cruiseforfunfun

I took an 11-day (5/18-5/29) cruise on ship Noordam of Holland America that was scheduled to stop at Tunis, Tunisia, the only port I hadn’t been.

It was at sea on 5/20. I left my iPhone on the hand dryer in the handicapped bathroom outside the ship gym. 40 minutes later, it was gone. Yes, my own FAULT for being forgetful!!!

My daughter (a first-year college student) was going to travel alone in China, learning the language. I have all the apps and info on the phone to stay in touch with her (I speak Chinese), and to make sure she is safe in the country.

The ship staff, other than searching my stateroom, told me to wait until it was turned in. At my repeated requests, the cruise director mentioned once on his daily TV chat—“if you lose something, go to the front desk. If you find something, return to the front desk.” Most people, including myself, didn’t hear this.

With extreme worry and stress, I developed an acute infection, and begged for some sort of public message-a desperate plea (a half-page flyer) at my own expense and work for the return of the phone. Whoever got it may not know how much the phone meant to me; and the phone maybe totally useless for him/her. I felt the need to let the person know. It might just be a kid who picked the phone up.

But the hotel director criticized me for being accusatory when I said the ship could do more to help. And the security head told me that “your daughter will be ok”.

I requested to see the captain Bart Vaartjes. The reply was “the captain doesn’t have time to see you, and NEVER will have time to see you!” “Feel free to write to Holland America Company and report this!”

I understand that a cruise ship could not make an announcement for everyone who loses something. But shouldn’t an exception be made when a smart phone, with so much info on it, was missing at a public area? No security camera was available.

My daughter is still struggling in China as I am writing this.

The phone is on airplane mode.

And then Captain Bart Vaartjes announced the cancellation to Tunis only the night before the ship was supposed to visit there.