser]

Hi!

 

We got off the Jewel yesterday morning. A fantastic cruise in every way!! I will try to write a little review later, but suffice it to say that everything from the entertainment to the food to the ports was SOOO much better than I had expected! And the service was fantastic. There were seven of us total, and between us all we somehow managed to have wonderful shore excursions, great meals, and fantastic experiences. :D

 

The ONLY glitch, but it is fairly serious at the moment to my daughter who is now back to college but WITHOUT her bags. . .

 

The situation is that when we came off the ship to pick up our bags her bag was not there. This was pretty weird given that we got off among the very first and our bags had VIP tags. . .but nonetheless, someone had already picked up her bag. Well, the good news is that the bag got returned (the person who returned it called me yesterday afternoon explaining that he had mistakenly taken the bag and as he was from Florida he had driven it back to the port and gave it to the NCL person at the terminal).

 

I am just wondering if this has happened to anyone else and how NCL handled it? Did they mail the bag back to you or what? Did you reimburse for the mailing cost in some way? At this point they are telling my daughter (who flew back to college--she is not currently with me) that they will not pay to ship it back to her. Or perhaps my daughter is confused. But I thought I would try to find out from someone who had been through this prior to my talking to NCL so that i could be better prepared. Does anyone know the standard procedure? In this situation it was clearly not our fault, but nor was it NCL's fault. It was, rather, simply how life goes at times. Any thoughts?

 

yoyocruiser

[newmexicoNita]

Hi!

 

We got off the Jewel yesterday morning. A fantastic cruise in every way!! I will try to write a little review later, but suffice it to say that everything from the entertainment to the food to the ports was SOOO much better than I had expected! And the service was fantastic. There were seven of us total, and between us all we somehow managed to have wonderful shore excursions, great meals, and fantastic experiences. :D

 

The ONLY glitch, but it is fairly serious at the moment to my daughter who is now back to college but WITHOUT her bags. . .

 

The situation is that when we came off the ship to pick up our bags her bag was not there. This was pretty weird given that we got off among the very first and our bags had VIP tags. . .but nonetheless, someone had already picked up her bag. Well, the good news is that the bag got returned (the person who returned it called me yesterday afternoon explaining that he had mistakenly taken the bag and as he was from Florida he had driven it back to the port and gave it to the NCL person at the terminal).

 

I am just wondering if this has happened to anyone else and how NCL handled it? Did they mail the bag back to you or what? Did you reimburse for the mailing cost in some way? At this point they are telling my daughter (who flew back to college--she is not currently with me) that they will not pay to ship it back to her. Or perhaps my daughter is confused. But I thought I would try to find out from someone who had been through this prior to my talking to NCL so that i could be better prepared. Does anyone know the standard procedure? In this situation it was clearly not our fault, but nor was it NCL's fault. It was, rather, simply how life goes at times. Any thoughts?

 

yoyocruiser

 

It did happen to us once, but it wasn't actually NCL it was curb side and I believe either the taxi company (unlikely) or the port authority actually found it. I will ask my daughter if she remembers cause it happened to her. Normally after the luggage leaves the ships it is out of the hands of the cruise line.

 

Nita

[yoyocruiser]

Thanks Nita. Any information would be helpful. We did file the missing report with NCL and the NCL staff were wonderful trying to help us. But they were unable to locate the bag before we had to leave for the airport. I just want her to be able to get her bag back as quickly as possible--my guess is that because she has no credit card she can't pay to have it shipped and maybe that is what the problem is. I'm holding off contacting NCL until I have spoken with her again and until I perhaps get some more ideas from here. I read the crusie contract and it is really not specific about FINDING a bag--only about what happens when it is not found. :rolleyes: Anyway, the good news is that it is found!

 

yoyocruiser

[martinchem]

We always see about 25 pieces at the pursers desk, no tags.

[yoyocruiser]

Well ours did have tags thank goodness. And we had put the NCL "color" tags on them that we were suppose to put on them. So that is the good news.

 

I have clarified some of the problem. NCL will not pay for shipping. What they do is ship it, and upon delivery someone must be there to provide a $30 cashier's check. As my daughter lives in a dorm the dorm does NOT allow COD deliveries. I have offered my credit card to pay, but for whatever reason this does not solve the problem. They will only ship it COD.

 

This is when things do get somewhat frustrating. It would be great if they would just send the bag--especially since we followed all directions and this was not our fault. That said, I do realize it wasn't their fault either. I don't really object to having to pay for it to be shipped, but then make it easy for me to pay. Yuck, frustrating.

 

I am going to try to talk to a supervisor as the next step. Any other ideas. This poor kid really needs to get her bag though--I don't want a several day process.

 

yoyocruiser

[sparks1093]

Is there a way to have it shipped to an administrative office on campus to ensure someone will be there to accept the delivery? Does the shipper have a "hold for pickup" option where you daughter would go to the shipper's location to pick it up? Hope it gets resolved quickly!

[yoyocruiser]

Thanks Sparks, we are actually trying to work on that. Meanwhile, I have left a message with Customer service that I wish to speak with them--I mean there has to be a way that I can pay them to ship it. My guess is that it may be more expensive. But the other thing is that the Customer Service person seemed to think that my daughter had simply left the bag on board. I'm at least going to try to argue that the bag had VIP tags and that we followed all the isntructions regarding setting the baggage out. This was not simply leaving the bag on baord--which is obviously totally the cruiser's fault.

 

yoyocruiser

[sunshine nana]

I'm glad it was found and I hope you can work out the return. On our first cruise, I was shocked to see the bags we had put out at night all in a big pile the next day with no one to check who took the bags. After that, we always just keep our bags and wheel them off when we need to leave in the morning.It saves a lot of time and there is no danger of losing them. Good luck!

[yoyocruiser]

I will probably never put them out again--with seven of us though it just seemed that it would be so cumbersome to get off the ship. For the last two cruises we carried them off ourselves.

 

We will work something out. The cruise was so perfect that I think I let my guard down and didn't fully think through the risks involved with allowing them to pick up our luggage. Also, this was our first time in a suite and I knew we got VIP treatment to get off early and we had VIP tags, and I was disillusioned into thinking everything would be okay. Usually I am far more cautious and would never have allowed them to pick up our bags. Live and learn.

 

I will still try to reach someone tomorrow. It seems weird that after we spent so much money that something like this happens and NCL won't at least try to help find a solution. As I said, I'm not against paying what it costs--I just need a way to do it so that she can get the bags. I'll give an update tomorrow.

 

yoyocruiser

[lambs2]

We had one VERY close call when we diembarked the Jewel a couple years ago. One of our bags was NOT there. We wandered around for a bit looking everywhere for it. About 15 minutes late someone brought our suitcase BACK, having grabbed it by mistake! Since that close call we ALWAYS carry all our own bags off each ship ourselves. Far less drama!!

[yoyocruiser]

Lambs,

Actually that is what happened--someone did carry it off by mistake. He actually called me as we had put my cell phone on the tag. This person was incredibly nice and apologetic, and he had driven it back to the port and left it with NCL. Unfortunately we had left. And yes, just like you, I will never put bags out again! When you actually look at all of that luggage it is a miracle there are not more errors. It looks like chaos. I guess all thing considered it works fairly well--unless of course it is your bag that goes missing.

yoyocruiser

[jsygrl]

My bag was lost when we returned to Miami on the 11/23 PC cruise, it was also VIP. I filled out the lost bag form, then called Customer Service the next day (Monday) at around 3pm. The wonderful lady informed that she was just about to call me to let me know that they found my bag and that they were shipping my bag out that day and I would receive it by Wednesday. She didn't know what had happened to my bag (or wouldn't tell me) but she did ask if I had signed up for the BAGS program (I didn't). I received my bag on Wednesday just like she said, they shipped it FedEx and they paid for the shipping.

 

Weird that they are asking you to pay COD when they shipped my bag FedEx, a 30 pound bag shipped 2 day air is NOT cheap! I wonder if maybe they paid because it was their mistake, that someone didn't take it but that they mistakenly put it with the BAGS luggage?

 

Also, if I remember correctly, they gave me a form that listed all kinds of disclaimers, I'll see if I can find it.

[ferriz]

Lambs,

Actually that is what happened--someone did carry it off by mistake. He actually called me as we had put my cell phone on the tag. This person was incredibly nice and apologetic, and he had driven it back to the port and left it with NCL. Unfortunately we had left. And yes, just like you, I will never put bags out again! When you actually look at all of that luggage it is a miracle there are not more errors. It looks like chaos. I guess all thing considered it works fairly well--unless of course it is your bag that goes missing.

yoyocruiser

 

I am VERY glad you posted this experience. I was a bit nervous about them collecting the bags the night before, and even more worried hearing they do not verify the owner of the bag before they let it go! I value my stuff and do not trust anyone else with it. Maybe it is the paranoid control freak in me. Heck, I worry an entire plane ride about my bags!

 

Now that I know we can carry our bags off ourselves I refuse to let them take my bags. Nope, not going to happen.

 

Sorry this happened to you. I do hope they work with you in getting the bag back. :(

[lambs2]

One small hint , although we still plan to continue carrying all our own luggage off of ships!). I read this on CC before a flight to Europe for a cruise last year. We had black luggage. Nondescript. SO... we stenciled our intials 4" high on each piece with a gold glitter pen - front AND back of each piece. Now our luggage does not look like everyone elses. Definitely stands out on the airport luggage conveyor belts too!:eek:

[yoyocruiser]

gsygirl

Very interesting that they simply shipped your bags to you! I am hoping they will agree to do that for us. Like I said, it is not the cost that upsets me--it is the logistics. But of course after spending what it cost for a suite and valuing the VIP disembark service--it is discouraging that they won't just ship it. I'm also thinking though that maybe I haven't talked to the right person. Thanks so much for the information. It could be that they are aware in your situation that they made the mistake. In our situation it certainly was not our fault--but nor was it NCL's fault. It was just--one of those things.

Yes--to anyone who likes the sense of being in control, putting your bags out takes a giant leap of faith. Of course it does work out for most folks most of the time---amazingly I must add.

 

yoyocruiser

[Harleycat]

gsygirl

Very interesting that they simply shipped your bags to you! I am hoping they will agree to do that for us. Like I said, it is not the cost that upsets me--it is the logistics. But of course after spending what it cost for a suite and valuing the VIP disembark service--it is discouraging that they won't just ship it. I'm also thinking though that maybe I haven't talked to the right person. Thanks so much for the information. It could be that they are aware in your situation that they made the mistake. In our situation it certainly was not our fault--but nor was it NCL's fault. It was just--one of those things.

Yes--to anyone who likes the sense of being in control, putting your bags out takes a giant leap of faith. Of course it does work out for most folks most of the time---amazingly I must add.

 

yoyocruiser

 

Can you open your own Fed Ex account and e-mail the paid bill of lading to someone at NCL? It's very easy to open a personal Fed Ex account.

[BIG_Steve]

Yoyo,

With UPS you can open a "pick up ticket" (may not be their correct name, but similar.) They will go to a destination, pick up an item, box it up and ship it to you. You should probably call UPS and get the details. If they can do it, call NCL.

 

UPS # used to be 1-800-pickups

[newmexicoNita]

gsygirl

Very interesting that they simply shipped your bags to you! I am hoping they will agree to do that for us. Like I said, it is not the cost that upsets me--it is the logistics. But of course after spending what it cost for a suite and valuing the VIP disembark service--it is discouraging that they won't just ship it. I'm also thinking though that maybe I haven't talked to the right person. Thanks so much for the information. It could be that they are aware in your situation that they made the mistake. In our situation it certainly was not our fault--but nor was it NCL's fault. It was just--one of those things.

Yes--to anyone who likes the sense of being in control, putting your bags out takes a giant leap of faith. Of course it does work out for most folks most of the time---amazingly I must add.

 

yoyocruiser

 

i talked to my daughter last night: she can't remember for certain but thinks they did just ship hers as well. I do know the couple of times we have left things in hotel rooms we had to pay something upfront to get the stuff shipped.

[wg6530]

Lambs,

Actually that is what happened--someone did carry it off by mistake. He actually called me as we had put my cell phone on the tag. This person was incredibly nice and apologetic, and he had driven it back to the port and left it with NCL. Unfortunately we had left. And yes, just like you, I will never put bags out again! When you actually look at all of that luggage it is a miracle there are not more errors. It looks like chaos. I guess all thing considered it works fairly well--unless of course it is your bag that goes missing.

yoyocruiser

 

Yoyo, of course the man drove back to the port; presumably he mistook your daughter's bag for one of his own. He went back to get his own bag. Pity he didn't just to ship the bag to your daughter at his own expense. That would have been the nice, upstanding thing to do.

[yoyocruiser]

WG, yes I thought of that also, how it would have been much easier if he had jsut shipped it back himself. and you right--he did have to pick up his correct bag!

 

Anyway, at least we have a solution. Daughter is having it shipped to a friend's apartment and will tape the envelope with the bank check made out to FedEx on the door--no one has to be there and sign and they will leave the bag--now we'll just have to hope it doesn't get taken from the apartment. :)

 

I'm not sure how I feel about this, but I didn't want to delay things by continuing to argue the point and it is quite challenging to get through on those customer service lines. I understand it was not NCL's fault. However, it was not our fault either. Given the challenges that shipping it COD entailed, yes, it would have been a wonderful thing if they had simply agreed to pay the $27 shippping fee themselves OR AT LEAST allowed me to pay it to them by credit card and then shipped it out. This cruise cost several thousand dollars as we were in a suite, and I think I erroneously thought that VIP disembarking would mean that there would be some extra care taken, or that if there was a mess up such as this, that shipping a bag for $27 would not be a big issue.

 

However, that did not happen. I am still totally thrilled with our experience. It is too bad that it ends on this rather sour note though.

 

I hope that this thread helps folks make the best decision possible they can make regarding how to get their bags off the ship. I am not recommending that no one ever put their bag out--I am simply highlighting that if control of your bags is important, then as garycarla and others pointed out, you need to keep those bags with you. There is little NCL will do to help, and the $100 fee for a lost bag will not begin to cover the contents. Or as others pointed out, you need to take out insurance on your bag. There are several options and choices. But it is somewhat naive to just go along and assume that there will be no problem. We were in the best possible situation--we had priority disembarking and were able to leave the ship early--in fact we arrived in the building before hardly anyone. Yet in that short time, the bag got picked up.

 

We are lucky it was found, returned, and traced accurately back to us.:)

 

yoyocruiser

[njhorseman]

WG, yes I thought of that also, how it would have been much easier if he had jsut shipped it back himself. and you right--he did have to pick up his correct bag!

 

Anyway, at least we have a solution. Daughter is having it shipped to a friend's apartment and will tape the envelope with the bank check made out to FedEx on the door--no one has to be there and sign and they will leave the bag--now we'll just have to hope it doesn't get taken from the apartment. :)

 

I'm not sure how I feel about this, but I didn't want to delay things by continuing to argue the point and it is quite challenging to get through on those customer service lines. I understand it was not NCL's fault. However, it was not our fault either. Given the challenges that shipping it COD entailed, yes, it would have been a wonderful thing if they had simply agreed to pay the $27 shippping fee themselves OR AT LEAST allowed me to pay it to them by credit card and then shipped it out. This cruise cost several thousand dollars as we were in a suite, and I think I erroneously thought that VIP disembarking would mean that there would be some extra care taken, or that if there was a mess up such as this, that shipping a bag for $27 would not be a big issue.

 

However, that did not happen. I am still totally thrilled with our experience. It is too bad that it ends on this rather sour note though.

 

I hope that this thread helps folks make the best decision possible they can make regarding how to get their bags off the ship. I am not recommending that no one ever put their bag out--I am simply highlighting that if control of your bags is important, then as garycarla and others pointed out, you need to keep those bags with you. There is little NCL will do to help, and the $100 fee for a lost bag will not begin to cover the contents. Or as others pointed out, you need to take out insurance on your bag. There are several options and choices. But it is somewhat naive to just go along and assume that there will be no problem. We were in the best possible situation--we had priority disembarking and were able to leave the ship early--in fact we arrived in the building before hardly anyone. Yet in that short time, the bag got picked up.

 

We are lucky it was found, returned, and traced accurately back to us.:)

 

yoyocruiser

 

It wouldn't surprise me if a few years ago NCL offered to pick up the tab for shipping, even though they were not responsible for the problem. However, in this era when it appears as though the bean counters have taken complete control of the company, the value of maintaining customer good will seems to be a foreign concept.

[yoyocruiser]

It definitely sounds as if in the past they did pay for the shipping.

 

The only positive is that the contract they have with Fedex is that any bag is shipped for $27. Of course most bags would cost much more than this to ship.

 

Yes, if they had agreed to ship it it would have indeed have established good will.

 

yoyocruiser