Luggage in the drink!!

[JC13]

Consider travel insurance from an outside source, like Travel Guard, for future cruises. Personally I prefer not to use the same vendor for everything.

[shredie]

I just misread the title of his thread "Drink in the Luggage." :) Guess that's a different topic. ;)

[compozer]

If we need further reimbursement after Princess pays, then SECOND contact our homeowner's insurance and if we still aren't complete THIRD put in a claim with Travel Care. Right:rolleyes::rolleyes:

 

 

So frustrating. You buy the travel insurance and think it will take care of anything that happens and then you find out you need to deal with your homeowners insurance first. I see Rate increase!!!!

 

I had to file a medical claim last year. Same thing, first I had to send it to Medicare, then my secondary insurance and then they would take a look at it.

 

Hope you get your claim settled soon.

[SoCal Cruiser78]

So frustrating. You buy the travel insurance and think it will take care of anything that happens and then you find out you need to deal with your homeowners insurance first. I see Rate increase!!!!

 

I had to file a medical claim last year. Same thing, first I had to send it to Medicare, then my secondary insurance and then they would take a look at it.

 

Hope you get your claim settled soon.

 

I have learned to look for the words "primary coverage" when shopping for travel insurance. You often pay more for it, but it sure saves jumping through hoops with multiple carriers if you have to file a claim.

[Floridiana]

I sincerely doubt it. The crew has to purchase their own clothing. They can bring it with them or buy replacements when / if they are allowed ashore in port.

 

You are right. They are provided uniforms and work clothes but no underwear and no civil clothing. In Puerto Vallarta, they like to go to Wal-Mart to replenish their stuff. It's in walking distance from the pier.

[CruisingJs]

So frustrating. You buy the travel insurance and think it will take care of anything that happens and then you find out you need to deal with your homeowners insurance first. I see Rate increase!!!!

 

I had to file a medical claim last year. Same thing, first I had to send it to Medicare, then my secondary insurance and then they would take a look at it.

 

Hope you get your claim settled soon.

It's not actually that bad. We did a cruise on Celebrity once where two of our bags never showed up at disembarkation. I think Celebrity gave us $200 or something ridiculous (they were big bags!). I next had to contact my homeowner's insurance but they wouldn't pay unless they were stolen (I think they were but couldn't prove it). So they just wrote me a letter showing they declined and travel insurance then paid off. That's when I switched to Princess. :D

[compozer]

I have learned to look for the words "primary coverage" when shopping for travel insurance. You often pay more for it, but it sure saves jumping through hoops with multiple carriers if you have to file a claim.

 

Good to know. Will look for primary coverage from now on.

 

thanks

[RDC1]

It's not actually that bad. We did a cruise on Celebrity once where two of our bags never showed up at disembarkation. I think Celebrity gave us $200 or something ridiculous (they were big bags!). I next had to contact my homeowner's insurance but they wouldn't pay unless they were stolen (I think they were but couldn't prove it). So they just wrote me a letter showing they declined and travel insurance then paid off. That's when I switched to Princess. :D

 

Princess has a similar limitation in their contract. $300 I think if you don't have insurance.

[Colo Cruiser]

I suspect that an entire cage of suitcases that gets forklifted onto the ship went into the water and probably did not float.

 

I read that the same thing happened in Long Beach on the Splendor cruise that had the fire. I notice that Long Beach has nets under the loading doors now. Hopefully San Pedro will do the same thing.

 

 

You just never know with these union workers in several ports. If they feel they did not get enough of a tip they have been known to break and dunk luggage. :(

[jrzebird]

I think they do float, at least for awhile. But our clothes were completely saturated. So they had to have been completely submerged.

 

Sorry for your problems and thanks for sharing. I would be very upset. I have friends who have had their luggage left out in the rain and everything was soaked. Not as bad as having it fall into icky port water.

 

Note to self and others for future reference .. if this happens to me, or you, I think I would send most of the stuff for Princess to clean or wash, but I would definitely keep 3 or 4 days worth of clothes out and take them to the laundromat and wash them myself (and present the bill to Princess). Better than trying to live in the same clothes for 3 or 4 days. Of course, hindsight is 20/20.

 

Maureen

[JF - retired RRT]

Sorry for your problems and thanks for sharing. I would be very upset. I have friends who have had their luggage left out in the rain and everything was soaked. Not as bad as having it fall into icky port water.

 

Note to self and others for future reference .. if this happens to me, or you, I think I would send most of the stuff for Princess to clean or wash, but I would definitely keep 3 or 4 days worth of clothes out and take them to the laundromat and wash them myself (and present the bill to Princess). Better than trying to live in the same clothes for 3 or 4 days. Of course, hindsight is 20/20.

 

Maureen

Yes...:D

I thought "express" meant FAST...silly me :p

[WisCruiser2]

JF - SO sorry this happened to you! We've often wondered that it doesn't occur more often as we've watched the luggage being loaded. Hope you didn't let it ruin your cruise, but I bet it was good to get some clean underwear :eek:

[knittinggirl]

Princess must have underwear abroad for the crew.

In one of the Royal Caribbean ships, we ran low on underwear and had to purchase. We asked at one of the stores, and they had it behind the counter. These days, we take only quick dry underwear.

 

Eagle Creek specter packing cubes are supposed to be water resistant, but I wouldn't expect that to keep them dry if they're at the bottom of the bay. Wouldn't they need divers to retrieve them?

 

Sadly, porters can do a lot of damage in 20 seconds if they don't like the tip.

 

We always bring a change of clothes and underwear in our carry-on which we don't check at the pier.

 

$100 OBC isn't enough compensation. You should have gotten cash.

Edited December 6, 2014 by knittinggirl

[JF - retired RRT]

In one of the Royal Caribbean ships, we ran low on underwear and had to purchase. We asked at one of the stores, and they had it behind the counter. These days, we take only quick dry underwear.

 

Eagle Creek specter packing cubes are supposed to be water resistant, but I wouldn't expect that to keep them dry if they're at the bottom of the bay. Wouldn't they need divers to retrieve them?

 

Sadly, porters can do a lot of damage in 20 seconds if they don't like the tip.

 

We always bring a change of clothes and underwear in our carry-on which we don't check at the pier.

 

$100 OBC isn't enough compensation. You should have gotten cash.

I will check those out. One of the things we have decided to do is put as much as possible into some find of inner plastic bag. The only things that weren't saturated were some of the items that were in a bag in the suitcase.

[BJS]

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions.

The letter Princess gave us said to contact Princess Travel Care if we have Princess insurance (we do).

I called and the end result was that we have to FIRST jump through all the hoops with Princess. If we need further reimbursement after Princess pays, then SECOND contact our homeowner's insurance and if we still aren't complete THIRD put in a claim with Travel Care. Right:rolleyes::rolleyes:

 

Sorry for your loss - I hope you get your things covered quickley.

 

 

Princess Travel is primary for everything except medical which needs to be filed with your primary medical insurance first and baggage which goes first to Princess or the airline (if they were the cause) then to homeowners. For both of these coverage B & C you need to submit responses from other insurance along with claim form (all of this can be done online & you can get the form at travelclaim dot com)

 

They have been great with paying several claims where we had to cancel the cruise for medical reasons after final payment...one claim was for canceling three days before the cruise....no hoops to go through.

 

.

 

.

Edited December 6, 2014 by BJS

[cndcruiser65]

Hearing about luggage arriving wet has got us very nervous of our upcoming cruise. We have always cruised with Royal Caribbean and decided to try Princess. The OBC of 100.00 wouldn't even cover the cost of my face cream! I have never heard of this happening before. Is Houston that bad of a port. Princess management (head office) should be looking into all the trouble happening in this port.

[Colo Cruiser]

Hearing about luggage arriving wet has got us very nervous of our upcoming cruise. We have always cruised with Royal Caribbean and decided to try Princess. The OBC of 100.00 wouldn't even cover the cost of my face cream! I have never heard of this happening before. Is Houston that bad of a port. Princess management (head office) should be looking into all the trouble happening in this port.

 

 

Princess Mgmt has no control over dock workers and their unions.

[caribill]

Hearing about luggage arriving wet has got us very nervous of our upcoming cruise.

 

Although it obviously happens now and then (and at various ports and with different cruise lines), it is a very rare occurrence and you should stop worrying about it.

[JF - retired RRT]

Hearing about luggage arriving wet has got us very nervous of our upcoming cruise. We have always cruised with Royal Caribbean and decided to try Princess. The OBC of 100.00 wouldn't even cover the cost of my face cream! I have never heard of this happening before. Is Houston that bad of a port. Princess management (head office) should be looking into all the trouble happening in this port.

 

We didn't sail out of Houston, it was LA. We did sail out of Houston earlier this year and had the fog issues PLUS noro. The OBC from Princess more than compensated for that inconvenience.

 

Your face cream would survive the immersion. Simply wipe it off with a wash cloth or an antibacterial wipe. The only things that were damaged were our electronics...we carry a small, cheap alarm clock and a charger for our phones, etc. and (of course), they were in the suitcase. We are also going to replace the suitcases, they have an odor (slight) and feel greasy.

 

It probably will never happen to us again and may never happen to you. Just pack like it might. Plastic bags on things that wouldn't survive immersion and maybe a change of clothes in your carry-on.

 

Once we have sorted out what doesn't work anymore, we will simply replace them and send the receipts in for our insurance to process. Hopefully, we will be fine.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Again, this is a rare occurrence. Just sucks if it happens to you. Hopefully one can put all their charging devices, electronics in their carry on. Have a change of underwear or two plus a change of clothing in their carry on. Cross pack (but if both of your suitcases end up in the water, that won't help). Tip the porter.

 

But unless you're going on a short cruise, I can't see trying to take all of your luggage on board yourself just on the off change this happens.

[Merlinite]

i've always packed most things in space bags. now i will put everything in them. they have travel bags that don't require a vacuum. very cool :)

[shredie]

Hearing about luggage arriving wet has got us very nervous of our upcoming cruise. We have always cruised with Royal Caribbean and decided to try Princess. The OBC of 100.00 wouldn't even cover the cost of my face cream! I have never heard of this happening before. Is Houston that bad of a port. Princess management (head office) should be looking into all the trouble happening in this port.

 

You're more likely to get the Noro virus than have your luggage dunked.

[JF - retired RRT]

You're more likely to get the Noro virus than have your luggage dunked.

 

Judging by the number of people who have responded to my original question I would guess you are right.:)

Several suggestions have been helpful/food for thought.

[SadieN]

Hearing about luggage arriving wet has got us very nervous of our upcoming cruise. We have always cruised with Royal Caribbean and decided to try Princess. The OBC of 100.00 wouldn't even cover the cost of my face cream! I have never heard of this happening before. Is Houston that bad of a port. Princess management (head office) should be looking into all the trouble happening in this port.

 

 

Could decant (transfer) an appropriate amount of face cream into a smaller container. Then you wouldn't be out the whole jar. Do a test run beforehand to see how many uses you get out of your travel container. I've seen little 'pots' with the travel stuff at Walmart and Target.

[cactusrose]

I've had my suitcase left out in the rain at airports so I usually pack my clothes in a large trash bag before putting in the luggage. But I recently found Ziploc Big Bags and they work better because the seal. They come in 3, 20 and 20 gallon sizes.