Theft on Celebrity

[20pluscruises]

We also had problems with credit card fraud after a Celebrity cruise in October last year.

 

The card is rarely used but details were given to Celebrity for our Seapass card to pay on board expenses. Several weeks after coming home, the card details were used fraudulently twice on one day totalling $3000. The activity was traced to South America .

 

We immediately cancelled the card and our bank reimbursed us. I notified Celebrity but apart from an acknowledgment they had received my email, nothing more has happened.

 

In a recent telephone call to Celebrity about another matter the operator mentioned she was in Guatamala so there is a South

America link there.

 

All too much of a coincidence .

 

That's strange...I thought they were out of Miami??????? Did you use the card on one of the islands? I'm never very confortable with using it off the ship.

[Shir Hayam]

We have had a few cruise related losses in the 15 years or so that we've been cruising. A pair of binoculars vanished while on a cruise and an inexpensive portable clock was left behind in our cabin and never turned in by anyone. Both of these incidents happened on Celebrity ships. A more serious incident happened at the San Juan port when my husband removed his cell phone at the security check and forgot to collect it before we boarded the ship. He noticed it was gone as soon as we got to our cabin and went back immediately to the check point. No one there knew anything about a forgotten cell phone. We also had a suitcase opened and a voltage converter stolen when departing a cruise in Barcelona. Now we never put anything of any value in checked luggage and try our best to remember our belongings at security check points. Not always easy to do :eek:!

 

Sheila

[Jane2357]

I've never had a thing go missing but just a warning. Make sure that your cabin does is shut all the way. I once met a couple at an A.I. who thought their door was closed but it hadn't clicked shut. Someone went in and took all their valuables while they were having dinner. I always check the door twice.

[Clydesmom7865]

This will send many into a tizzy but on my first cruise I left my envelope of extra spending cash (several hundred dollars) in the safe without locking it. Not one cent missing. Wallet, cell phone, laptop, tablet, camera etc. all left in room with no troubles on both cruises.

 

I was amazed at the number of tablets, phones, cameras and kindles that people left on the chairs while they hit the pool, restroom, or buffet.

 

Could a theft happen? Sure. However, I make sure to double check that the door closes behind me and to not leave valuables unattended in public places as it isn't the cabin steward or staff I fear but other passengers.

 

Remember the old saying "all a lock does is keep an honest man honest." If someone is REALLY going to steal from you they will.

[wwcruisers]

 

Could a theft happen? Sure. However, I make sure to double check that the door closes behind me and to not leave valuables unattended in public places as it isn't the cabin steward or staff I fear but other passengers.

 

Ditto! That's the main reason we secure things in the safe or drawers and closets. Unlike RC, the room stewards on X do not leave the doors open when they are cleaning. When we used to cruise on RC, I always wondered what might happen if the steward was called away, in the middle of making up the room. That's when we adopted the policy of never leaving anything out in plain sight, when we are out of our cabin.

[Hapytocruise]

We keep cash, credit cards and passport in the safe. If I travelled with my good jewelry I would put that in there also. It is not just the room steward who can get in your room - we have had room service come in when we did not hear the knock (we were on the balcony), also maintenance staff have pass keys. Anything you treasure keep it safe.

[riclop]

Hi Everyone,

 

Just wondering how safe leaving things in your room are. We obviously take general travelling measures.

 

Do you always need to put your laptop in the safe?

 

Last time we cruised was 5 years ago (with Celebrity) and wanted to see peoples experiences lately were like.

 

Thanks!

Its safer there than taking it with you.

[cherylroslyn]

Ditto! That's the main reason we secure things in the safe or drawers and closets. Unlike RC, the room stewards on X do not leave the doors open when they are cleaning. When we used to cruise on RC, I always wondered what might happen if the steward was called away, in the middle of making up the room. That's when we adopted the policy of never leaving anything out in plain sight, when we are out of our cabin.

The room stewards always leave multiple cabins open on Celebrity.

[Boatharbour]

Re my previous post about credit card fraud - Celebrity are based in Miami but if you call the 1800 number from Australia you are put through to a call centre. Last week I was speaking to a company agent in Guatemala.

 

We didn't use the card off the ship at all. Card details were only given to Celebrity for our Sea pass card.

[cruiserziggy]

We also had problems with credit card fraud after a Celebrity cruise in October last year.

 

The card is rarely used but details were given to Celebrity for our Seapass card to pay on board expenses. Several weeks after coming home, the card details were used fraudulently twice on one day totalling $3000. The activity was traced to South America .

 

We immediately cancelled the card and our bank reimbursed us. I notified Celebrity but apart from an acknowledgment they had received my email, nothing more has happened.

 

In a recent telephone call to Celebrity about another matter the operator mentioned she was in Guatamala so there is a South

America link there.

 

All too much of a coincidence .

 

What ship were you on when this happened? We were on Summit out of San Juan first week of Nov 2013 when our friends experienced their issue with credit card fraud. Interesting if it were the same cruise.

Edited February 5, 2014 by cruiserziggy

[Aargau]

My last Celebrity cruise was a trans-Panama Canal trip. Because some areas like Colombia, Guatemala, and Panama had some higher theft areas, I bought a small hidden camera with to document anything that might happen before or after.

 

A few times I left the camera in the room when I would go out.

 

I saw absolutely no bad behavior from the cleaning crew in my room. I had a lot of valuable equipment like 600mm lenses, iPads, and even prescription meds, and nothing was even touched. Granted, the prescription meds and my wallet stayed in the safe whenever I was not in the room.

 

So that's just one person's experience. Attaching a screenshot from the hidden camera.

[CaribbeanBound]

Never had a problem on Celebrity.

We do keep cash, passports and phones (turned off) in the safe.

[20pluscruises]

Re my previous post about credit card fraud - Celebrity are based in Miami but if you call the 1800 number from Australia you are put through to a call centre. Last week I was speaking to a company agent in Guatemala.

 

We didn't use the card off the ship at all. Card details were only given to Celebrity for our Sea pass card.

 

YIKES!!! ...and Celebrity isn't looking into it for you? I would think they would want to be on top of this.

[20pluscruises]

My last Celebrity cruise was a trans-Panama Canal trip. Because some areas like Colombia, Guatemala, and Panama had some higher theft areas, I bought a small hidden camera with to document anything that might happen before or after.

 

A few times I left the camera in the room when I would go out.

 

I saw absolutely no bad behavior from the cleaning crew in my room. I had a lot of valuable equipment like 600mm lenses, iPads, and even prescription meds, and nothing was even touched. Granted, the prescription meds and my wallet stayed in the safe whenever I was not in the room.

 

So that's just one person's experience. Attaching a screenshot from the hidden camera.

 

I never even thought about prescription meds...thanks for the heads up!

[Boatharbour]

We used the card on Solstice out of Sydney, October 2013

[CruisinCindy]

We always keep our valuables in the safe, i.e., passports, money, credit cards and jewelry and have never had a problem even when we forgot to lock it. As another poster said, I'm not worried about the cabin attendant, it's the other passengers I'm more concerned about. On our recent Celebrity cruise, one of our friends accidently left his iPhone on the treadmill when he was finished working out. He didn't realize it until he got back to the cabin and went right back to the gym. It was gone. He asked the gym staff if anyone had turned it in, checked with Guest Services and Security, all to no avail.

Then, he later realized that his treadmill was located under one of the security cameras, so he asked Security to review the video. Yes, he had to ask them to do this, since they didn't initiate that, but they did it. They did a great job then, and watching the video, they saw a passenger take the phone from the treadmill. Without being able to identify him by name at that point, they used various camera videos and their facial recognition software to follow him back to his cabin and get his identity from there. They then flagged his Seapass and when he tried to leave the ship at a port stop, Security stopped him and questioned him about the phone. He did have it and made some excuses about intending to turn it in, but it had been nearly 2 days and a trip to Guest Relations takes 5 minutes, so everyone knew he had no intention of turning it in. Even so, our friend was so grateful to have his phone back that he declined to press charges.

The culprit was a middle aged, regular guy, not shady or shifty, so I guess you can never tell which people will succumb to temptation to do something dishonest...

[BosoxI]

Passports, wallets, credit cards, and jewelry go in the safe. Anything else stays in the cabin. In more than 40 cruises on a variety of lines, we've never lost a thing. Just remember to open your safe the night before disembarking, so if there is a problem with the safe, it can be addressed in a timely fashion. We've have a spate of safe problems recently. Edited February 5, 2014 by BosoxI

[Oceangoer2]

Question made me think of a situation where generosity could be misinterpreted. I had brought a very nice white cotton/lacy sundress (in its cleaning bag) onboard and didn't wear it. Somehow it became one of those items which 'don't fit after a while on a cruise ship'. I liked our steward and at the end of the cruise, rather than pack it, I asked if he could perhaps find someone who'd like it. Along with that I gave him a sunhat which I wouldn't have worn again. It just occurred to me that someone higher up might have wondered if he had stolen it. Now I wish I had provided him a note that allowed him to have these items; what if I had caused him trouble? Everyone is so suspicious these days.

[maritimer2]

QUOTE: [COLOR="Black"]The card is rarely used but details were given to Celebrity for our Seapass card to pay on board expenses. Several weeks after coming home, the card details were used fraudulently twice on one day totalling $3000. The activity was traced to South America .

We immediately cancelled the card and our bank reimbursed us. I notified Celebrity but apart from an acknowledgment they had received my email, nothing more has happened.

In a recent telephone call to Celebrity about another matter the operator mentioned she was in Guatamala so there is a South
America link there.

All too much of a coincidence[/COLOR] .


Got me thinking...:confused:

So i purchased the new RF pouches to carry our credit cards so scammers can't scan them in the malls or on the islands. :eek: I had no idea that this was going on until the CAA rep advised that this is a new way to obtain our personal information without actually stealing your wallet. I also purchased the special pouches to protect the chip on my passport from being read as well.;). Just another possibility to consider ... Edited February 5, 2014 by maritimer2

[Clydesmom7865]

[quote name='CruisinCindy']We always keep our valuables in the safe, i.e., passports, money, credit cards and jewelry and have never had a problem even when we forgot to lock it. As another poster said, I'm not worried about the cabin attendant, it's the other passengers I'm more concerned about. On our recent Celebrity cruise, one of our friends accidently left his iPhone on the treadmill when he was finished working out. He didn't realize it until he got back to the cabin and went right back to the gym. It was gone. He asked the gym staff if anyone had turned it in, checked with Guest Services and Security, all to no avail.

Then, he later realized that his treadmill was located under one of the security cameras, so he asked Security to review the video. Yes, he had to ask them to do this, since they didn't initiate that, but they did it. They did a great job then, and watching the video, they saw a passenger take the phone from the treadmill. Without being able to identify him by name at that point, they used various camera videos and their facial recognition software to follow him back to his cabin and get his identity from there. They then flagged his Seapass and when he tried to leave the ship at a port stop, Security stopped him and questioned him about the phone. He did have it and made some excuses about intending to turn it in, but it had been nearly 2 days and a trip to Guest Relations takes 5 minutes, so everyone knew he had no intention of turning it in. Even so, our friend was so grateful to have his phone back that he declined to press charges.

The culprit was a middle aged, regular guy, not shady or shifty, so I guess you can never tell which people will succumb to temptation to do something dishonest...[/QUOTE]

A family at the pool at Disney had a similar problem when someone went into their backpack and took the husband's I-Phone. He activated the "Find my phone" app on his I-Pad and notified hotel security. They tracked the phone to one of the boats that transports guests between parks and resorts. Notified security at the next stop for the boat and when the guy got off they were waiting for him and detained him. Found the phone and he was arrested and booked for theft.

NEVER underestimate technology when it comes to solving a crime!

[bbappel]

[quote name='Clydesmom7865']This will send many into a tizzy but on my first cruise I left my envelope of extra spending cash (several hundred dollars) in the safe without locking it. Not one cent missing. Wallet, cell phone, laptop, tablet, camera etc. all left in room with no troubles on both cruises. [/quote]

It wasn't our first cruise - but we did the same thing the first day of our most recent cruise on Eclipse. After putting everything in the safe, my husband thought I locked it and I thought he did. We just closed the door (solstice class) and went out to the muster drill and sailaway party. That evening we discovered we hadn't locked the safe - and we had left a plastic bag of cash, etc. Nothing had been touched. We had excellent room stewards.

Beth Edited February 5, 2014 by bbappel

[Clydesmom7865]

[quote name='bbappel']It wasn't our first cruise - but we did the same thing the first day of our most recent cruise on Eclipse. After putting everything in the safe, my husband thought I locked it and I thought he did. We just closed the door (solstice class) and went out to the muster drill and sailaway party. That evening we discovered we hadn't locked the safe - and we had left a plastic bag of cash, etc. Nothing had been touched. We had excellent room stewards.

Beth[/QUOTE]

I WISH I could say that it was a case of he did/she did but I cruise solo.
I WISH I could say that I simply forgot to lock the safe.

Sadly I didn't. It NEVER occurred to me that an employee would steal from me. It was about 3 or 4 days in that I secured the money a lot better but I think that was for me not due to an actual security need. :o

[Yvie]

I've never had anything stolen on a cruise, but we do use the stateroom safe. On Reflection it was big enough to hold two ipads, two kindles, passports, jewelry, wallets, and cell phones.

We always use TSA approved locks on our suitcases when we travel. Another option I have used in hotel rooms is to put an item in my suitcase and lock it while we are out.