safe to use safes?

[AdamsL1]

While on a Norwiegan Hawaii cruise we probably didn't make sure the safe was closed well. We came to expect housekeeping while we were at dinner. We left to go to dinner, had dinner and upon our arrival back to our cabin, immediately noticed the room was not cleaned. We checked the safe and the door was open fully. We had $200 of $300 taken. Be sure you close and get confirmation of closure before you leave your valuables.

[DebbieMacG]

While on a Norwiegan Hawaii cruise we probably didn't make sure the safe was closed well. We came to expect housekeeping while we were at dinner. We left to go to dinner, had dinner and upon our arrival back to our cabin, immediately noticed the room was not cleaned. We checked the safe and the door was open fully. We had $200 of $300 taken. Be sure you close and get confirmation of closure before you leave your valuables.

 

Nice advice but you've resurrected an 18. Month old thread to tell us about an issue on NCL? :confused:

[OCruisers]

The safes are perfectly safe!

We put our stuff for the safe in a gallon Zip Lock bag so it all stays together and nothing gets left in the safe. :)

LuLu

[Chitown12562]

I'll add my voice to the others and say the safes are safes.

 

Then I'll up the anti by providing dimensions. I angled my laptop to slide it into the safe.

 

 

[donaldsc]

I have never been on a cruise ship so please bear with me if this seems dumb. Is it safe to use the safe in your stateroom when you are off the ship? I have rarely used safes in hotel rooms because I was nervous about their security.

 

Safety is a relative proposition and you have to compare the room safe to the alternatives. If you are planning to put the English crown jewels or maybe $1,000,000 into the safe, I might put them into the ship's safe. Disregarding this scenario, what are your alternatives - under your pillow; in your suitcase; hidden in one of the drawers.

 

Me thinks that you worry too much.

 

DON

[fleckle]

The first time we ever brought a laptop on a cruise, we locked it in the safe.

That was back when even the smallest portable computers were large and it was a tight fit getting it in.

 

We kept doing that for about the first 3 days of the cruise.

It was such a pain to keep opening the safe and re-locking it to take the laptop out and put it back that we started leaving it out.

 

That was many years ago, and ever since then, we have not bothered to lock up any equipment or electronic devices on any cruise ship and have never had a problem.

 

 

One thing to be aware of with the safes though is that occasionally you may get one where you need to hold the door pressed closed while it goes through the locking cycle.

Otherwise, you may think it is locked when it really isn't.

 

The door looks closed and you see the appropriate display and hear the locking sounds, so it is possible to go through the whole locking process, and then later the unlocking process, thinking that you have locked it and unlocked it when actually it was never really locked at all.

 

You can always give a little tug on the door after it locks to check.

 

We lock money, passports, credit cards, drivers' licenses and jewelry in safes on cruise ships and have never had anything missing.

 

 

Edited September 3, 2014 by fleckle

[cbr663]

One suggestion is to test whether the cruise line has changed the default over-ride code. Simply lock the safe and enter 00000 or #0000 and see if the safe opens. If it does, the default code has not been changed and anyone with access to your room can easily open the safe.

[flyingv4me]

No issues for us!

[20pluscruises]

Someone stole our credit card info ..to the tune of $45,000. It is only one of two places...on the Summit or a Bermuda Tour. You may want to do a search on here....

[Jenna109]

Never had a problem with stuff in the safe, or even things that weren't. In fact, the only problem I've had is trying to throw stuff away. Once I put a thrashed bathing suit in the cabin's trash can -- only to come back and find it folded neatly on the bed. Had to tell my room steward that it really did need to be discarded. ;)

 

Snap! Had to smile because we have had exactly the same problem. We do use the safe but often forgotten to put things away and they have never been moved. Really not worth even the hint of a complaint or cabin staff will not have a job.

Books, etc left on top of the bin or by the side - thinking the staff could probably make use of them- always find their way back on the dressing table. Now I make a point of telling staff to take them if they can use them or put in the rubbish.

[Jenna109]

I remember a few years ago someone posted that he had left a large sum of cash in his safe. He said he came back to the cabin later and the cash was all gone. He reported the theft to Celebrity. He was very angry in his post because Celebrity refused to do anything about it. There was no way he could prove the cash had actually been in the safe. He swore the safe was locked and that his cabin was locked, so felt that a crew member must have been responsible for the theft.

 

The lesson that I took away from that was to never leave anything in the safe that isn't insured or that I can't afford to lose. I do leave a few semi-valuable things in there, but nothing that I can't afford to replace.

 

On our last cruise - Eclipse - a lady rang the service desk to tell them that money had gone missing. They took it VERY seriously. I met her the following morning when she told me as she was so upset. After her call the security staff arrived at her cabin and searched everything. She then explained what she had in the envelope, etc but by now far too upset to recount herself she asked the staff to count all her money - from the envelope, her purse, etc. it was actually all there. She had just panicked but when she was telling me this she was still very upset as she didn't want the cabin staff to think she was accusing them. I felt very sorry for her as she was probably in her eighties but the lesson is be sure what you have and not what you think should be there.

[Sloop-JohnB]

Never leave anything unattended you cannot afford to lose.

 

For us this means that things left in a Cruise Ship or Hotel Safe are all insured for full replacement cost (jewellery, computer, camera)... Or we have an Emergency Travel Plan* and a way to replace them if needed (Passport, Credit Cards)

 

Another reason NOT to travel with wads of money... As it is neither insurable or replaceable.

 

And why if travelling with Cash is part of your travel style, it might be best to consider the benefits of good old fashioned Travellers Cheques (which are replaceable), and which Cruise Lines still recognize & will cash for you.

 

--- --- ---

 

As for Celebrity's Safes I will say this. The ships take Pax security very seriously. We accidentally hit a wrong digit and locked ourselves out of our Room Safe. Guest Relations sent a Sr Officer to our cabin... Who first had to ascertain who we were thru ID before they would open the safe. And having witnessed the opening, I can tell you the code was a lot more complex than just hitting one number on the keypad a whole bunch of times.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Cheers!

 

* PS... Everyone should have an Emergency Travel Plan they can rely on if something should go off the rails while travelling. And Financial Back Up & Easy Passport Replacement is just one part of that necessary plan. Without a plan, these sorts of things can be disasterous... Perhaps ruining the vacation entirely. With a plan, hopefully the vacation can still move forward instead of coming to an entire halt. Worth the Planning time upfront for sure.

Edited September 3, 2014 by Sloop-JohnB

[20pluscruises]

Someone stole our credit card info ..to the tune of $45,000. It is only one of two places...on the Summit or a Bermuda Tour. You may want to do a search on here....

 

The search was eye opening...we now have wallets that can't be scanned and are looking for a small box or pack that can be locked and will fit into the safe

[Sloop-JohnB]

I'll add my voice to the others and say the safes are safes.

 

Then I'll up the anti by providing dimensions. I angled my laptop to slide it into the safe.

 

 

 

I will add to this great post & visual.

 

I measured the Room Safe we had on The Solstice as part of my report on S-Class Ship's Storage from 2012 = http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1560620

 

The safe interior was 17 inches wide X 6 inches high X 16 inches deep. It was plenty big enough to hold a large quantity of items, including a laptop.

 

The Room Safe for our cruise on The Summit last year, was of a similar size.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Cheers!

[rbuenger]

Had a safe not open (probably my error) and security came to open it. There were two people present to use their pass tool to open and reset it.

 

Nothing is absolutely safe I guess but the room safe sure seems to be close. And I agree, I've left items out with no issues. The biggest problem is probably with other passengers and not crew but that's just my opinion.

 

Den

 

We had the same issue on Solstice in 2012 and has to call for assistance. 2 Security officers showed up, one accessed the safe with the override and the other kept a written log that we then signed when they were done. They also had us reset the PIN # and then lock and unlock the safe so they were sure it was working properly.

[donaldsc]

Snap!We do use the safe but often forgotten to put things away and they have never been moved. Really not worth even the hint of a complaint or cabin staff will not have a job.

.

 

The only thing we use the safe for is money, jewelry and our passports. We travel with several thousand worth of photo equipment and lots of electronics and we always leave the stuff out. Not only has it never been stolen but the steward often straightens up my mess.

 

I will say that in general but not always we do not leave stuff lying about but in drawers or on the window sill behind curtains but it is still out.

 

My philosophy is that if something were stolen which is unlikely, it is god telling me that I need new stuff.

 

DON

[OCruisers]

Someone stole our safe!!!! :eek:

Back when Celebrity Zenith was doing 10 day sailing out of Charleston, we went to our cabin on embarkation day to put valuables in our safe.

There was no safe!

We called the purser's desk. They assured us we had a safe and that it was in our closet.

We told them to come up and find it because there was no safe!

Feel sure the people at the Purser's Desk were :rolleyes: :rolleyes: and saying we have some idiots who can't find their safe. :D

Seems our cabin steward would have noticed the safe was missing when he was cleaning the cabin. :confused:

Bottom Line: Seems the safe in that cabin didn't work so they were replacing it so it had been removed but there was a mix up with the work order so it hadn't been replaced. It took them a very long time for them to install the new safe because it had to be bolted down. We went out for the rest of the afternoon and then for the evening. They were just finishing when we returned at midnight.

Crazy things can and do happen on ships! :D

LuLu