Bad start to a long awaited cruise

[ger_77]

I feel your pain - due to flight delays, our luggage didn't make it to Venice in time for our first Mediterranean cruise. Sadly, we were relatively new to cruising, so our carry-ons contained really important things like snacks, books, and toothbrushes.:rolleyes: We were happy to see that on the third day of the cruise when we returned from an excursion in Istanbul, our luggage was waiting for us at the pier.

 

Be sure to tell the folks at Guest Services that you don't have any luggage - they will give you a little package of toiletries to tide you over until yours find their way to you. We told them we had nothing but the clothes we travelled in, and were offered complimentary overnight laundry service; the cabin steward collected our clothing at night and returned it freshly laundered first thing in the morning. You may have to purchase a t-shirt or two from the ship's shop, but be sure to save your receipts so you can claim it on your insurance.

 

Please keep us posted as to your progress, we're all cheering for you and your luggage to be reunited soon!

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

[Vict0riann]

So sorry to hear about the missing luggage, but you are there for your cruise! There are shops on board, too, that may be able to help. Hope you have a great cruise anyway! Everyone will understand.:)

[RMLincoln]

snipped....

Please keep us posted as to your progress, we're all cheering for you and your luggage to be reunited soon!

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

YES, we are all cheering for you, sending out our best energy to you to lift your spirits and help make this all good for you! Please let us know how things are going with your trip especially, and about the luggage.

Cheers, m--

[Tampa Girl]

The up side is that you are on a port-intensive cruise instead of a trans-Atlantic. You might well see your luggage before disembarking

 

This certainly is a good reason for carefully packing a carry on with all essentials, even a change of clothes for a gala night. I did that when we flew from Tampa to Auckland for a 25-day cruise. I managed to pack two changes of clothes, including one for formal night. Knits and polyester are wonderful! Luggage did make it, but that fear is always out there!

[slidergirl]

You are a packing genius. I can do a 4 day land trip with a carry on, but not sure about a cruise where I have to dress for dinner. Going to reassess all of this for the next trip though.

 

Not sure why you assume Queen was not dressing for dinner. One CAN pack small and dress for dinner - those who pack small aren't running around in the same T-shirt and shorts every day ;)

 

OP: Sorry about the luggage hiccup. It happens (as you can see from the anecdotes). Just pick up a few things (yes, keep those receipts) and enjoy the cruise. Pick up a pair of pants for each of you that you can wear for everything and alternate with what you had when you got off the plane. Add one or two shirts to that. The ship, knowing your situation, should be happy to launder each day for you.

 

And, you have an excuse why you are not wearing tux and gown on Gala Night ;););););)

[navybankerteacher]

There was a Swedish couple with us on a Prinsendam T/A in 2014 - their luggage got similarly held up - but caught up with the ship at Lisbon (last port before the crossing). HAL people were great - gave them wide choice of clothes from on board shops and daily no-charge laundry service.

 

Do not go overboard buying replacements as airlines are not overly generous in "making whole".

[drowelf]

post 13 is some solid advice that will be taken by almost no cruisers...as it seems the attire for each day needs to be different and lots of dressing up etc. I so agree with post 13 in that carry on luggage is so "liberating" and years ago having a bad experience have never checked a bag since...and never will.

 

I so wish we could get by with just carry-ons. But alas for us, its never going to happen. My wife had major foot surgery over a decade ago. Since then, she has to rotate through about 4 pairs of shoes for excursions and walking about. Through in some dressy shoes and we are looking at 6-7 pairs just for her and good walking shoes tend to both bulky and heavy.

 

Alas, its always going to be checked luggage for us.

 

AS for the lost bag issue, we always carry on some clothes and mix up ours in the check bag. Whats a real bummer is when my toilet kit is the one bag that arrives last.

[knittinggirl]

Several years ago there was a thread on the Celebrity board about traveling with carry on luggage only, regardless of the length of the cruise/trip. We decided to try only carry ons for a 3 week cruise/trip. It required a lot of planning on what to bring, especially since the cruise began in warm weather and crossed the Arctic Circle twice. We each took a roller suitcase and a shoulder bag. We learned the value of this decision early when our flight to Heathrow was delayed and we were able to board a different flight because we didn't have any checked luggage. Since we were able to carry our luggage on the ship, we were totally unpacked and relaxing within 20 minutes of entering our cabin. In the past two years we've taken 4 additional cruises and several domestic flying/driving trips, all with carry on luggage only. It's very liberating to not have to worry about our luggage when we travel - well worth the cost of a few bags of laundry on the ship.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We do something similar, but we fedex our luggage. So nice not to worry about where our luggage is, because we verify delivery before we leave home.

 

On our last trip, Houston cancelled our flight home. We were having to take a different airline on one leg of the trip, and the gate attendant seemed so relieved when I said we didn't check anything.

 

 

Our carry-ons are good enough to last a few days. We also have photos of our luggage to show the lost luggage folks.

 

 

Sorry to hear of your missing luggage. I've heard that Royal Caribbean has a room with formal wear somewhere. Wonder if HAL has something similar.

[blizzardboy]

We had this happen once years ago. Flew to L.A from Indy to overnight with my brother before flying to Mexico for a week and our bags didn't show. For 5 days in Mexico, Continental repeatedly promised they'd be there before I finally quit calling them for fear the bags would show after we flew back to L.A. When we arrived in LA, they were sitting in a cage next to the Baggage office where they'd been since the day after we left according to their log. They never saw us on their flights again.

[RJ2002]

Rockit, truly hope you are reunited with your luggage sooner rather than later.

 

These threads always make me think about trying to manage with just a carry-on. I've done it before for non-cruise vacations... just need to get out of the mindset of taking more clothes on a cruise.

[MMDown Under]

I had no idea misplaced/lost luggage was so common in Europe.

 

I had heard of a few passengers whose luggage didn't arrive in time for their Antarctica cruises (with no ports of call for luggage to catch up).

 

I hope you are reunited with luggage soon.

[Storylady]

I had no idea misplaced/lost luggage was so common in Europe.

 

I had heard of a few passengers whose luggage didn't arrive in time for their Antarctica cruises (with no ports of call for luggage to catch up).

 

I hope you are reunited with luggage soon.

It is the baggage handlers strikes that cause most of the problems. None of the luggage is than forwarded to the connecting airline.

 

In our case, Lufthansa's computers crashed. We weren't told if it was deliberate or because of the horrible thunderstorms over Frankfurt. All I can say is after our 1 hour of being misdirected in the airport. And then standing in customer service line for 2 hours and then having a half ride to their hotel where we stood in line for another two hours, I thought a World Cruise is definitely looking better and better.

[HarpHarp]

I'm bad.:evilsmile: The first thing I thought of when I saw the OP was in Venice was "Grab a cheap duffle & head to the nearest shoe store". Italian shoes!!

 

Cindy

Charter member of the Imelda Marcos fan club whose DH swears I take an empty suitcase every time we go to Italy.

[knittinggirl]

I wish we could use only carry-ons. We did a five-day pre-cruise trip w/ only carry-ons and we had to wear everything twice. We didn't think we had enough time to wash even the quick dry stuff. Getting into the hotel late, and leaving for the train really early.

 

We'd planned the free laundry for day 2 like we had on the Liberty of the Seas last fall. Then we got to the ship and were told the free laundry bag was only on day 4 and returned on day 6. But by that time, we had more clothes from the bags we shipped. But how stupid is that? We get the clothes back in time to pack for the trip home. Thanks Royal Caribbean. Any idea why our next cruise is Holland America? At least on Royal Caribbean, they didn't kick us out for "forgetting formal night."

[pris993]

Hope your luggage arrives... we had a suitecase delayed once in Rome... we always go at least one day early... now I do two, just in case of problems... not a fun way to start a trip... hope all goes well for you. We also pay attention when we drop our luggage at th e port, make sure it get loaded in the right ship bins...

[DaisyRose]

DH and I always do carry ons only when flying within the US to a US port. We love not having to worry about lost bags, and don't mind sending out some laundry, or washing a few things in the stateroom sink. But, when flying internationally, we have found that most airlines have a weight limit on carryons, and it is impossible to pack a bag that light with enough essentials for a cruise. In that case, we pack at least one complete extra outfit, valuables, and essentials in our carry on. To us, it is fun to buy some clothes in a port city, so we don't mind packing light and picking up an outfit or two during the cruise. As we use up the health and beauty aids we brought for the cruise, that frees up a little room in the bag for what we've purchased. This works well for us.

[Rockit]

Luggage caught up,to us in Athens...all is back to normal.ps. The cruise so far has been awesome..really nice itinerary.

Cheers, Rockit

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[kazu]

Luggage caught up,to us in Athens...all is back to normal.ps. The cruise so far has been awesome..really nice itinerary.

Cheers, Rockit

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

YAY :D. Glad to hear that it finally caught up with you and that you are having a great time. :D

[iancal]

We only do carry-on for this reason. Just ordered a new European size carry on wheeled dufflel from Eagle Creek.

 

Old one has lots of miles, lots of experience, however the zippers, wheels, and handles are showing age. Handle still has luggage tape on it from where a sympathetic airline clerk helped me temporarily repair it.....two or three trips ago.

Edited September 2, 2017 by iancal

[rafinmd]

Glad you finally got it but a week is a LONG weight. Did HAL give you any helping in coping while waiting?

 

Roy

[suekay]

So glad your luggage has appeared. You can now enjoy the rest of your cruise without stress

 

Sent from my SM-T550 using Forums mobile app

[Boatdrill]

We had this happen once years ago. Flew to L.A from Indy to overnight with my brother before flying to Mexico for a week and our bags didn't show. For 5 days in Mexico, Continental repeatedly promised they'd be there before I finally quit calling them for fear the bags would show after we flew back to L.A. When we arrived in LA, they were sitting in a cage next to the Baggage office where they'd been since the day after we left according to their log. They never saw us on their flights again.

 

Many airlines will not fly unaccompanied bags in to Mexico.

It's happened when cruise pax fly into San Diego for a Mex Riviera cruise. Airline loses luggage, finds it after ship departs, and refuses to forward it to Mexico.

[Shih-tzu]

Glad it caught up with you!!!!!!! Hope you have an amazing cruise (enjoy...there were snowflakes mixed with rain on Friday in Miramichi and Campbellton so they say)

[ger_77]

The much anticipated luggage reunion happened - yayyyy!!! Glad you're well clothed once more; enjoy the rest of your cruise.

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Glad you finally got your luggage.