Make sure your luggage floats

[exlondoner]

1 minute ago, NE John said:

I’m sure the classically beautiful Cunard building on lower Broadway in Manhattan has little or nothing to do with Cunard these days, but isn’t Red Hook one of two homeports for QM2?

I really don’t think they have offices there any more. Agree about the beautiful Cunard building, though the one in Liverpool is even finer.

[terry&mike]

I am following this, and have the highest hopes that your things will be returned to you and that some of it will be salvageable. Please keep us posted. 

 

We did Fast Track (self disembark) on September 29 from QM2 in NY. We walked through the luggage holding area at approximately 7:10am. When we walked through, they had just begun making the beginnings of 2 rows of luggage lined up, about mid-way down the warehouse, directly next to the walkway to Immigration. There were several folks working on the floor lining up the luggage, and at least one forklift in the area. I don't recall seeing any excitement or anything unusual at this time, but I also wasn't paying a great deal of attention, just walking on through. 

 

Wishing you the best outcome possible in this unfortunate situation. 

[bitob]

Update

 

both my bags have been recovered. 
one was submerged much longer than the other. 
I only know this because the rep my ta found for me has called Intercruises daily and called me daily. She is wonderful

 

no passenger has been contacted 

no one from Cunard is “in charge”

this has been handled so poorly. 
 

the luggage has to dry out before it can be shipped. No idea when that will be. No idea if any of contents is salvageable. 
 

I await a phone call. Lol

 

[alc13]

Thanks for the update, and good luck with recovering at least some of your belongings.

[NE John]

2 hours ago, bitob said:

Update

 

both my bags have been recovered. 
one was submerged much longer than the other. 
I only know this because the rep my ta found for me has called Intercruises daily and called me daily. She is wonderful

 

no passenger has been contacted 

no one from Cunard is “in charge”

this has been handled so poorly. 
 

the luggage has to dry out before it can be shipped. No idea when that will be. No idea if any of contents is salvageable. 
 

I await a phone call. Lol

 

The divers deserve a huge tip of the cap. Nice job from them. 
I mentioned in a nearby thread that Cunard needs to appoint a Chief Passenger Empathy Officer. Yes, corny, but there are too many complaints about poor communication from Cunard. At least someone from Cunard who can define what organization is responsible for what during problems at sea or in port and detail next steps needed to resolve. They need to own the process. 
So much goodwill is being wasted by Cunard from pax feeling that they have been abandoned. 

[Jim_Iain]

On 10/2/2023 at 7:45 PM, Jack E Dawson said:

We got our first set of air tags for our QE Panama Canal trip last month. What a stress reliever. I was amazed at how precise they were. Could actually see the bags move up the conveyor belt onto the plane on my iPhone. When we landed back home in Chicago at O'Hare, Dee's bag came right out onto the conveyor belt but mine took an extra 10-15 minutes. No worries, could see it was still in the cargo hold of the plane. Just relaxed and waited knowing it wasn't far away. What a wonderful invention. 

Jack

 

I love mine also and out of curiosity googled on whether they were waterproof.  I doubt the would stand up to being dunked as the OP has reported.

 

With their battery covers in place, AirTags have an IP67 rating. To translate, that means they can resist most splashing, and be submersed in a meter (3.3 feet) of water for up to 30 minutes.

[Jack E Dawson]

3 hours ago, bitob said:

both my bags have been recovered. 

I'm sorry bitob, I know this has been a very frustrating and stressful situation for you but I have looked forward to each of your updates as if they were a new episode of The Crown. Luggage in the water, divers  in the water, airtags, communications breakdown, it's too much. If this had happened 4 weeks earlier, during the writer's strike, Hollywood might have bought your story. 

A few years ago we had fire in our house. The smoke, water and chemical damage to our clothes was extensive. Yet, at the end of the day, the mitigation contractor salvaged almost all of our clothes. So take heart, you may be surprised as to what can be recovered. Thank you for sharing your situation so that the rest of us can benefit. 

Jack

[az85331]

We've lost two large suitcases.  As of today, after 6 days,we still can't get its status from Cunard.  Just very general responses like we work on it and will get back to you God knows when.  They say that their Guest Relations dept. has up to 6 weeks to reply.

We are very upset.  Don't know what to do.  Cunard just ignores us.  Any suggestions what to do?

[bitob]

7 minutes ago, az85331 said:

We've lost two large suitcases.  As of today, after 6 days,we still can't get its status from Cunard.  Just very general responses like we work on it and will get back to you God knows when.  They say that their Guest Relations dept. has up to 6 weeks to reply.

We are very upset.  Don't know what to do.  Cunard just ignores us.  Any suggestions what to do?

Cunard is totally non responsive. If it were not for my ferocious ta who got me a contact I would know nothing 

 

perhaps your ta can intercede 

[bitob]

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

I love mine also and out of curiosity googled on whether they were waterproof.  I doubt the would stand up to being dunked as the OP has reported.

 

With their battery covers in place, AirTags have an IP67 rating. To translate, that means they can resist most splashing, and be submersed in a meter (3.3 feet) of water for up to 30 minutes.

Mine kept working in the bag that was removed quickly. It is still working. 

 

the other bag spent too much time submerged for the AirTag to keep working 

[Winifred 22]

This may sound silly but why don’t you go and get your luggage yourself now you know it’s been found ? If I had lost precious items I think I would want to take over myself and not risk they could be mislaid again. 

[Winifred 22]

1 hour ago, bitob said:

Cunard is totally non responsive. If it were not for my ferocious ta who got me a contact I would know nothing 

 

perhaps your ta can intercede 

Is there anyway you Could you not share your contact person’s details with this poor  poster ? 

[exlondoner]

3 hours ago, Winifred 22 said:

This may sound silly but why don’t you go and get your luggage yourself now you know it’s been found ? If I had lost precious items I think I would want to take over myself and not risk they could be mislaid again. 

Surely the customs people wouldn’t allow it, as they are worried about contraband? And this is not as daft as it sounds. There have been a couple of cases here, where people have thrown cases full of drugs overboard in the bay, with the aim of retrieving later. Obviously not the case here, but you can see their point.

[bitob]

5 hours ago, Winifred 22 said:

Is there anyway you Could you not share your contact person’s details with this poor  poster ? 

I can't.  I wish I could

Best thing is to contact TA and have them find you a contact.

 

I did send the post to my contact.  If she offers to help I can do something.

 

 

Edited October 6, 2023 by bitob

[bitob]

5 hours ago, Winifred 22 said:

This may sound silly but why don’t you go and get your luggage yourself now you know it’s been found ? If I had lost precious items I think I would want to take over myself and not risk they could be mislaid again. 

I'm in Tucson.  The luggage is in Brooklyn.. I would not be able to take it on a plane wet.

Clothing is not "precious."  Health is.

[bitob]

8 hours ago, az85331 said:

We've lost two large suitcases.  As of today, after 6 days,we still can't get its status from Cunard.  Just very general responses like we work on it and will get back to you God knows when.  They say that their Guest Relations dept. has up to 6 weeks to reply.

We are very upset.  Don't know what to do.  Cunard just ignores us.  Any suggestions what to do?

My TA is having dinner with Cunrd executives this evening.

He is going to do all he can to get them to call every affected passenger and inform them of status of their luggage.  Why we have to tell them to do this is beyond me.

 

This is what he is going to tell them:

Someone needs to go to the Pier with the list of people who filled out reports.

Cross check it against luggage recovered and call people.

If no Cunard person in NY either fly someone in or hire someone.

Edited October 6, 2023 by bitob

[bitob]

FYI

 

My amazing TA is boarding QM2 today and traveling ass a guest of and with the Cunard execs.

He is going to do everything possible to make sure Cunard steps up to the plate and starts contacting affected guests, help them retrieve their luggage it possible and handle claims.

 

[3rdGenCunarder]

@bitob, I've read through this thread again, and I'm not seeing anything about the port staff. When your luggage wasn't found, did you talk to the port staff? My recollection is that there is almost nobody from Cunard in the terminal. When someone took my bag from mistake (at Red Hook), I asked one of the port supervisors if there was anyone I could contact from the ship to see if it was still onboard. They found a woman from the ship, who shrugged and told me all luggage was offloaded. Anything after that was not her problem/responsibility.

 

Cunard showed no interest in helping me. Port staff, OTOH, were fantastic. Given the help I received (story below), I don't understand why someone from the port wouldn't have taken point on your situation. I doubt Cunard hired the divers. It was probably the port. They have a system for dealing with lost luggage and I think you should have been given a contact there. 

 

When I couldn't find my bag (no, it wasn't in the water), the supervisor from the port staff helped me look and the only thing we could figure out that the lone bag at my color/number location belonged to someone who took my bag by mistake. His bag had a tag for a ship leaving that day from Bayonne. She called over and had his account flagged so that when he checked in, they could ask about his luggage. When they asked, he said yes, he had all of it. Of course, by that time, he had given it to a porter to go onto the ship, so nobody could look at it. He had the right NUMBER of bags, but not all of them were his. 

 

At that point, she gave me forms to fill out to get my bag returned. She and I were sure it was in Bayonne, loaded onto the ship. In the meantime they got Mr Idiot's bag delivered to Bayonne. 

 

Later that afternoon or the next day, this woman took the time to call me, saying my bag was on Something of the Seas. It had been found abandoned in a hallway. Mr. Idiot probably just pushed it out there when it was delivered because it wasn't his. If he had let someone on Something of the Seas know that there was a stray case with a Cunard tag on it, my bag might have been offloaded before the ship sailed.

 

Two weeks later, the bag was delivered to my home at no cost to me. 

[bitob]

5 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

@bitob, I've read through this thread again, and I'm not seeing anything about the port staff. When your luggage wasn't found, did you talk to the port staff? My recollection is that there is almost nobody from Cunard in the terminal. When someone took my bag from mistake (at Red Hook), I asked one of the port supervisors if there was anyone I could contact from the ship to see if it was still onboard. They found a woman from the ship, who shrugged and told me all luggage was offloaded. Anything after that was not her problem/responsibility.

 

Cunard showed no interest in helping me. Port staff, OTOH, were fantastic. Given the help I received (story below), I don't understand why someone from the port wouldn't have taken point on your situation. I doubt Cunard hired the divers. It was probably the port. They have a system for dealing with lost luggage and I think you should have been given a contact there. 

 

When I couldn't find my bag (no, it wasn't in the water), the supervisor from the port staff helped me look and the only thing we could figure out that the lone bag at my color/number location belonged to someone who took my bag by mistake. His bag had a tag for a ship leaving that day from Bayonne. She called over and had his account flagged so that when he checked in, they could ask about his luggage. When they asked, he said yes, he had all of it. Of course, by that time, he had given it to a porter to go onto the ship, so nobody could look at it. He had the right NUMBER of bags, but not all of them were his. 

 

At that point, she gave me forms to fill out to get my bag returned. She and I were sure it was in Bayonne, loaded onto the ship. In the meantime they got Mr Idiot's bag delivered to Bayonne. 

 

Later that afternoon or the next day, this woman took the time to call me, saying my bag was on Something of the Seas. It had been found abandoned in a hallway. Mr. Idiot probably just pushed it out there when it was delivered because it wasn't his. If he had let someone on Something of the Seas know that there was a stray case with a Cunard tag on it, my bag might have been offloaded before the ship sailed.

 

Two weeks later, the bag was delivered to my home at no cost to me. 

Of course. At first they did not tell us the truth about the luggage. A member of the port staff (wearing a Cunard badge but not a Cunard employee) helped with the forms and assured us we would be contacted as soon as luggage was located. 
 

never happened 

 

No one is in charge

 

[az85331]

14 hours ago, bitob said:

Cunard is totally non responsive. If it were not for my ferocious ta who got me a contact I would know nothing 

 

perhaps your ta can intercede 

Thanks for your suggestion.  But Lucky us - our TA quit just a day prior to the incident.  We've talked to the TA's company and some other agent supposedly will try do something for us.  But we do not expect much.  What TA possibly can do if Cunard does not care?

[az85331]

6 hours ago, bitob said:

My TA is having dinner with Cunrd executives this evening.

He is going to do all he can to get them to call every affected passenger and inform them of status of their luggage.  Why we have to tell them to do this is beyond me.

 

This is what he is going to tell them:

Someone needs to go to the Pier with the list of people who filled out reports.

Cross check it against luggage recovered and call people.

If no Cunard person in NY either fly someone in or hire someone.

Thanks for your reply.  Your list to do looks so reasonable.  But why Cunard execs did not do it on their own?  Rhetoric question, sorry.

We've lost a lot of goods plus some irreplaceable memorabilia. My wife is really, really upset.

Now it's been a little bit more than a week and still nothing from Cunard.  I am puzzled with the Cunard's attitude toward their passengers. Any company like that must be much more responsive and proactive dealing with the damage caused by their own negligence.  Oh Lord!

[bitob]

2 hours ago, az85331 said:

Thanks for your suggestion.  But Lucky us - our TA quit just a day prior to the incident.  We've talked to the TA's company and some other agent supposedly will try do something for us.  But we do not expect much.  What TA possibly can do if Cunard does not care?

My TA was very effective in getting Cunard customer relations rep to reach out to me.

She tracked down my bags and is on top of the situation.  My TA is MAKING THEM CARE.

Somehow i think that after tonight's dinner in the Queens Grill we will see a more proactive response.

[Lakesregion]

1 hour ago, bitob said:

My TA was very effective in getting Cunard customer relations rep to reach out to me.

She tracked down my bags and is on top of the situation.  My TA is MAKING THEM CARE.

Somehow i think that after tonight's dinner in the Queens Grill we will see a more proactive response.

To bad rules do not allow you to name the TA. They really have juice and if named would also have hundreds more clients.

 

[bitob]

20 minutes ago, Lakesregion said:

To bad rules do not allow you to name the TA. They really have juice and if named would also have hundreds more clients.

 

Hope you sail with me someday. I give his cards out.  

[az85331]

3 hours ago, az85331 said:

Thanks for your reply.  Your list to do looks so reasonable.  But why Cunard execs did not do it on their own?  Rhetoric question, sorry.

We've lost a lot of goods plus some irreplaceable memorabilia. My wife is really, really upset.

Now it's been a little bit more than a week and still nothing from Cunard.  I am puzzled with the Cunard's attitude toward their passengers. Any company like that must be much more responsive and proactive dealing with the damage caused by their own negligence.  Oh Lord!

Cunard rep contacted us and said that they did recover our luggage and maybe next week they'll send it to us.  What can be salvaged is another question.