Luggage loaded onto wrong ship

[Sharkb8]

The luggage tags would have the correct sailing. Ooops.. you had a porter put them on? Oh yeah, nevermind.

 

wow, seeing some heartless replies already but that is not surprising on here.

 

If the OP's retelling is accurate, a representative of the company took responsibility for getting the luggage transferred so there should have been some compensation for their situation.

 

I am sure one of you will come back and say that the person checking them in is not an employee of Royal Caribbean. Whether they are or are not it doesn't matter, they are representing the cruise line.

[Neeny12]

Just in case: carry on has my meds, brush, toothpaste, toothbrush, 1 extra undergarment, bathing suit and beaded coverup which can also double as a dress for dining room (bought it on a cruise - it's very nice) and wear one smart casual outfit for embarkation with waterproof sandals. If I have to buy anything on board, if available, then so be it. Hopefully RCI can help a bit while on board. Just ask. Try to enjoy the holiday. Claim later. :)

[Debde]

They told their cab driver to take them to Houston.

 

They were supposed to be in Galveston.

 

Fortunately, they had enough time to get to Galveston!

 

:eek:

 

I have to admit-for that one-I don't think I can try to cut some slack!! :D

[Merion_Mom]

Just got off the phone with a friend who sailed Brillance OTS in Nov. Her luggage was loaded onto the wrong ship and her and her husband didn't receive the luggage until day 8, of a 10 day cruise, when the other ship that had their luggage had been in the same port as their ship. She said there were two RC ships in port when they arrived but they only saw one RC ship and went through the line only to find out at check in they were in line for wrong ship. They don't remember seeing any signs with the name of ship and showed the luggage port their sea pass. I forgot to ask but I think they took a cab to port and were dropped off in front of wrong ship. Once the person that was checking them in told them they were in line for wrong cruise and that she would have their luggage transferred to correct ship. They checked into the correct ship at 1pm and the ships didn't leave until around 4. When luggage didn't arrive on the next day they informed the front desk and no compensation was offered. They didn't have any clothes that they carried on but did have toletries and meds. They spent there whole first stop in Key West taking taxi to a Kmart in town and buying new clothes and didn't want to spend too much so only bought shorts and t shirts. They didn't go to the dining room until day 8 since they didn't have proper attire. I think they should have had some compensation. Would just like to get others opinions. She plans to write a letter this week and she did put all the details on comment card too.

 

I do not see anywhere that the poster says that her "friends" were newbies. So many people used that as part of their responses.

 

chanat, had your friends ever cruised before?

 

(for the record, when I took my first cruise, I read EVERY SINGLE WORD of my documents and cruise contract.)

[Ocean Boy]

I do not see anywhere that the poster says that her "friends" were newbies. So many people used that as part of their responses.

 

chanat, had your friends ever cruised before?

 

(for the record, when I took my first cruise, I read EVERY SINGLE WORD of my documents and cruise contract.)

 

So did I. And my first reaction was....Why the heck would anyone ever agree to this?

[toras]

If they had "lost luggage" insurance and contacted them right away, they might have been able to purchase stuff on board and had it taken care of. Don't know if insurance would help after the cruise is over.

[BND]

It still involves personal responsibility. This really isn't about luggage. It's about knowing which ship you are on and what pier it's at. It's not something they keep secret.

[TravelinGert]

My take on this situation depends. If your friend showed the porter their set sail pass which of course has the information on it about which ship in order to make certain they were in the right place, then yes. Royal Caribbean shoulders a small portion of the blame. Certainly it should be expected the porters would know and tell guests if they are at the wrong dock.

 

Then, when they were told their luggage would be transferred, Royal shouldered another small portion of the blame.

 

My experience with Royal is typically they don't just offer anything. I think your friend should have politely asked if they could get a free tuxedo rental and bought a dress for the wife at Kmart. At least I would have asked. My personal experience is if you ask, Royal is extremely kind about making reasonable arrangements such as that. I know I've seen otherwise posted on the board, but that's not been my experience.

 

Now that the cruise is over, I think if everything is as presented, it would be good customer service if Royal offered a small future cruise credit. Will they do so? I have no idea.

 

Please don't take my comments that I think you are not telling the truth. Just this is a story filtered through another person, and you did mention you got the ship's name wrong. I'm sure your friend will provide Royal with the proper information.

[Merion_Mom]

My hairdresser is going on a cruise in June from Miami. When I asked her what cruise line, she said Royal Caribbean, like you. She asked if I had been on that ship, I told her, no, I hadn't sailed on Majesty but had sailed Sovereign. She said that wasn't the right name, it was Oasis.:eek:

 

Thursday my son-in-law, who works in Tampa, texted me, "I just saw the Monarch in port!"

 

I had to text him back: It was either the Brilliance or the Vision. The Monarch has been gone from the fleet almost three years ago.

 

:)

 

Confusion is common, apparently!

[Lerin]

Honestly surprised this doesn't happen more often.

 

Thousands of people +ships that pretty much look the same. Even a seasoned cruiser could get confused.

We stopped in a port where both Disney Magic and Carnival Magic were docked. Everyone, I mean everyone including street vendors and cab drivers, would ask which Magic we were on. A little surprised porters wouldn't be this diligent.

[iheartbda]

My daughter's friend made the same sort of mistake last month.

 

She has been an "airhead" for as long as I have known her.

 

They told their cab driver to take them to Houston.

 

They were supposed to be in Galveston.

 

Fortunately, they had enough time to get to Galveston!

 

:eek:

Please don't tell me she's blonde.:D

 

Friend told me he was going on a cruise but he had no idea what line, ship or where he was going, all he knew was he was leaving out of Ft. Lauderdale. In his defense, his parents booked and paid.

[UpcountryTravelers]

The name of the ship is on the luggage tag. There is NO EXCUSE for it being on the wrong ship. The "wrong ship" should have immediately refused it and sent it to the correct ship. Totally the fault of the cruise line.

[Merion_Mom]

The name of the ship is on the luggage tag. There is NO EXCUSE for it being on the wrong ship. The "wrong ship" should have immediately refused it and sent it to the correct ship. Totally the fault of the cruise line.

 

1. Once bags are collected and loaded on the ship, no one is looking at the name of the ship on the tag, just on the location of the cabin. And the loading areas for the two ships are NOT side-by-side, as described in a previous post. There is no reason for personnel to be 'suspicious' of the provenance of any bag.

 

2. HOWEVER.............by the time the bags are loaded on the ship and distribution is taking place, the ship has sailed.

 

The poster said that the two ships didn't meet again until Day 8.

[Big_G]

The name of the ship is on the luggage tag. There is NO EXCUSE for it being on the wrong ship. The "wrong ship" should have immediately refused it and sent it to the correct ship. Totally the fault of the cruise line.

 

Which part? Was it the non-Royal Caribbean taxi that took them to the wrong ship or the non-Royal Caribbean dock workers that took their luggage or maybe the non-Royal Caribbean employee that told them they were at the wrong ship. I think it's not so simple as to automatically blame the cruise line when stuff like this happens. There's a lot that goes into getting you on a ship not to exclude the passenger knowing one ship from another. Let's just leave the unverified version of this story as unfortunate.

[mollyeilis]

Is this NOT a security issue? All we have to do to get bags on the ship is to walk up to it and TRY to board it? Seriously? This should never have gone beyond the porters. THEY are the ones who took the bags and sent them towards the wrong ship.

 

 

Not everyone can easily get their size in every type of clothing. The ship doesn't necessarily carry all tux sizes onboard at the last minute. Not everyone can carry 3-4 days worth of clothing in their carryons! Huge assumption about what everyone can do just because the poster saying it can do it.

 

 

 

Sorry they had checked into the wrong ship. The ship could have given them the ok to eat in the dining room in their shorts. That is a hard lesson to learn but we need to be aware of our surroundings. If they had travel insurance I would make a claim for the clothes they purchased. They should get the money they spent for clothes in Key West.

 

I'm shocked the ship personnel did NOT give them the OK. 2 years ago the teen at our table was specifically told that he didn't have to dress up for formal night, that he was more than welcome.

 

I think this couple should have been helped more and now should be compensated.

 

 

 

Also, if the guest did not have their own luggage tags attached before arrival at the pier, shouldn't they have been responsible for verifying the ship and stateroom number. Give me a break-where does personal responsibility stop!!

 

No. The porter should have caught it. That's their JOB. It's their only job, to get the bags onto the right ship.

 

 

Very unfortunate situation but the person really needed to follow up with guest relations immediately when they boarded the ship.

 

I do agree with this.

 

 

The bags most probably did not have luggage tags....I wouldn't dream of sending my bags with no tags, even the porters check this and if there are none they put them on, asking you what cabin. Their tags have the ship's name. Unless they were just not paying attention, I do not know how this whole debacle happened:confused:

 

If their bags had no tags on them, it's the porter's job to help with that. If the porter didn't check the info, how is that NOT their job? Again, it's their job. Their responsibility.

 

 

 

My reaction to this?

 

What a security lapse. Someone who is not booked on a ship can get luggage on to the ship.

 

Very, very scary.

 

I would contact the Department of Homeland Security so they can get the porters and longshoremen to implement a requirement that you show them your travel documents before you can place baggage on a ship.

 

Seriously. I agree. All the nonsense done in the name of security, but THIS here is a REAL lapse and everyone is just poo-pooing it.

 

 

 

The luggage tags would have the correct sailing. Ooops.. you had a porter put them on? Oh yeah, nevermind.

 

? Our printer is awful, and we had the porters at PC put the real ones on for Freedom 2 years ago. They asked us the ship ("that one right there", LOL...no I didn't say that), the room...they wrote it right out there in front of us. Because it's their job.

 

 

The name of the ship is on the luggage tag. There is NO EXCUSE for it being on the wrong ship.

 

There was no excuse for the bags to be sent toward the wrong ship. It should have been cleared up right there.

[TonRin]

Your friend could have been on the wrong ship and the luggage could have found its way to the right ship. ;-)

 

Is there any such thing as the wrong ship.. least your still cruising! :)

[JamesEM]

I wonder how much they tipped the Porter?

[TravelerThom]

The name of the ship is on the luggage tag...

Are you aware that it has been over three years (August 2012) since Royal Caribbean provided hard copy luggage tags to most cruisers? The name of the ship is not on the luggage tag if the luggage tag doesn't exist (no printer, printer out of ink, didn't realize / remember that it needed to be printed, just didn't bother, etc.)

[chanat]

Thanks again for all the replies. My friend said the luggage tags were printed at home and luggage was tagged by them. I am not sure why they didn't buy clothes that were appropriate for the dining room other than she said they didn't want to spend a lot of money on clothes they didn't need. I sure would have at least done that myself. I will ask if they didn't attend shows because of their attire too. That would have really been bad for me as I love RC entertainment. This was not their first cruise, I believe this was there 3rd or 4th, not sure how many with RC. She did say this was the first time at this port. They have a really good attitude about the whole thing and aren't looking for compensation. She said they have been laughing about it ever since. This cruise was booked in celebration of their retirement.

[Ourusualbeach]

While a lot of these arguments about trying to find fault with and blame various staff from the porters to the check in personnel let's not lose sight of the fact that all these interactions occurred AFTER the couple arrived at the WRONG ship.

 

Arriving at and trying to check in to the wrong ship was ultimately the couples own fault and they have no one to blame other than themselves.

 

Trying to find flaws in procedures that may not have been 100% perfect, or like anything are subject to human error, is just trying to blame someone else for their own mistake.

[FLACRUISER99]

Thanks again for all the replies. My friend said the luggage tags were printed at home and luggage was tagged by them. I am not sure why they didn't buy clothes that were appropriate for the dining room other than she said they didn't want to spend a lot of money on clothes they didn't need. I sure would have at least done that myself. I will ask if they didn't attend shows because of their attire too. That would have really been bad for me as I love RC entertainment. This was not their first cruise, I believe this was there 3rd or 4th, not sure how many with RC. She did say this was the first time at this port. They have a really good attitude about the whole thing and aren't looking for compensation. She said they have been laughing about it ever since. This cruise was booked in celebration of their retirement.

Were they printed in color or B & W? As I believe they are color coded by ship.

[TravelerThom]

Thanks again for all the replies. My friend said the luggage tags were printed at home and luggage was tagged by them. I am not sure why they didn't buy clothes that were appropriate for the dining room other than she said they didn't want to spend a lot of money on clothes they didn't need. I sure would have at least done that myself. I will ask if they didn't attend shows because of their attire too. That would have really been bad for me as I love RC entertainment. This was not their first cruise, I believe this was there 3rd or 4th, not sure how many with RC. She did say this was the first time at this port. They have a really good attitude about the whole thing and aren't looking for compensation. She said they have been laughing about it ever since. This cruise was booked in celebration of their retirement.

I'm glad your friends have a really good attitude and are laughing about it. It is easy for people (myself included) with 20/20 hindsight and plenty of time to think about to say what should have been done, but not always as easy in real time. I try to take to heart such stories, and use them to remind me of things not to do - and almost all of us have done things somewhere, sometime that seem not too brilliant in retrospect (and indeed some of us realize we are lucky to not have killed ourselves:rolleyes:). Best wishes for your friends to have a wonderful retirement.

 

Thom

[A&L_Ont]

While a lot of these arguments about trying to find fault with and blame various staff from the porters to the check in personnel let's not lose sight of the fact that all these interactions occurred AFTER the couple arrived at the WRONG ship.

 

Arriving at and trying to check in to the wrong ship was ultimately the couples own fault and they have no one to blame other than themselves.

 

100% agree with this.

 

As for the ones stating they need money compensation I disagree with them. What they should have been given is free laundry, free tux/gown rental, and a few RC T shirts up until their luggage finally met up with them. I feel for these folks you "lost" their luggage but stuff happens. At the end of the day you are only responsible for yourself.

 

However, this unfortunate incident may provide a lesson for those on the boards. If you somehow end up at the wrong ship don't leave there without your luggage. That is unless you are so late you will miss your own all on board time.

[knittinggirl]

On an Alaska cruise, at Port 91 in Seattle, we were sure the luggage would go to the wrong ship. Total chaos at the drop off spot. There was a line and people thought it was to drop off luggage, but it turned out to be a luggage tag line. Porters going every which way. We grabbed a porter, asked which ship then handed over our bags.

 

One person in a Royal Caribbean scarf yelled at me to get at the back of the line, and I explained my husband was way up front.

 

As I said, I fully expected to get to the ship and no luggage, but somehow it made it.

 

We always look for the ship name on the bow when approaching in the taxi.

 

In Port Everglades, we had a porter lose our luggage coming off the ship. He pushed his dolly to the door, and picked up two bags. Usually this works, but this time, there were three bags instead of two. Took about a week for the bag to catch up w/ us at home, and we had to pay the shipping because DH didn't do the claim form. He was more worried about his sick wife than the suitcase.

 

With our missing luggage, Royal found our luggage same day, but refused to send it to our hotel. They insisted on sending it to their warehouse. I wonder if that's where the OP's missing luggage went too.

 

100% agree with this.

 

As for the ones stating they need money compensation I disagree with them. What they should have been given is free laundry, free tux/gown rental, and a few RC T shirts up until their luggage finally met up with them. I feel for these folks you "lost" their luggage but stuff happens. At the end of the day you are only responsible for yourself.

 

Royal Caribbean told us they're not responsible for what the porters do, so they didn't have to pay shipping. But I think Royal Contracts w/ Port Everglades, and port Everglades hires the porters, so Royal is paying for competence at the port and should accept some responsibility too. This shouldn't have happened. With all the people insisting to see their paperwork from the front door of the terminal all the way to getting the seapass, that gateway security should have noticed!

Edited January 10, 2016 by knittinggirl

[Ourusualbeach]

100% agree with this.

 

As for the ones stating they need money compensation I disagree with them. What they should have been given is free laundry, free tux/gown rental, and a few RC T shirts up until their luggage finally met up with them. I feel for these folks you "lost" their luggage but stuff happens. At the end of the day you are only responsible for yourself.

 

However, this unfortunate incident may provide a lesson for those on the boards. If you somehow end up at the wrong ship don't leave there without your luggage. That is unless you are so late you will miss your own all on board time.

 

On the Oasis at Christmas there was a gentleman beside us at guest services whose luggage hadn't arrived. The staff were offering him all of the above. It was nice to see the staff helping him out and doing their best to make the situation bearable.