My LOST bag was delivered by celebrity AFTER TWO WEEKS

[GottaKnowWhen]

i completed a two week cruise with celebrity to Alaska. Upon arrival I couldnt find my bag. ... My bag came after exactly two weeks...why should they not take the responsibility to compensate the passenger. ...

 

When I first saw the Thread Title I thought "Wow, that is great! It took them two weeks but they persisted and found your missing luggage and got it delivered to you!" Then I read further and saw that you thought you deserved compensation? This puzzles me. Every time you hand your luggage or other valuable to another person, you run the risk that bad things will happen. Sometimes they do. Many people will understand that they are taking a risk and make a deliberate choice: either they self-insure (i.e., they are willing to absorb the loss if/when something happens) or they purchase some form of insurance to cover potential losses. Or they keep their stuff under their own control. Apparently you didn't understand the risk and instead of being grateful that X found your stuff you are expecting them to pay you?

By the way, if it were me and you asked me to pay you for the $2000 of stuff you bought in order to be able to survive for two weeks without your luggage, I would expect you to hand over all of that stuff to me. Why should you get to keep the stuff and get paid in addition?

 

I am glad it worked out well for you and I hope that next time you use a carry-on.

 

Stan

[jkgourmet]

Another story that backs up my constant credo:

 

Never check bags. Yes, folks, we somehow manage to travel for a month with only carry on.

 

Yes, we always get travel insurance for trips outside the USA. but we don't purchase it for baggage loss, trip delay, etc. If it's included, great - and we've collected on a trip delay issue. We buy insurance for medical and evacuation coverage - the kind of loss that can be catastrophic! Losing a bag is certainly annoying and a PITA. But if I can't financially absorb that small loss, I should stay home because I can't afford to travel.

[CruisingChick]

Another story that backs up my constant credo:

 

Never check bags. Yes, folks, we somehow manage to travel for a month with only carry on.

 

I can't even go away for an overnight stay with only a carry on (okay a bit of an exaggeration but you get what I mean).

 

I just need to many things to be able to pack light. I mean just my medicine, toiletries, make up, hair dryer, shoes are an entire suitcase and there's all our clothes.

[Bo1953]

This post illustrates the importance of having trip insurance and packing appropriately. It wasn't mentioned by the OP so the assumption is they didn't have trip insurance. But why do people in this situation think that tattling to cruise critic will somehow get Celebrity to compensate?

 

Actually, I take it as a warning that a re-imbursement of $2k for clothing and necessities may be a bit excessive for a two (2) week luggage hiatus and I should try for $1,900, possibly?

 

bon voyage

[myfuzzy]

Hmmmm, say my luggage "conveniently" got lost and I just HAD to spend TWO grand to replenish my stuff.....and got reimbursed.....ahhhhh free stuff.

[jkgourmet]

I can't even go away for an overnight stay with only a carry on (okay a bit of an exaggeration but you get what I mean).

 

I just need to many things to be able to pack light. I mean just my medicine, toiletries, make up, hair dryer, shoes are an entire suitcase and there's all our clothes.

 

That's your decision and risk. I'd bet if you lost your bag ONCE, you'd change your style of packing.

• hairdryer - in virtually all hotels and cabins. Leave it home.
  
• makeup - mascara, eyeliner, brow pencil, a couple of small shadows, foundation, maybe two lipsticks, if necessary s concealer and blush. All small sizes.
  
• Shoes - one for walking, one for dressy, one pair of sandels or flip flops. You're wearing another pair.
  
• medication - small bottles and never, never, EVER in checked luggage.
  
• Clothes - roll them. Color coordinate them. And, Yes, you CAN wear the same blouse 2- 3 times. Nobody is going to notice, nor do they care.
  
• underwear - wash them in the sink and shove them in the corners of the suitcase (a bigger problem for men's jockey shorts.)
  
• Formal wear - see above for "clothes" and thank you for dropping formal night.
  

I admit that travelling in cold climates is much harder.

[helen haywood]

I'm a big believer in the "I will never see these people again" motivation in packing. I certainly do wear the same top and dress several times over the course of a trip.

[CruisingChick]

Thanks for the packing suggestions. I always carry on my medicine, jewelry, makeup, hair dryer and any electronics or other valuables.

 

The hair dyers on the ship won't work for my thick, frizzy, curly hair. I'd be there forever. I need an ION hair dryer to get the job done.

 

I would love to just get it down to one suitcase and one carry on each. Now we bring 3 suitcases (total) and 2 carry ons.

 

I will work on this for our next sailing which is a 14 night Canada / New England.

[mandream]

Another story that backs up my constant credo:

 

Never check bags.

 

Why? Yes there is a risk of loss. I either recognize and accept the risk, or I cover the risk with insurance. Both options are preferable to me than schlepping luggage around myself.

 

Not saying that shouldn't be your credo if it works for you. That's great. Just don't think its a good fit for everyone.

 

Mike

[ALANG]

Just somewhat different story. On our last Celebrity cruise used the luggage valet service. On our return home one large suitcase did not arrive at our final destination. Went to the Southwest counter and initiated the paperwork for lost luggage and drove home. After about a day and a half received a call from Royal Caribbean asking if I have all of my luggage. I informed them that Southwst is working on locating it. The nice sound lady said it was their fault as they did not get it to the vendor properly and could I please call Southwest and tell them the luggage has been located. They said the luggage would be on FEDEX that evening and I should receive it the next day. She couldn't of been nicer and continued to apologize. Next day luggage arrived and all is well. We do have travel insurance and DW cross packs all of our clothes and necessary items so that we don't have all of our eggs in one piece ofluggage. Very happy how this was handled by the company.

 

Alan

[jkgourmet]

Why? Yes there is a risk of loss. I either recognize and accept the risk, or I cover the risk with insurance. Both options are preferable to me than schlepping luggage around myself.

 

Not saying that shouldn't be your credo if it works for you. That's great. Just don't think its a good fit for everyone.

 

Mike

 

Mike, it's not the financial risk - again, if I can't absorb that, I shouldn't be taking a vacation.

 

It's the risk of getting to my destination and not having any luggage/clothes/shoes/underwear, etc. Like I said, if it happened to you ONCE, you'd avoid checking on the outbound flight. It can really screw up your vacation.

 

On the return flight, if it's free, I let them have our bags. Frankly, I keep hoping they WILL lose them. Would save me from having to wash those dirty clothes AND they would give me money to go shopping. Win-Win.

[phoenix_dream]

I am going to throw a contrary opinion in here (now who on Cruise Critic would ever do that??:D). For the record, I have some insurance through my credit card company. I have sailed approximately 50 times over the years. I have never, ever bought travel insurance, nor will I likely buy it in the foreseeable future (save for medical and evacuation now that I am on Medicare and it does not cover outside the US). It's a matter of evaluating the risk and doing a risk analysis to see if travel insurance is the right choice for you. I subscribe to the belief that sometimes it is and sometimes it is not!

 

My reasoning follows. Airfare is cancellable, minus a rebooking fee. If I am in such bad shape I can't rebook within a year losing a few hundred dollars airfare is the least of my worries. Lost luggage? I carry on my valuables, and cross-pack with my family. Should I lose a bag I will buy only the necessities to allow me to continue traveling (this would NEVER equal $2000 that's for sure!). Cancel a cruise? It could happen, but unless it is near the sailing I will get some percentage back. Bottom line, had I bought trip insurance for each and every one of those cruises (not to speak of many, many land trips) I would be out way more money than if I had had to cancel one of the cruises last minute.

 

I am not saying no one should ever buy travel insurance. For some it is the right choice. I may start buying it myself should I develop a serious medical condition or as I get older still. But why do you think the cruise lines and insurance companies push it so hard? Think about it. If they weren't making a good profit on it they would not be offering it. Buy it if it makes sense for you, but for heavens sake give it some thought first.

 

ps

I retired from more than 30 years working for insurance companies. I have a pretty decent understanding of risk analysis:)

[mandream]

It's the risk of getting to my destination and not having any luggage/clothes/shoes/underwear, etc. Like I said, if it happened to you ONCE, you'd avoid checking on the outbound flight. It can really screw up your vacation.

 

I have. It was our honeymoon. Bags never made it on our connecting flight to Barcelona despite a 4 HOUR LAYOVER in Toronto. Fortunately they arrived at our first port in Nice after 3 days - but our fear was they were going to keep following us one port behind us. It is amazing what you can do without when you have no choice. Takes a lot of stress off packing now - figure if we forget something, it won't be as bad as losing both bags (which of course could happen again).

 

On the return flight, if it's free, I let them have our bags. Frankly, I keep hoping they WILL lose them. Would save me from having to wash those dirty clothes AND they would give me money to go shopping. Win-Win.

;)

 

Mike

[RDC1]

Even travel insurance, which often covers for out of pocket expenses due to delayed luggage, has limits for delayed luggage. $500 is not unusual as a coverage cap for loss due to delay, $3000 is common for permanently lost.

[MarLieb]

Another story that backs up my constant credo:

 

Never check bags. Yes, folks, we somehow manage to travel for a month with only carry on.

 

Yes, we always get travel insurance for trips outside the USA. but we don't purchase it for baggage loss, trip delay, etc. If it's included, great - and we've collected on a trip delay issue. We buy insurance for medical and evacuation coverage - the kind of loss that can be catastrophic! Losing a bag is certainly annoying and a PITA. But if I can't financially absorb that small loss, I should stay home because I can't afford to travel.

 

I am so with you on this! After United lost our luggage on a direct flight from JFK to Cancun 6 years ago, we swore we would never check a bag again and we haven't! We've done 3 - 4 week trips to Europe, French Polynesia, etc. and only pack 1 carry-on and 1 backpack per person. I end up spending a bit on laundry, but I don't care. It's totally worth knowing we will always have our luggage with us and we can always bypass lines for luggage carousels, luggage storage after cruises, etc.

[varoo]

Just another point of view: a reasonable compromise between checking everything and carrying on everything.

 

We try to pack all necessities and enough clothing for at least 4 or 5 days in our carry-ons.

But often we also bring checked luggage for the extra embellishments; those additional things that are nice to have along, but that are not really necessary.

This way if our checked luggage doesn't arrive, (which sometimes happens), it is not going to spoil our vacation because we have everything that we really need with us.

So when our checked luggage doesn't show up at baggage claim, we don't need to panic or waste the first day of our vacation rushing around trying to buy replacements for anything.

 

There have been a number of trips through the years when our checked luggage got delayed or mis-routed.

Most of the time it arrived on the next flight and was delivered to us at our hotel.

(Yet one more good reason why we like to fly in at least a day early before a cruise.)

But occasionally it has taken longer for the checked luggage to show up.

So also for the trip back home, we pack up and check any dirty laundry, all the cruise stuff we have picked up along the way and everything else we won't be needing for a while.

Everything essential that we need goes in a carry-on that travels with us.

It seems unrealistic for anyone to expect that everything will always go smoothly and luggage will always arrive on time.

There are just too many things that can go wrong.

But I am a believer in Murphy's Law. ;p

In all our years of travel, only once did we have a checked suitcase permanently lost, never to be seen again.

That was the only time we have ever needed to file a claim for reimbursement.

Edited July 14, 2018 by varoo

[Envelope21]

I am going to throw a contrary opinion in here (now who on Cruise Critic would ever do that??:D). For the record, I have some insurance through my credit card company. I have sailed approximately 50 times over the years. I have never, ever bought travel insurance, nor will I likely buy it in the foreseeable future (save for medical and evacuation now that I am on Medicare and it does not cover outside the US). It's a matter of evaluating the risk and doing a risk analysis to see if travel insurance is the right choice for you. I subscribe to the belief that sometimes it is and sometimes it is not!

 

My reasoning follows. Airfare is cancellable, minus a rebooking fee. If I am in such bad shape I can't rebook within a year losing a few hundred dollars airfare is the least of my worries. Lost luggage? I carry on my valuables, and cross-pack with my family. Should I lose a bag I will buy only the necessities to allow me to continue traveling (this would NEVER equal $2000 that's for sure!). Cancel a cruise? It could happen, but unless it is near the sailing I will get some percentage back. Bottom line, had I bought trip insurance for each and every one of those cruises (not to speak of many, many land trips) I would be out way more money than if I had had to cancel one of the cruises last minute.

 

I am not saying no one should ever buy travel insurance. For some it is the right choice. I may start buying it myself should I develop a serious medical condition or as I get older still. But why do you think the cruise lines and insurance companies push it so hard? Think about it. If they weren't making a good profit on it they would not be offering it. Buy it if it makes sense for you, but for heavens sake give it some thought first.

 

ps

I retired from more than 30 years working for insurance companies. I have a pretty decent understanding of risk analysis:)

 

Thank you. My sentiments exactly.

[jkgourmet]

I am going to throw a contrary opinion in here (now who on Cruise Critic would ever do that??:D). For the record, I have some insurance through my credit card company. I have sailed approximately 50 times over the years. I have never, ever bought travel insurance, nor will I likely buy it in the foreseeable future (save for medical and evacuation now that I am on Medicare and it does not cover outside the US). It's a matter of evaluating the risk and doing a risk analysis to see if travel insurance is the right choice for you. I subscribe to the belief that sometimes it is and sometimes it is not!

 

My reasoning follows. Airfare is cancellable, minus a rebooking fee. If I am in such bad shape I can't rebook within a year losing a few hundred dollars airfare is the least of my worries. Lost luggage? I carry on my valuables, and cross-pack with my family. Should I lose a bag I will buy only the necessities to allow me to continue traveling (this would NEVER equal $2000 that's for sure!). Cancel a cruise? It could happen, but unless it is near the sailing I will get some percentage back. Bottom line, had I bought trip insurance for each and every one of those cruises (not to speak of many, many land trips) I would be out way more money than if I had had to cancel one of the cruises last minute.

 

I am not saying no one should ever buy travel insurance. For some it is the right choice. I may start buying it myself should I develop a serious medical condition or as I get older still. But why do you think the cruise lines and insurance companies push it so hard? Think about it. If they weren't making a good profit on it they would not be offering it. Buy it if it makes sense for you, but for heavens sake give it some thought first.

 

ps

I retired from more than 30 years working for insurance companies. I have a pretty decent understanding of risk analysis:)

 

EXACTLY my point. But it's not just Medicare that doesn't cover anything outside the USA. Many (most?) policies offered as group or individual policies do not. And most people don't know it AND don't realize the financial risk of needing medical or evacuation from overseas. Even worse, most people believe the really waste of money policy purchased from the cruise line does cover medical. Guess what, folks? It maxes out at 10k (occasionally 25k) which is peanuts.

[BellKat]

EXACTLY my point. But it's not just Medicare that doesn't cover anything outside the USA. Many (most?) policies offered as group or individual policies do not. And most people don't know it AND don't realize the financial risk of needing medical or evacuation from overseas. Even worse, most people believe the really waste of money policy purchased from the cruise line does cover medical. Guess what, folks? It maxes out at 10k (occasionally 25k) which is peanuts.

 

For those who don’t purchase any kind of insurance, what would you do if you couldn’t take the cruise? You are driving in your car, are t-boned, severely injured & now can’t go on the cruise (recently happened to someone we know). Final payment has been made. You are now out thousands of dollars. Can you afford this? You can buy policies that will cover this possibility. We now purchase one that covers this & medical since we are now on Medicare.

 

Also, if you purchase insurance through the cruise company, check & see if they cover you if you go off the ship for any reason - just taking a walk - instead of a cruise sponsored shore excursion. You may be surprised at what you find.

[RDC1]

For those who don’t purchase any kind of insurance, what would you do if you couldn’t take the cruise? You are driving in your car, are t-boned, severely injured & now can’t go on the cruise (recently happened to someone we know). Final payment has been made. You are now out thousands of dollars. Can you afford this? You can buy policies that will cover this possibility. We now purchase one that covers this & medical since we are now on Medicare.

 

Also, if you purchase insurance through the cruise company, check & see if they cover you if you go off the ship for any reason - just taking a walk - instead of a cruise sponsored shore excursion. You may be surprised at what you find.

 

Technically you could afford it, because it is discretionary spending. You might lose out on a trip, but you won't be homeless or starve because of the loss of a trip. Otherwise you shouldn't be spending it so.

 

I get the coverage for trip cancellation and trip delay from the CC I use. At no cost to myself. Even though such losses tend to be low frequency events (1 claim in over 40 international trips).

 

I do have an annual travel medical and evacuation policy.

[BellKat]

Technically you could afford it, because it is discretionary spending. You might lose out on a trip, but you won't be homeless or starve because of the loss of a trip. Otherwise you shouldn't be spending it so.

 

I get the coverage for trip cancellation and trip delay from the CC I use. At no cost to myself. Even though such losses tend to be low frequency events (1 claim in over 40 international trips).

 

I do have an annual travel medical and evacuation policy.

 

Wow - that is pretty harsh. If someone has saved & saved to take a trip and has a catastrophic event, then what? Just too bad, so sad? I’m sure our friends would not like that attitude.

[DrKoob]

Technically you could afford it, because it is discretionary spending. You might lose out on a trip, but you won't be homeless or starve because of the loss of a trip. Otherwise you shouldn't be spending it so.

 

I get the coverage for trip cancellation and trip delay from the CC I use. At no cost to myself. Even though such losses tend to be low frequency events (1 claim in over 40 international trips).

 

I do have an annual travel medical and evacuation policy.

 

Best of luck with the your CC. My brother flew out from the LA area to Chicago. His flight got cancelled. CC promised him trip interruption insurance. That means his CC should have been able to get him there in a time frame that was close to his original time. He had a lot of things booked in Chicago and lost them all when the CC company said, "Sorry, AA hasn't officially cancelled your flight yet, so we can't help you until they do." Which they didn't until the next day. So he missed a bunch of his vacation including paying for a hotel he did not sleep in and tours he didn't take.

 

If he had trip insurance coverage they would have told him "go right ahead and get on the next flight you can (there were three with UA in the same airport that morning) and send us the receipt. We will pay for it." That's why you have trip insurance.

 

And your observation about discretionary spending is pretty harsh. Some people save up for vacations, plan like crazy, put away money and sure it is discretionary but if you work two or three years to get to a vacation and it doesn't happen... I don't know about you...that would be pretty rough. Not homeless rough but darn, I waited and saved for two years to take that cruise and now it's gone.

[varoo]

While basic Medicare itself does not cover you outside the USA, many Medicare Advantage programs do, for both medical care and emergency evacuation.

But even those differ from one plan to another in the coverage they provide.

It is a good idea always to check and learn what coverage you already have before spending money to purchase more insurance that may only be duplicating coverage you already have.

As for loss of possessions on a trip, we learned that our homeowner's policy would cover loss of personal possessions while traveling. They did not need to be inside the house to be covered.

But depending on the size of your claim and the size of your deductible, it may or may not be worth filing a claim.

[DrKoob]

While basic Medicare itself does not cover you outside the USA, many Medicare Advantage programs do, for both medical care and emergency evacuation.

But even those differ from one plan to another in the coverage they provide.

 

Take a LONG look at your Medicare supplement plan. After you posted this I checked ours and we are with Kaiser (as are millions of people nationwide). We are covered for urgent care visits anywhere in the world...up to $25. Seriously. $25. My wife had a respiratory infection on a cruise, went to the ship's doctor and the bill for his 15 minutes of care and prescription was $150. And they are going to pay $25. Can you imagine if it was a major emergency like a heart attack and you had to be flown to a hospital on shore. That's just too much to risk.

[dandylion]

On disembarkation from a Celebrity cruise in Rome about 2 years ago, my bag was not to be found at the luggage staging area. SInce we were flying out right after the cruise, I filed a missing bag report and left. About 2 days later I got a call from a celebrity rep who stated my bag had been found in Rome and would be forwarded to me in about 2 -3 days. Three days later I got a call from a luggage delivery service in West Virginia stating that they had my bag without an address! I gave him my NY address. Three days later I got a call from a woman in West Virginia who had my bag delivered to her. It turns out she had also lost luggage on a different celebrity cruise. All along the celebrity rep had been following my "missing" luggage saga and between her and the friendly West Virginia cruiser, I received my bag within the next week. In the interim however I had a big wedding to attend and had to replace several essential items from that lost bag (makeup, dress shoes and a strapless bra!) I kept my receipts

totaling under $200

and forwarded my insurance claim with receipts to my trip insurance carrier. I was FLABBERGASTED to have my delayed baggage claim denied with the reason that my cruise had already been completed! As this was insurance I had purchased directly with my Celebrity cruise, I immediately contacted that celebrity rep again. She stated she had no control over the insurance company, but could understand my frustration. She gave me a $500 travel credit towards my next Celebrity cruise. Since I was already booked this did come in handy but I was still irate about being turned down by the insurance company. I filed an appeal with the company citing the fact that my luggage was lost prior to completion of my flight home, bag was delayed over 2 weeks claim was well under limits yada yada yada ,and also filed a complaint with the Insurance Board of NY state. About 6 months later I received a letter from the insurance company holding fast to their original decision but reimbursing my $157. Never heard from the NYState Insurance Board.....

Edited July 15, 2018 by dandylion
"spellin..."