Couples Luggage Makes a Royal Splash

Interesting article on MSNBC

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34846894/ns/travel-cruising/

 

Personally, I have understood that a carry on is never to leave your side because it has important items inside of it - even when you get to the ship. Yes, it may be tedious to continue to lug it around, but if the contents are important then ensuring that the bag stays intact should be important to the owner. Being a little inconvenienced up front is better than being frustrated throughout your cruise.

 

That's just my perspective. I am empathetic for the couple.

It's called a Carry On for a reason. They should be glad RCCL even offered what they did.

I feel very sorry for this couple. However I can't believe that someone would hand over all their luggage at the port! And from the information in the article it appears RCI did compensate them fairly. Of course they should have informed them before they picked up this bag that it had been damaged.

 

I hope lots of new cruisers read this and take note.

As someone who relies on meds for migraines, I can't imagine my bag leaving my side--BF hates it, but I don't care. That said, wow. How horrible! The lawyer in me says one thing, but if that were me, I would be so angry and probably not very happy with that response either.

I will NEVER understand why some people will hand over their carry on baggage containing such important items. Even if your stateroom is not ready, you are still allowed to drop bags in your room.

 

On one of our cruises I overheard a woman at Guest Relations. Her carry on bag had been lost containing her anti-rejection medication from a recent organ transplant. WHY would such an important medication NOT be tied to this woman's hip while boarding. She had already went over 24 hours without this mediaction......is rejecting an organ really worth it?

Let me get this straight....you all believe that if you hand any of your bags over to a Porter you basically are playing roulette and you should feel lucky when you get your bags?

 

I do think if you have medications you should carry them with you, however, you should also be able to rely on the employees that are hired to transport your bags to the stateroom to get them there and in tact. This was apparently an accident that was no fault of this couple. It was nice they provided some compensation, benefits, etc. But I imagine the aggravation right at the beginning of a vacation (and I am sure the numerous letters and calls that had to be made to fight for what they did get) probably affected their vacation tremendously.

 

This is why I always get travel insurance......

For the very reason that this couple states in the article, our carry on does not leave my side, till it's in our stateroom, and items are safely put away.

 

Jewelry is one thing......whether it's replaceable or not, it's a material item, and not life threatening.

 

Medications, on the other hand, are extremely important to many of us, and for that reason, I'm very protective of our carry on.

 

I truly feel sorry for what these folks went thru, but it's really their own fault for now keeping the carry on with them.:rolleyes:

 

Rick

Let me get this straight....you all believe that if you hand any of your bags over to a Porter you basically are playing roulette and you should feel lucky when you get your bags?

 

No, I don't feel that you are playing roulette. I think that you should have every expectation that the employees of RCCL will handle your bags with care and they will arrive in your stateroom without incident. I also understand that even with the best employees, accidents happen. I think that anyone who has important medications or expensive electronics should carry them on. To do anything else is foolish, as accidents happen.

DH saw bags go into the water as we were walking up the boarding ramp on one cruise--we wondered if they would fish them out or pretend it did not happen...what a terrible mess!!!

 

we are planning to carry our luggage off but now wonder if we'd be able to carry it on-- I will be posting to inquire what the rules are for doing that!!!

Let me get this straight....you all believe that if you hand any of your bags over to a Porter you basically are playing roulette and you should feel lucky when you get your bags?

 

I do think if you have medications you should carry them with you, however, you should also be able to rely on the employees that are hired to transport your bags to the stateroom to get them there and in tact.

 

Just like we should rely on the airlines to put a bag into a plane and take it where we are going? :rolleyes: Really??? If you want control of your things you need to keep them with you. The only person I trust with my important/necessary items is me (not even my husband or kids actually!). I feel badly for what this couple had to endure but it really was their responsibility to make sure the important items stayed safe. (ie with them)

No, I don't feel that you are playing roulette. I think that you should have every expectation that the employees of RCCL will handle your bags with care and they will arrive in your stateroom without incident. I also understand that even with the best employees, accidents happen. I think that anyone who has important medications or expensive electronics should carry them on. To do anything else is foolish, as accidents happen.

 

In reading both the original article and this response, the question that came to mind is: Are RCI employees the ones responsible? My understanding is that in most ports, the porters are not employed by RCI, but by the port and that the Union agreements with the ports does not allow RCI employees to transport anything until it is put on the ship by the porters. If this is in fact true, then in my opinion RCI went above and beyond in trying to help this couple & took responsibilty for something that was actually out of their control.

 

I do agree that telling them ahead of time that their item got wet was their responsibility & poorly handled.

My understanding is that in most ports, the porters are not employed by RCI, but by the port and that the Union agreements with the ports does not allow RCI employees to transport anything until it is put on the ship by the porters.

Didn't know this. Learn something new everyday.:D

For the very reason that this couple states in the article, our carry on does not leave my side, till it's in our stateroom, and items are safely put away.

 

Jewelry is one thing......whether it's replaceable or not, it's a material item, and not life threatening.

 

Medications, on the other hand, are extremely important to many of us, and for that reason, I'm very protective of our carry on.

 

I truly feel sorry for what these folks went thru, but it's really their own fault for now keeping the carry on with them.:rolleyes:

 

Rick

 

I'm very protective of my carry on bag as well... I don't even allow the bellman in a hotel to add it to the cart when transporting our luggage to our room. I do feel sorry that this happened, whether it was a carry on or large checked bag that ended up in the water. :(

...In response to an earlier post in this thread; yes you MAY take all of your luggage both on and off ship; no porter needed.

 

...To do this comfortably, one has to have the knack of packing lightly (one smaller luggage

piece that in most cases can be taken on the plane..and one carry on).

 

..You also avoid the last night routine of packing SOME stuff...putting bags out in the hall.

You just pack the last morning and take them off yourself...

 

...and no bags in the ocean!

 

Mitch

We were on the cruise with this couple. Met them here on CC. Unfortunately she missed the Meet & Mingle due to dealing with this situation, but we caught up with them later. It really effected their entire cruise. I felt so bad for them. They literally had to deal with issues relating to the incident every day. RCCL just handled it wrong from the beginning. Can you imagine getting your luggage back to your room, opening it and finding everything soaking wet? They should have been informed when they retrieved their luggage from Guest Relations.

I feel badly for the couple. That is a terible inconvenience. I still have one question though. Did the rum runners work? ;)

For the very reason that this couple states in the article, our carry on does not leave my side, till it's in our stateroom, and items are safely put away.

 

Jewelry is one thing......whether it's replaceable or not, it's a material item, and not life threatening.

 

Medications, on the other hand, are extremely important to many of us, and for that reason, I'm very protective of our carry on.

 

I truly feel sorry for what these folks went thru, but it's really their own fault for now keeping the carry on with them.:rolleyes:

 

Rick

 

 

I agree with what Rick states above. My carry-ons stay with me period. The meds that I take daily, our lap top, camera, ipods and books are normally in that bag. We also have a small wheel type suitcase with a couple days worth of colthes and bath room stuff. So those bags stay with us. It can be a pain in th a** to drag them around with us, but this way we have what we need with us. Don't have to worry about lost or late bags on the first day.

At first I thought, "WHY would you leave your carry on bag, full of SUCH important stuff, with the porter?" But at the end of the article the writer did say that people (esp. first-time cruisers) do let their guard down...

 

A carry on bag on a plane is different than on a ship, in my opinion. When you hand your bag to an agent at the airport, it goes down the conveyor belt to the Land of Piles of Bags and, if you're lucky, somehow your bag will make it onto the plane what could be two hours later.

 

With a ship, you're placing it on a curb right in front of the ship. It goes into a bin and that bin gets wheeled onto the ship (or some such procedure). You REALLY wouldn't expect it to not show up at that point.

 

Just playing devil's advocate. While I wouldn't do it, I can kind of understand it.

 

Oh and to the poster above who said even when the cabins are closed, you can still drop your bags off in your cabin...not on any ship I've been on in the last year. The doors leading to the cabin hallways are closed. That's why everyone walks around wheeling their luggage through the Windjammer. :)

 

(Me being the trusting type, I actually put my bag on a seat in the theater on the Majesty and it sat there for almost two hours before I went back to get it to put it in my cabin...I was afraid this story was gonna be about some idiot who did that, lol.)

DH saw bags go into the water as we were walking up the boarding ramp on one cruise--we wondered if they would fish them out or pretend it did not happen...what a terrible mess!!!

 

we are planning to carry our luggage off but now wonder if we'd be able to carry it on-- I will be posting to inquire what the rules are for doing that!!!

 

The bags must be able to fit through the scanner. In other words, only carry-on size bags can be carried on. Large suitcases can NOT be handcarried aboard.

 

Could you imagine the chaotic mess that would ensue if everyone tried bringing all their luggage through check-in?

...any reasonably sized piece of luggage will go thru scanners and CAN be carried on.

 

..yes, if everyone did that it would be more chaotic, but that will never be the case; and

I love being able to walk on, and when the cabins are open, immediately unpack with all

my stuff, instead of the 'will by bags arrive before or after supper" drama.

 

 

Mitch

The bags must be able to fit through the scanner. In other words, only carry-on size bags can be carried on. Large suitcases can NOT be handcarried aboard.

 

Could you imagine the chaotic mess that would ensue if everyone tried bringing all their luggage through check-in?

 

Like on the airlines today? :rolleyes:

I do agree that RCCL handled this bad from the beginning.

 

On another one of our cruises a fellow passenger had their bag dumped in the water. That passenger was called to Guest Relations and informed of the situation immediately. RCCL asked the passenger to open the bag so that the items could be catalogued. At that point, all their clothes were immediately taken to the laundry to be cleaned and pressed. Apparently, all of their clothes were washed, dried, pressed, and hanging in their closet by the time they finished dinner that night. Dress shoes and jewelry were provided by the shops onboard. Thankfully, there were no electronics, medication, or valuable in the suitcase.

 

Why was none of this done for these people?

I have cruised many times.....just recently I witnessed a bag "going in" as we were standing on our balcony. The little boy in the balcony next to us was yelling at the tops of his lungs "Daddy they dropped that bag into the water"!!! Yikes!! It just so happened to belong to the young girls directly across from my cabin. From what I understand, the cruise line fished it out and dry-cleaned everything the bag. It was just clothes, thankfully. As a result of witnessing such a mishap, I now pack differently. First of all, I know better than to hand over my carry on, secondly, medications stay with me and in my personal possession at all times. Thirdly, I now pack in a wonderful product called "Ziploc, Heavy Duty, Reusable Dry Bags". A 100% excellent product. I use and re-use, they are very strong and not terribly expensive. They come in three sizes. I pack everything in ziploc bags, JUST IN CASE. This basically means I can open up my suitcase pull out the ziploc bag, open it up and unpack, JUST IN CASE!! In the past I had an incident of my own fault with a hair product opening up in mu suitcase. I learned from that lesson. So...a few preventive and inexpensive tactics can be utilized to prevent accidents. When I repack to come home, I now have a bag for dirty laundry and if I have anything that is damp or wet...towels, water shoes, etc. Everyone travels differently...this helps me with my peace of mind!! Happy sailing!!

Honestly I don't feel sorry for the couple. Carry on's are meant to be handled by the owner because of the valuables and medications they rely on.

 

While RC dropped the ball...so to speak...I feel they were richly accommodated with new medication from the medical staff, medical attention and compensation.

 

Unfortunately it was a very hard lesson learned for this couple and a warning to others never to let your carry on out of your own hands.

 

***

The bags must be able to fit through the scanner. In other words, only carry-on size bags can be carried on. Large suitcases can NOT be handcarried aboard.

From personal experience I GUARANTEE that bags significantly larger than airport carry on size [ie larger than 22 inch roller boards] WILL fit thru the port scanners and can be carried on board. I have hand carried my 24 inch roller board onto the ship many times [yes, I can actually carry it up and down stairs if need be, and it is the only bag I take], and have certainly seen larger bags than mine go thru the scanners. Note that especially when disembarking that the elevators are packed, and you had better be prepared to carry your stuff on the stairs or wait a long time.

 

Thom