Port put bags on wrong ship

[Domergirl]

you're going to pay $150/hrs for the attorney

 

I'm sorry...you're right...it's just an unfortunate situation...but I'm LOLing at an attorney for $150/hour. Maybe a 3rd year law student....

[Boozebabe]

I think we were on the cruise right before yours. We sailed on 2/20. The Breeze was in port when we returned. We also drove and had a hard time getting in the correct lane and drove too far and had to circle back. I made sure we were in front of the correct ship when we gave our luggage to the porter.

 

About the second day of the cruise we received a notice in our cabin that they were searching for a burgundy suitcase. We got the notice nearly every day including the last full day. I have such a fear that something will happen to my luggage. I wish we could carry on all our stuff. We are able to carry it all off. The porters/longshoremen have waaaaayy too much control with no responsibility. What can ya' do??

[Boozebabe]

There is plenty of signage at the port. OP's table mates weren't paying enough attention.

 

After coming out of the tunnel we were driving very slow since we didn't know which dock and we saw the scrolling sign and it never mentioned our ship that morning. We have driven before so we kind of knew what to do. I can see where a first timer could get very confused.

[cynalan]

Pretty clear to me. The passengers made a mistake and are not willing to own up to the fact. Why would Carnival be liable when the passengers dropped their bags off at the wrong ship? Sure the dock handler could have noticed but realize that these workers are moving thousands of bags in a very short time frame. Sorry they had a bad experience but it really was their fault. Trying to pass the blame will not change that.

[lizardhowson]

I have always found those great big two football field long hunks of steel we call ships are adequately labeled (i.e. Carnival this or that ship) and in plain view so that there is never any question of which ship I am leaving my luggage at.

 

I concur, your tablemates were simply not paying attention.

 

Case dismissed !

[LMaxwell]

Every time I hand a porter my bags I am usually asked, by the porter, what ship I am there for. If not, I confirm with the porter. I always get my bags tagged at the pier by the porter so they ask to see my paperwork anyways.

 

I usually find the SHIP to be a pretty dead giveaway anyways. That said I fully realize many people are not ship experts or may not realize there are multiple / similar looking Carnival ships in port the same day. Miami's signage could definitely be improved. It seems like you don't get a lot of time to see the digital sign and if it doesn't have the info on it you need you drive past before it can scroll.

 

So, I don't necessarily think Carnival or the port are to blame here; it is a good lesson to be more diligent in verifying you are in the right place. But, yes, Miami's signage could stand some improvement.

[darth frosty]

There is plenty of signage at the port. OP's table mates weren't paying enough attention.

 

Yeah I agree we just got off the breeze and we had an uber driver from FLL to POM they were following the signage with no problem and so was I.

[Mikew0805]

The longshoremen are not hired by Carnival, they are hired by the port. It is not their responsibility to get the bags on the correct ship. It is their responsibility to get the bags that are handed to them on the ship that they are working on. The only people at fault were the passengers. I Have cruised out of Miami many times and it is clearly marked.

 

Only blame here lies with the people who can't read signs or see the lettering on the side of the ship where they dropped their luggage off.

 

I disagree. You are right they are hired by the port. Carnival.. hires the port with the payment of docking fees. So the port, and the longshoremen are acting as agents of Carnival.

 

This is not all the guests fault. Especially, and inexperienced cruiser. In this day and age of security, it worries me that a bag, can make it onto a passenger vessel, that it does not belong on. Not to mention that the longshoremen know they name of the ship they are servicing, and if they cannot use basic reading & comprehension skills, to know that the tag does not match the ship... then they are at the very least overpaid, and irresponsible.. if not incompetent.

 

I love how people with find no fault in a cruise line, and defend it no matter what. I wish my job would allow me to make such errors, and have people defend me. "Oh he said his name was John Smith, and I didn't bother to comprehend the band on his arm, that clearly said he was not, when I gave him the wrong medication." So it is totally HIS fault that I didn't do my job. :cool: :rolleyes:

[Cruisesfun65]

Very odd....

The first thing I look for when we exit the tunnel is our ship.

The signs clearly tells you which ship is where PLUS you do see the ship docked.

If I'm on the Glory, there is no way I would get out at the Breeze terminal as I would SEE that the huge Breeze is docked there.

[Micahs Grandad]

Very odd....

The first thing I look for when we exit the tunnel is our ship.

The signs clearly tells you which ship is where PLUS you do see the ship docked.

If I'm on the Glory, there is no way I would get out at the Breeze terminal as I would SEE that the huge Breeze is docked there.

 

So true

[richmke]

A lot of responses presumes the passenger knows what to do. When you are a first time traveler, you have no idea what to expect. I was a first time traveler last week, I drove myself to the dock, and it never occurred to me to look up at the ship for its name. I was looking all around the terminal itself, and saw nothing. The signage may be a lot better coming out of the tunnel, but when we drove, we came across the bridge and never went through a tunnel.

 

Also, the table mates DID ASK THE BAGGAGE HANDLER IF THEY WERE DROPPING THE BAGS AT THE RIGHT SHIP. The handler confirmed they were at the right dock and took their bags. The handler did NOT LOOK AT THE CARNIVAL TAG to confirm that the bags were tagged for the correct ship. IMHO, the baggage handler was 100% at fault. The Passenger did not blindly leave the bags, but made an affirmative inquiry. The Baggage Handler did not provide the correct information that should have been known by the Baggage Handler.

 

For those who think bombs are easy to detect: you don't need electronics and dense explosives for a WMD.

 

I do agree that when they arrived at the dock for check-in, and realized they dropped bags at the wrong dock, they should have notified the check-in person right away. However, consider this: Due to delays, it took them more than 1 hour from when they dropped their bags to when they arrived for check-in. Good luck in trying to find the bags at that point.

 

Finally, the Baggage Handler is an agent for Carnival. The Baggage Handler may not be directly employed by Carnival, but they are indirectly employed by Carnival. I don't care how many companies removed the Baggage Handler is from Carnival. Carnival could contract with Ports-R-Us -> Port of Miami -> Docks-R-Us-Management-Company -> Bags-R-Us -> Employment-Agency -> Temp-Agency -> Long-Shoreman-Union ... Carnival is contracting with the Port for the dock and services. The services being provided to Carnival's Customers is thus an Agent of Carnival. Carnival has to hold those service providers to a certain level of expectations. Carnival is the only one who can demand that the Agents perform at a minimal level. If it is not part of the Baggage Handler's job description to know which ship he is loading, it should be. Maybe the guy who is pushing around the cart could care less, but the guys who interact with the passengers should know.

Edited March 7, 2016 by richmke

[Rudyard]

They went to park their car, and when the shuttle dropped them off, they suspected a problem.

 

Sorry, but all the "who employs who" gymnastics don't make up for this. if they had a feeling something was wrong they should have taken their concerns to someone higher up the food chain than a porter.

[blondietink]

We are cruised out of Miami 3 times and have had no problems finding which ship is at which dock. Besides, the ship is docked there and in big letters you can read Carnival Glory or Carnival Breeze. These people just weren't paying attention.

 

I will say that the first time we sailed out of Miami we drove through the port and back out and around just so we could figure out where we were supposed to go. We thought we were correct the first time through and we were right, but wanted to make sure anyway since it was a new port to us. The people were in too much of a hurry to make sure they got it right. Their fault.

[Sweet Dutch Girl]

Also, the table mates DID ASK THE BAGGAGE HANDLER IF THEY WERE DROPPING THE BAGS AT THE RIGHT SHIP.

 

If I was relating the "story" to someone I would swear on a stack of bibles that I did everything right and that someone else was totally responsible for the fact I dropped the baggage off at the wrong terminal. Who wants to appear like an idiot in front of new found tablemates.

[DirtyDawg]

Is this issue a big epidemic at Miami? Do lots of people have their bags end up on a wrong ship? That day, those two ships probably loaded over 6,000 people. If it was only two who had misplaced luggage that's a success rate for the port (and Carnival and the passengers) of 5,998 out of 6,000 or 99.97%. Now if 600 people had misplaced bags that day then there is likely a problem with the signage etc.

[cruiserNC]

Its unfortunate and a reminder to myself check and double check everything. I'm usually so uptight on embarkation day that I can't relax until everyone in my party is on the ship have their luggage.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Pyrate13]

OK, The porter gets so many questions they may have completely misunderstood or misheard the question. They probably don't even glance at the tags and just toss them into one of the bins. I would bet no one looked at the tags until the ships crew started to take the bags to cabins.

 

Even if the porter answered incorrectly, the passengers got on the correct ship right? Seems you would then realize your bags were dropped at the wrong place. Once you knew they were boarding at a different terminal wouldn't you think to mention at check in, 'Hey, I dropped my bags with the guy at that ship, will they still be transferred to this one? Find out what the needed procedure is. Do you need to go reclaim them, will they send them over, etc. If you don't get an answer you feel sure of, get a supervisor involved.

 

We've sailed out of Miami and even on the first time it was easy to figure out where our ship was. No problem with signage and the ships all have great big letters on them with their name. Not sure you're at the right spot, drive around again to confirm.

[dmdiver]

One more justification for me carrying on my luggage. I never even thought about it going on the wrong ship before. Ack!

[bizzybee902]

One more justification for me carrying on my luggage. I never even thought about it going on the wrong ship before. Ack!

 

Do you have the option to carry on full size luggage? I carried on my full size at the Pride, but I thought that was because boarding was delayed and they just wanted everyone to get on quickly.

[bizzybee902]

One more justification for me carrying on my luggage. I never even thought about it going on the wrong ship before. Ack!

 

Disregard my last post. I referred to the FAQs page. It must be able to fit on the security belt and be a certain size. I will now be carrying on my luggage on every cruise!!:cool:

[countrygirlcruiser1234]

This is incredibly unfortunate...however 100% the fault of the passengers. I do all of my research before I cruise. I know what terminal my cruise sails from, what parking garage, what the ship looks like. lack of research is your own fault, handing your bags to a porter at the wrong terminal is your own fault. besides the fact that having asked the porter is a he said/she said situation. did they even get the name of the porter they gave their luggage to? did they record the question and answer...i'm guessing no.

I love how people like to blame their own mistakes on other people.

[jocko4279]

I'm glad I'm cruising out of Baltimore where there is only one ship! :eek:

[BigB0882]

I have never been to that port and I don't doubt the OPs story that they could use better signage but it is obviously not a major problem, otherwise this would be something happening multiple times every cruise and we would hear a lot more about it. I am sure there are signs, maybe YOU didn't see them but that doesn't mean they aren't there. In a new place it is easy to miss things, our eyes are drawn everywhere as we see and experience new sights. They can't have signs every 5 feet, unfortunately. It is upsetting that they double checked with the guy taking their bags and he told them the wrong information. Perhaps he knew he could get the bags on the right ship and didn't worry about it so he just told them "yes" and took the bags. Obviously, he didn't end up following through if that is the case but it may have not been an issue of him lying just to get a tip. Who knows, it may have not been his fault at all. All bags have a bar code on them, don't they? It seems they should have been scanned and at some point a red flag should have been raised. That may have all been after he handled the bags and been out of his control.

 

I am grateful that when I sail out of New Orleans there is usually only one ship. I don't think the Elation and Dream ever leave on the same day, although they do pass each other going up/down the Mississippi sometimes. :)

Edited March 7, 2016 by BigB0882

[wanman]

The OP did say Carnival said the bags were on the Breeze, what did the table mates want them to do? It't not like the ships can change course and toss the luggage to the correct ship. They may be able to fly it to one of the ports, but that could also pose problems.

 

I think carnival did "own" the problem as much as they could, yes your bag is on the Breeze, but there is nothing we can do until we get back to port.

[13cheermom]

I have always found those great big two football field long hunks of steel we call ships are adequately labeled (i.e. Carnival this or that ship) and in plain view so that there is never any question of which ship I am leaving my luggage at.

 

I concur, your tablemates were simply not paying attention.

 

Case dismissed !

 

I totally agree with this. Thats the first thing I am searching for, "where is my ship?" how can you miss the signage on the ship and mistake it. We sail from Miami all the time and have been at all the 3 different terminals, never had a problem before. Regardless of signage the ship says it all!