A cautionary tale for Royal Caribbean cruisers...

[Videophile]

And then the passenger had a change of heart and brought it back?

 

Better chance the Easter Bunny took it, and Santa Claus returned it.

 

You think one of the band members brought it back instead of "finding" it and claiming the $200 reward? Yeah, I'd go with the Easter Bunny before I'd believe that. :rolleyes:

 

Really sorry this happened to you and I'm really glad you got the camera back! Thanks for the advice too. A good reminder is always welcome.

[axid]

We do alot of beach vacations so we purchase a vacation vault. I think it was about 25$ and it straps on the beach chair or unbrella and has a combanation lock. We have had it for about 7 years and everything fits right in. I think I got mine on line but I think they also have them at Home Depot.;)

 

This is genius - I'm gonna need to look into this. Thanks for sharing! And thanks OP, for sharing your story. A good reminder for us as we start to prepare for our upcoming cruise.

[micmacmissy]

What a great idea...I have NEVER heard of these before! A quick google search:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Vacation-Vault-Portable-Protective-Combination/dp/B003L8DCNU

 

They are only $25. Will definitely be getting one of these for our next trip!

[DrD]

So allow me to be a bit critical of the people who were being critical about the people being critical of the OP.

 

It may help some who quickly scanned the thread and said "oh no I'm not going to Labadee and canceling my cruise because of crime" to be reminded that the event was potentially avoidable, and to further remind people of how to avoid. It's potentially worth a discussion around ALL the causes of the incident to inform our procedures and attitudes going forward.

 

Granted it should be handled respectfully and blamelessly, just as in any good root cause analysis.

[createcolorfun]

So sorry for all your trouble. I would like to say, if someone steals your phone, you might have a password lock or find my phone, but if that person who steals the phone takes your sim card they can call and charge up your bill. Please be careful.

[Big_G]

Thanks for your story OP. Sorry that in life in general, there always seems to be someone ready to blame the victim. Glad to see it worked out.

[MAJPLO]

OP, thank you for posting this. It is a good reminder for those of us with relaxing vacations coming up that, unfortunately, we can never fully let our guard down.

[slimkat]

I don't post often on boards and this is exactly why. I can't believe how mean, heartless and skeptical people can be. Self-righteous people who never do anything wrong or accidentally leave something somewhere for a few minutes. Yeah, right!!!

 

Thank you for your story. I totally empathize with you. Eventhough i have never personally suffered from such an occurence, as a mother of three, I can understand how some thing like a cell phone may have slipped from your mind especially when you have children in the water.

 

I am happy that you got your phone back and even happier that you were determined to not make this incident ruin you or your family's vacation. Kudos to you!

 

Don't listen to the condescending jerks here. "You should have done this, you shouldn't have done that". WHATEVER!!! Clearly they only care about themselves.

[whataboutport]

Don't count on them being waterproof. I had one that leaked.

Mine also leaked big time. I got the Beach Safe from the CC shop. I"m going to look into something from the Waterproof store.

[critterchick]

You think one of the band members brought it back instead of "finding" it and claiming the $200 reward? Yeah, I'd go with the Easter Bunny before I'd believe that. :rolleyes:

 

Really sorry this happened to you and I'm really glad you got the camera back! Thanks for the advice too. A good reminder is always welcome.

 

Perhaps the guilty party saw that she wasn't going to let it go and that the consequence could be the loss of a gig that pays a decent wage. Perhaps even a guilty conscience, although I'd go with the Easter Bunny before that.

 

OP, thanks for the warning. I'm glad you got your phone back!

[travelplus]

This is my public service announcement to those of you who plan on visiting Labadee, Haiti while on your Royal Caribbean cruise.

 

You see these things pictured below? They are waterproof, they go around your neck, and you can put your sea pass, money, and camera in them. They cost about $5 and I saw them in the ship gift shop.

 

 

Please, BUY ONE OF THESE AND USE IT when you go to Labadee.

 

I did not buy one of these. I have been to Labadee before, and I knew to pack light. Just a t-shirt, about $30, sea pass cards, and my phone (which I have been using as my camera all along). That's it. I left my belongings in my son's bright red backpack at the edge of my lounge chair, which was 5 feet away from me. Mistake.

 

We were among the first to leave the ship, and we hustled to Columbus Cove beach to get loungers on that beach. Our kids had 11am tickets for the water park, so staying on that beach would make it easy to watch them.

 

We were the first ones on the beach (other than a Haitian band setting up) and we had 4 chairs set up between the band and the water's edge. Ahhh... we were the only ones there, at least for now. How nice!

 

The water was GORGEOUS...sandy all the way out, calm, and warm.

After snapping a photo, I set my phone down on my lounger to take a quick dip. My husband went to the bathroom. The kids and I were in the water for about 5 minutes, and I told my husband to take a photo of us. But: the phone was gone. GONE. Other than our family of four, the ONLY people who were there were the 4-5 men setting up their band. I knew immediately what had happened. I turned the backpack inside and out, checked the sand- but I knew. I had left it right on the chair, and I just knew.

 

 

My husband told me to find security right away while he continued to look. I immediately looked around for the first cruise ship employee I could find- a photographer- and told him to please call security. He said, "I can't." I asked, "What do you mean, you can't? My phone was just stolen, and I need help, please." He said, "Sorry, you need to find someone else. I'm only here to take pictures." (Wow, that's great service coming from someone wearing a RC nametag.)

 

So this was my first problem: a ship employee that could care less. My husband went off to find someone and came back with the "security" man. I told him my phone had been stolen- he immediately marched over to the men setting up the band and began speaking to them in Creole. They all talked and laughed and pointed at me. It was VERY uncomfortable. The man came back and said, "Sorry lady, I don't know." He spoke very broken English.

 

My husband was furious. He went back to the ship to get someone who actually could a) speak English and b) would try to somehow help us. I brought my kids over to the water park (they had tickets) and after they swam away, I sat on the pier and cried. I was just devastated that my pictures were gone. My kids' first cruise- 5 days of pictures- my daughter's 10th birthday- gone. I could have cared less about the phone itself, but the pictures were irreplacable. The young man supervising the water park area asked if I was ok, and I explained the situation to him. He said there is theft all over Labadee...even the water trampolines from the water park get stolen overnight! (In the morning, locals drag them back in their boats asking for a "reward" for them.) He offered to call real security, from the ship, for me. I told him my husband had already gone to try to find them. He said, "Well, I'm calling too. Someone should be here to help you." He was so kind, comforting, and wonderful and I wish I had gotten his name!

 

I went back to the band area, and what do you know, the "security" man was still "hanging" with them, talking and laughing. I went up to told him, "Should someone happen to FIND my phone, I would like to offer a $200 reward- cash. On the spot. In fact, they can even keep the phone- I would just like the memory card inside of it. Please, if you could encourage your friends here to LOOK for it, perhaps one of them could find it, and I will reward them."

 

I went back to my chair and by this time, several passengers were set up in the area. One nice lady saw how sad I was and came up to help me. We went through (again) the backpack, the towels, the sand near the chairs... everything. I removed everything from the backpack and even wrung out the towels, the backpack itself, our tshirts, thinking it possibly had gotten twisted up in them. Nope...it was just...gone.

 

Next thing you know, Michelle, a rep from the cruise line, who supervises Labadee, came to talk to me. She said that the natives who work there are very honest, would never steal...and get this, she said: "I'm sorry to tell you the theft was probably from a fellow passenger." I explained to her that my family of four were the ONLY people on the beach when this happened, other than the men setting up the band. She promised to leave a golf cart waiting at the ship for my husband so he wouldn't have to walk back, and she promised to keep talking to security and she would touch base with me later. (Neither of those things happened.)

 

An hour later, got my kids out of the water park and went back to our chairs. At this point, I had to make a conscious effort to "let go" of my extreme disappointment so as not to ruin the day - or the rest of the vacation. I felt sick to my stomach for having been so stupid and trusting.

 

I had to CHOOSE to let go of the incident, to let go of the awful thought that my photos (of our first family cruise, my daughter's 10th birthday on the ship, of the stingrays and the jamaica beach and of RCCL Fan's photos of Portofinos that I promised) were gone. I had to choose to get over it and NOT let it ruin my day - or my entire vacation. In other words, I had to totally fake it. I told the kids, "It is what it is, we're not going to let it ruin our vacation..." but inside I was just sick, and so angry with myself for being so careless.

 

When my husband returned, he was very upset. He said that the staff on the ship were totally unhelpful, saying there was nothing they could do, other than offer to call my phone (which went straight to voicemail even though I had left the phone ON with the ringer ON). My husband asked for a member of the ship's security to accompany him back to the scene, perhaps ask a few questions and to take a report. They refused, saying the local security men could handle that. (Despite speaking very broken English and the fact that they had already laughed at us.) My husband also asked the local security guy if he was going to do anything, take our names, fill out an incident report- anything? "No mon" was the reply we got. "What is the procedure in place when a theft occurs here?" my husband asked him. We got a blank stare in return- he didn't understand.

 

So, we're going to get over it. Right? We're over it. We're moving on with our vacation. We are going to have FUN, darn it. So the four of us spent a few minutes floating in the water. After I little while I got out to dry off and walked up, and sitting on my chair, on my son's red backpack was my phone. RIGHT THERE. I freaked out- I thought I was hallucinating and called my husband over. He told us to immediately pick everything up, all our belongings, because we were leaving that area. Which we did.

 

I am extremely grateful that I got my phone back- I still can't believe it. And I imagine if I had stayed in that area long enough, the "security" man would have come find me for his reward. (I will also add that my phone had been turned off, and there was no record of the missed call from the cruise ship in its history.)

 

The sad part is, as we walked back to get on the ship, the agent who said she would check in with us later didn't even recognize us. She just said, "welcome aboard everyone" and waved us past. No one from the cruise line checked in or followed up. We were really disgusted with that.

 

The takeaway: PLEASE, please, please...protect your belongings. Something as stupid as a lost phone can ruin your day. I have learned my lesson! I hope this will prevent other cruisers from going through the same thing. The second takeaway: Royal Caribbean has no procedure in place when a theft occurs, no incident reporting, nothing. Very disappointing to be treated that way, and to have had our problem swept under the rug. We did not hear back from them again about it.

 

(This story is excerpted from my full review, which is "Indpendence 6-day review with pictures" on this board if you care to read the whole thing.)

 

The photographer is by Maritime law supposed to contact security as part of his contract with RCCL and the Maritime Authority if such an incident arises. What if your son was getting hurt by a drunk passenger or molested by a local or a worker on the ship and he did not care about it? He should pay the consequences of not calling security for you and buy you a new phone. What a greedy photbastard he is. He should look for another job not with RCCL. Heck if you ran in to me and told me that you just lost your phone and I was an employee with RCCL I would first and foremost stop what I'm doing and help you find the phone.

 

Gee whiz people think they are there for the money but isn't RCCL's motto is to help the customers first especially in a situation like yours. Please email Adam Goldstein about your incident and I hope you made a report to the Hotel Director about this bad service of the photographer. If this photographer was working under me he would either be fired or would get a severe consequence. This is unacceptable and does not live up to RCCL's Golden Anchor service. You should report this.

 

P.S. I'm glad you got your phone back but still the actions of the photographer and security should have been more customer service oriented.

[RCCL Fan]

Missy, I wrote on the other thread how sorry I am... and yes it's important to share this info...

 

no matter what the critics say.

[micmacmissy]

The photographer is by Maritime law supposed to contact security as part of his contract with RCCL and the Maritime Authority if such an incident arises. What if your son was getting hurt by a drunk passenger or molested by a local or a worker on the ship and he did not care about it? He should pay the consequences of not calling security for you and buy you a new phone. What a greedy photbastard he is. He should look for another job not with RCCL. Heck if you ran in to me and told me that you just lost your phone and I was an employee with RCCL I would first and foremost stop what I'm doing and help you find the phone.

 

Gee whiz people think they are there for the money but isn't RCCL's motto is to help the customers first especially in a situation like yours. Please email Adam Goldstein about your incident and I hope you made a report to the Hotel Director about this bad service of the photographer. If this photographer was working under me he would either be fired or would get a severe consequence. This is unacceptable and does not live up to RCCL's Golden Anchor service. You should report this.

 

P.S. I'm glad you got your phone back but still the actions of the photographer and security should have been more customer service oriented.

 

I was totally shocked that the photographer was so unhelpful. We saw him the next night on formal night - he took our picture - and I should have made note of his name.

 

i am going to write the company, and the Hotel Director. I think their poor treatment of us was salt in the wound- a little sympathy goes a long way, especially since we weren't asking them for anything.

[micmacmissy]

Missy, I wrote on the other thread how sorry I am... and yes it's important to share this info...

 

no matter what the critics say.

 

Hi...I saw that...thank you!

 

At least the kind, supportive people outnumbered the rude ones on this thread! I do appreciate the support. :)

 

Hope everyone has a great day!

[cruisingbooboo]

Theft is all over our world, take precautions EVERYWHERE you go! Glad you got your phone back!

[Robinhill]

I am so glad that you got your phone, and thus your family cruise photos back! Obviously someone did take it and thank heavens you raised such a commotion as you did because if you had not- no way would they have decided to give it back. Maybe they started to feel bad for you because they saw you crying- I don't know but I am so glad that you got it back. I never felt the need to worry before but I am going to definitely buy that little safe and wear it at all ti mes that I am at any beach. Thanks for the warning!

[WetToes]

OP - Glad things worked out. ;)

 

To some of you posters - ... Nevermind. ... I'd be wasting time. SMH

 

This is genius - I'm gonna need to look into this.

 

Thanks for sharing! And thanks OP, for sharing your story. A good reminder for us as we start to prepare for our upcoming cruise.

 

Wouldn't they then steal the chair?

[1cat4jan]

Since this thread as veered off into backing up your photos, I'll share what we do on vacation.

 

I have an I-Pad and a camera connection kit. Every day, I copy our photos onto the I-Pad. In addition to my now having two copies of my photos, I have a portable way to show off my photos in a larger version than on my camera.

 

Great for those of us who have trouble seeing smaller photos like those on phone or camera screens.

 

What's good about this method is it takes no WIFI time - like uploading to The Cloud does.

 

I keep my I-Pad in the safe the rest of the time.

 

However, I have found the safes on Oasis too small for the larger version of the I-Pad. That kinda bummed me out as I was able to store my I-Pad in the safe on my other cruises.

[Aquahound]

The photographer is by Maritime law supposed to contact security as part of his contract with RCCL and the Maritime Authority if such an incident arises.

 

I'm not supporting the lack of interest by the photographer, but what you said is not accurate (this is my career field). Nowhere in Maritime Law does it govern a ships photogapher to take such action on land in Haiti. Ships have a duty to protect their passengers and Admirality Law can be very vague in some areas, but these policies apply to shipboard activities.

[micmacmissy]

Since this thread as veered off into backing up your photos, I'll share what we do on vacation.

 

I have an I-Pad and a camera connection kit. Every day, I copy our photos onto the I-Pad. In addition to my now having two copies of my photos, I have a portable way to show off my photos in a larger version than on my camera.

 

Great for those of us who have trouble seeing smaller photos like those on phone or camera screens.

 

What's good about this method is it takes no WIFI time - like uploading to The Cloud does.

 

I keep my I-Pad in the safe the rest of the time.

 

However, I have found the safes on Oasis too small for the larger version of the I-Pad. That kinda bummed me out as I was able to store my I-Pad in the safe on my other cruises.

 

I left my ipad home...but next time, I will bring it and upload each night. I have truly appreciated all the good suggestions about backing up photos, extra memory cards, etc. I will be much smarter the next cruise!

 

I am also going to get one of those safes and use that too. I supposed they *could* walk off with the whole chair...but what are the chances of that? Especially on a crowded beach with not much room to move- those loungers are fairly large.

[WetToes]

 

I am also going to get one of those safes and use that too. I supposed they *could* walk off with the whole chair...but what are the chances of that?

 

 

What did you think your chances were of getting your stolen item returned as it was? lol

NEVER underestimate a thief.

[north29]

Tooo many cruisers believe that everything about a cruise ship and ports are safe as main street and the local social clubs and churches in their home town.

It is good to remind many that, as safe as cruises are, they are not free from theft from fellow passengers, employees in a third world country, taxi drivers, restaurants, the list goes on and on.

Unfortunately not every cruiser in on Cruise Critic

[sharonlacey]

We hav used our vacation vault for about 7-8 yrs. No one has ever tried to walk off with our chair, lol. Guess we would have noticed that even if we were in the water. I would also think that the people sitting next to us with think that something is going on:D So if anyone sees someone walking down the beach with vacat. vault attached grab them;)

[Ocean Boy]

He also said the average pay of a villager is $1/day, while the folks who work for RCI on Labadee make $30/day.

 

 

They may be poor but you would think that they would be smart enough to not risk loosing such a well paying job by stealing in the RCI compound.

 

And maybe it wouldn't hurt, since RCI goes out of its way to paint Labadee as paradise on earth, to gently remind its customers in the flyers that they leave in the cabins that the real world sometimes invades paradise so please guard your valuables.

[joe6666]

The same cruise ships come to Labadee day after day, week after week, month after month.

Are we to believe that the cruise line doesn’t know that the locals steal anything they can get their hands on?

Did anyone receive a warning?