Who's responsible for theiving porters?

[eap1986]

I had some things stolen from my suitcase by a porter in San Juan. The reason we know this for a fact is because this person put his/her sweaty, nasty "continental shipping" work shirt in where the stolen items were placed. (Continental Shipping is the company the porters work for in San Juan.) We were also in our room when the bags were delivered, so no chance it could have been a passenger.

 

Carnival says they are not responsible. But Carnival also gives the porters access to guest luggage and the right to go through the bags to look for items not allowed on board.

 

Any thoughts on this?

[firefly333]

wow I hope you didnt put anything like electronics in your checked bags. What did they take. Sounds like a problem since Carnival says on the cruise ticket its not their responsibility.

[happy cruzin]

I had some things stolen from my suitcase by a porter in San Juan. The reason we know this for a fact is because this person put his/her sweaty, nasty "continental shipping" work shirt in where the stolen items were placed. (Continental Shipping is the company the porters work for in San Juan.) We were also in our room when the bags were delivered, so no chance it could have been a passenger.

 

Carnival says they are not responsible. But Carnival also gives the porters access to guest luggage and the right to go through the bags to look for items not allowed on board.

 

Any thoughts on this?

 

YIKES :eek:!! That is pretty bold :mad: :eek:. Was your suitcase locked?

 

 

Clarification please......the porters have the ability to "check" the luggage??? THAT doesn't seem right :mad:......I thought Carnival/Security did that :confused: - but I could be wrong.

[FoolUKnot]

1) ALWAYS lock your bags.

 

2) Consider luggage, if not trip, insurance.

 

Carnival has no liability until the bag is in their possession. Even if there was a Carnival shirt in the bag, Carnival's liability is $50 per bag up to a maximum of $100 per cabin.

[happy cruzin]

1) ALWAYS lock your bags.

 

2) Consider luggage, if not trip, insurance.

 

Carnival has no liability until the bag is in their possession. Even if there was a Carnival shirt in the bag, Carnival's liability is $50 per bag up to a maximum of $100 per cabin.

 

...and exactly when is it "in their possession"?

[eap1986]

...and exactly when is it "in their possession"?

 

This is exactly what I'm struggling with understanding.

 

To the poster who questioned about porters checking the bags... I had heard that they could do that earlier in the year and managed to find an article on the subject when I got home:

 

http://www.travelresearchonline.com/blog/index.php/2010/01/carnival-what-are-you-thinking/

[FoolUKnot]

...and exactly when is it "in their possession"?

 

when it is on the ship.

[golfadj]

Does Carnival employees put the luggage on the ship or do the longshoreman?

[golfadj]

However wondering when a porter/longshoreman would have access to your belongings to go thru your bags when nobody was around.

[happy cruzin]

This is exactly what I'm struggling with understanding.

 

To the poster who questioned about porters checking the bags... I had heard that they could do that earlier in the year and managed to find an article on the subject when I got home:

 

http://www.travelresearchonline.com/blog/index.php/2010/01/carnival-what-are-you-thinking/

 

So....playing devils advocate here......what happens if you check in your own luggage? If you choose not to give it to a porter - who checks it then :confused:??

[eap1986]

No the bags weren't locked. I felt they would be safe considering you have to go through security to even get them to the porters. You can bet that I will always lock them from now on!

 

It's not even about the monetary value of what was taken. It is the idea that some person was going through passenger bags somewhere. I don't want anyone touching my underwear!

 

Carnival seemed really concerned at first. We had to go to the head of security's office, meet with a Puerto Rican policeman, file reports, take digital photos of the employee's gross shirt... and on the last day they sent me a letter saying they were sorry and to contact the Corporate office when we returned home. When I did so, the lady said, "sorry to hear you lost your things. If you don't hear from us in 30 days you can assume we didn't find them and the file will be closed."

 

LOST?? Are you kidding me? :mad:

 

 

[happy cruzin]

....and what if the luggage is locked :confused:

[klmorg]

So....playing devils advocate here......what happens if you check in your own luggage? If you choose not to give it to a porter - who checks it then :confused:??

 

If you don't give it to the porters and you carry it on, then it just goes thru the regular screening (x-ray machine, etc) during your check-in, similar to carry-on bags at the airport.

[ampaisley]

I read a thread recently about this where people suggested using zip ties to keep your luggage locked, especially using the bright neon colored ones will usually deter someone from opening your bag if they are not supposed to and they are harder to replace than the regular white ones, so you'll know if someone was in there.

I also read that Carnival doesn't now require it to be unlocked but will call you down to unlock it if they deem it necessary.

 

I am so sorry that your bags got rifled through and your items stolen. There really is no excuse for that and I hope that you manged to have a good trip anyways!

[happy cruzin]

No the bags weren't locked. I felt they would be safe considering you have to go through security to even get them to the porters. You can bet that I will always lock them from now on!

 

 

It's not even about the monetary value of what was taken. It is the idea that some person was going through passenger bags somewhere. I don't want anyone touching my underwear!

 

Carnival seemed really concerned at first. We had to go to the head of security's office, meet with a Puerto Rican policeman, file reports, take digital photos of the employee's gross shirt... and on the last day they sent me a letter saying they were sorry and to contact the Corporate office when we returned home. When I did so, the lady said, "sorry to hear you lost your things. If you don't hear from us in 30 days you can assume we didn't find them and the file will be closed."

 

LOST?? Are you kidding me? :mad:

 

 

 

 

Yeah....NOT the right word for this situation!! :eek: :mad:

Do you have travel insurance that you can use to file a claim?

[zqvol]

...and exactly when is it "in their possession"?

 

After the stevedores deliver it physically onto the ship and the crew takes responsibility.

 

In other words, as long as the dock workers can still put their hands on it, then it is not in Carnival's possession.

 

Does Carnival employees put the luggage on the ship or do the longshoreman?

 

Longshoremen put it on the ships. Union rules prohibit anyone else from doing any work shore side, so carnival does not have it until it is physically deposited on the ship.

 

So....playing devils advocate here......what happens if you check in your own luggage? If you choose not to give it to a porter - who checks it then ??

 

You either give it to the longshoremen or you physically carry it all the way to your cabin. There is no other option.

 

No the bags weren't locked. I felt they would be safe considering you have to go through security to even get them to the porters. You can bet that I will always lock them from now on!

 

It's not even about the monetary value of what was taken. It is the idea that some person was going through passenger bags somewhere. I don't want anyone touching my underwear!

 

Carnival seemed really concerned at first. We had to go to the head of security's office, meet with a Puerto Rican policeman, file reports, take digital photos of the employee's gross shirt... and on the last day they sent me a letter saying they were sorry and to contact the Corporate office when we returned home. When I did so, the lady said, "sorry to hear you lost your things. If you don't hear from us in 30 days you can assume we didn't find them and the file will be closed."

 

LOST?? Are you kidding me?

 

 

 

 

Your items are technically lost. (Now lost means simply that you don't know where they are.) Carnival can only look for them on the ship and they have no responsibility for things that happen on the pier.

 

The best thing to do to minimize the chance of this happening is to lock your bags and don't put anything of value in them when you give them to the porters.

 

BTW a couple of years ago there was a big ring of thieves doing this same thing at JFK. Eventually they were caught but that did not help any of the passengers who lost items.

[dodger501]

You keep your bags locked and the worse that can happen is that you get called to the Naughty Room, right?

[happy cruzin]

If you don't give it to the porters and you carry it on, then it just goes thru the regular screening (x-ray machine, etc) during your check-in, similar to carry-on bags at the airport.

 

Agreed!

But....I was not referring to carry-ons. I meant it you walk you larger bags to the security/screening area yourself and do not use a porter.

[happy cruzin]

You keep your bags locked and the worse that can happen is that you get called to the Naughty Room, right?

 

THAT'S my thought!!

[klmorg]

Agreed!

 

But....I was not referring to carry-ons. I meant it you walk you larger bags to the security/screening area yourself and do not use a porter.

 

Hmmm... I wasn't aware you can even do that. :confused:

[eap1986]

Yeah....NOT the right word for this situation!! :eek: :mad:

 

Do you have travel insurance that you can use to file a claim?

 

I'm going to try that Monday. But honestly, it's not really about being reimbursed for what was taken. I'm frustrated that they are acting like I lost the items and won't even discuss the shirt that was placed in my bag.

[happy cruzin]

Hmmm... I wasn't aware you can even do that. :confused:

 

Yeah - our last several cruises we have been dropped off right at the entrance by a hotel shuttle or taxi. We have walked up and give our bags directly to the screeners.

Now....I suppose - technically - they could still be porters. But the bags go from our possession directly to the security area. Hopefully that minimizes the opportunity to go through them :(.

[eap1986]

You keep your bags locked and the worse that can happen is that you get called to the Naughty Room, right?

 

I will always lock them from now on! I guess I haven't been on enough cruises to know that the porters don't actually work for the line itself. If I had known that before, I would have NEVER handed my bags over to them in the first place.

[zqvol]

Agreed!

 

But....I was not referring to carry-ons. I meant it you walk you larger bags to the security/screening area yourself and do not use a porter.

 

You cannot do it. The security area is on the ship, not ashore.

[zqvol]

I'm going to try that Monday. But honestly, it's not really about being reimbursed for what was taken. I'm frustrated that they are acting like I lost the items and won't even discuss the shirt that was placed in my bag.

 

 

They are not acting like you lost the items, don't equate legal terms with them thinking that you had anything to do with the items being gone. Lost means either you know where they are or you don't. If you don't know exactly where something is, it is lost.