Luggage Lost at Pier, Help!

[Ms Understood]

Does anyone have any suggestions/insight/experience with luggage that just never came off the ship? I am just back today from Legend of the Seas southeast Asia cruise and one of my suitcases (which , of course, had many of my souveniers acquired in 4 different countries in it) never apparently got off the ship in Shanghai. we searched everywhere in the terminal. we asked for help from the baggage handlers and others in the terminal. Unfortunately many of them spoke no English at all. There was no RCL presence in the terminal that we could find. I filled out a claim form but the girl who gave it to me could not understand what I was asking when I inquired how would they get the bag to me if they found it. She insisted that I could come pick it up even tho I told her repeatedly that I was leaving for the States today and in fact needed to get going or I would miss my flight home. Anyway none of the numbers I had worked inside China. Now that I have arrived home I cannot find a number that has a live person. This is a big bummer after a wonderful trip. Anybody??

-----------------

Helen

[xpcdoojk]

Does anyone have any suggestions/insight/experience with luggage that just never came off the ship? I am just back today from Legend of the Seas southeast Asia cruise and one of my suitcases (which , of course, had many of my souveniers acquired in 4 different countries in it) never apparently got off the ship in Shanghai. we searched everywhere in the terminal. we asked for help from the baggage handlers and others in the terminal. Unfortunately many of them spoke no English at all. There was no RCL presence in the terminal that we could find. I filled out a claim form but the girl who gave it to me could not understand what I was asking when I inquired how would they get the bag to me if they found it. She insisted that I could come pick it up even tho I told her repeatedly that I was leaving for the States today and in fact needed to get going or I would miss my flight home. Anyway none of the numbers I had worked inside China. Now that I have arrived home I cannot find a number that has a live person. This is a big bummer after a wonderful trip. Anybody??

-----------------

Helen

 

 

Wow, sorry to hear that. Our friends left a suit case on the bus when the transfer with Celebrity dumped them at the airport. They eventually got their luggage back, but a lot of stuff was missing a few weeks later. I don't know the phone number but I am sure some one will help you any moment.

 

I hope it works out for you.

 

Good luck

 

jc

[alexw]

Please tell us you had insurance. I know you did right?

[ziggypup]

Were their any leftover unclaimed bags after everyone was gone? Maybe someone took the wrong set of bags. It happened to my mothers bag on a past cruise. Their was one bag left that looked exactly like hers, but it belonged to someone else. Thank god their was a contact number on the id tag. We were able to make contact with real owner just as he was about to check in my mothers bag at the airport. He didn't beleive me at first. It wasn't until he looked in the bag that his whole attitude changed. He took a cab back to the port and we exchanged bags. So it had a happy ending. The RCCL reps were useless.

 

I wonder if your bags might have gotten transfered to the airport by mistake? Hopefully you had luggage tags?

 

Did you call RCCL?

[Coralc]

The Royal Caribbean Lost Luggage phone number is (800)256-6649....but there might not be a live person until Monday. I'm so sorry to hear about your missing bag. What a bummer. How was the cruise?

[Schplinky]

I have nothing too offer except that I'm sorry this happened to you. We seem to have the most trouble getting our luggage to and on the ship (the airlines have lost ours).

[rjp111838]

i lost a suitcase in singapore several years ago on a legend voyage. same circumstances, i filled out a form that no one seemed to understand. i called miami on my return and they soon notified me i would recieve the suitcase on 31 days. on day 30 they called to get delivery instructions and it arrived, seems it had a longer cruise than i did. call miami on monday and see what they say. at this point stay optomistic, good luck!

[xpcdoojk]

I have nothing too offer except that I'm sorry this happened to you. We seem to have the most trouble getting our luggage to and on the ship (the airlines have lost ours).

 

Lee our friends who had trouble with Celebrity have had trouble on at least two or three other trips with the airlines. The last time was when we went to the Canary Islands for Xmas a couple of years ago. It was a huge PITA to get the suitcase from British Airways. My friend had to spend at least $50 bucks on cabs getting his bag 3 days later.

 

Somehow I have been lucky for the last decade or so. The last time I really had a big problem was a ski trip in Colorado probably 15 years ago. A lady in a station wagon showed up at our condo at 7am... as we were getting ready to go to the slopes and rent skis.

 

jc

[Schplinky]

Lee our friends who had trouble with Celebrity have had trouble on at least two or three other trips with the airlines. The last time was when we went to the Canary Islands for Xmas a couple of years ago. It was a huge PITA to get the suitcase from British Airways. My friend had to spend at least $50 bucks on cabs getting his bag 3 days later.

 

Somehow I have been lucky for the last decade or so. The last time I really had a big problem was a ski trip in Colorado probably 15 years ago. A lady in a station wagon showed up at our condo at 7am... as we were getting ready to go to the slopes and rent skis.

 

jc

 

 

The All-time saddest story was a woman who flew to our Brilliance Cruise on Belgian Airlines (or was it Air Belgium) and they lost her bags. She was on of our tablemates. They didn't arrive for the whole 12 day cruise. To make matters worse, while she was standing at the Barcelona airport, someone walked away with her carry-on while she was pre-occupied with filling out forms. To her great credit, she had a good sense of fun about it but i would have been frazzled!

[Coralc]

There was a whole truck full of luggage waiting to get on the ship in Sitka on our Alaska cruise. That was day 3 of the cruise, I would think those people must have been freezing. :)

[G'ma]

Does anyone have any suggestions/insight/experience with luggage that just never came off the ship? I am just back today from Legend of the Seas southeast Asia cruise and one of my suitcases (which , of course, had many of my souveniers acquired in 4 different countries in it) never apparently got off the ship in Shanghai. we searched everywhere in the terminal. we asked for help from the baggage handlers and others in the terminal. Unfortunately many of them spoke no English at all. There was no RCL presence in the terminal that we could find. I filled out a claim form but the girl who gave it to me could not understand what I was asking when I inquired how would they get the bag to me if they found it. She insisted that I could come pick it up even tho I told her repeatedly that I was leaving for the States today and in fact needed to get going or I would miss my flight home. Anyway none of the numbers I had worked inside China. Now that I have arrived home I cannot find a number that has a live person. This is a big bummer after a wonderful trip. Anybody??

-----------------

Helen

 

Call RCCL and let them do the tracking.....

[cb at sea]

Look at it this way--at least, you aren't cruising with no clothes! At least, at home, you have options!

They'll find it, and get it to you!

I'd rather lose my luggage on the way home, than on the way to vacation!!!!

[ckrobyn]

My dad could not find his suitcase when we got off the AOS on March 1st, it was not in the terminal building. He filled out a lost luggage form and was assured that RCI would Fed Ex his suitcase to him when it was found. They did, and he got his luggage a week later :D A happy ending for a very freaked out senior citizen!!!! I assured him no-one wanted his dirty clothes anyways!!!!

[Tucker in Texas]

A lady who was on a group cruise with a bunch of friends I know got all the way home, opened her suitcase to find it wasn't hers! There was a name and address inside so she contacted the person and asked if that person had her suitcase. No, but they had reported theirs missing to the cruise line. She had the nerve to tell the lady that if she wanted her suitcase, she would be needing a shipping label to pay for it. Can you believe that? In the meantime, the cruise line contacted her to ask if she had overlooked one of her bags as they found it unclaimed in the terminal. When she identified it as hers, they sent it to her gratis. It takes all kinds--what has ever happened to the Golden Rule.

 

Tucker in Texas

[SpekiTrout]

My DH and I recently sailed on the EOS out of Bayonne. The very first nite in the CL lounge we met a lovely couple that did not receive all their luggage. They were missing ONE bag. The second day was no better and to make a long story short they NEVER got the bag the entire 12 days. They drove to the pier and gave ALL their bags to the porter. Now .. an "idea" of mine could help passengers and RCCL alike. Why not tag the bags as they are taken by the porters ... (as airlines do) scan them and give the passengers the other half of their scanned tags. This way we each know what was to be put on the ship. THEN when they are delivered to the cabin the cabin steward can scan them again .. (hand held scanner like UPS perhaps) and they'll know HOW many made it to the cabin .. hopefully ALL..but at least you'll have stubs to PROVE they didn't make it ! Right now .. I could get to the pier .. have 3 bags and hand them to the baggage handlers/porters. BUT only TWO make it to my cabin. Now .. WHERE is my proof that I had 3 when I got to the pier ?? There is absolutely NOTHING right now that says I boarded and had 3 bags ..... no documents or proof whatsoever. It's just my word. This way if one IS missing they'll know which it is by the scan #. AND the nite we put the bags out we can once again "scan" and get stubs with #'s matching our luggage. I really don't care for the way the bags are picked up as we disembark either ........ ANYONE can walk away with another bag and there is no way to stop them. IF they had to match their stub tickets with the bag #'s .. (as airlines have done) it "may" help . Especially when so many bags today look alike.. its an easy mistake! We went to Bermuda years ago (88) (and drove to NYC) ... .. a duffle bag with ALL our shoes .. (2 kids with us also) never made it to our cabin. It just "POOFED" . What we had on our feet when we boarded is what we wore till we got to Hamilton ! Of course I spent those first 2 1/2 days looking at EVERYONE"s feet ! lol Now IF someone from Royal thinks this idea could work ... remember where the idea came from ... you can send the check for this idea to ...... afterall .. it IS copywrited ! lol

 

Jeanette

[PhoenixCruiser]

Were their any leftover unclaimed bags after everyone was gone? Maybe someone took the wrong set of bags. It happened to my mothers bag on a past cruise. Their was one bag left that looked exactly like hers, but it belonged to someone else. Thank god their was a contact number on the id tag. We were able to make contact with real owner just as he was about to check in my mothers bag at the airport. He didn't beleive me at first. It wasn't until he looked in the bag that his whole attitude changed. He took a cab back to the port and we exchanged bags. So it had a happy ending. The RCCL reps were useless.

 

I wonder if your bags might have gotten transfered to the airport by mistake? Hopefully you had luggage tags?

 

Did you call RCCL?

 

Same thing happened to my aunt and uncle when I picked them up at the Phoenix Airport. The airline called the guy and thank goodness he was still in the airport parking lot. When he returned we realized that the bags didn't even look alike - they just used the same luggage tag :o

 

OP, I really hope you find your luggage!!

 

###

[Desertbelle]

A few years ago a piece of our luggage came up missing at the pier in Ft. Lauderdale. We looked for it until there were only a couple dozen pieces of luggage left in the whole terminal....it just wasn't there. We were staying in Florida for a few days so we hoped the cruise line would do their job and find it.

 

The next morning around 6 AM I get a phone call on my cell phone (I make luggage tags for every cruise with our complete itinerary and phone numbers) from a Greyhound Bus driver in MISSISSIPPI!! She had just off-loaded a bus full of cruisers from our cruise and she had one piece of luggage left over...OURS!! No idea how it got in the bus. She put it on a Greyhound Bus to Vegas and we received it a few days later, still locked and in good shape. I asked the driver for her name so I could send her a reward and she refused, saying it was no big deal and she was happy to help! Let's give a Cheer to Greyhound!!

 

BTW, the cruise lines never called us or contacted us about our luggage...they must know they never found it, but no one ever called to explain to us our options for reimbursement, so I am not too hopeful that you will get much help there.

 

We lucked out, I hope you do too!

[Ms Understood]

well I am happy to hear that many had a happy ending and I should not give up hope. Yes, I had insurance but I REALLY want my stuff not the $. That bag besdies all my dirty laundry (!) had lots of gifts that we had purchased in Singapore, Cambodia, Vietnam...I have very distinctive luggage. It has a print on it that I have never seen another one like it or even close, so extremely unlikely someone took it by mistake. I will wait till Monday and hopefully someone at RCL will tell me they have it. Thanks for input.

------------------

Helen

[maggieq]

Hi Helen,

 

We just had a bad experience coming off the Indy in February. To add to the stress of getting of the ship and it was a bad back up of passengers plus no room to move. We could only find one suitcase. So of course, I flip out...it's the one with the good clothes and many expensive things. I finally get a form to fill out as if we didn't do that and try to leave, we would of missed our flight. Just as we were standing in the customs line my boyfriend noticed some lady walking what looked like our suitcase with a rccl rep to another luggage area. Well I ran and grabbed that suitcase immediately. Good thing is we got it back but if timing had not been the same, they would have put it in another area. It still had all the tags on. it.

 

Is it possible that someone could of taken yours by mistake?

 

 

Well to add to an already stress filled day, we got one suitcase (the one that was missing at the port) off the carousel and then realized the other one didn't make it....you can't make this up.

 

We finally got it at 10:30 that night but it was annoying...

 

That is the only time we have experienced that so I am grateful for that. I have read horror stories.

 

We do cross pack

luggage tags

only fly direct

pack important stuff in our carry on and a change of clothes, bathing suit, etc.

 

I hope you get good news.

[MNfamilycruiser]

well I am happy to hear that many had a happy ending and I should not give up hope. Yes, I had insurance but I REALLY want my stuff not the $. That bag besdies all my dirty laundry (!) had lots of gifts that we had purchased in Singapore, Cambodia, Vietnam...I have very distinctive luggage. It has a print on it that I have never seen another one like it or even close, so extremely unlikely someone took it by mistake. I will wait till Monday and hopefully someone at RCL will tell me they have it. Thanks for input.

------------------

Helen

We used the luggage valet service on the Mariner in November - so when a piece of luggage was lost, we didn't know if it was the airlines that lost it, or RC. The airlines had a real problem understanding why we didn't have the baggage claim number.

 

RC never called to say they found it, it just showed up via UPS about a week later. It was Thanksgiving week - so it might have taken a bit longer to get it shipped. Nothing was missing, nothing was damaged.

[rolloman]

A lady who was on a group cruise with a bunch of friends I know got all the way home, opened her suitcase to find it wasn't hers! There was a name and address inside so she contacted the person and asked if that person had her suitcase. No, but they had reported theirs missing to the cruise line. She had the nerve to tell the lady that if she wanted her suitcase, she would be needing a shipping label to pay for it. Can you believe that? In the meantime, the cruise line contacted her to ask if she had overlooked one of her bags as they found it unclaimed in the terminal. When she identified it as hers, they sent it to her gratis. It takes all kinds--what has ever happened to the Golden Rule.

 

Tucker in Texas

 

I had this happen to me once. One bag left on the carousel, looked like mine but wasn't. I was told an elderly lady grabbed mine by mistake and took it home with her. The airlines eventually got it to my hotel but that didnt help me out as I was scolded for wearing jeans to a new hire business training. Since I was new they did not buy the airlines lost my luggage statement. Anyways, OP I hope they find your luggage, I would be bummed for sure if it was the luggage with my newly purchased memorables. Say a prayer to Saint Anthony. Couldnt hurt.

[Poohb]

It started on our first cruise...Alaska;1 week land, 1 week ship. I cross packed everything in 4 cases but; 2 were for land tour and 2 were for ship so I didn't open or schlepp the un-needed ones when on land I took a white fabric marker and marked EVERY side of each case with a number. And what were the numbers you may ask? I got my idea from Paul Revere.....1 if by land 2 if by sea. Now all my suitcases have a number and we can spot them anywhere since the number is on every side. A word to the wise, pick your own numbers, not mine ! LOL

[madforcruising]

A few years ago a piece of our luggage came up missing at the pier in Ft. Lauderdale. We looked for it until there were only a couple dozen pieces of luggage left in the whole terminal....it just wasn't there. We were staying in Florida for a few days so we hoped the cruise line would do their job and find it.

 

The next morning around 6 AM I get a phone call on my cell phone (I make luggage tags for every cruise with our complete itinerary and phone numbers) from a Greyhound Bus driver in MISSISSIPPI!! She had just off-loaded a bus full of cruisers from our cruise and she had one piece of luggage left over...OURS!! No idea how it got in the bus. She put it on a Greyhound Bus to Vegas and we received it a few days later, still locked and in good shape. I asked the driver for her name so I could send her a reward and she refused, saying it was no big deal and she was happy to help! Let's give a Cheer to Greyhound!!

 

BTW, the cruise lines never called us or contacted us about our luggage...they must know they never found it, but no one ever called to explain to us our options for reimbursement, so I am not too hopeful that you will get much help there.

 

We lucked out, I hope you do too!

 

I think that´s a very good tip and I do the same for every trip I go on.

Complete Itinerary with adresses, phone numbers and of course home adress and cellphone.

This goes laminated right on top of everything not to be missed when opening the suitcase.

I´ve seen TV reports frequently where they have auctioned off uncollected bags from airlines that they couldn´t deliver because of ripped off tags etc.

So to make sure this can´t happen to my luggage I do this.

So not only place this on a luggage tag outside, but also inside. If they can´t identify it they will open it.

[MDSue]

I'm really sorry your luggage was lost and hope it will turn up. Last year my checked bag never made it to the airport when I got home. I also had all my souvenirs checked inside. While I had insurance, it was really disppointing not to have my momento's. The gifts I bought for my kids were also checked. In my case, the airline was the one who lost my bag. I spent countless hours trying to find it and knew it had numerous ID"s on it. The downside was that the suitcase was black like most luggage. Anyway after 9 days, I was ready to give up and file an insurance claim, when I checked the online website for lost luggage and found out that my bag had been found- 3000 miles from home. 2-3 days later it finally arrived, everything intact.

This year, my souvenirs will go in my carry on and my luggage will be decorated to make it easily distinguishable.

Don't give up- it may still show up.

[hellosailer]

A few years ago at Ft. Lauderdale, one case was missing.

 

I ran around like a lunatic, totally frantic.

 

A longshoreman took pity on me, went outside and had a look around and came back with my case. Had been sitting outside on the sidewalk.:eek::eek:

 

Thank you - not, whoever did that. They could at least have had the

grace to return it when they took it by mistake.