anyone got stolen in there luggage?

[Bazzgurl26]

I had a portable DVD player stolen out of my bag when I cruised Carnival in 2006. I have firm beliefs it was stolen by a Carnival cruise line employee.... as they are the only ones who could have taken it.... we went out to one of the bars on our last night at sea and I had every intention of putting our bags outside of our door so I didn't have to lug them off the ship myself, well I lost track of time and eventually made it back to my cabin just as they were collecting luggage on our floor.. I rushed it out and handed them to the guy. When we got to our hotel the next morning I was digging thru our suitcase and I picked up the Portable DVD case and sure enough it was empty. I was sooo peeved and I felt so violated! :mad:

 

It does happen on cruise ships, in airports, in hotels.. anywhere. I just dont take valuable stuff with me on vacation anymore, and if I do (Ipod, Cell, jewelry) it stay on my person at all times. I dont trust anyone anymore.

[Happy ks]

I had a portable DVD player stolen out of my bag when I cruised Carnival in 2006. I have firm beliefs it was stolen by a Carnival cruise line employee.... as they are the only ones who could have taken it.... we went out to one of the bars on our last night at sea and I had every intention of putting our bags outside of our door so I didn't have to lug them off the ship myself, well I lost track of time and eventually made it back to my cabin just as they were collecting luggage on our floor.. I rushed it out and handed them to the guy. When we got to our hotel the next morning I was digging thru our suitcase and I picked up the Portable DVD case and sure enough it was empty. I was sooo peeved and I felt so violated! :mad:

 

It does happen on cruise ships, in airports, in hotels.. anywhere. I just dont take valuable stuff with me on vacation anymore, and if I do (Ipod, Cell, jewelry) it stay on my person at all times. I dont trust anyone anymore.

 

 

It could just have easily been the port employees, they are the ones who off-load the suitcases. Or, could you possibly have left the DVD player in the cabin and forgotten to pack it?

 

A family member once accused a cruise line employee of stealing stuff (not officially, just to us). Lo and behold, once returning home he found the stuff in his suitcase, in his hurried state he had packed it and forgotten it.

[colomom]

I'd love to put some counterfeit money into my luggage and have some baggage handler steal if. The only bad part is I wouldn't be there to see them get arrested.

 

Rule of travel: Never put anything of value into your luggage. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. If it's valuable, it goes with me.

 

Yeah, that or a Black Mamba... :cool:

[griffy116]

We had a very embarrasing experience a few years ago. We drove to the port. We had 4 families, which included my elderly Mom and Dad. Of course, we all had the black luggage. My Mom and Dad couldn't picked out their luggage and we loaded everyone's luggage onto a huge carrier and a porter accomopanied us to the vans and cars, unloading luggage evenly into all the vehicles. We had met at my parents house so we gathered there and put all the luggage out in the garage so everyone could gather theirs before leaving for their homes. When everyone finished, there was a large black suitcase left. My Dad quickly pointed out that someone was leaving a piece of their luggage. Everyone counted their luggage and said, "not ours"...There was no luggage tag to be found. We realized that while it was exactly like my parents luggage, theirs was all accounted for...We opened the unlocked luggage and in horror discovered a couple's formal wear, dirty clothes and all. We didn't continue to see if there was anything of value. We immediately called the cruise line. They told us they would check to see if anyone reported lost luggage. We told them we would ship it to the person or to RCCL. After several days of the luggage with the dirty clothes getting riper and riper in my parents hot garage, (in the middle in July in Georgia), I again called RCCL. They told us a couple in Texas were the only ones missing a piece of black luggage. They arranged for us to have the luggage picked up by UPS and sent to the cruise line. We never heard from anyone so I hope the owners got their missing luggage. We always put our contact information inside the luggage since that incident. It would have been much easier to have contacted the couple and alleviated their worry (and to have gotten rid of the smelly luggage), had we been able to determine an owner. We are still embarrassed.

[colomom]

We had a very embarrasing experience a few years ago. We drove to the port. We had 4 families, which included my elderly Mom and Dad. Of course, we all had the black luggage. My Mom and Dad couldn't picked out their luggage and we loaded everyone's luggage onto a huge carrier and a porter accomopanied us to the vans and cars, unloading luggage evenly into all the vehicles. We had met at my parents house so we gathered there and put all the luggage out in the garage so everyone could gather theirs before leaving for their homes. When everyone finished, there was a large black suitcase left. My Dad quickly pointed out that someone was leaving a piece of their luggage. Everyone counted their luggage and said, "not ours"...There was no luggage tag to be found. We realized that while it was exactly like my parents luggage, theirs was all accounted for...We opened the unlocked luggage and in horror discovered a couple's formal wear, dirty clothes and all. We didn't continue to see if there was anything of value. We immediately called the cruise line. They told us they would check to see if anyone reported lost luggage. We told them we would ship it to the person or to RCCL. After several days of the luggage with the dirty clothes getting riper and riper in my parents hot garage, (in the middle in July in Georgia), I again called RCCL. They told us a couple in Texas were the only ones missing a piece of black luggage. They arranged for us to have the luggage picked up by UPS and sent to the cruise line. We never heard from anyone so I hope the owners got their missing luggage. We always put our contact information inside the luggage since that incident. It would have been much easier to have contacted the couple and alleviated their worry (and to have gotten rid of the smelly luggage), had we been able to determine an owner. We are still embarrassed.

 

Ok...I take back the snake...

[Trevoli]

I agree that it's best that you include ONLY your name and phone number on luggage tags (no home address), and I'd go further by suggesting PLEASE LIST YOUR CELL PHONE #, not your home number. It does no good for someone to call your home when you're away.

 

Last fall, I mistakenly picked up a bag identical to mine at the terminal in Venice (this was a bag I'd purchased on the ship). About an hour later, while checking into a hotel, I discovered that in my haste, I'd picked up somebody else's bag. This bag had a phone number on the tag, but it was the owner's HOME phone number. I called them, but of course, it did no good. To make matters even worse, my friend had completed my luggage tags, and she listed MY home number too, instead of my cell.

 

Eventually, it was all figured out and we each got our bag back before leaving Venice, but it was a gigantic, costly hassle, and I learned my lesson to check tags VERY CAREFULLY before running off with 'my' luggage, and to put my my cell phone # on my own tags.

 

Question: do you put a copy of your itinerary inside your luggage and/or in an outside pocket? I'm torn about this. One one hand, it would help an honest person re-direct your luggage, should it go 'sideways'. OTOH, if a dishonest person came across it, they would know exactly how long you'll be away from home. Even if the itinerary didn't include your home address, it's easy enough to find that out.

[GlendaleCruiser]

Interesting--I guess there is a general perception that if you are on a cruise no one is at your house...........I actually still have a houseful of people when I leave town and they are armed.:)

 

I certainly do agree on putting the cell number on the suitcase. I would certainly want my suitcase back asap and likewise would not want to deprive someone else of their belongings.

 

One of the reasons I bought Olive Green suitcases. The NEON:eek: green and orange wide shoelaces tied on help me find them from 100 feet away. Hopefully, others would realize it's NOT THEIRS.:cool:

[pdmlynek]

...Regarding the metal detectors, its no big deal with a watch, they scan it like anything else. People wear watches daily and just put the watch in their carry on or put it the bin with their wallet/purse and other valuables. Its no big deal.

 

I usually put my wallet, watch and other valuable into my carry on. Putting things in the bins are too easily lost, pilfered, and it is just one more thing that needs a hand on the other side of the belt. And putting it into a carry on does not advertise to others where you keep your wallet.

[cruiseman40]

2 years ago my DW friend had her panties stolen and last year in Puerto Rico, my DW found a small plastic baggie that appeared to be white substance in the bottom of our overweight TSA checked bag mind you luggage. I say PR because when we got home, PR was our last stop. In Puerto Rico they had a wrapping machine and had people wrap their luggages. What's the deal with that?

 

 

just back from the Carribean on the Princess Emerald, and

 

 

 

 

 

because of that metal check up at the airport, I put a watch that I bought on the ship in my luggage. When I opened my watch box at arrival! no more watch in the box!!

so there is only two place that someone had the chance to do so, letting the luggage at 10 pm to the Princess untill the next morning at the pier, or the TSI that put the TSI inspect sticker on my luggage!

 

it wasnt a very expensive one but it still unacceptable.

 

I can t beleive that some people doesnt have anything helse to do then to steel thing in the luggage! they could have taken my 2 bottle of liquor!

but I guess it was too big compare to a watch!

 

So just curious to see if I am the only one, Emerald Princess returned August 1st 2010.

[Putterdude]

Locks, zip straps, cable ties, to lock or not to lock have been beaten to death on these forums...the fact is none of the above will keep people out of your luggage or keep them from stealing it. Just use common sense and keep every thing of value and importance out of checked luggage. It's as simple as that.

[ballgown1]

Ok...I take back the snake...

 

:D:D:D ROFL! Yes, ripe, smelly laundry is more deadly than a black mamba :D.

[ballgown1]

I must admit, a lost bag is one of my worries. And, reading this thread has sort of made me a little bit more concerned. We have devised a packing system where we are only checking two bags; neither of them have MY formal clothing in them. They are two bags that, God forbid anything should happen, we could cruise without them, I think (I told my husband to pack one dress shirt and dress pants, along with one smart casual outfit into his carryon, but he refuses,so, so be it if HIS clothes come up missing :)).

 

That being said, I had already made these labels/luggage tags the other day and printed them to adhesive mailing label paper (they come four up on a page). I then printed the same labels and laminated them with VERY STIFF lamination, punched holes in the corner and was going to attach them with cable ties. But, after reading this thread, I went back and put a space for our cell phone number, along with a note to check the outer pocket for the itinerary. Please tell me if you think this should suffice.

 

Oh, and I meant to say that I will stick these labels on the bags until the cows come home :D. I am not a luggage snob and really don't care HOW it looks, just as long as my bags end up with me when they are supposed to ;).

Luggage Tag Labels2.pdf

[spongerob]

I agree with you all, shouldnt have let it in the luggage!

It was a Fossil watch, so not expensive one, and I just spoke with Visa and they are covering stolen item.

TSI, TSA ? at the airport they have a blue shirt with TSI on it and the sticker on my luggage was TSI inspected FL.

but like you said, no way to know where and how!

I hope that you have made a report to TSA. There have been problems in the past with TSA inspectors stealing items from bags at the Miami airport. That group was eventually caught but without reports no investigations will start. It is a virtual certainty that bags containing bottles of liquor will be opened and inspected.

 

Bonne chance et bonjour.

[room010]

It's all too easy to pick up the wrong bag as most of them look the same. So tie a bright ribbon on the handle, even some duct tape X's, anything to distinguish the bag for you and for some other person who might think it's theirs. I ordered some webbing straps with my surname embroidered in bright lettering which (a) stop the bag bursting open and (b) tell other people and myself it's my bag. Works like a charm. Google "personalised luggage straps".

[GlendaleCruiser]

People have their luggage "wrapped" in plastic to prevent the casual or not so casual thief from pilfering from their bags. In order to open the bag, you must destroy the plastic wrap, so hopefully when you got home everything YOU put in there is still and there is nothing ANYONE ELSE put in there against your knowledge.

[ballgown1]

People have their luggage "wrapped" in plastic to prevent the casual or not so casual thief from pilfering from their bags. In order to open the bag, you must destroy the plastic wrap, so hopefully when you got home everything YOU put in there is still and there is nothing ANYONE ELSE put in there against your knowledge.

 

 

Doesn't the airport have the right to open the bags to inspect them, though? If they are the ones stealing stuff, can they cut through the plastic to "inspect" your bag? I understand that, should that happen, you would know who took it. But, I am just asking if, after your wrapping the bag in plastic, if they open the bag to inspect it. Do you think that the plastic would draw attention to the bag and maybe send up a "red flag" that there is something in the bag that is being "hidden", so that that would make them want to cut the plastic all the more :D? I am asking because I might try it.

[GlendaleCruiser]

I'm not sure how they look at plastic wrap on luggage, but I do know that it is common around airports like Miami and especially for luggage coming and going from South America.

[griffy116]

We use the cable ties in the neon colors from Home Depot just so we know if someone has opened our luggage, because they can be cut with nail clippers. We know because we had a family member, after repeated warnings, pack their passport in a piece of luggage that was about to checked at the airport. All we had was a set of nail clips and we opened it in about 3 seconds. We always put an unusual bright colored ribbon or tag to help with ID of our bag and we use our dinged up Target luggage. If they have a choice between a designer bag and mine, they'll choose the designer bag everytime. And finally, we always put the cell phone number, last name and itinerary in the bags. We are, of course the ones that ended up with the extra suitcase with all these precautions, but at least we ended up with all our own luggage. It was just a pain and embarrassment trying to explain that we weren't luggage thiefs. We were in San Juan last summer for a cruise and they didn't wrap our luggage. Must have started that after our cruise.

[6rugrats]

We were in San Juan last summer for a cruise and they didn't wrap our luggage. Must have started that after our cruise.

 

You have to pay someone to wrap the plastic around your bag; the airline doesn't do it, it's provided by a vendor. Last year in Madrid, I think the price was around 6 Euros. You see this in many airports, especially outside of the US. Maybe you just didn't notice.

 

If TSA wants to open your bag, they will remove the plastic wrap.

[Yvie]

We lock all of our luggage with TSA locks. All valuables such as cameras, jewelry, dvd players, etc. stay with us as carry ons.

 

I have had new perfume stolen from my toiletry bag after a cruise (either on the ship or at the airport). I have also had luggage lost. We used to each pack our own suitcase, but now we divide the clothes up among the bags, that way if a bag is lost, no one is without all of their clothing.

[Deckhandoug]

I've taken to wearing a travel vest when we travel, it's especially good for flying, it holds my camera, passport, wallet, cell phone, book, snack

etc, comfortably and within reach and I just take it off and let it go thru the scanner with my carry on and shoes, no fuss!:)

 

My money is on the baggage handlers stealing most peoples stuff, if you've ever been behind the scenes at an airport, you'll see piles of unsupervised luggage everywhere, lying on the tarmac, getting thrown around and run over by the carts. It's a very un-secure place and they have lots of opportunity to go thru it in an out of sight area.:eek:

 

TSA employees are a joke, most of them are unemployable elsewhere and the security companies are the low bidders after all. You get what you pay for.:rolleyes:

[zagguy]

Its not funny when this happens and I am sorry for your loss. Let me share what happened to DW and me. On our first cruise when we got to our ship I was missing a new snorkel and mask. :o My wife was missing her "spanx". Every time we return to Florida we look for someone wearing a clear snorkel mask and spanks.:rolleyes: We thought we saw them on a guy on Duval St. in Key West but were laughing to hard to ask...:)

[Watson's aunt]

rather that have home phone have a family member phone and Address that way they will have no idea where you live.

 

 

Mary

[ookpik]

:

its not funny when this happens and i am sorry for your loss. Let me share what happened to dw and me. On our first cruise when we got to our ship i was missing a new snorkel and mask. :o my wife was missing her "spanx". Every time we return to florida we look for someone wearing a clear snorkel mask and spanks.:rolleyes: We thought we saw them on a guy on duval st. In key west but were laughing to hard to ask...:)

 

:d:d:d

[ballgown1]

its not funny when this happens and i am sorry for your loss. Let me share what happened to dw and me. On our first cruise when we got to our ship i was missing a new snorkel and mask. :o my wife was missing her "spanx". Every time we return to florida we look for someone wearing a clear snorkel mask and spanks.:rolleyes: We thought we saw them on a guy on duval st. In key west but were laughing to hard to ask...:)

 

 

howling rofl!