Our luggage debacle

[UpstateCruizer]

One vacation and two visits to the baggage carousel taught me that I needed something to mark my luggage. I use neon green duct tape and place a strip across each of the sides, front and back of my luggage. It may look silly but it sure makes it easy to find our luggage. I've even been looking out the window at the airport and have seen our luggage being loaded onto the plane. It's really easy to spot it since it sticks out like a sore thumb. I don't mind the standing out part since it means there's no way someone can take ours by mistake.

[candigirl41]

A few years ago I purchased blue luggage. Still had trouble cause other people had same set. Luggage has recently been torn up by an airline, so I had to buy new. I got purple. Hopefully no problems. I always check the name tag even if I am sure it is mine.,

 

Candi

[halos]

:eek:

Is anyone else disturbed by the fact that luggage needs to be out between 8 and 11PM???

 

WTH?????

 

It used to be midnight didn't it????? :confused:

 

 

OP:

I'm sorry you had that aggravation and those points you gave at the end are great. I hope people who need to read them do.

[scperk]

We had someone pick up one of our bags on the Spirit in Oct. 2007, they took our bag to LA and had to ship it back to us in Memphis...They blamed it on a porter putting it on their cart but it had a bright yellow yarn ball on top and I don't see how they would miss that.......Dennis

[toledo_cruiser]

One vacation and two visits to the baggage carousel taught me that I needed something to mark my luggage. I use neon green duct tape and place a strip across each of the sides, front and back of my luggage. It may look silly but it sure makes it easy to find our luggage. I've even been looking out the window at the airport and have seen our luggage being loaded onto the plane. It's really easy to spot it since it sticks out like a sore thumb. I don't mind the standing out part since it means there's no way someone can take ours by mistake.

 

That is exactly what I do. I don't mind looking silly at all. Like someone else said, I can spot mine from across the room. Don't have to do the carousel shuffle as you grab bags and try to read the tags as they circle around.

 

Jim

[S.S. Cruisers]

We have the same problem as everyone else, black luggage. I took the little webstraps that are on them and had our name embroidered on them in bright red. I have unique bandanas I tie on and bright orange duct tape on the handles. Needless to say, on a different cruiseline, someone stole one of the bandanas. So, I took a wire tie and put it as tight as I could around the bandana, now unless they have wire cutters, they cannot get the bandana off. Still, on one of our last cruises there was a man that had grabbed one of our bags. Is it not paying attention or gee I wonder whats in this bag, type of situation? He would have been surely upset by getting our dirty laundry, as we carry all valuables on us. Just a thought.

Next set will be the ugliest luggage I can find! One suitcase has already bit the dust with one wheel being broken off. Nothing like dragging a heavy suitcase on one wheel! :eek:

[holly_hypocrisy]

I recently bought a new set of luggage specifically for my first cruise, and it's a light blue plaid pattern. I like having things that not many others have because one, I like being unique and different, and two, it avoids confusion and mix ups.

 

I'm currently trying to talk my father out of the all black set he wants to buy, because it's cheap, and into a more unique set, specifically for all those reasons stated in this thread. =] He's really hard-headed. I might need to print this out and make him read it as tangible proof for my ramblings. :)

[GlendaleCruiser]

One of the funniest things I've seen (and might use in the future) is a tape on a bag with the message, "NOT YOURS". If nothing else, people have to stop and think about it.

[Quampapetet]

Forgot to mention that when I did have a full set of black luggage, I made it easy to spot/clearly marked mine by painting it with different colors of nail polish. I painted my first and last initials on all sides, plus a few designs on the front. (You could just as easily use fabric paint, I only used nail polish 'cause that's what I happened to have in my house the day I decided to do it.) Unlike bag straps, tags, or handle covers, the paint can't be lost/broken off/stolen.

 

So, all is not lost if you have or want a particular set of black or red (the new black - I see more and more red bags at airports) luggage. Just make them uniquely yours in a matter of minutes and for a low cost! :)

 

If you're SO afraid of your paint skills, get some stencils - they come in alphabets as well as designs/icons/shapes. Alternatively, you could use iron-on patches.

[Quampapetet]

One of the funniest things I've seen (and might use in the future) is a tape on a bag with the message, "NOT YOURS". If nothing else, people have to stop and think about it.

 

I've seen those bag handles/straps for sale. They are funny! :D

[iceshots]

There is also a downside to buying uniquely colored luggage. If someone else has the same bag, they tend not to look at the ID tag because "no one has the same color of luggage as mine. Its unique."

 

I almost got into a fist fight with one guy who had grabbed my wife's bag off the carousel at the airport, simply because he had the same exact colored bag bought from Costco. He did not even notice that there was a bright pink luggage tag on it. He insisted it was his bag until I made him read the name on the airline tag.

 

To top it off, he then looks at me and says "well, then where's mine?" :confused:

[MiMiof2]

I recently bought a new set of luggage specifically for my first cruise, and it's a light blue plaid pattern. I like having things that not many others have because one, I like being unique and different, and two, it avoids confusion and mix ups.

 

Is it the Caribbean Joe Montego blue plaid luggage :D ? Thats what I purchased for my first cruise [42 days!] . However, I also bought "Breast Cancer Awareness" pink luggage straps "just in case" mine weren't the only blue plaid luggage LOL :).

[Chacooe]

Easiest solution: Carry on and carry off. I have not had any trouble finding my bags and have not lost one piece while carrying my own.

 

This is kind of hard when you are using a walker and traveling alone. So this option does not work for everyone.

 

I have made the cutest ID tags that are in the shapes of different animals and dolphins that say "DON'T TOUCH!! IT IS NOT YOURS" you can help but see them because my suitcases are a bright red and these are big and white. I have gotten a lot of people that asked me where I got them and I told them I made them. They work for me, have not had a piece of lost luggage yet. When I was on the Pride last year, I saw a man take someones luggage that was outside their door and put it into his room. I immediately went downstairs to the pursers desk and told them what I saw and they got the luggage back, so that is another way you can lose your luggage. Since I am handicapped, I just asked my steward that when they came around to get the luggage if he would knock on my door and take it out for me, that way I did not have to leave it outside. I tipped him really well for doing that for me.

[jmcancruise]

We purchased 2 different coloured sturdy bolts of plastic ribbons. We wind them together and put them on both handles of our luggage. No one is apt to have the same combination and tying it in 2 places helps to prevent problems if one comes off because a handle breaks or something during travel. So far so good.

[dna1990]

The point is not to make your luggage stand out to you, but to make it stand out to others that it is not theirs. "Not Yours" is a great idea to make people pause.

 

I think tying ribbons or worse, buying popular 'tags' from Walmart, etc - make the problem even worse. When Dad/Nephew/Porter are told to grab that bag with the yelllow ribbon, they are even more certain they have the correct bag. When in fact it just happened to use a similar 'ID' scheme.

 

Gotta be unique. Same with the polka dot luggage. Sure, it is rare - but that it why it can be just as easy for someone else to take it. Surely LAX, DFW, ATL - get quite a few 'unique' bags every day all bought from the same retailers. The other person is only looking for polka dots, and is less likely to read the nametag.

[Boatdrill]

The situation the OP described happens often, at every debark. People

mistakenly take other people's bags. Shoreside staff does not get too excited about it until everyone is off the ship and has left the terminal. Now they can see if the missing bags have turned up, or are truly gone. Many passengers claim that their bags are "lost" or "not there", only to find them 10' away from where they are standing.

 

Those who mistakenly take the wrong bag notice their error at the airport or once they get home. Some realize it before they leave the terminal, and leave the luggage on the curb, for shoreside staff to discover later.

 

The good news is that those people who took the wrong bag and realize it, call the shoreside office and tell them. They of course, are now worried about their own bag, which is now sitting unclaimed, in the shoreside office.

 

However, before their own bag is returned to them (at their expense)

they are required to return the wrong bag to shoreside, also at their expense.

[Cambrensis]

There is also a downside to buying uniquely colored luggage. If someone else has the same bag, they tend not to look at the ID tag because "no one has the same color of luggage as mine. Its unique."

 

I almost got into a fist fight with one guy who had grabbed my wife's bag off the carousel at the airport, simply because he had the same exact colored bag bought from Costco. He did not even notice that there was a bright pink luggage tag on it. He insisted it was his bag until I made him read the name on the airline tag.

 

To top it off, he then looks at me and says "well, then where's mine?" :confused:

This is a great point -- the manufacturers make luggage by the 10,000s, and like anything colors and styles are used in proportion to current fad -- so even "unique" isn't always .... I think the stenciling idea is terrific and will do that next time ... even if its doesnt look so nice.

[Boatdrill]

:eek:

Is anyone else disturbed by the fact that luggage needs to be out between 8 and 11PM???

 

WTH?????

 

It used to be midnight didn't it????? :confused:

 

 

.

 

No, nothing wrong with it. Many ships have upped the time as a way to get passengers to put their bags out on time. If the deadline is midnight, some people wait until 1 am or later. Meaning crew has to make the rounds in the early morning hours to get the stragglers.

 

The earlier time gives the crew more time to handle and move the thousands of pieces of luggage that are on the mega-ships.

 

2 pieces of luggage per person x 2500 passengers = minimum 5,000 bags.

That's 5,000 to move off, and 5,000 to put back on before sailing.

 

The crew who handles the bags also have other jobs onboard. Turnaround day is the busiest day for a ship. Thousands of people off, and thousands back on, just hours later.

[halos]

No, nothing wrong with it. Many ships have upped the time as a way to get passengers to put their bags out on time. If the deadline is midnight, some people wait until 1 am or later. Meaning crew has to make the rounds in the early morning hours to get the stragglers.

 

The earlier time gives the crew more time to handle and move the thousands of pieces of luggage that are on the mega-ships.

 

2 pieces of luggage per person x 2500 passengers = minimum 5,000 bags.

That's 5,000 to move off, and 5,000 to put back on before sailing.

 

The crew who handles the bags also have other jobs onboard. Turnaround day is the busiest day for a ship. Thousands of people off, and thousands back on, just hours later.

 

I am aware of how hard the crew works, so no lesson needed there....I was just on an NCL cruise and we had until 1 AM......it was great. It used to be midnight, they now give an added hour. Maybe because it was a 2 week cruise??? I don't know but between 8 and 11 sucks because that kills your evening activities imo.

I'll be on the Triumph in Feb...I wonder if it's this way on all the ships?? When we took our cruise on the Miracle in August, I don't recall needing to have the bags out early.

It's not that big a deal in all honesty, but I would of course prefer it to be later.

[DonMar]

I feel terrible for the OP. It is one of our fears when traveling. We have solved that problem by traveling carry-on only - no matter where or for how long.

 

I am also not a fan of having my belongings out of my possession - Especially when at the airport the agents ask if our luggage was packed by us and if it has been out of our possession at anytime.

 

I know I may be a bit overly cautious, but this way I can travel without worry. JMHO

[toledo_cruiser]

The point is not to make your luggage stand out to you, but to make it stand out to others that it is not theirs. "Not Yours" is a great idea to make people pause.

 

Gotta be unique. Same with the polka dot luggage. Sure, it is rare - but that it why it can be just as easy for someone else to take it. Surely LAX, DFW, ATL - get quite a few 'unique' bags every day all bought from the same retailers. The other person is only looking for polka dots, and is less likely to read the nametag.

 

At first I just put red duct tape on all the sides of my luggage. Then I got creative and started putting a faux bar code (alternating long and short stripes). Now if anyone steals my luggage "by mistake" 'cause they copied my neat idea I'm really going to be miffed. I figured no one was going to deface their luggage the way I did. I did notice that some other members of my travel group have started putting duct tape on their bags as well. So far, they've used different colors. I guess the bottom line is that some folks think common sense is a foreign language. I may use stencils or color transfers with my name on the sides next year.

 

Still, I do this mainly for me. I hate doing the carousel shuffle.

Jim

[D&TTexasCruisers]

Lime Green and Hot Pink Duct Tape!!!! worked well for me

[nybumpkin]

We use the hot pink duct tape too, ever since we almost went home with the wrong suitcase in Fort Lauderdale (the other person didn't notice they had the wrong bag either - we both realized it in the airline check-in line). A very large initial goes on the front and stripes go on the top and back. Oldest son was mortified by the pink, but it stood him well when he traveled to China the following year.

[holly_hypocrisy]

Is it the Caribbean Joe Montego blue plaid luggage :D ? Thats what I purchased for my first cruise [42 days!] . However, I also bought "Breast Cancer Awareness" pink luggage straps "just in case" mine weren't the only blue plaid luggage LOL :).

 

I'm not sure what brand it is, just something I found at K-Mart and fell in love with. Then it went on sale. :eek: So I bought it. :D

 

There is also a downside to buying uniquely colored luggage. If someone else has the same bag, they tend not to look at the ID tag because "no one has the same color of luggage as mine. Its unique."

 

To avoid this, on top of my unique pattern, I will probably add some nice black or lime green (something that stands out against the blue plaid) duct tape (maybe both, in a cool design... hmm... :D ) to the front and sides of my suitcases. This way, when I return home, (and thus return to my dull life of traveling from my small town to the big casino town fifteen minutes away for hotel stays, no airport or anything like that) I can remove the duct tape and my luggage becomes "normal" looking again. Plus I'm going to try to find some really bright and crazy luggage tags. :) (I might even make those out of the duct tape as well!) So I seriously doubt someone else will have blue plaid luggage with black and green duct tape flowers and hearts on it, with some wild tag. If they do, they are my new best friend.

[Rosefloater]

:eek:

Is anyone else disturbed by the fact that luggage needs to be out between 8 and 11PM???

WTH?????

 

It used to be midnight didn't it????? :confused:

Just because they say between 8 & 11, doesn't mean that the luggage has to be out at 8. If I have to put out luggage, I usually wait until the end time. On the Spirit in November, it was midnight.

 

 

Forgot to mention that when I did have a full set of black luggage, I made it easy to spot/clearly marked mine by painting it with different colors of nail polish. I painted my first and last initials on all sides, plus a few designs on the front. (You could just as easily use fabric paint, I only used nail polish 'cause that's what I happened to have in my house the day I decided to do it.) Unlike bag straps, tags, or handle covers, the paint can't be lost/broken off/stolen. I did something similar. I traced my hands on both of the long sides of my black suitcase and then used fabric paint to outline the hands and then added a different color for "nail polish". I also have some ugly orange/white checked fabric that I tied to the luggage. My nieces had a friend airbrush a design on their suitcases.

 

So, all is not lost if you have or want a particular set of black or red (the new black - I see more and more red bags at airports) luggage. Just make them uniquely yours in a matter of minutes and for a low cost! :)

 

If you're SO afraid of your paint skills, get some stencils - they come in alphabets as well as designs/icons/shapes. Alternatively, you could use iron-on patches.

 

Years ago I thought I lost my suitcase in the airport. I was traveling w/ my mom and her suitcase was one of the first pieces off the plane. We waited til the last piece was off, and my suitcase wasn't there. I looked all around at the other luggage that people were taking (GREEN is also a popular color) and couldn't find it. I was about to go to the claims desk, and then I spotted about 20 pieces of luggage in a corner nowhere near the carousel. That's where I found it. They had marked it as "heavy' (It wasn't over the wt. limit). What is so funny is that mine and my mom's luggage weighed about the same.