Damaged Luggage Problem on HAL?

[damtraveler]

We have gone on 5 HAL cruises this year and have had major damage to our luggage on 2 of the cruises. We really like HAL but we are getting concerned about letting them handle our luggage on future cruises.

 

Have other members of this board experienced a similar problem or are we just very unlucky?

[sail7seas]

We all know that on every airline, every cruiseline some luggage will be damaged. Seems you have had particularly bad luck. :(

 

We just returned from Volendam and I mentioned in a post I made about our cruise that we had a soft sided garment bag arrive damaged (about a 14" rip down the edge) in our cabin. I don't know for sure if it was the airline or HAL that damaged it but I DO know for sure how helpful they were about having it repaired for me. We obviously needed that bag in order to pack to go home.

 

I showed the damage to my cabin steward. He took the garment bag from us and brought it to (I think) the upholsterers and it was returned to us the next day repaired so beautifully I wasn't sure (without careful inspection) which side had been torn.

 

When you consider the thousands and thousands of suitcases they handle each embarkation/disembarkation day, a few bags inevitably will be damaged no matter how careful they are.

[sail7seas]

I should add that in over 45 + cruises on HAL, this is the first time our luggage has been damaged.

[localady]

We have been on the Zaandam and the Prinsendam so far this year, and a few "Dam" Ships before that and have had the good fortune of never having a problem with any of our luggage when HAL was handling it.:)

Unfortunately, we've not fared so well with the Airlines, especially International travel.:( We finally purchased Ralph Lauren kevlar covered rolling luggage at Costco. 3 trips, including International travel, and there is not even a scratch on it!! Needless to say, I highly recommend it!:cool:

[marybeach]

We have also had bad luck. RCCL destroyed his brand new suitcase and garmet bag on that cruise and even though they sent it to the upholsterer, it was sewn with blue thread, not black...but at least we got it home. Last cruise on HAL, my 2 year old American Tourister 31 inch had the zipper ripped half way around the suitcase and a hole torn in the bottom. One leg was torn off from his suitcase. They said they couldn't fix the zipper, and I duct taped (yes, I did take it and will take it this time also) the corner and the zipper and luckily made it home. HAL reimbursed the cost of having the leg repaired at a local shoe shop ($25) and about half the price of my bag....said something like they had a limit of $200 per cabin or something like that.

 

I do believe most damage happens with the Porters and Longshoremen. Both of our problems were in FLL.

[jhannah]

Just remember that the cruise line (generally) will not handle the luggage until it's inside the hull. It's the steveadores who take them at the drop-off point, load them onto the cages, and forklift them to pierside. It was they, not HAL, who dumped a load into San Diego harbor some months ago. I'm not implying that cruise lines don't inflict any damage to luggage. Just pointing out that there's a lot of "handling" that goes on before the luggage ever gets to the ship.

[Druke I]

Only had luggage damaged once, on the late great Royal Cruise Line's Crown Odyssey, when the back of a fold-over garment bag was broken (bag was on bottom of large pile of luggage for disembarkation). We observed it at the bottom of a six foot high pile on the Prom Deck prior to disembarkation.

 

Bag was old, we did not pursue any remedy - junked the bag!

[cruisecrasy]

luggage - usually a small rollon and a smaller suitcase - all easily pulled by 1 person. Is it possible to avoid the luggage 'jungle' and haul it aboard myself? Anyone actually done this and what do u have to do to do it - same as with just 1 small rollon? I presume the cruiselines discourage it 'cause wld cause delays in getting folks onboard in a timely manner and I wldn't want to do that but they are very small and shldn't cause a delay.

Thanks for any information.

Happy cruisin'!

[cdkempton]

I believe it's perfectly acceptable to carry all your own luggage on board if you prefer. However, I also believe each piece will have to be x-rayed, so I don't know how that would work??? Maybe someone has done this and can answer more specifically.

[jhannah]

Any luggage carried on the ship must fit through their x-ray machine, which is designed to take no larger than the typical carry-on size. This would preclude most folks' "main" luggage pieces.

[cruisecrasy]

the information - many thanks..

Happy cruisin'!

[WindyCity]

When we cruised out of Port Everglades, there were signs stating that tipping was not needed for the stevedores. As we were handing over our luggage with other people, the stevedore made a point of stating a tip would be appreciated. We gave $2 per bag and there was no damage to the luggage. Makes one wonder if they don't get a tip if they are not too careful with how they handle the luggage. I am NOT saying this is the case - but it is a point to ponder.

[sail7seas]

When we cruised out of Port Everglades, there were signs stating that tipping was not needed for the stevedores. As we were handing over our luggage with other people, the stevedore made a point of stating a tip would be appreciated. We gave $2 per bag and there was no damage to the luggage. Makes one wonder if they don't get a tip if they are not too careful with how they handle the luggage. I am NOT saying this is the case - but it is a point to ponder.

 

We generously tipped the stevedores in Canaveral (the port from which we sailed on VODM) the same as we do in every port.

 

I don't think there is any connection between the generosity (or lack ) and damage to luggage.

 

Most of the time, we are present when they place our bags into the metal cages that carry the bags aboard. I seriously doubt they would take them out of the cage in order to damage them and then put them back in.

[boards]

I'm not enthused about the tipping thing, but we do. I don't think there can be any connection with the damaged luggage, because on the last few cruises we have been on, there no way they would have known which luggage was whose. We never touched it again after it was put on the bus to the pier. Once we got there it was unloaded and put in the bins. No one identified their luggage that I know of, I know we didn't.

[WindyCity]

We generously tipped the stevedores in Canaveral (the port from which we sailed on VODM) the same as we do in every port.

 

I don't think there is any connection between the generosity (or lack ) and damage to luggage.

 

Most of the time, we are present when they place our bags into the metal cages that carry the bags aboard. I seriously doubt they would take them out of the cage in order to damage them and then put them back in.

 

Please show me where I stated they purposefully damage the luggage. I stated maybe they weren't as CAREFUL with the luggage if they did not receive a tip.

[sail7seas]

I did not say you Did say that. What I said is that I do believe stevedores purposely damage luggage if they are not tipped.

 

[Randyk47]

Luckily we've never had luggage damaged by the cruise ship or its agents. The airlines on the other hand.......give them a rubber mallet and a steel anvil and they'd return the anvil broken in a couple of hours. :rolleyes:

[babyher]

Never had any luggage damaged by a cruiseline.

 

Never had an airline totally destroy a suitcase , have had it come back with some marks and scratches that just made you wonder what the heck they did to it for that to happen :)

[Stevesan]

Never had any luggage damaged by a cruiseline.

 

Never had an airline totally destroy a suitcase , have had it come back with some marks and scratches that just made you wonder what the heck they did to it for that to happen :)

 

All you need to do is watch as the bags fall off the plane's loading belt.:rolleyes:

[jhannah]

And remember the total debacle with the great, wonderful, state-of-the-art baggage system installed at the new Denver airport? That thing was destroying bags left and right!

[Katharin]

We recently returned from the Zuiderdam and are currently jumping through all the hoops to get paid for destoryed luggage. All our bags made it on the ship just fine luckily. However when it was time to collect our luggage at the pier, I knew something was up when we could not find one small suitcase. Finally we asked someone and were pointed to what looked like it could have once been our suitcase. Apparently it had been on top of the heap before falling off and being run over by the forklift. Needless to say it was destroyed. Even the nice gal from HAl knew it couldn't be fixed. But we had to have a luggage repair company put it in writing. Only two in our area, each over 30 miles away. Now I'm just waiting for a reply to my claim.

[steveweese]

I will try to keep this short. On another cruise line leaving out of San Diego after we boarded the ship we saw a huge pile of luggage down on the pier. It was so high that you knew the only way they could have made the pile was to throw each piece on top. It was a real mountain of luggage! I even took a picture of it, it was so impressive. As I was wandering around the ship trying to get my bearings I turned to go to our cabin and walked into a freight area. I stopped to turn around and leave, then a suitcase came flying out of the elevator and hit the wall. Then another and another. I couldn't believe what I was seeing untill I saw one of our suitcases come flying out. I quickly grabbed it and took it to our cabin.

 

We had bought 4 new hardsided suitcases before the trip and payed plenty for them. This one looked like it was 10 years old. Dented and cracked and scratched all to heck. As the rest of our luggage arrived to our cabin they were in the same condition. The more I looked at it the more upset I got. None of the damage had happened at the airport because we had checked it out and was surprised at how well it had been treated.

 

I ended up calling guest services and the asst housekeeper came up and talked to us. She had witnessed everything that we had and was very upset at what had went on.

 

The point I made to her was that if I had grabbed the TV off the wall and threw it on the floor, how happy would the cruiseline be?

 

In many cruises since have never had the luggage handled the same way to our knowlege and it is still in the same condition that it was after that trip.

 

I guess my long winded point is that I cannot imagine ANYONE treating someone's belongings that way and I refuse to tip the dock workers any more.

Steve