Damaged luggage outcome

[Stevie Lawson]

Hi all,

We were on the Jewel of the Seas as Diamonds last month. Upon disembarkation our luggage was damaged. We left two suitcases outside our cabin on the last night and when we picked them up at the pier next morning both had cracks in the casing. What now appears to be from a fork lift truck lifting the luggage in a cage.

We reported the damage at the pier and received a form to send to RCCL. We also had to get our bags film wrapped at San Juan airport as we had 3 ongoing international flights, costing $25.00.

After four weeks of waiting for a response from Guest Relations I finally received a phone call today. Was advised that they depreciate bags by 20% per year from the purchase price, which would have left us with nothing as they were around 5 years old. As a gesture of goodwill to loyal repeat guests we got half the price back or the option of a future cruise credit to the full value.

Our insurance company advise a deduction of around $80 excess.

Interesting outcome to something that could happen to us all. Prefer to take off own bags if the option is there, but then they could get damaged on embarkation too.

Edited October 27, 2014 by Stevie Lawson

[trev71]

Sorry to hear about that. Ive heard tons of other stories about this as well. Try not to invest too much into my suitcases. I had one I took on three cruises and had to throw it out. It was so beat up between the airlines and the cruise port. I know i only used it three times.

 

Edit: i know one time royal broke a wheel off my suitcase before, It was on there the night before and same as you picked it up at the port and it was laying on its side

Edited October 27, 2014 by trev71

[cruzinlady1947]

We had one piece of luggage damaged the first time we used it. We don't fly to cruise, so know it happened at the cruise port. Didn't bother filing a claim. I knew it probably wouldn't do any good, but maybe I should have. Something would have been better than nothing. Duck tape worked fine so far to fix it. At least we can still use it.

 

 

Gwen :)

[orville99]

Have you checked with the luggage manufacturer to see if it is still under their warranty? The last time we had luggage damaged by rough handling, the manufacturer replaced it at no cost, because it was still under their warranty.

[Mommags123]

A few years ago we took the auto train from VA to FL to get a cruise from Port Canaveral. So our luggage was crammed into the back of our vehicle before getting to the terminal. WE dropped the luggage off at the curb and had them deliver it to our room.

 

When it got to our room we realized one bag was missing a wheel and pieces of plastic that surrounded the wheel assembly were on the floor where the bag sat outside our room.

 

Our first reaction was oh well, not that expensive of a bag.....

But our room steward kept insisting we fill out a form and / or maybe they cold fix it for us on board. So by the next day we said, ok.. lets see what they can do because carrying he big bag and not wheeling it was going to be a pain.

 

Well they could not fix it. So they gave us $100 on board credit. ( which is what we paid for the bag at Target a few years earlier). I felt this to be a very generous compensation and we enjoyed a few drinks while deciding who got to carry the broken bag!

 

After the cruise we were getting the luggage back into our car..... and found the wheel and more plastic pieces ... Apparently it broke in our car on the ride down.

 

Oooops.... :)

[griffy116]

After 17 cruises (16 on Royal), we've only had one piece of luggage get damaged. It was a little disheartening because we were in a scramble to get the luggage, get into the car and get going. We didn't notice a problem until we got home. When I opened the piece of luggage, small pieces of plastic was all in the clothing. The luggage was soft-side and the casing had been crushed. It looked like it had gotten caught in between something and crushed, and I don't think there was any way it wasn't noticed. You could tell it had been put back into shape and that's when the plastic fell into the clothing. I called Royal Caribbean and reported it. They said because we didn't notice it at the port, there was nothing they could do. Lesson learned. This was a nice piece of luggage and this particular cruise was the first time it had been used. We buy inexpensive luggage. If it gets damaged, it's no big loss.