Missing/Stolen Item From Room...Need Opinions On What To Do!

[grand isle joe]

I had left an item behind before. I called and months went by and ..Whammo..the item arrived in the mail after I had given it up for lost. Some things may take a long time. Good Luck.:)

[tropiclvrs]

critterchick, Thanks so much for the email address. I will give it a shot.

 

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It seems to me that if the stateroom attendant switched around the tables the first night of your cruise then he/she would have had to lift the coffee table to put it back in it's original place after you vacated the cabin...

 

Exactly why I don't think it was "missed" last week during turnover, but I suppose you never know. The tables were stacked and had to be rearranged to get it back to the "normal" state.

[momtoabowhead]

I'm sorry to hear this happened. Unfortunately just like if you had this happen at a hotel, they most likely won't reimburse you for the item....as a PP mentioned it would put them out of business really quickly.

 

We live in a dishonest society, if they were to reimburse anyone it would be abused and people would be "stolen from" constantly.

 

I'm sorry this happened to you, I'm sure it's very frustrating.

[bokolo]

We found several items of clean clothing in the drawers on Adventure. Obviously things can be missed.

 

We also found some clothes on one of the shelves in the closet on the Allure in April. We turned them in to our SA.

[jmf123]

I had left an item behind before. I called and months went by and ..Whammo..the item arrived in the mail after I had given it up for lost. Some things may take a long time. Good Luck.:)

 

lol, that's true! I misplaced my prescription glasses during a Holland America cruise two days before disembarkation. Five months later I was contacted by the cruiseline (I had my business card in the case), and they were mailed back to me! They had no idea where they had been all those months. :p

[Silverman]

I hope someone finds it for you. It is a good idea to contact head of house keeping. I left 3 pairs of jeans at a Disney hotel last year. 2 pair I had paid well over 100 for them. Trust me when I say I do a room check at least twice before I leave making sure nothing was left behind. Well got home and realized they were missing. Called Mousekeeping at the hotel and 3 days later they were in a bag from Disney. I was a happy man!!! Give it some time and hopefully it will end up at your house. No I dont spend 100 dollars on jeans anymore. Went to Vegas hit a decent amount of money and went shopping at Armani Exchange! Now if I would have hit more I would have an Armani Suit! But thats another story!! I have always wanted an Armani Suit. Someday.

[Bison]

Thanks to everyone for the input. I am "holding tight" which is why I asked the supervisor I spoke to to send another inquiry to the ship and am waiting to file the travel insurance claim. I realize that it may take some time to get it processed and in the right people's hands.

 

As for the location of the player, when the attendant made up our room the first night he took the coffe table and put it next to the bed and placed the bedside table on top of that in order to make more room when pulling out the sofa bed. I placed the player on the floor undeneath thecoffee table. The coffee table bottom is not solid but but has a cross like structure hodling it up creating 4 quadrants at the bottom. I placed the player in one of those quadrants.

 

I know we checked under the bed which is where it could have been kicked and saw nothing. Anyways, I will keep and open mind and will have to let it go....

Could it be under the sofa bed?

[tropiclvrs]

I'm sorry to hear this happened. Unfortunately just like if you had this happen at a hotel, they most likely won't reimburse you for the item....as a PP mentioned it would put them out of business really quickly.

 

We live in a dishonest society, if they were to reimburse anyone it would be abused and people would be "stolen from" constantly.

 

I'm sorry this happened to you, I'm sure it's very frustrating.

 

Yss, it is frustrating as it would be for anyone. I am not angry at anyone, just looking for some help.

 

Regarding compensation, I never asked RCI to reimburse me, nor have I insinuated anything of the such from my posts. I just want the DVD player and all the contents found. It was brand new (used only once) and would be difficult to go out and replace many of the movies that are my kids favorites. We had trip insurance which will cover the loss, but it would be easier for everyone if it was turned in. Chances are slim, but I'll try.

[tropiclvrs]

Could it be under the sofa bed?

 

Hmmm, interesting point, I never thought of that! It could have gotten under there, but I am wondering if the sofa bed could fold back if it did. I will see if I can bring that to their attention to check.

 

Thanks....

[nativetexan]

My teenage son left a beautiful bracelet in his stateroom when we left. Dumb mistake - his fault but we knew where it was. Realized it within an hour of getting off the ship. I went back to the ship and couldn't get on. I called and was told they would look. They looked and it wasn't there.

 

I know it had been there. It wasn't turned in and my son lost his trip souvenir. He had it for about 36 hours. Don't imagine he'll do that again!

 

Was very disappointed in the cruise ship - they were not very helpful nor sympathetic. It was as if - "losers weeper, finders keepers!". Probably no different than any mall or department store but this was their "home away from home" for a week. To be fair to the stateroom attendent - I'm sure anyone and their dog could have accessed the room.

 

Bottom line - someone on the ship got a nice bracelet.

 

Sorry it happened!

 

NativeTexan

[Sugar*Magnolia]

Hmmm, interesting point, I never thought of that! It could have gotten under there, but I am wondering if the sofa bed could fold back if it did. I will see if I can bring that to their attention to check.

 

Thanks....

 

Hang in there. We disemabrked 1/3/08 and received a phone call from Miami 3 weeks later. Apparently DD's rings got stuck underneath the lip of the inside of the safe and altho DS and DH swiped that entire safe....:rolleyes: we left without them. DD thought she had given them to me and I thought she was responsible enough to pack them in her jewelry case. When the call came, we didnt yet know they were missing. They werent rings she wore every day. One was her gold and diamond name ring and one a jeweled gold butterfly ring, both pretty valuable. Anyway, I also like to beleive that the cabin stewards wouldnt risk their employment over a DVD player. I hope its found.

[waterbug123]

Basically, we forgot about it until we got to our hotel room and started to rearrange our things to fly home the next morning.

 

-Nobody besides our room attendant was in the room during a cleaning and took it because it was in a location (on the floor underneat the bedside table) that would have taken time to find it and nothing else was missing.

 

Couple thoughts...

 

1. You said yourself, "we forgot about it until...." In your OP, you said "my DH insists that he checked that whole area for toys that my kids may have dropped and did not see it." You also said it was out of sight. The point is, it was out of sight, you all forgot about it, and while your husband looked for dropped toys, he wasn't specifically looking for the DVD player. My guess? While he looked in the general area where it was, he didn't look far enough to see it. Now, in hindsight, he's assuming that means it wasn't there, but there's a good chance that it was, just out of sight.

 

2. Meanwhile, someone came in later and found it. Maybe a cabin attendant, though not necessarily yours since they often help each other and/or work in teams, maybe another employee there to do maintenance or whatever, maybe the next pax to have your cabin.

 

3. You said no one else was in your cabin during a cleaning, but how do you know that? Were you always there while it was cleaned? And again, after you disembarked you have no idea who may have been in there.

 

4. Given that it's virtually impossible at this point to pinpoint exactly when it disappeared, it's therefore impossible to determine who has it so RC would have no idea who to blame. That being the case, what is it that you expect RC to do? I don't mean to sound harsh, but really....what can they do at this point? Your husband wants this escalated or says you will never sail on RC again. Does he just want the cabin attendant fired, even if there's no proof he took it??

[waterbug123]

Sorry to hear that hapenned toyou! Can't believe someone would do that! Against popular belief, I really do want to believe that something similar happened, I just find it HIGHLY unlikely given it's location. I had other things in the room that would have been easier to take.

 

Not after you packed those other things and disembarked the ship. It's very possible that it was there, your husband didn't see it, but the next pax found it while they were "hiding" their own valuables, and said, "hey look at this, finders keepers!"

[Carnivalcruiselady]

My best friend left a bag of souvenirs in her room. When the boat came back from that cruise, Carnival called her. She lived in Florida and just drove down to the port to pick them up. She complained some of the souvenirs were missing from her bag. The Carnival representative at the pier told her that's all that was in the bag when the Room Steward handed it in to her Supervisor. She was never compensated and was told it was her responsibilty to check her room before she debarked from the boat.

[Bonnie Voyager]

Not sure why everyone is in an unkind mood, I was asking for suggestions on where to go next.

 

I would have liked to contact the ship directly,but RCI makes this very difficult. If anyone knows a way or someone on Allure specifically that I can email, please let me know.

 

To addressa few comments:

-My kids are 4 & 6 so they didn't leave the room with the player as we were always with them.

-I know we didn't lose it in transit becuase we fully recollect that we did not pack it. Basically, we forgot about it until we got to our hotel room and started to rearrange our things to fly home the next morning.

 

-Nobody besides our room attendant was in the room during a cleaning and took it because it was in a location (on the floor underneat the bedside table) that would have taken time to find it and nothing else was missing.

-It was too big to fit in a safe and I kept in a location that was out of obvious sight.

 

 

I also find it very hard to belive that our Stateroom Attendant would have taken it. He was a very nice man and he loved our kids. However, the player just didn't get up and jump overboard. Someone took it and they were an employee....Sad, but true.

 

It's really not a monetary issue, but rather the principle of it.

 

Did you check UNDER the bed? I put my backpack on that same spot in my cabin on Allure (on the floor under the bedside table) and one day I went to get something out of that backpack and it wasn't there! :eek: I was panic-stricken because I realized my Ipad was in the backpack.

 

Anyway, I was about to call Guest Services when I noticed a strap sticking out from under the bed. Sure enough, it was my backpack. I am guessing that in the process of making the bed, the backpack had been inadvertently bumped and slid under the bed. Everything was intact (my Ipad was still there, and I immediately put it in the safe, where I SHOULD have put it to begin with :o) But, I HATE those new bedside stands on Oasis/Allure! They have no storage capability at all and that bottom shelf by the floor is useless! :p

 

I am sorry about your DVD player. That is upsetting for sure. Even if it did slip under the bed, like my backpack, the chances of recovering it after the fact are probably slim. I'm not sure what RCCl could feasibly do in a situation like this. :(

 

Good luck though. I hope you are able to find a resolution that you can live with....and without having to give up sailing on RCCL. :D

[starlake]

I am sorry for your loss.

I was on a B2B recently and I can tell you it is chaos on change over day. The SA have a huge job that day and they are running everywhere trying to get ready for the next group. All room doors are left open until the work is completed. Anyone could walk into a room, take something if they wanted to and walk out without anyone noticeing them, and who would think anything of it if they saw, say a passenger with a DVD and tapes. Most people would think it belonged to that person and not think about it again.

It is also possible that it is in a location, as in under the sofa, that no one has looked at yet.

I hope you are successful having this returned or replacing your items.

[Familygoboston]

I'm sorry this happened- it's just so darn much stuff ( and people!) to keep track of when they are little. I have two thoughts; one is to agree with the wait it out people. The DVD player is not terribly valuble (at resale) and sometimes stuff has a way of reappearing.

My DH and I made the mistake of checking a water camera ( in luggage locked with a TSA lock- I know bad move, but it was the least valuable of many cameras and we were plum out of carry on space ) And we were furious when we arrived home and the camera which had been wound up in dirty clothes was gone. We figured it had to be ripped off by the guys hired to protect our safety( great huh?) As it turned out several months later we were using that bag, and we found it in a pocket we never use. We hadn't put it their; but the TSA had not taken it either:)

my second thought is how alarming this " propping" the door problem is and how cavelier everyone seems to be about it!:eek: Land based hotels have a rules - you leave them room even for a second, lock it. I have been denied entry to my own room without using my key to show the attendent I have access! I know we should all lock our valuables ( despite the dinky Oasis and allure safes), but it's also a matter of safety. Anyone could sneak in and snug in between the bed and the wall and be waiting for you to return. Think it doesn't happen? Check out the Cruise Law website sometime! You'll see stories about pax AND crew. Really scary!:eek:

I do hope there was some misunderstanding and your DVDS turn up, but I can't say you are wrong to be concerned.

[05mak05]

While I am sympathetic, I seriously doubt the cabin attendant would steal a DVD player. Did you physically pick up the nightstand and put the DVD player under it? It so, that's probably where it is. Or in "Lost & Found." The crew has teeny tiny rooms. A stolen DVD player would sound alarms with others, he'd be turned in, charged with a crime ... the scenario does not seem likely. You said he seemed like a nice person, and I would bet your gut instincts are correct. I am confused as to why you think he stole it? There are a multitude of other possibilities. My experience is that items are lost once they reach "Lost & Found." Those of you that have gone through the chain of retrieving an item left behind know what I mean.

[readytogo2]

I hope you hear from them with good news...I'm thinking, possibly it got hung up somewhere in the underside of the sofa bed? I never had a sofabed on a cruise ship but the one in my den, I have found all sorts of things over the years.

[Langley Cruisers]

Not sure why everyone is in an unkind mood, I was asking for suggestions on where to go next.

 

No one said anything remotely unkind to you. Sorry you took it as such, and sorry your item is missing.

[travelpeon]

We are 1 cruise away from being Diamond and DH says we will not be sailing with RCI again if they don't do something. I hate that it would come to that....

 

You could choose to look at it this way- You've had a pretty good track record so far since you're 1 cruise away from being Diamond and experienced a bump in the road. On a ship that has over 5,000 roving guests and 2,000 staff. As long as RCI is looking for it and investigating, they're holding up their end of the bargain, right? You've had several trips where nothing went missing so this is abnormal.

 

You could chalk it up as lesson learned for any further travel you'd do, you can use the room safe and pack with a checklist. Or bring less things to keep track of during travel. And of course you remember this room attendant so in the unlikely event of seeing him again, you might have the luxury of discussing fine cinema like Cars and Dora the Explorer.

 

I lose things when I travel when I'm in a hurry and don't spot it or put it away properly. I wouldn't presume to assume that others have similar issues but personally, I know I have to consolidate and secure my expensive items and small bits and bobs (cables, chargers, etc) or they simply vanish to the same mysterious place the dryer likes to store my socks. ;) I suspect the dryer might know where my ipod charger is but it isn't talking. I also managed to lose two sets of keys during separate trips over a decade apart. Now the keys get packed into my carry-on luggage, clipped to a lanyard tied to the inside of my bag.

[05mak05]

We've found things in cabin stuck between the divider curtain and the wall. I know that seems improbable but on your next cruise, stick your foot behind the curtain and push. It's like a black hole. I'm going to talk to my dryer right now about my iPad charger! It disappeared while staying at a hotel in Port Aransas, Tx. I called the manager and she said the box of chargers lined up end to end would reach from Texas to Chicago. I'll sort through it on our next trip.

[griffy116]

We have left items on the cruise ship and lost items, which have been returned to us and one items never found. If it was under a night stand, with the activity that takes place when the ship is being readied for the next guests, it very easily could have been overlooked during the clean-up and the next guest just slid it into a piece of their luggage and they now have the DVD. I feel sure our one item not located by RCI was found by the next guest in the room, as we had hidden it away behind the corner of the drapes. On one cruise, I was positive an expensive bottle of liquor had been swiped. I looked for it the last 2 days of the cruise in every possible place....except the one where my daughter found it. I had tucked it in a little nook in a dark spot in the closet. There it sat just as we were ready to leave the ship. I'm sorry it has given your husband such a bad opinion. I do, however, think it's more likely been swiped/lifted/taken by anyone other than the cabin attendant. They know that they are suspect when anything goes missing.

[Lynnees]

All I am asking of RCI is to do a thorough check. I imagine all they did when the report first came in was to see if they received a lost item from that particular room on that sailing. It would hve been nice they checked the room again when the report first came in. I know they didn't do this, because they said they didn't. Although there were new occupants, the S.A is in there twice daily and could check.

 

I am not asking RCI to refund me anything, but I am asking for them them to go slightly above and beyond. I don't think this is asking too much.

 

BTW, I called the travel insurance and this is covered. However, as mentioned previously it would be preferred if the player and dvd's were returned.

 

Actually, after time and with new people in the cabin, you are asking too much. If and I say if, it was still in the cabin, no one would know wether it was yours or the new passengers. The new passengers are not going to be happy with someone searching their home (for a week) to satisfy your need to "go above and beyond," You are already pointing a finger at the room steward without a wit of proof. If you did that on the phone, it's no wonder they are not particularly willing to go farther than they have to.

 

You cannot just say "he stole it" which is basically what you are doing.

 

I would suggest you claim it through your insurance as you say it will cover, and next time, be more careful.

[wvufan]

On a recent cruise, I was looking under the bed for my shoes. Way back in a corner that normally would not have been cleaned or noticed with routine service, there was a bra and panties. Think Dolly Parton.

 

Another time we found two money belts (empty) behind the safe where there is a small space.

 

I understand you simply wanted them to do a more thorough look see, but perhaps that wasn't fruitful. Anyway, how you continue to respond will in large part shape how your kids respond to such things in the future. While you certainly should be disappointed and perhaps suspicious, there is no proof and there may not be any wrongdoing on anyone's part. Maybe one of the kids had it out somewhere and forgot it, and didn't want to fess up.

 

I think my tactic would have been to go on a roll call for a future cruise on the same ship and ask if someone would be willing to make an inquiry for me.

 

If you have the time, money, and health to be able to cruise, life is pretty good and the loss of a CD player and a few discs is not a big deal.

 

Happy Sails to You

 

OOOEEE :D:D Bob and Phyl