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Putting luggage out on the last night...ughhh!


mcgratru
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We buy the gaudiest, ugliest suitcases we can find. No one ever gets ours by mistake. If you see the burgundy suitcase with the big metallic gold elephants on it.....

 

Those are usually the ones you can find on the clearance rack. Love it! :evilsmile:

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60 plus cruises on 9 different lines, never lost a case... I must admit we have had good results flying too, only once did some take a case by mistake at the airport in Tele viv .. they returned it when they realized the mistake, another time a case was delayed in Paris and Air France tracked it down and got to Rome before we left port. We always fly as directly as possible.. to avoid problems, no code share flight for us.

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If you're that worried, there's always to-your-door services -- I understand HAL coöperates with LuggageForward.

 

I still wouldn't put anything except "dirty socks" in anything I wasn't carrying off the ship.

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Once, and ONLY once did we self carry our luggage. It was AWFUL. Lots of people also wanted to self disembark. Picture 100 to 200 people, all with their large stash of luggage being pushed around in close quarters trying to get in line. Even if you have to be out of the room at 8 am, that doesn't mean you get right off the ship. Customs still has to do their thing and in my experience, you don't start off boarding till about 9:30 or 10:00. That means waiting with luggage (large and small) and their owners in a small area waiting to walk off the ship. Like I said, it was AWFUL. We now gladly leave our luggage in the hallway and have never had a problem with it. We get up, put our nightwear in a bag, get dressed and go have a wonderful breakfast in one of the restaurants.

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At one time we did schlep our luggage ourselves off the ship but it turned into quite a hassle. So now we simply put the luggage in the hall and reclaim it in the terminal. Since we are not the "gotta be first" group, our luggage is put out later usually when they are picking them up. We don't put anything in our luggage other than clothes and some small personal items like toothpaste so they are most welcome to my dirty underwear. We have never had a problem. Since the ship had control of our luggage, I can honestly tell the ticket agent that the luggage has either been in a secured area or our control.

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If you wanted to worry you should be more concerned about the TSA at the airport. They essentially have complete access to your bags.

 

We once arrived in Australia after flying from Houston to L.A. to Sydney. One of our suitcases had been opened and inspected by TSA and there was a note inside to that having happened.

 

Also inside was a jean jacket that did not belong to us. Obviously when TSA inspects suitcases they are not always careful about returning items to the correct suitcase.

 

Upon return to the USA, it was quite difficult to find someone willing to take the jean jacket from us and try to reunite it with its real owner if the owner had reported it missing.

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If you wanted to worry you should be more concerned about the TSA at the airport. They essentially have complete access to your bags

 

At least they are polite and put a note in your case to tell you it's been checked

I'm not bothered by putting our cases outside on the last night. Instead of ribbons on the case try tying a bag from a local store (not a mass market supermarket,etc) round the handle. Chances of anyone else using the same store would/should be very small.

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This kind of freaks me out. Not only the idea that anyone going by in the hall could take it but that they can also just walk up and take it once off the ship.

 

I did read a story here once...

 

A person did not get along with their steward during a cruise, and was careful to make

as many problems for the steward with their supervisor as possible. Then, cancelled tips.

 

The passenger put a bag out on the last night.

 

The bag was never seen again.

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I did read a story here once...

 

A person did not get along with their steward during a cruise, and was careful to make

as many problems for the steward with their supervisor as possible. Then, cancelled tips.

 

The passenger put a bag out on the last night.

 

The bag was never seen again.

I wonder why? Lol

 

Sent from my Kestrel using Forums mobile app

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I did read a story here once...

 

A person did not get along with their steward during a cruise, and was careful to make

as many problems for the steward with their supervisor as possible. Then, cancelled tips.

 

The passenger put a bag out on the last night.

 

The bag was never seen again.

I could only imagine if he had slipped some drugs into the bag so it would have been found by the dogs on the pier.

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I could only imagine if he had slipped some drugs into the bag so it would have been found by the dogs on the pier.

 

Really good reason to reply "Yes" to the "have your bags been out of your control?"

question.

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Why is it unlocked?

 

When I have had to put it in the hall because I can't "wrangle" it myself, I do secure it with cable ties to discourage anyone from going into it. Since TSA does not want the suitcases locked, a lot of people do not lock them anymore when traveling by air. I know I don't. If a handler wants in, they can probably get into it quicker than I can. TSA, of course, can, and will, go into them so why bother with locks?

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When I have had to put it in the hall because I can't "wrangle" it myself, I do secure it with cable ties to discourage anyone from going into it. Since TSA does not want the suitcases locked, a lot of people do not lock them anymore when traveling by air. I know I don't. If a handler wants in, they can probably get into it quicker than I can. TSA, of course, can, and will, go into them so why bother with locks?

True. Why bother?

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This kind of freaks me out. Not only the idea that anyone going by in the hall could take it but that they can also just walk up and take it once off the ship.

 

We did this once on our first cruise and we could have taken any bag we wanted in the terminal without anyone stopping us.

 

It also means that our baggage has been out of our control between packing it and presenting it at airport security.

 

We have always self disembarked since (and only ever have one bag each) and always been early getting off.

 

Cruise in July out of FLL and don’t need to be off early as our flight is not until 3:00....is there later self disembark?

 

Yes, someone could have taken your bag out of the hall or just picked it up out of the hall and walked away with it. Of course, to do that they would have had to pay a few hundred dollars to pay for a cruise and wait several days till the end of the cruise to steal your (or someone else's) bag and hope something was in that bag to make it worth their while to steal the bag. And then there is the start of the cruise when the bags are placed in the hall in front of your door until you arrive and move them inside. Someone could come by and grab your bag then also!

 

 

As to having your bags being "out of our control between packing and...", those bags were out of your control between when you dropped them off in the airport and picked them up off the luggage carousel at your destination and when you dropped them off at the luggage drop off at the pier terminal building and when you picked them up in front of your stateroom too. Of course, if you packed so little that you were able to put everything in carry-on luggage for your trip, then these would take care of those situations, but that's probably not the case.

 

The end result of all this is, in my estimation, way too much worry about something that the odds are very highly against happening to you. I'd suspect that you're more likely to get an ulcer worrying about such an occurence happening to you than you you are to having it to occur in the first place. But, then, perhaps you're unlucky enough to have it happen to you. Hopefully not, though.

 

Tom

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When I have had to put it in the hall because I can't "wrangle" it myself, I do secure it with cable ties to discourage anyone from going into it. Since TSA does not want the suitcases locked, a lot of people do not lock them anymore when traveling by air. I know I don't. If a handler wants in, they can probably get into it quicker than I can. TSA, of course, can, and will, go into them so why bother with locks?

 

 

You can go to Walgreens or Target and buy TSA approved locks. TSA does approve of these. They have a master key. You bother because it keeps airline employees out of your suitcase.

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When I have had to put it in the hall because I can't "wrangle" it myself, I do secure it with cable ties to discourage anyone from going into it. Since TSA does not want the suitcases locked, a lot of people do not lock them anymore when traveling by air. I know I don't. If a handler wants in, they can probably get into it quicker than I can. TSA, of course, can, and will, go into them so why bother with locks?

 

We use TSA approved locks. Never had a problem and the one time TSA inspected they left a note inside.

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I had one thing stolen from my suitcase a few years ago--a blue Princess luggage strap (these used to be given out as prizes at Trivia). I've learned to use a generic luggage strap-- At least while on a Princess ship

 

Me too!!

 

I won the luggage strap on the cruise, put it on my luggage for the trip home and it was gone by the time we claimed our bag. Never had anything else go missing...

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You can go to Walgreens or Target and buy TSA approved locks. TSA does approve of these. They have a master key. You bother because it keeps airline employees out of your suitcase.

 

Uhh... No.

 

The 3D-Printer data files for all 7 TSA master keys are readily available on the

internet at (otherwise) reputable open source download sites. Limit checked

bags to (preferably dirty) socks and jocks. :o

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I never pack anything of value in my luggage that I check or leave outside the door. I keep valuables with me in my carry on. I have TSA locks for my luggage to assist honest people stay honest. Just a thought for those that take a bag not belonging to them, there may be contraband in that bag that Customs are aware of and watching for who claims it.

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