Prohibited items

[neverlaysup]

Quick question and how would you handle this situation. My wife and her mother boarded the Millie yesterday and as she was unpacking, she noticed that her curling iron and hair straightener were confiscated. She also had a wrench that is used to tighten the bolts on her mother's walker that was taken. Per the Celebrity website, those two hair appliances are ALLOWED and there is no mention of a basic wrench being a prohibited item. 

 

My wife went to customer service on the ship and they said those items are NOT on board and in essence.....too bad, so sad, there is nothing we can do. 

 

How does she attempt to handle this situation, given that she has NO way to do her hair for the next 7 days??

[CHEZMARYLOU]

Were they in her carryon or in the luggage given to the Porters?

[neverlaysup]

3 minutes ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

Were they in her carryon or in the luggage given to the Porters?

In her suitcase that the Porters took.

 

[chemmo]

11 minutes ago, neverlaysup said:

Quick question and how would you handle this situation. My wife and her mother boarded the Millie yesterday and as she was unpacking, she noticed that her curling iron and hair straightener were confiscated. She also had a wrench that is used to tighten the bolts on her mother's walker that was taken. Per the Celebrity website, those two hair appliances are ALLOWED and there is no mention of a basic wrench being a prohibited item. 

 

My wife went to customer service on the ship and they said those items are NOT on board and in essence.....too bad, so sad, there is nothing we can do. 

 

How does she attempt to handle this situation, given that she has NO way to do her hair for the next 7 days??

Very odd…in our experience they never just ‘confiscate’ items. If they detect anything in your packed luggage you are directed to the ‘naughty room’ where you open your suite case and they look at the suspicious items and decide if they are prohibited or not…If prohibited they will be returned to you last night of the cruise. Re tightening the screws on her mother’s walker….If it needs tightening show/explain to your room attendant and I am sure he will sort it for you. Re the hair appliances, no idea why they were not allowed…They are not old fashioned gas curling tongues are they? I remember owning some gas ones many years ago….

 

As a future note we pack all electrical appliances in hand luggage, much easier to sort as you board…

 

 

[CHEZMARYLOU]

i agree with chemmo. If there are questionable items in checked luggage you are called down to be present when the suitcase is opened, the crew does not just open suitcase and remove things. The cabin attendant can arrange for the wheels to be tightened if necessary.

Edited September 25, 2021 by CHEZMARYLOU

[Jim_Iain]

Agree with others.   Never had something confiscated.   I was called down to the naughty room where they advised they had to hold the item and then issued a check ticket to  pick up at end of cruise.

[Fouremco]

 

Once it was determined that Celebrity hadn't taken the items, I'm not quite sure what you expected customer service to do.

 

If a hair straightener and curler are absolute necessities, they might want to go shopping at the first port. As for a wrench, I agree with @chemmo, they should speak to their room attendant.

[Essiesmom]

Checked Suitcases are not screened/xrayed until already loaded onto the ship.  So if they were removed, it would have been on the ship.  I suspect they will find them when they get home.  EM

[jelayne]

Was the luggage handled by anyone else after it was packed, and before being given to the porters at the port.  Possibly  airlines or hotel personnel.

[davekathy]

1 hour ago, neverlaysup said:

Quick question and how would you handle this situation. My wife and her mother boarded the Millie yesterday and as she was unpacking, she noticed that her curling iron and hair straightener were confiscated. She also had a wrench that is used to tighten the bolts on her mother's walker that was taken. Per the Celebrity website, those two hair appliances are ALLOWED and there is no mention of a basic wrench being a prohibited item. 

 

My wife went to customer service on the ship and they said those items are NOT on board and in essence.....too bad, so sad, there is nothing we can do. 

 

How does she attempt to handle this situation, given that she has NO way to do her hair for the next 7 days??

My wife always packs a curling iron in her checked luggage. 

[Fouremco]

45 minutes ago, Essiesmom said:

Checked Suitcases are not screened/xrayed until already loaded onto the ship.  So if they were removed, it would have been on the ship.  I suspect they will find them when they get home.  EM

Why would you conclude that? The items might have been stolen before the bags were brought aboard.

[cruisestitch]

Is it at all possible that you forgot to pack them? I made up a little package of vitamins for the ship, and when I opened the suitcase they weren’t there.  Yep, they are on the couch at home, next to where the suitcase was as I was packing it.

[LGW59]

3 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

Is it at all possible that you forgot to pack them? I made up a little package of vitamins for the ship, and when I opened the suitcase they weren’t there.  Yep, they are on the couch at home, next to where the suitcase was as I was packing it.

LOL, been there and done that, my thought exactly

[neverlaysup]

37 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

LOL, been there and done that, my thought exactly

I thought this my be the case and she forgot to pack. I tore here closet apart with no signs so I can only assume that they made it into her suitcase. There were no TSA slips in her luggage and I find it hard to believe someone would open it up at the airport to steal a mini hair straighter, curling iron and a wrench. Not sure why she was never called to the inspection room but her bags were not delivered to the room until about 30 minutes short of sailing. She will attempt to find some other answers today, hopefully her items on on the ship.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

If she flew to the ship, it is entirely possible that the airline baggage handlers took the items.  Theft from checked baggage is, unfortunately, very common.  If Celebrity had confiscated the items, they would have notified her and the luggage would not have been delivered to her cabin.  She would have had to go to the "naughty room" and open the luggage with Celebrity's security personnel.  Been there, done that.

[davekathy]

15 minutes ago, neverlaysup said:

I thought this my be the case and she forgot to pack. I tore here closet apart with no signs so I can only assume that they made it into her suitcase. There were no TSA slips in her luggage and I find it hard to believe someone would open it up at the airport to steal a mini hair straighter, curling iron and a wrench. Not sure why she was never called to the inspection room but her bags were not delivered to the room until about 30 minutes short of sailing. She will attempt to find some other answers today, hopefully her items on on the ship.

Sounds like your wife will be shopping for those items at her first port. 

[Alakegirl]

Correct. If Celebrity had removed the items they would not have delivered the suitcase.

[brownc424]

17 minutes ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

If she flew to the ship, it is entirely possible that the airline baggage handlers took the items.  Theft from checked baggage is, unfortunately, very common.  If Celebrity had confiscated the items, they would have notified her and the luggage would not have been delivered to her cabin.  She would have had to go to the "naughty room" and open the luggage with Celebrity's security personnel.  Been there, done that.

It really isn't as common as you would think, and even if it was... those aren't the items that get stolen. I travel with an Xbox in my checked luggage on virtually all my trips, I fly frequently, and it has never been an issue. I'm more worried about someone accidentally or intentionally taking my bag than someone taking an item from inside it.

[canderson]

14 minutes ago, Alakegirl said:

Correct. If Celebrity had removed the items they would not have delivered the suitcase.

My experience is that Celebrity never removes anything.

 

If the screening X-Ray leads to questions, the bag in question is segregated from that to be delivered to cabins, the passenger is notified to come down to security, and the bag is only opened in the presence of the passenger to investigate the suspect item(s).

[Ken the cruiser]

Just curious and I know this is after the fact, but did they have locks on each of their checked baggage when they left their house? That is one thing we do before leaving home as you never know what will happen along the way. 

[Fouremco]

Twice on Celebrity cruises I've been called to go to the security offices as screening had detected something in my bag that was possibly prohibited. I had to open the bag for inspection by the security staff, and in both cases the items were permitted. It seems pretty obvious that the OP's wife's loss had nothing to do with Celebrity.

[lv2cruisgrl]

2 hours ago, jelayne said:

Was the luggage handled by anyone else after it was packed, and before being given to the porters at the port.  Possibly  airlines or hotel personnel.

I was thinking the same thing as items are taken from suitcases when flying. We had it happen twice!  Your wife can shop at the first port they can get off at. A friend of ours forgot to pack shoes so off at St Thomas to the shoe store!!

[neverlaysup]

Just spoke with my wife and she said her room attendant came by this morning and gave her a slip detailing what items were removed from her bag. In short, they did open her bag without her being present and remove the items. Now she will attempt to reclaim them.....

[Fouremco]

6 minutes ago, neverlaysup said:

Just spoke with my wife and she said her room attendant came by this morning and gave her a slip detailing what items were removed from her bag. In short, they did open her bag without her being present and remove the items. Now she will attempt to reclaim them.....

Good news, I guess, but there has to be a lot more to this story. Other than a complete change in the normal protocol, the fact that they apparently took three items that aren't prohibited is very strange. We remain curious!

[neverlaysup]

1 minute ago, Fouremco said:

Good news, I guess, but there has to be a lot more to this story. Other than a complete change in the normal protocol, the fact that they apparently took three items that aren't prohibited is very strange. We remain curious!

Yeah, good news indeed. I wonder if they paged her and she never heard it. My question would be, if you don't respond to the page will they then process your luggage without you or hold until you can be present.