Has your bags ever been held for something silly?

[Karlie1]

We were on the Spirit April 3rd. All of our bags were in the room but 1. The one with all my stuff. After Fretting for a couple of hours, we get a note to claim bag after personal inspection. I couldn't imagine what I had that would cause a raised eyebrow. I didn't have any booze, guns, knives, etc. I go down with a 100 other criminals to find out what international law we broke. I had 2 security open my bag and checked for Contraband. They finally found the culprit, my portable 10 FAN. I bought this fan at Walmart, it operates on flashlight batteries. They asked me if it runs on 220. I told them it was a fan not a airconditioner. They scratched their heads and asked me to wait will they got their superior. 15 minutes later the Boss shows. He is inspecting my fan. I tried to explain to him how my fan worked. He kept asking how I charged the Batteries. I kept telling him they were just flaslight batteries. You don't charge them, you throw them away. Of all the others criminals that were trying to sneek booze and other things on board I was the only one left standing. Me and my fan. One more guy came by and I told him the same story, finally after 1 hour they let me and my fan go. To this day, I still think they still are not sure if they made the RIGHT decision.. :mad: Anyone else with a silly story.:)

[sail7seas]

Did they speak English or was it a language problem? :confused: That does seem over the top.

[Karlie1]

Broken English, the first boss spoke decent English. The fan comes in a box, it's portable and flat, not like a regular fan. I even took it out and showed them how it works. I normally take it with me to outdoor concerts when it is hot. I was being very serious not light hearted like on the board.:cool:

[Happy ks]

I am one of the few who has had a fan confiscated at boarding, but it was in my carry on, not my checked bag. I find it odd that your bag was singled out for the fan. The funny thing was, my tiny little fan was a plug in that took less wattage than a travel dryer. I considered a battery powered fan but the weight of the batteries and replacement cost changed my mind. I now have a travel fan that doesn't look like a fan and I put it into the checked bag.

 

They are concerned about power draw from electrical appliances which is why we're reading about power strips being disallowed. Too much power draw will blow a circuit for the whole area, not just an individual cabin.

 

That they didn't comprehend your battery powered fan was odd, maybe they just had never seen one before.

 

When we went to retrieve our confiscated fan we saw full sized irons, lots of booze bottles and toys that looked like weapons. Ours was the only fan.

[Cruisedreamer1]

My husband had his leatherman tool taken from him while crusing.He is an engineer and always has it with him thinking he may have to "fix" something. The woman ahead of us, had barbells(maybe 8 lbs) and she wanted to use them in her cabin. After discussing it with security for about 10 minutes they finally let her go saying she really should exercise in the gym.

 

We wer told that on the 1st day they were too busy to take booze from the luggage.

[BruceMuzz]

Fire is the #1 Danger to life on any ship.

 

One of the best ways to start a fire on a ship is plugging a cheap electrical appliance into the ship's electrical system.

The fire starts even faster and burns hotter when you plug a 120 volt appliance into the 220 volt outlet.

 

When we x-ray a suitcase and see some sort of electrical appliance inside, the first thought is to inspect it to ensure that it will not kill you (and others) if you use it onboard.

You would be absolutely amazed at the truly bizarre (and often dangerous) electrical appliances we encounter in suitcases.

 

Not a very silly idea at all, to inspect them before they kill you.

[kitty9]

Electrical fires are very dangerous, no matter where they are located. Cruise lines are taking power strips, extension cords and anything with a cord or heating element. They tried to take the extension cord for my mobility scooter, but once I told them I needed it for the scooter, they examined it to make sure it wasn't a damaged cord and they let me go. Sometimes people bring cords that are old and frayed, and that can be very dangerous. Technically speaking, fans are on the banned list on most cruise lines.

[beachchick]

Electrical fires are very dangerous, no matter where they are located. Cruise lines are taking power strips, extension cords and anything with a cord or heating element. They tried to take the extension cord for my mobility scooter, but once I told them I needed it for the scooter, they examined it to make sure it wasn't a damaged cord and they let me go. Sometimes people bring cords that are old and frayed, and that can be very dangerous. Technically speaking, fans are on the banned list on most cruise lines.

 

They do seem to be more aggessive about it these days. I suspect part of it has to do with how many passengers bring 8 or 10 items that either heat or need recharging. I wonder if they'll finally start cracking down on blow dryers, curling irons, and hot rollers. Considering that most travel irons, for example, use much less power than the average blow dryer, it has been IMO a tad hypocritical for so many to say "800w travel irons with auto-shutoff are extremely dangerous and overload the system, but don't you dare take my 1800w blow dryer because I can't function without it."

 

beachchick

[pris993]

Going thru airport security, I had a bag rechecked twice because I had a "black" film bag in it. The security person told me on the second time to always tell the screener about the film bag. It causes a problem because they can't see thru it. It is not silly but it is a problem. I don't think I will take it in the future.

[Krazy Kruizers]

nope -- never had the ship hold my luggage for inspection

[Keith1010]

IN the end be happy to know that they thoroughly inspect the luggage. After all, it's for the safety and for all passengers and the crew.

 

Keith

[sail7seas]

I don't understand the big delay and holding her there once they were shown it is a battery operated device. They could see for themselves there was no cord..... they could see they were not rechargeable batteries.

 

[johneeo]

I don't understand the big delay and holding her there once they were shown it is a battery operated device. They could see for themselves there was no cord..... they could see they were not rechargeable batteries.

 

 

You can't fix stupid.:eek:

[euro cruiser]

Going thru airport security, I had a bag rechecked twice because I had a "black" film bag in it. The security person told me on the second time to always tell the screener about the film bag. It causes a problem because they can't see thru it. It is not silly but it is a problem. I don't think I will take it in the future.

I'd just yank it out of my bag at the airport and put it through the screener alone, like a laptop.

[toothmaker]

My wife had her carry on baggage questioned numerous times because as the bag went through the scanner her hand held vanity mirror looked suspicious. You know, mirror about seven inches in diameter with a six inch handle...scary...oooooh.:eek::eek::eek:. But in the end she always gets to keep her mirror. Thank goodness they do look for anything that might be deleterios to the safety of all.

[Moeve]

One of the ladies on a cruise had her "special battery operated friend" along for the trip. She hands over her bag to the longshore and heads for the ship. She is then called to the front desk with a certain amount of urgency. Turns out her little friend got turned on while the bag was being man handled (oops no pun intended) and the subsequent vibrations caused somewhat of a stir. After recoivering from her embaressment she tooo found it funny

[HULA77]

We were on the same cruise with you Karlie1!!

 

My youngest son's suitcase had not arrived, so we went to Cagney's the first night with him dressed in some of his big brother's clothes. Looked kind of silly, but that's all we could do given the cirtcumstance.

 

When it came time to pay at Cagney's we were informed there was a security issue and that we needed to go to the front desk. My husband went first and then came back and said we all needed to go.

 

We were brought in back of the desk inside security and were told to open the suitcase, which was tagged with a piece of tape that indicated "KNIFE".

 

We opened up the suitcase, and showed everyone that there was nothing in there that resembled a knife. I did, though, pack about 8 pairs of Dollar Store sunglasses for my boys, which probably showed up on the scan looking like a knife.

 

Everyone was as friendly as could be and we had no problem with security doing their job making sure everyone is safe.

 

It was a neat way to meet staff we probably wouldn't have met otherwise. Every time we saw them throughout the week we were met with smiles and warm greetings.

[navybankerteacher]

They do seem to be more aggessive about it these days. I suspect part of it has to do with how many passengers bring 8 or 10 items that either heat or need recharging. I wonder if they'll finally start cracking down on blow dryers, curling irons, and hot rollers. Considering that most travel irons, for example, use much less power than the average blow dryer, it has been IMO a tad hypocritical for so many to say "800w travel irons with auto-shutoff are extremely dangerous and overload the system, but don't you dare take my 1800w blow dryer because I can't function without it."

 

beachchick

 

I suppose an 1800w blow dryer does a faster/better job than the 900-1200w jobs provided -- but to be unable to function without it? How do you suppose your grandmother even survived? It is somewhat remininiscent of the posters who claim that they don't smuggle liquor to save money -- it's just that they cannot tolerate anything but their favorite: "Old Whoozit's New Jersey Straight Bourbon Whiskey".

Give me a break.

[beachchick]

I suppose an 1800w blow dryer does a faster/better job than the 900-1200w jobs provided -- but to be unable to function without it? How do you suppose your grandmother even survived? It is somewhat remininiscent of the posters who claim that they don't smuggle liquor to save money -- it's just that they cannot tolerate anything but their favorite: "Old Whoozit's New Jersey Straight Bourbon Whiskey".

Give me a break.

 

My grandmothers both survived just fine for more than 8 decades each.

 

Perhaps you mistunderstood my meaning? I did not write that I can't function without a blow dryer. I don't even bring one. However, there have been posts over the years where members have written that they absolutely must be allowed to bring their own heavy duty blow dryer or curling/straightening iron or hot rollers because they can't deal with not being able to do their hair as at home. I'm sure you've read them from time to time. I agree that it is hyperbole, so there's no need for me to "give you a break."

 

My point was that it is hypocritical to say that it's no problem for passengers to bring high-power blow dryers and other heated hair styling appliances, computers and related items, and any number of electronics that require recharging, but not travel irons and travel steamers, which are generally fairly low wattage and auto-shutoff. It's reasonable to figure that all those other items could just as easily overload the system as travel irons/steamers. But there are many members who have stated that there is a difference and that the travel irons/steamers are very dangerous, while all those other heated and electrical items are not. I don't like that kind of hypocricy: What I want to bring is fine, but what someone else wants to bring is not.

 

beachchick

[printingchick]

Shampoo, conditioner and hair spray. Having packed regular full-sized bottles, perhaps they resembled bottles of booze? Obviously they didn't confiscate it.

[decibeldb]

My wife had her carry on baggage questioned numerous times because as the bag went through the scanner her hand held vanity mirror looked suspicious. You know, mirror about seven inches in diameter with a six inch handle...scary...oooooh.:eek::eek::eek:.

 

 

In a scanner a side on view of a mirror like that could look very like a knife.

 

I would expect them in that circumstance to rescan from a diffrent angle though.

 

Interpreting scanner images is a skill that has to be learned and practiced. But in general these days policy seems to be if you do not know what it is take a look inside.

 

db