~ Tales of lost luggage ~

[jcm996]

I travel for business often enough. I can do a 7 day business trip out of 2 carry ons. (Includes laptop and stuff not needed for a vacation) I take both to the plane, then "check" one before boarding

 

But even when I travel for vacation I make sure that my wife and I have at least a swimsuit and 2 shirts in our carry on for a Carib trip. Can always go to the pool or beach. I even pack my mask and snorkel in my carry on.

[CVU]

My brother ships his luggage fed ex to the hotel to arrive the same day he does, and he has never had to wait for it!

We checked on that last year but it was a lot of $$$ from here.

[melbur]

It has been this way in Canada for a few weeks.

The Canadian head security people are supposedly having another meeting next week, and hopefully they will allow carry on luggage again. One web site said we were the only country not allowing carry on.

We have a cruise in 2 weeks and I like to have something with me to ease my mind, that I have back up clothes in case my case does not make it.

 

Tell me about it - we leave for our cruise in less than 2 weeks and I'm so hoping it is lifted by then. We returned from Puerto Rico after Xmas on the 29th Dec, and had only vaguely heard about what happened on Xmas Day. We had our usual large carry ons, no issues, no additional security, no problems. THEN we left NewYear Eve for New York City - NO CARRY ON, double security check with complete pat down and sniffer dogs!!

Coming into Canada was no issue, going into US a whole other story!!

[caddie1]

One of my biggest fears about travel is losing my luggage!

As soon as I get off the plane....

I stand guard by the luggage carousel praying to the luggage Gods to let all of my bags arrive safely and on time :rolleyes:

As I am standing there in a cold sweat, I often wonder what I would do if my luggage did not come down that ramp and onto the carousel???:eek::eek:

Has anyone arrived at their port only to have their luggage arrive somewhere else or not at all? What did you do for clothes on the ship? Of course this is assuming you have no time to shop in the port city and are heading straight to the ship....

Let's hear your stories!

 

 

 

Our flights were arranged by RCI. We were to fly from Birmingham- Dusseldorf first and then on to Barcelona. Due to fog in Dusseldorf we had to circle the skies for about 30 mins making us quite concerned about our connection to BCN. We landed and along with 2 other guests had to run to the next terminal and boarded the plane.

 

On arrival at BCN we waited for our baggage but it did not turn up on the carousel.

Along with the other 2 we proceeded to the lost luggage reporting station only to find that there were a lot of people also on our cruise who had arrived from Manchester Via Munich who also were missing their luggage. We had all flown with Lufthansa which was booked by RCI. Looking around the airport there was a lot of cases all lined up which had not been claimed. My wife along with some other ladies went to find the RCI staff who were arranging our transfer to the ship only to be told it was not their problem and if we were not outside by 3 pm the buses would have to leave for the ship. The ship was due to sail at 6pm. This immediately got people concerned and unhappy.

 

Once we had reported and got a lost luggage report number we eventually arrived at the ship.

For the time of day as it was now about 4pm there seemed to be a lot of people still booking in.

 

After doing compulsory drill we proceeded to the guest relations desk only to find a long queue.

We eventually got to see a representative who seemed quite helpful and made out a report and showed us how we could track our luggage plus a dedicated person would be solely doing the tracing of our luggage and would keep us informed. We were given 2 T-shirts and told to buy what we required and keep the receipts.

 

When shops opened we arrived to find they had virtually nothing on sale such as evening dresses for my wife, no underwear for ladies. We bought a few bits of toiletries which were also very scarce onboard the ship.

 

We decided not to use the main MDR as we felt uncomfortable with our situation so we informed the Headwaiter so that he could inform our fellow guests that we would not be there.

 

We were given an express laundry voucher and told it takes about 3 hours, it took 24 hours and then we had to phone guest relations to find where our laundry was.

 

Over the next couple of days Xmas day arrived and still wearing same clothes.

By now we had heard there was about 146 people who had lost luggage onboard ship and they from all over the World . You could tell them by the vitality t shirt they were wearing .

 

A lady from the Us called Mary Anne got a few of to meet together in the Centrum to discuss our individual problems to compile a report for an American news paper. Some of these people took the chance to get an update on their situation from GR desk only to get the feeling that the staff were getting irate and not very helpful. My wife was told the only reason we were all complaining was to get compensation from RCI. This got more people annoyed at their attitude and felt that they could not give a damn.

 

Our 1st port of call was Turkey and was told that our luggage would not be returned there because it would be too expensive to get it from airport to the ship and we should be grateful it had been found at all. We were told it would probaly turn up next day at Rhodes as this is what normally happens. This we were told by some of the crew was the norm as it happens quite a lot.

 

Lo and behold our luggage did arrive in Rhodes. My wife by now was ready to arrange flights home.

Not everyone’s luggage turned up on this day and some never got to see theirs until last day or not at all.

 

We decided to perhaps now use the MDR so went to have a chat with the Headwaiter and ask if it was possible to have a table for 2 as we did not want to bore people about our problems we had been having

He told this was ok as the 1 lady who would have been sitting with us had asked to be moved.(Btw we had asked for a table of 8 originally). We arrived at the table to find it was still set for 3 people so decided to leave. The Headwaiter came running after us to ask what was wrong. He assured us that there would only be the 2 of us so we returned to table. After about 10 mins waiting assistant waitress came and asked if would like some water, after another 5 minutes she came with an almost empty basket of bread with no Brown bread as my wife would prefer Brown and was told there was none. The Waiter then eventually arrived with the Menu,s. Bearing in mind this was our 1st evening in the MDR he did not introduce himself to us or explain how the menu was arranged. Our starters arrived , after these my wife got her 2nd starter and I got a main course. I asked the AW why I had my main course when my wife was still on her starters, with no explanation she placed a plastic cover over it to keep it warm.

That was enough by now and we left to go back to the Windjammer. Nothing the Headwaiter could say now could stop us from leaving. That evening got phone call message asking us to ring him. We did not.

Next day got message left asking us to meet him. We did not. By now our holiday was ruined. We had 6 special chocolates delivered to the room 1 night with business card from Hotel Director By Bell boy. Would have been a bit more sincere if he delivered them himself.

 

After this cruise we were to reach Diamond Status on the C+A programme and have already booked next Xmas and New year onboard IOS from Southampton. After this cruise and the way we were treated I am having to convince my Wife not to cancel .

 

Main points.

1 Told nothing to do with RCI about lost luggage even though our contract was with RCI.

2 No cooperation from RCI staff at airport about our problem.

3 Guest Relations desk not interested and all communication had to be done by guest.

4 The so called express laundry service was atrocious.

5 The shops had nothing for sale i.e., underwear, clothing in general .

6 Our eventual experience of the Restaurant was diabolical and the straw that broke the camels back.

 

Having recommended RCI to a lot of family and friends I can only say sorry.

I know we are in a recession at the moment but the cost of cruising has not come down but the standards have dropped.

[KeywestK]

Karen's first cardinal rule of cruising: Never fly to port the same day we sail. Never. After 20 years of flying domestic and international for land vacations and cruises, I got pretty lazy about not putting all essentials in carry on bags, (including a change of clothes) and that came back to slap me in the face two years ago when our bags never made it on to the plane at BWI for our flight to FLL. Fortunately, we had two days in Ft. Lauderdale before we sailed and our bags caught up with us at our hotel the following day. We had no essentials with us, had to run to a drug store to buy a few things, but fortunately our bags found us before I ran around to buy some clothes/bathing suits, etc. Karen's second cardinal rule of travel: Always pack a change of clothes, bathing suits, essentials in carry on bag....;):)

[Ocean Boy]

Karen's first cardinal rule of cruising: Never fly to port the same day we sail. Never. After 20 years of flying domestic and international for land vacations and cruises, I got pretty lazy about not putting all essentials in carry on bags, (including a change of clothes) and that came back to slap me in the face two years ago when our bags never made it on to the plane at BWI for our flight to FLL. Fortunately, we had two days in Ft. Lauderdale before we sailed and our bags caught up with us at our hotel the following day. We had no essentials with us, had to run to a drug store to buy a few things, but fortunately our bags found us before I ran around to buy some clothes/bathing suits, etc. Karen's second cardinal rule of travel: Always pack a change of clothes, bathing suits, essentials in carry on bag....;):)

 

That is why I do my best to either fly non-stop or at least direct. The way I see it, the less my luggage and I have to change planes and the less times the plane touches the ground between my departure and destination airports the less the chance of something going wrong.

[KeywestK]

That is why I do my best to either fly non-stop or at least direct. The way I see it, the less my luggage and I have to change planes and the less times the plane touches the ground between my departure and destination airports the less the chance of something going wrong.

 

This WAS a direct flight between BWI and FLL. The problem was that they never put our luggage on the plane! We almost always are able to book direct flights out of Baltimore. I should list that as Karen's Cardinal Rule #3: Make every effort, even if it costs a little more, to book direct flights....;):)

 

Karen

[Ocean Boy]

This WAS a direct flight between BWI and FLL. The problem was that they never put our luggage on the plane! We almost always are able to book direct flights out of Baltimore. I should list that as Karen's Cardinal Rule #3: Make every effort, even if it costs a little more, to book direct flights....;):)

 

Karen

Oh, my!:eek:

[EVALUATOR]

Cross packing helps if your luggage is lost and your travel partners is not.

 

Cross packing would be better than cross dressing, I think.:D

 

That is why I do my best to either fly non-stop or at least direct. The way I see it, the less my luggage and I have to change planes and the less times the plane touches the ground between my departure and destination airports the less the chance of something going wrong.

Yes, I believe a plane not touching the ground between departure and destination would probably be a good thing.:eek:

 

As for lost luggage, what about a lost passenger. A couple weeks ago, one of our friends flew from a mid-Atlantic state to a mid Florida airport. There was a connecting flight in Georgia. She was supposed to take the first of three available flights from Ga to FL. Her ticket was bought and paid for and the confirmation had the flight numbers correct. She was supposed to be on flight A. After waiting for an hour for this person to emerge from the gate, her husband questioned an airline rep as to her whereabouts. She was handicapped, and needed a wheelchair, and that request was confirmed when booking the flight. At the Florida airport, the rep told her husband that they could not give him any info as to her even getting on the plane. I went to see the rep. I was told that she never got on the plane in Georgia. Also, she never got on either of the two following flights. However, one of her two checked luggage pieces was on the second flight. Again, I asked if she made the flight. They guaranteed that she did not take any flight from this airline from Ga to FL. I informed her husband, by phone, (we were using cell phones in the terminal to communicate from ticketing and arriving) and went to meet him in the terminal from the ticketing area. About an hour and a half had passed from the arrival of the flight she was supposed to be on. When I met up with her husband in the terminal, there she was, in a wheelchair.

 

She was supposed to take flight A with her luggage.

The airline said she never got on any flight.

The airline said her luggage was on flight B but not her.

She actually arrived on flight B and one piece of her luggage arrived on flight A, and one on flight C.

Don't think that your luggage is the only thing the airline can lose.

[Jan_In_Maine]

We were on the AOS in August. We had a direct flight from Boston to San Juan. We had two bags (and had cross packed). We got to San Juan and only one bag was there. (American Airlines). We checked with baggage ... she looked confused.... This was Saturday. Sunday morning at 5 am my daughter called from Maine................Bob(?) had our bag .... unfortunately Bob was in Shanghai China.

 

Our bag finally showed up late in the day on Friday ... Saturday night it had to go outside the door to be taken off the ship and we didn't see it again until Sunday night back in Boston.

 

We were missing a few items and I had to pay American Airlines $15.00 each way for them to lose my luggage.

 

RCI was wonderful, they gave us laundry for free and kept calling American Airlines to find out what was going on.

 

Poor Bob in Shanghai, China never did get his luggage. For months and months that American Airlines called me to find out what I did with Bob's luggage. They also had me listed as living in Maine & North Carolina.

 

I spent months fighting with American Airlines as they are the stupidest airlines I have ever met .... They gave a $100 voucher that I can't use. I told them I wanted my $30 back and they could keep the voucher as I had no use for it. They said no and that they would never read any more letters that I sent.

 

I will never have anything to do with American Airlines again. (they also said I should have put my name on the luggage) .... at last count the bag and 7 places with my name, address, phone, cell, even a copy of my passport, work phone, e-mail address. itenerary, with phone numbers of all places we were staying, ports to be visited, ship information, emergency numbers..... etc.

 

I hope no one else ever uses American Airlines and has the problems that we have experienced. We flew with them once before and we had problems with them at that time too ... (didn't bother to write a letter that time). Jan

[Desert Cruizers]

We weren't on a cruise but coming home from a vacation back east and when we got our connection flight in Dallas, my DH luggage didn't get off the plane and continued to Denver, while we headed for So Calif. We put in the claim and were certain it would be on the 1st flight out of Denver to home since we had direct flights. The next AM we get a call from United saying his luggage arrived at our home terminal, they asked for our address and they delivered the luggage.

[olefin32]

Our first time for lost luggage was last September on our Canada, New England cruise. It was also our first time to change airlines in route.

 

We had to change from AA to United in Chicago. Arrived Quebec City at 4PM and didn't have our luggage. United gave us a claim number, we called AA, they had failed to switch our luggage at Chicago. They immediately located our luggage in Chicago and assured us it would be on the next plane to Quebec City and delivered to our hotel room. It was delivered at 10PM. When flying for a cruise, we always arrive a day early.

 

Another strange thing happen. At the airport we all boarded a bus provided by HAL to be dropped off at our hotels. This very nice couple was really concerned about us not getting our luggage. We had a nice chat with them on the bus. They said they had travel for many years and never lost any luggage. The bus stopped at several hotels, the driver would set off the people's luggage. So happen we were the last hotel and the couple got off with us. But the driver couldn't find their luggage! He had set it off at another hotel!

We saw the couple the next day and they said they did finally get their luggage.

We received $250 e-certificate from AA.

[Tucker in Texas]

On one of our earlier cruises in 1985, we handed over our garment bag and suitcases at the port to the porter along with a tip. Suitcases made it to the cabin, garment bag did not. This was back where you dressed in at least a church dress and the men wore a sports coat to dinner every night. There was no grill, all three meals were eaten in the MDR at a set time. Room service menu featured PB&J. Carnival assured us that we could wear whatever we wanted to dinner. Our young boys were thrilled they didn't have to wear suits. We were not so thrilled being definitely underdressed at every evening meal and formal night even more so. I wanted to put a sign on the back of husband saying "I'm not tacky, Carnival lost my luggage." He wouldn't go for it (lol). Carnival showed little or no interest in looking for it in spite of twice daily trips to the Purser's desk nagging at them. It had to be either on that ship somewhere, on another one that was embarking at the same time and would share a port with us two days away, or still on the pier. Carnival did not offer us a voucher for any clothes, free laundry, nothing. We really didn't expect anything because we, at least, had our cruising clothes.

 

Fortunately, I had a red satin pants suit in my suitcase which got worn most nights. I would come to the dining room and tell our table mates "This is not a red satin pants suit, this is a (description of something)" As the week progressed, my wardrobe expanded to "This is not a red satin pants suit but a Dior designer gown I picked up for a song on sale for a mere $5,000."

 

When we got off the ship, our garment bag was not only in the luggage terminal, it was in our "color" section about three feet from our suitcases. Like the other poster, it had our name on it in three different places.

 

I trashed the red satin pants suit.

 

I, too, cross pack; I carry at least two days worth of clothing in our two carry-ons along with our formal clothes, bathing suit, etc. whatever I have to have.

 

On one of our recent cruises a lady at dinner was not dressed formally on formal night and apologized. She said her luggage had been lost and she was taken to a room where they had clothes that had been left on the ship by passengers to pick anything she wanted. She was a large woman and there was nothing there her size suitable for formal night and she said very little choice of things to wear during the day.

 

Tucker in Texas

[harrodsfan]

That is why I do my best to either fly non-stop or at least direct. The way I see it, the less my luggage and I have to change planes and the less times the plane touches the ground between my departure and destination airports the less the chance of something going wrong.

 

Non Stop...or direct is the key. And if possible fly business class.

Both reduce the chance of lost luggage.

 

Make sure you have a good substantial luggage tag...don't ever use the paper ones the airlines provide.

 

Also get a luggage tag with a place for your itinerary in it with contact numbers...including your cell phone if you are carrying it and or the cell phone of someone back home that knows your itinerary> Always put a phone number on your bag!!!!!!Better than address.

 

Always check to make sure information on baggage is current.

 

Also put your name and phone inside the bag in case the tag comes off.

 

Don't use remote check in desks...the only time my luggage was ever detained...was when I checked it in at a hertz desk when I dropped off my car.

It arrived two days later.

 

Also check all over for your bags at the airport before you leave the airport. I have had my bags three times go on earlier flights..Got a better connection than I did. Shouldn't happen out of Heathrow but it did. My bags were in special holding area.

[ckrobyn]

Thanks for sharing your stories!

 

We always try and fly direct whenever possible.....but I still blow my luggage a kiss as it is put on the conveyor belt for parts unknown :rolleyes:

 

I start my luggage God chant immediately and don't stop until I am reunited with my suitcase :D

[constantcruiser]

The last two times we sailed RCI, about midway thru the cruise we received a written notice informing us that other passengers were missing their luggage and asking if it might have been delivered to our cabin by mistake. That's the stateroom I want on my next cruise--one that's so big that someone else's bags could have been sitting in the middle of the floor for 3 days and I hadn't noticed!

[KS Jeff]

We've been lucky (so far), our lost luggage episodes have always been on the return home. Last December on the way home from a HAL cruise we had delays out of FLL due to snowstorms in New England. We did manage to get as far as ATL, too late to make our connection. We arrived home at noon the next day, no luggage at the carousel.

 

On a whim, I went to the ticket counter and the agent said "Oh, yes, we have your bags - they came in last night!"

[imsulin]

Not on a cruise, but Christmas before this last one (2008), I flew (or tried to) from BHM to PDX on SouthWest. The day I left, Portland was hit with a rare blizzard, which shut the airport down for three (count 'em!) days. Got as far as Chicago, where I spent my first night, after waiting four hours for my luggage to be off-loaded and taken to a SW holding are. I had one large roller bag (checked), one small roller bag, a laptop, and my purse. Headed back to Midway early the next morning, and was ASSURED that PDX was back up and running, which it was......for 15 nanoseconds......while I checked in. So, being thus assured, I checked both of my roller bags (stupidest mistake I've ever made in 40 years of flying), because my stupid laptop was heavy, and the only reason I took it was be saying my bag was in Little Rockcause future Son-in-law was going to download some great stuff on it for me - my Christmas gift! Weeeeeell, made it as far as Boise. After waiting another four hours for off-loaded luggage, I was told that both bags were in Phoenix! Spent the next two nights in Boise with stupid laptop, stupid Nokia that had to be charged 2X a day, and the clothes I was wearing on my stupid self. SW ASSURED me that my luggage would be in Portland, so when I finally arrived, much to my surprise (not), no luggage. Finally made it to Eugene (Oregon has maybe one snowplow?) after a five hour drive. Borrowed jeans and socks and U of O sweatshirts from DD and did laundry daily. SW would not deliver my bags to Eugene - only to Portland. The roads were still bad, so did not haul myself back up there to get them. Upon departure from PDX, SW ASSURED me that my bags would automatically placed on my outbound flight. Nah. Found them in the holding area and checked them in myself. Upon my arrival back in BHM, found the smaller bag right away. No large bag. Filled out a claim with SW (this was about 1:00 am), and drove two hours to get home. Got a call the next day from SW saying bag was in Little Rock. It was Fedexed to me the following day. I spent New Year's Eve munching on the (somewhat stale) homemade cookies that I'd packed.....and picking Harry & David rice snacks off of the never-worn clothes in that bag. So much for H&D packaging! Fortunately, I'd sent all the Christmas gifts a couple of weeks in advance.

 

Now, the good news is, because I was ASSURED so many times, SW refunded the entire cost of my ticket plus a $300.00 future flight voucher. They also refunded the costs of my motels and meals. So - got a basically free trip back to Oregon this past Spring. Now, though, I'm a bit worried, because I'm heading back to Oregon next week on good old SW. (72 hour sale, plus remaining LUV voucher credits = total price r/t ticket $173.80) Changing in Phoenix each way, though, and am NOT letting carry-on out of my sight! However, I am considering wearing three days worth of clothes, just in case. And....no stupid laptop this time. Or stupid Nokia. (Just a dumber-than-average Samsung)

 

Tucker in Texas - LOVED your post about the red satin pantsuit! Reminds me of a group wedding cruise we took on Celebrity many years ago. The future MIL's luggage never arrived on the ship. This poor woman had never been out of Iowa, let alone on a cruise. Celebrity (pretty glammo at the time) loaned her a stunning and glittery evening gown for the duration of the cruise. Well, she wore it everywhere. St. Thomas (for the wedding), St. Maarten (to the beach), and Nassau (for shopping). She was a good sport!