Money & Jewelry Taken From Safes On Century

[bassque]

Hello all. I'm a first-time poster and I am saddened that my first message is not a positive one. However....

 

We just got off the Century on Saturday the 18th of March. While at sea a large amount of money and some jewelry was taken from our locked room and locked safe. We were on Deck 12. Another cabin, directly accross from us was also burglarized the first night out. Same thing--locked room, locked safe. The reaction from the ship's crew was that a burglary is impossible and we must be mistaken. We're not mistaken. We've filed our claim with CCL and we are notifying the President of CCL. My wife and I are hoping that the corporate office will help us out with this situation. Sadly, the crew was no help at all.

 

Has this ever happened to anyone else? Does anyone know anything else we can do? Any help is appreciated.

[etoile]

I'm so sorry this happened to you. Just to make sure though - you want to contact RCI (Royal Caribbean International) and not CCL (Carnival Cruise Lines) - Celebrity is owned by RCI.

[HurricaneSally]

Make sure you also contact your homeowner's insurance policy. My daughter once had all her clothes stolen from a hotel room and our homeowners covered everything, without charging it against us.

[bassque]

Oops, my mistake - I meant RCI. We have contacted our insurance company and it looks like we will be covered for our losses although we still have to pay the deductible, of course.

 

Thanks for the quick replies!

 

(edited for content)

[cruise freak]

What kind of safe was in your cabin. The one that you end the code or the kind that you slide your card across? If you slide your card across did you use your room key? I have heard of this happening if you used your room key as you should always use a credit card or something like that. I was robbed at a hotel once and yes my home owners took care of it but for you, when it is money I believe homeowners only takes care of so much and so much also for jewelry unless it is scheduled jewelry. You also had to worry the rest of your trip. How high up did you go to on the ship to report this? I hope they find the thief so others don't have to go through this.

[lysolqn]

Very disturbing post - we've always "trusted" the safe in our cabin and have never had a problem. We leave on a cruise this Sunday and the seed of doubt has been planted. Sorry for your unfortunate experience.

[gracecarmo]

the same type of incident happened to us (not on Celebrity). Our room was entered with a key and our safe drawers opened with a key.

Our homeowners did not cover cash, nor does the cruise line insurance which we took out.

Our TA helped resolve, but the cruise line was really not helpful at all. We never got our cash refunded, but got a certificate for a discount on a future cruise. It took about a year to get any satisfaction.

[cruise freak]

All of this is very scary as I do take alot of cash with me and alot of times I don't keep track that close as what I have spent. I will this time. Does anyone have any idea of what else to do if you don't trust the safe. I sure don't want to carry everything on me all of the time.

[cruise freak]

the same type of incident happened to us (not on Celebrity). Our room was entered with a key and our safe drawers opened with a key.

Our homeowners did not cover cash, nor does the cruise line insurance which we took out.

Our TA helped resolve, but the cruise line was really not helpful at all. We never got our cash refunded, but got a certificate for a discount on a future cruise. It took about a year to get any satisfaction.

What cruiseline was this?

[delawareshore]

something else to worry about? was this an inside or outside cabin. many cruises, and never worried about cash in the safe.

[etoile]

something else to worry about? was this an inside or outside cabin. many cruises, and never worried about cash in the safe.

OP mentioned their safe and one "across from" theirs was broken into...I had assumed that meant both inside and outside were victimized.

[melissasneu]

Cruisefreak,

 

Ever consider travelers checks? We carry very little cash with us only what we think we'll need for tips in port. We charge nearly everything for safety, convenience, and record keeping.

 

Melissa

[cruisePRN]

I have luggage with a combination lock. I think I'll use my suitcase for my valuables after reading this post. Travelers checks sound like a good idea too.

[bassque]

What kind of safe was in your cabin. The one that you end the code or the kind that you slide your card across? If you slide your card across did you use your room key? I have heard of this happening if you used your room key as you should always use a credit card or something like that. I was robbed at a hotel once and yes my home owners took care of it but for you, when it is money I believe homeowners only takes care of so much and so much also for jewelry unless it is scheduled jewelry. You also had to worry the rest of your trip. How high up did you go to on the ship to report this? I hope they find the thief so others don't have to go through this.

The safe was the type that you put your own personal code into. We had a regular credit card-type key to enter the room.

 

We went as high up on the ship as they would let us. All communication had to go through Guest Relations or the Concierge and were never allowed to talk to a security officer directly on the phone. We were very disappointed in the crew's attitude and response. They, in effect, said all of this was impossible. The other people that were burglarized were directly across the ship and their experience with the crew was similar.

 

What's even more upsetting is that we had "splurged" on the SkySuite to try and make the cruise that much more exceptional. We have always been partial to RCCL and Celebrity (first cruise - 1976 on Song of Norway)and have always experienced great service, etc. Our experience with this, however, has been very disappointing and frustrating.

 

I just got off the phone with our insurance company and it looks like they will cover all except the deductible and they have a cash limitation. However, this really isn't about the money this is more about how we feel our vacation was taken from us and Celebrity didn't seem to care.

[mkringen]

What about getting cash every few days from the casino? It just charges to your account. Then you can pay off the credit card once you get home.

 

Michelle in SoCal

Mercury 4/7/06

[Tropic]

You use to be able to make draws in the casino without any additional fee, now I thought someone had said that Celebrity charges an additional 3% for that type of draw... anyone know the current policy with Celebrity as we are leaving in May on a cruise with them.

[heavydcleveland]

I have luggage with a combination lock. I think I'll use my suitcase for my valuables after reading this post. Travelers checks sound like a good idea too.

 

Karyn8, I have always put any souveniers or any newly purchased items into my suticase and put the lock on it, until I was to depart the ship. Then I removed expensive items, such as jewelry and carried it on the flight with me. I will be taking a major credit card and Rick Steve's recommends your banks' debit card. Because the additional exchange rates tacked on by the countries we're visiting, it would not be worth it to purchase travellers checks and/or exchange money.

[springtxbill]

No charge for casino drawa on our galaxy cruise that ended yesterday.:)

[STUR]

I think this had to be a inside job

 

safe being the type that you put your own personal code into.

 

The last cruise we were on the safe was locked and the door left open

when we got to our suite The room steward could not fix this and Security had to come to the room to reset safe

 

My wife and I always travel with only a little money enough for tips at airports ect Everything els on credit cards both carry two different cards each so we always have a card if needed keep card in safe plus in luggage or some plase els

 

STUR DAYTON,OHIO

[bassque]

I think this had to be a inside job

 

safe being the type that you put your own personal code into.

 

The last cruise we were on the safe was locked and the door left open

when we got to our suite The room steward could not fix this and Security had to come to the room to reset safe

 

My wife and I always travel with only a little money enough for tips at airports ect Everything els on credit cards both carry two different cards each so we always have a card if needed keep card in safe plus in luggage or some plase els

 

STUR DAYTON,OHIO

 

We think it's an inside job, too. One of the few things the crew told us was that the only people who had been in our room during the trip were ourselves and "authorized" personnel. Thus, some authorized person must be culpable.

 

Since this has happened just about every conversation we have had has revolved around this episode. One person we spoke with mentioned that things like this are more likely to happen when you have a ship that is about to enter dry dock. The theory was that the crew would be uncertain about the status of their jobs at this point - would they go to another ship or would they have to wait until it set sail again? While I obviously can't say whether or not that is true or whether that had anything to do with it, you can be sure that is something I will research before we book the next cruise (and we do have a Hawaiian trip reserved at the moment).

 

Of course, we will also consider the traveler's cheques and lockable luggage as well. Still, I don't think you should have to do that when you have an in-room safe on a cruise line that purports to treat you like royalty.

 

Thanks for the responses. Just talking and writing about this helps. Hopefully, as a result, other folks will be less likely to suffer from the same thing.

[dmarch@islc.net]

We had $ stolen from our safe within a hour or so of boarding the Century. My wife noticed a baggage attendant leaving our room right before she noticed the missing $. I asked the cabin attendant in and told him the story. It was only about $50 in 1's that we brought for tips but still it's stealing.

[kitty9]

When I got into the Royal Suite on the Summit last month, the safe was locked and I was unable to get into it. I called our butler who said the only persons with the ability to open locked safes were the Chief Housekeeper and a security person. He called the Chief Housekeeper and he opened the safe for me, using what looked similar to a sign and sail card. All he did was swipe the card through the reader and it opened.

 

This whole thing makes me very upset especially the part of not getting any help from Celebrity.

[lysolqn]

The computeried key-card system X uses keeps a detailed log of each and every time a key-card is used to gain entry into a cabin for the duration of every cruise - including date, time and person to whom a particular key was issued (including you, the passenger). That log should include entry by "authorized" personnel (cabin steward, room service, electricians, plumbers, etc.) as well, since their keys are coded. Therefore, X could have easily determined who entered your cabin between the time you left and the time you noticed your jewelry and cash were missing. Whether security still has that log on file is up for grabs, but you may want to demand an accounting and an explanation of who entered your cabin and why.

[Andym]

In August on the Millennium, our safe door refused to open one evening. We called Guest relations who sent along one of the officers who had a small electronic device which he plugged into the bottom of the door. He assured me that other than our pass number that we had put into the safe, this was he only way to get the door open, and he added that this method didn't always work. Well it didn't and we ended up with an engineer who drilled open the safe and then fitted a new door. All this had to be done with us present.

 

I wonder about the OP. Why their first post on such a subject?. OK we all have to have first posts, but usually for help on ports, the cruise or meeting other cruisers. I am always suspicious of first posts complaining about something.

[Chick's pal]

1. Keeping a log of "who goes in and out" of the room would only really tell who's CARD was used to access the room. The "authorized person" could have been separated from his / her card.

 

2. Keeping your valuables in a locked suitcase makes things very easy for a thief. All the good stuff is already together in a nice case with a handle. They're not going to verify what's inside first, they're just going to take it. When they have it they'll break the lock or slash the side of the bag to get the contents.

 

3. Ships used to have safe deposit boxes available at the purser's desk. I can recall NCL and Carnival trips where there was no in-room safe and we all used the central safe deposit box area. Do these still exist for passenger use? This may be worth looking into.

 

4. My opinion on the Security staff on ships is that they are not quite as "authoritative" and "enforcing" as we'd like to believe. I think (again, my opinion only) that Security is a department that has the responsibility of securing the ship, not necessarily keeping passengers from crime. We had a noise issue in our cabin once (not people, fixtures) and the on-board customer service referred us to Security to help solve the issue. ???????

 

5. The great thing about Travelers checks and credit cards is that they can be replaced. But you have to be at a location long enough to get the replacements to you. If you're stopping at a new port every day, that could be difficult, so you really need a couple of different ways of paying for things while you're out. You can concentrate on getting reimbursed when you get home.

 

Customer Service receives the true test when they solve problems and it sounds like they failed in this instance. So sorry you had this experience.