Luggage lost for days?

[woodpecker58]

So all that being said - what do you honestly believe is the right compensation due you? What would be that final offer that would make this right in your eyes? You've put out a lot of information regarding OBC, FCC, C & A tier bump - I'm just curious what is the right solution to a 2-day luggage issue that would have your post be one of how happy you are that a mistake was made right? Really - what is your true bottom line here?

 

I would say if it was a FCC of 25% whatever fare I can find, and I am referring to what I could get at any travel agency, not a last minute bargain price and get it extended to 2 years expiration date.

[CruisingAlong4Now]

To the OP: Leave this thread before these posters send the police after you for having the fortitude to try and get what you feel is appropriate.

 

Time to stop feeding these apologists for the cruiseline. All they are doing is blaming you for being stupid, being greedy, being unreasonable. Take your pick. The only thing I didn't see was for you to "man up" and stop complaining. Maybe it's there; I didn't read all the posts through.

 

I totally am with the "if you don't ask, you don't get." What's wrong with that? Royal can say no, but if you don't ask, then they don't even have the opportunity to say no.

 

And my husband's brother in law never would have had your problem because he only takes carryons and manages to travel. In fact he only travels, doesn't have a home and even puts the dog and his youngest son in the carryon. Saves lots of money that way.

[buggins0402]

And, perhaps it will only be a fare you can find on the RCC cruise site...would that make a difference?

 

It seems you are happy with what was replaced for your out of pocket expenses in the form of OBC (actually seems you were able to have a few drinks on them to smooth the nerves). So this FCC is just "pain and suffering" compensation.

[CruisingAlong4Now]

I would say if it was a FCC of 25% whatever fare I can find, and I am referring to what I could get at any travel agency, not a last minute bargain price and get it extended to 2 years expiration date.[/quote

 

Seems reasonable. This costs royal very little.

[donaldsc]

I figure I spent at least 4-5 hours standing in line to talk to guest services, most of it was at the beginning attempting to figure out where the luggage was. I didn't have front of the line privileges so yes I missed out spending time with family and friends. Didn't miss any tours, as we wouldn't get a refund so we went with the tour and if we got our only clothes at the time dirty with the dogs, that was on us.

 

So if we ignore your FCC and based on the $300 OBC that you were given, you figure that your 4 hours standing in line was worth $75 per hour. I don't think so. With regard to the 4 hours that you missed spending time with family and friend, you had the whole rest of the cruise to spend with them. Surely the lost 4 hours of togetherness time could not have been that devastating.

 

One other thing - the title of your post says "luggage lost for days". 50+ hours is slightly more than 2 days. The title implies that it was lost for days and days and days. I have a relative who went on a 2 week trip in Italy. Her luggage was not on the plane when they got to Italy. The airline located the stuff but the luggage always arrived at a city the day after she left for the next stop. It did not catch up with her until they got home. Now that fits your description of "luggage lost for days". Your problem does not in my opinion.

 

DON

Edited September 17, 2016 by donaldsc

[leaveitallbehind]

I would say if it was a FCC of 25% whatever fare I can find, and I am referring to what I could get at any travel agency, not a last minute bargain price and get it extended to 2 years expiration date.[/quote

 

Seems reasonable. This costs royal very little.

 

Well if you had read all the posts you would have seen that the cruise line did offer $1,200 as a FCC against the value that was paid of $5,300. That is just shy of 23%. To be clear, this was based on the cruise actually taken and paid for in terms of determining the value, not a blanket percentage against a future cruise at any rate. But I don't think that was unfair as it was based on the actual cruise value at the time of the issue. They also did issue a $300 OBC on the cruise.

 

So 23% v 25% seems like splitting hairs a bit. And what if the next cruise booked is less than the $5,300 paid? The $1,200 would likely be greater and the better deal.

 

And I will only speak to my comments which were critical only in the context of the request for a loyalty program tier bump as well as the OBC and FCC, which I thought to be unreasonable. The OP also acknowledged that he shouldn't have mentioned that on this post.

Edited September 17, 2016 by leaveitallbehind

[woodpecker58]

That's where had you stopped a moment to think about what no socks and underwear for purchase meant, the free laundry would have been a completely reasonable request. While wearing a swimsuit, you could be getting your existing undies and socks washed. If you had asked for that and been refused, THAT would have been unreasonable on RCL's side as giving free laundry service wouldn't really have cost them anything, and gone a long way toward helping resolve your problem.

 

 

 

"hardened me up to demand more"....if you're using those words I would imagine your body language and tone were pretty hot while at Guest Services. Then asking for what amounts to the moon for this problem really cut off much more from RCL, because you gave the impression that even if they had offered up something more, it wouldn't have been enough...so they just shut the door.

 

You didn't feel they were concerned about what you were going through...but what else could they possibly have done? They couldn't magically make socks and underwear appear in the shops, helicopter your luggage to the ship, etc. If the issue was affecting you NOW, you needed to offer up a solution that would work NOW.

 

As you've said, lesson learned. I'm sure you'll take this experience and use what happened to your advantage should you find yourself in this situation or something similar in the future.

 

It would be taking my word for it, but I never raised my voice at any of the folks at the guest service counter, nor to George who is the manager. I should have been clearer that I only "hardened up in my mind" on Thursday when I got what had to be his final offer, as on the ship he couldn't do more. We shook hands and parted company. Yes, my body language the first couple of times probably showed I was annoyed, if you ever have to listen to the form they read you and the hoops you jump through maybe you would understand. You also have to understand that everyttime go to the desk you get a new person whom you have to explain why your there and then they need to read the log file to catch up on whats happening on their side only to be told come back later when a manager is on duty.

I hold no ill will to anyone on the boat, I look at the event and could see that RCCL could have a better process. I watched them load and un-load the luggage, I saw 2 times the cart break open and bags spill everywhere. Their has to be a better process, how about a barcoding the tags and scan them for confirmation that it's suppose to be on your ship. The money paid out in OBC would help offset the initial cost of computerizing. RCCL sent me luggage tags, which were attached, green and quite large.

Honestly, would it hurt to have a set of underwear and socks tucked away. I am not asking they carry everyone's brand or style. I would have taken anything and put my stuff in the wash. Space is a premium on a boat, but 12 pairs in a variety of sizes wouldn't take up that much space.

[Shmoo here]

...

Honestly, would it hurt to have a set of underwear and socks tucked away. I am not asking they carry everyone's brand or style. I would have taken anything and put my stuff in the wash. Space is a premium on a boat, but 12 pairs in a variety of sizes wouldn't take up that much space.

 

That's the biggest reason I take a change of underwear, and an extra shirt in my carryon bag.

[woodpecker58]

 

Well if you had read all the posts you would have seen that the cruise line did offer $1,200 as a FCC against the value that was paid of $5,300. That is just shy of 23%. To be clear, this was based on the cruise actually taken and paid for in terms of determining the value, not a blanket percentage against a future cruise at any rate. But I don't think that was unfair as it was based on the actual cruise value at the time of the issue. They also did issue a $300 OBC on the cruise.

 

So 23% v 25% seems like splitting hairs a bit. And what if the next cruise booked is less than the $5,300 paid? The $1,200 would likely be greater and the better deal.

 

And I will only speak to my comments which were critical only in the context of the request for a tier bump as well as the OBC and FCC, which I thought to be unreasonable. The OP also acknowledged that he shouldn't have mentioned that on this post.

 

The percentage they offered in FCC is for full brochure price, so the 25% I said I would take would be if it was it was off the lowest price you can get at a travel agency and extended the expiration date to 2 years.

[buggins0402]

 

The percentage they offered in FCC is for full brochure price, so the 25% I said I would take would be if it was it was off the lowest price you can get at a travel agency and extended the expiration date to 2 years.

 

One year off a website price and then I would count you lucky stars for that deal.

[woodpecker58]

So if we ignore your FCC and based on the $300 OBC that you were given, you figure that your 4 hours standing in line was worth $75 per hour. I don't think so. With regard to the 4 hours that you missed spending time with family and friend, you had the whole rest of the cruise to spend with them. Surely the lost 4 hours of togetherness time could not have been that devastating.

 

One other thing - the title of your post says "luggage lost for days". 50+ hours is slightly more than 2 days. The title implies that it was lost for days and days and days. I have a relative who went on a 2 week trip in Italy. Her luggage was not on the plane when they got to Italy. The airline located the stuff but the luggage always arrived at a city the day after she left for the next stop. It did not catch up with her until they got home. Now that fits your description of "luggage lost for days". Your problem does not in my opinion.

 

DON

 

Answering lots of questions so I do tend to generalize. I don't know how long I actually spent in line, or the time I watched the hotel supervisor while he searched all the 8 rooms in our group actually getting down on all fours around the beds to look if the suitcases were under there, or the multiple trips to see the manager only to find out he was in a staff meeting after standing in line.

We boarded the boat around 12 pm on a Friday, received our luggage on Sunday night at 9:35 pm.

Everyone can quote a story about how someone had it worse then we did. That could be said of every problem someone has in life! Lessons learned.

[leaveitallbehind]

 

The percentage they offered in FCC is for full brochure price, so the 25% I said I would take would be if it was it was off the lowest price you can get at a travel agency and extended the expiration date to 2 years.

 

Not sure how you quoted this but that is not my statement - it is that of the OP. Read up a few posts.

Edited September 17, 2016 by leaveitallbehind

[msmayor]

Their has to be a better process, how about a barcoding the tags and scan them for confirmation that it's suppose to be on your ship. The money paid out in OBC would help offset the initial cost of computerizing. RCCL sent me luggage tags, which were attached, green and quite large.

 

It sounds like the smart thing to do, but the reality is that adding this type of 'check' would create HUGE delays in loading and distributing luggage.

 

Porters at the curb take the bags and put them on carts, and the carts are wheeled or hoisted on board. If you add the scanning of individual bags before putting them on the ship, lets think about how much extra time that takes.

 

Assume 2200 passengers and 1.5 bags each, so 3300 bags. After porters load them on to carts, then they are wheeled to an area somewhere near the ship's loading area and the carts need to be emptied so each bag on the cart can be scanned, then transferred to an empty cart. Figure 25 bags per cart, so 132 carts. Lets say it take just 5 minutes to scan each cart and then get it on the ship (and I think that's a conservative number)...12 carts an hour. You're looking at eleven hours. Impossible when a ship is turning around in only 10.

 

Imagine trying to do this on Allure or Oasis where there are over 5000 passengers.

[CruisingAlong4Now]

I hope that the OP takes all these suggestions to heart and will now attend remedial cruiser school to atone for all his shortcomings.

 

He's greedy. He's stupid. He's unreasonable. He's shortsighted. He's wrong. He's overreaching. He's hard-headed.

 

I find it amazing that this has turned into the most entertaining thread in many a long time. I just love it when the righteous rise up to defend . . .

What are they defending?

[woodpecker58]

I hope that the OP takes all these suggestions to heart and will now attend remedial cruiser school to atone for all his shortcomings.

 

He's greedy. He's stupid. He's unreasonable. He's shortsighted. He's wrong. He's overreaching. He's hard-headed.

 

I find it amazing that this has turned into the most entertaining thread in many a long time. I just love it when the righteous rise up to defend . . .

What are they defending?

 

Here we go with the name calling. It was entertaining until you had to take it to the bilge.

I made a request, it was denied. In hindsight I have acknowledge that was a mistake for the loyalty level request.

"He stupid" because I don't act like you?

"Unreasonable"- I have read all the arguments, again acknowledging my mistakes, but because I don't 100% agree with how much you think it's worth I am unreasonable?

"Shortsighted" - How?

"He's wrong" - Again that is your opinion and others, but your not the cruising GOD who gets to determine who is right and who is wrong.! "Overreaching" - Acknowledged!

"Hard-Headed"- I asked a question and have been forthcoming with information. If I was hard-head I wouldn't have come to this forum in the first place.

[notentirelynormal]

You do know that a cpap, packed separately, is allowed in addition to a carryon bag on airlines? Medical devices have an exemption. Just don't pack those enormous shoes in the same bag or it will cost you... You just stack the cpap bag on top of your roller and go.

 

I really wish people would stop saying this. It is AMERICANS with disabilities act that makes this happen. Not the whole wide world. Not all airlines allow an extra bag. For example, Air Canada does not. Please check with your airlines before heading out. Nobody wants to get to the airport and find out they don't get that extra carry on.

[SadieN]

woodpecker98

 

Did Royal send out a Lost Luggage flyer? We've received them on Carnival, Princess and HAL.

[woodpecker58]

woodpecker98

 

Did Royal send out a Lost Luggage flyer? We've received them on Carnival, Princess and HAL.

 

Not that I was aware of!

[navybankerteacher]

 

...

 

Honestly, would it hurt to have a set of underwear and socks tucked away. I am not asking they carry everyone's brand or style. I would have taken anything and put my stuff in the wash. Space is a premium on a boat, but 12 pairs in a variety of sizes wouldn't take up that much space.

 

This excerpt pretty much sums things up: most thinking people are sufficiently aware of the chance of delay in luggage delivery to have at least a change of underwear in their carry-on.

 

OP is amazingly broad minded in being willing to accept a replacement that was not his brand or style. However, his thought pattern is sadly superficial: what if there were 15 people who wanted replacement underwear? How would the line allocate their insufficient supply of 12? Just first come first served - or loudest complainers get preference? The line would obviously be guilty of negligence: the fact that they had a supply of replacement underwear proves that they are aware of the likelihood that such replacements would be needed - yet they recklessly carried an insufficient supply for a couple of thousand passengers who might be impacted.

 

Sadly, there is simply no way of keeping a hyper-entitled whiner satisfied - of course you should shoot high - and complain about whatever compensation is received.

 

Barf!!!!

[woodpecker58]

This excerpt pretty much sums things up: most thinking people are sufficiently aware of the chance of delay in luggage delivery to have at least a change of underwear in their carry-on.

 

OP is amazingly broad minded in being willing to accept a replacement that was not his brand or style. However, his thought pattern is sadly superficial: what if there were 15 people who wanted replacement underwear? How would the line allocate their insufficient supply of 12? Just first come first served - or loudest complainers get preference? The line would obviously be guilty of negligence: the fact that they had a supply of replacement underwear proves that they are aware of the likelihood that such replacements would be needed - yet they recklessly carried an insufficient supply for a couple of thousand passengers who might be impacted.

 

Sadly, there is simply no way of keeping a hyper-entitled whiner satisfied - of course you should shoot high - and complain about whatever compensation is received.

 

Barf!!!!

 

I am only offering a suggestion that the ship carry some extra, yes if there were 15-20 or more folks whose luggage didn't arrive their wouldn't be enough. I was thinking from the standpoint, my luggage arrived at the port, but maybe your figuring from the plane/train I am just offering up some thoughts or solutions. Have you never put forth an idea where someone else previously had the same idea but you didn't quite know all the details or think of much broader implications and once you were educated your said yes, it wouldn't work? Why do a number of foks have to label people just because they do something different. Haven't you every been upset about something, reacted and then later readjusted your thinking? I did my "complaining" on the ship and in my letter to RCCL, and was offered what I was offered. We all are now sufficiently aware of what folks thoughts about that! As far as I know there is no Rep from RCCL on this thread who would magically change my compensation offer, nor was I expecting anything other then getting educated about my "complaint/issue" and learning of other offers and other methods to mitigate the issue.

[notentirelynormal]

I did my "complaining" on the ship and in my letter to RCCL, and was offered what I was offered. We all are now sufficiently aware of what folks thoughts about that! As far as I know there is no Rep from RCCL on this thread who would magically change my compensation offer, nor was I expecting anything other then getting educated about my "complaint/issue" and learning of other offers and other methods to mitigate the issue.

 

You're doing a lot of complaining here too so obviously you aren't done. Your attitude stinks and screams me, me, me.

 

Look, my daughter and I ended up without luggage for 10 days on a 12 day Med cruise. We switched airlines in NYC. The plane was late getting in due to a power outage in Boston so they had to fly around. We had to switch terminals. Blah Blah Blah. The list goes on.

 

Once at Barcelona my DD went directly to the Princess reps and said, they have lost our luggage. But they haven't even unloaded yet, she says. But I just know. Sure enough, no luggage. She cried. Then she really cried. Then she cried more because she was afraid I would be mad at her. She cried at the hotel they kept everyone at. She cried and on the and she cried on the ship. She was devastated. She had just spent an entire month's salary on the new clothes in those suitcases.

 

We are told many people had luggage delayed because of this problem but you should get it the next day when the catch up plane arrives. Nope. A handful of us didn't get it. The handful got their luggage the next day.

 

Not us. Our luggage finally arrived in Barcelona two days after we left. They could have driven it down to us but our ship would have left port 2 hours before they got there. So they put our luggage on Iberia Airlines one short hour before they went on strike. Every single day they tried to update us. Finally Iberian Air found our luggage and returned it to Barcelona!

 

I had arrived a few days early but only had 2 days clothes. My DD had the clothes on her back. Period! My medications along with my clothes were in those suitcases.

 

Our table mates were three lovely ladies that had to bring in extra racks to hold all their clothes. We wore the t-shirt we bought in town to dinner every night. Tourist areas just don't sell underwear. Trust me, we looked.

 

We became the running joke of the ship. Everyone knew us. We bought horses for the races and instead of dressing them up we dressed them down. At Bingo one day a guy stands up and yells, look there is a taxi and he has two suitcases. My DD jumps up and yells wear. Ummm, it was a sea day. One day as a joke we got the paper underwear from the massage people and brought it to dinner. One waiter wore his pair over his pants, the other two wore them on their heads. We were laughing so hard.

 

But here is what happened to us. One of the ladies at the Purser's Desk lent my DD underwear and some outfits. Another passenger lent her shoes. The passengers and crew came together for us and we ended up having a great time despite. Everyone said hi. The poor guys working the decks waited for us every morning to say hi and they looked sooo guilty. Like it was their fault.

 

Day 10 - our luggage arrives. We had been on a tour in Greece. As we get off the bus pretty much every single crew member said "your luggage has arrived". Put a whoowhoo after that.

 

They gave us $100 to buy clothes. We were on the original Pacific Princess. Forget socks. LOL Geez. You could put your arms out and touch all the walls. Unless you were a 60 year old fat lady your choice was pretty limited. They did offer to send me to the doctor as I needed some prescription cough medicine.

 

Once she got her clothes she changed about every hour.

 

We chocked it up to ship happens. Part of cruising. Not the best way to cruise the Med but talk about all the wonderful people we met.

 

You, you not only b*tched what you got wasn't enough for TWO DAYS, you wanted even more. You b*tched on the ship, you wrote a letter and now you've come to CC to complain some more.

 

My sympathy level for a whiner like you. Zero! Maybe cruising isn't for you.

 

You should quit while you have any self respect. Oh, by the way. The guy you attached for attacking you. He was the ONLY one standing up for you. You can't even interpret right.

Edited September 18, 2016 by notentirelynormal

[slidergirl]

I really wish people would stop saying this. It is AMERICANS with disabilities act that makes this happen. Not the whole wide world. Not all airlines allow an extra bag. For example, Air Canada does not. Please check with your airlines before heading out. Nobody wants to get to the airport and find out they don't get that extra carry on.

 

mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa...

[sail7seas]

TtI'm sorry you had such an inconvenience. I would not like itr either but I do nt think ghe cruiseline had to giveyou anything How much money di ost y until you got your lugggage ? That tmghtb e a gauge off of whichyou could dreAC H a number, you think is enough.

Edited September 18, 2016 by sail7seas

[navybankerteacher]

This thread reminds me of the Swedish couple who boarded Prinsendam in Athens in October 2014 - for a Mediterranean-TransAtlantic-South America six month itinerary, who we met upon boarding at Rome. Their bags failed to catch up at a number of ports throughout the Mediterranean - nor at Cadiz nor Portimao - fortunately they did make it at Lisbon - the last port before Madeira, part way across the Atlantic.

 

They had been smart enough to have a change of clothes in their carry-one, HAL gave them daily, quick turn-around laundry service, and a generous shopping tour in the ship's shops to supplement what they bought on shore.

 

Without going into detail, they reported being happy with the compensation offered - and saw it more as a two week adventure than a two day torment worthy of bitching until it was resolved or (most likely) ranting on sites like this after the fact.

[sail7seas]

I don't know who was ultimately responsible for the luggage issue, but knowing this isn't the first time the type of bags going to the wrong ship, I would think they would put in a better process. RCCL is the who I paid money too, if the porters don't work for them, either get porters who do work for you or put into place a system where you don't mix up bags for 2 ships loading at the same time. I would have rather stood in line to put my bags through the security machine knowing all the bags are destined for my ship.

 

Yes, maybe more OBC would have helped, buying drinks etc. It wasn't offered and I didn't ask. The stores don't carry underwear or socks nor pants unless you wanted sweats. Could have gotten those and put the regular pants through the wash on expedited service. Lesson learned.

 

I guess I would have appreciated a little more something on their side. Once I got my luggage I had to bring up the compensation conversation, as far as I know they were fine with just the $300 OBC given at the time. Once that conversation was started, it was "how's 10% FCC". I didn't feel they really were all that concerned about what I was going through. I guess that hardened me up to demand more. I don't really feel if I had only gotten my 50% to be a windfall, as it's only good for a year, can't be applied to other discounts. So I pay brochure price minus the FCC. Is it still 50% off of what others have gotten from a travel agency? Probably not, it's like paying sticker price on a new car. No one pays that price!

Many perhaps most (?) experienced travelers know to c arry witrh them a change of underwear, socks and perhaps a c lean jersey or blouse. For jus tthis reason. Had you put clean under wear in a carry on and kept it with you, you would have sufffered less inconveneicne. We DO HAVE to take some responsibility to t ak care of ou rselvess and not always point a finger at someone else when we fail to use common sense a to do such as carry onhe mostt basic necessities? IM you neeed to take somepersonal responsibility for your toal lack of planning for such an event. aHad you been able to wash out your underweatr each nivgght and have dry and clean for the moring, you may have not stood in line at Guests relations wso much

 

 

With all respect, this was not your first cruise. You likely know, knwew th ere is somew risk as to handing over luggage and it being delivered to your cab in. You had some responsibility in this situation. Did you verify with the porter on thiwchship you were sailing? I always make sure to say somewthing liker: these are going to HAL, Maadam (o whichever ship )- right?

Edited September 18, 2016 by sail7seas