Don't Trust Seabourn With Your Valuables

[cruising94114]

We had a lovely transatlantic crossing on Seabourn Odyssey, but our trip was ultimately spoiled when my belongings vanished when transferred from the ship to shore in Lisbon. I would find out much later that my luggage ended up being mixed in with other passengers' valuables and put in a taxi.

 

The response to my missing belongings was troubling. At the pier I was placated with false promises of an immediate response. Then in an effort to get me to move along, Seabourn gave me a number to call for help and an email address. No one answered the phone and the automated response from the email told me I'd get a reply within two weeks.

 

No one from Seabourn responded to my requests for information until after I posted publicly on social media after an entire day of silence. Then there was a bunch of blaming of local pier workers, who Seabourn had hired, but then acted like those workers were an entity out of their control or responsibility. 

 

In the end, fellow passengers and their travel agent solved the problem of my missing belongings. I spent two days of my three-day visit to Lisbon dealing with the problem, which included meeting with the Portuguese police.

 

Other passengers I met on the Odyssey told me later that they also had problems with wayward belongings. When I heard that I was not alone, I followed up with Seabourn's corporate office, and wrote a personal letter to the company president. I received a we're-sorry-you-feel-that-way response. That's pathetic, and a sign that upper management has no intention of dealing with a very serious security issue. 

 

My advice: enjoy the ship, but don't trust Seabourn with your valuables. Carry on and off the ship all of your belongings.

[Catlover54]

I am so sorry you had this experience.  I always worry about not being able to find my bags at the pier after disembarking and am amazed at how often it goes smoothly.  I try to get off ASAP to make sure I get to my bags quickly, before someone gets confused and takes them by accident with no ticket checks, or a port worker steals them, and also have weird looking luggage and straps so mine look unique.  

In Istanbul a couple years ago it was close to two hours before we got our bags, in the last group, even though we had early disembarkation to meet a car and catch a flight.  I thought for sure they were history.  SB was not very helpful at all once we were off the ship and all our bags except ours for the first group were there except ours.

I would carry all of myself if I did not have so much stuff or had bigger muscles ( of course all valuables and criticals are on me).

DH and I also had bags stolen at Amsterdam airport after getting off the plane and had to spend a day shopping instead of sightseeing, then insurance headaches. Not fun.

[wripro]

You say not to trust Seabourn with your valuables. I agree.You should NEVER trust ANYONE with your valuables. You should carry them with you personally at all times. The only things you should pack in suitcases that you turn over to a cruise line or airline are clothes and things that can easily be replaced.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I always keep anything valuable with me when I embark or disembark from a cruise, same with air travel.  Jewellery, electronics, prescriptions, papers, etc.

 

If I leave luggage outside my cabin to be picked up port side, there is nothing valuable, just clothing that can ultimately be replaced.  

 

So really I would think that the moral of this story, as the last responder said, is to never trust anyone with your valuables.  And, perhaps, don't put  your luggage out for collection if disembarking at the port of Lisbon.

[SKP946]

3 hours ago, wripro said:

You say not to trust Seabourn with your valuables. I agree.You should NEVER trust ANYONE with your valuables. You should carry them with you personally at all times. The only things you should pack in suitcases that you turn over to a cruise line or airline are clothes and things that can easily be replaced.

Plus one, I always carry all my valuables and medication with me, it is never out of my sight, even on the plane I put my bags in an overhead that I can look at (i.e. not overhead).

[SLSD]

I carry our valuables inside a very zipped up tote bag.  I have noticed that whenever we enter the Colonnade for lunch on the first day (before our suite is ready) that the staff always suggest that I leave my tote in a hallway with other peoples' totes and such.  i always politely decline and take my tote with me to our table.  Have others encountered this on the first day? 

Edited May 15, 2019 by SLSD

[kowhairob]

2 hours ago, SLSD said:

I carry our valuables inside a very zipped up tote bag.  I have noticed that whenever we enter the Colonnade for lunch on the first day (before our suite is ready) that the staff always suggest that I leave my tote in a hallway with other peoples' totes and such.  i always politely decline and take my tote with me to our table.  Have others encountered this on the first day? 

Yes we have been asked to leaved our bags in a side hallway with a tag however we have declined as we only have carry on luggage and everything is in it, medicines , clothes etc .

If you fly business class on say Singapore Airlines you can get 2 carry ons at 7kg each which is more than enough luggage for us . It certainly speeds up disembarkation at the Airport and saves us the agony of lost/misplaced luggage .

[jozi]

3 hours ago, SLSD said:

I carry our valuables inside a very zipped up tote bag.  I have noticed that whenever we enter the Colonnade for lunch on the first day (before our suite is ready) that the staff always suggest that I leave my tote in a hallway with other peoples' totes and such.  i always politely decline and take my tote with me to our table.  Have others encountered this on the first day? 

Yes and like you, I like to keep the tote with hard-to-replace stuff with me, though overall I’m less worried about things disappearing on board than I would be at public places off ship or at home. 

[SLSD]

I agree with you Jozi.  I feel fairly certain that my zipped tote bag would be safe.  But, for me, it would be like leaving my purse somewhere.  

[florisdekort]

On 5/15/2019 at 9:34 AM, wripro said:

You say not to trust Seabourn with your valuables. I agree.You should NEVER trust ANYONE with your valuables. You should carry them with you personally at all times. The only things you should pack in suitcases that you turn over to a cruise line or airline are clothes and things that can easily be replaced.

 

Totally agree.

 

Opp, I’m sorry that this happened to you, but Seabourn can’t prevent another passenger from walking off with your suitcase by mistake. The same can happen at the airport by the way. 

[Mark56]

I’ve gotten the habit of packing light using a nap sack for important stuff like electronics, meds and headphones etc and a carry on bag for clothes. It’s just makes things easier and faster and there are no worries about losing stuff.

[raphael360]

Our solution.  One million miles and counting.

Edited May 29, 2019 by raphael360
sic

[tv24]

On 5/15/2019 at 1:50 PM, SLSD said:

I carry our valuables inside a very zipped up tote bag.  I have noticed that whenever we enter the Colonnade for lunch on the first day (before our suite is ready) that the staff always suggest that I leave my tote in a hallway with other peoples' totes and such.  i always politely decline and take my tote with me to our table.  Have others encountered this on the first day? 

Yes, this has happened to us.  But since our carry-ons were modest-sized back packs, we ignored the Seabourn staff and took them to our Colonnade table with no problem.

[Jay23]

Yes on all of our Seabourn cruises.  You get a "cloakroom" ticket for your bag.   However I keep my handbag (purse) with me which has medication and jewellery in it.    The pull- along is a nuisance in the Colonnade and I don't believe it can go far on the ship.  J