NYC: Checked Bags Receipt?

[grobma]

I have sailed out of Manhattan 4 times (three times on NCL, once on Cunard) and remember only handing my checked luggage over to a porter and then heading to go through security and check-in.It occurred to me that though my bags had their cruise tags on them, I had no confirmation that I had, in fact, dropped them off in the event of loss or delay. Am I remembering that correctly and/or has that changed? Sailing again in December and was a little concerned about that. Thanks!

Edited September 18, 2022 by grobma

[shof515]

that is correct, you do not get any kind of receipt/confirmation that you dropped off the bag. porters is quick to pick up luggage to send it to the ship

[Got2Cruise]

The people picking up your luggage at the pier are handled by longshoremen not porters. I always give a gratuity. This way your luggage won’t get “lost” 

[navybankerteacher]

2 minutes ago, Got2Cruise said:

The people picking up your luggage at the pier are handled by longshoremen not porters. I always give a gratuity. This way your luggage won’t get “lost” 

I generally do hand a tip to the longshoreman taking our bags and throwing them on the trolly.  But, if you believe that giving a tip is insurance against your luggage getting lost - has it occurred to you that it should be a sufficiently generous trip to earn that protection?   If no tip puts your luggage at risk, wouldn’t an “insufficient” tip also be dangerous?  Is one dollar a bag enough … or should you make it $20 a bag to make sure?

[shof515]

9 hours ago, Got2Cruise said:

The people picking up your luggage at the pier are handled by longshoremen not porters. I always give a gratuity. This way your luggage won’t get “lost” 

your bag takes a very long journey to get to your stateroom with multiple people touching your bag were it could can get lost very easy

 

The porter that you tip only takes your bag to put it on their trolley/cart. That trolley cart is then delivered to the secure area were another set of people unload the cart and then put the bags thru the security machine inside the terminal. after security, the bags is reloaded on a trolley cart to be loaded onto the ship. Once on the ship, ship people then sort the bags and deliver the bags to your room

 

 

[grobma]

49 minutes ago, shof515 said:

your bag takes a very long journey to get to your stateroom with multiple people touching your bag were it could can get lost very easy

Thanks and I know that. Same thing with airlines. But once I hand an airline my bag, I have it documented that that exchange occurred. What happens after that then becomes their responsibility and I have documentation in the event I need to make a claim for loss or delay. Same thing when using a porter at a hotel - I get a claim check. There is apparently no such documented handoff in this case so in the event of loss, it can become my word against theirs.

Edited September 19, 2022 by grobma

[princeton123211]

18 hours ago, grobma said:

t occurred to me that though my bags had their cruise tags on them, I had no confirmation that I had, in fact, dropped them off in the event of loss or delay. Am I remembering that correctly and/or has that changed? Sailing again in December and was a little concerned about that. Thanks!

Easy solution is to just buy a few Apple AirTags. Drop them in your bag, sync them with your phone, and no more risk of not being able to locate them. We did this traveling to Europe this summer and were able to tell British Airways exactly where our luggage was at Heathrow when they claimed they were temporarily unaccounted for. 

[GTJ]

18 hours ago, grobma said:

I have sailed out of Manhattan * * * and remember only handing my checked luggage over to a porter and then heading to go through security and check-in. It occurred to me that * * * I had no confirmation that I had, in fact, dropped them off in the event of loss or delay. Am I remembering that correctly and/or has that changed?

There are at least two issues of interest here. First, as explicitly stated, is being able to prove that someone lost or damaged baggage. Second is what liability attaches to a loss or damage. I am not entirely certain of all the implications here, but let me analyze.

 

Generally, Amtrak handles this situation best, both as far as written policy and in practice, so I will start there. When a passenger hands over baggage to an Amtrak red cap, a red cap receipt is supposed to be given to the passenger. That receipt can support a claim for loss or damage. The red cap will take custody of the baggage and either check the baggage with Amtrak (delivering the checked baggage claim ticket for the checked baggage to the passenger), load the baggage into a car as unchecked baggage, or accompany the passenger with the baggage to some place (be it to baggage check-in, the platform, the train itself, the taxi stand, etc.). Where the passenger accompanies the red cap with the baggage the receipt might be dispensed with because there is never separation of passenger from baggage. In the even of a loss or damage to baggage, there are separate limitations for baggage loss or damage that was checked with Amtrak and lost or damaged by Amtrak's baggage handling, and for baggage lost or damaged by the red cap. For checked baggage, liability for loss or damage is limited to $500 per passenger (which can be increased up to $2,500 if additional charges are paid); for unchecked baggage no liability for loss or damage is accepted at all; and for baggage handled by red caps, liability for loss or damage is limited to $50 per piece of baggage. (There is also a separate liability limit for baggage storage, which is $100 per piece of baggage.)

 

Airlines generally have similar policies as Amtrak, except that skycaps generally do not take custody of passenger baggage, and do not issue receipts therefor. Instead, skycaps handle baggage while accompanied by passengers and deliver it directly to baggage check-in. At baggage check-in the baggage is checked with the airline and a claim ticket for the baggage is given to the passenger (usually it is the skycap himself or herself that checks the baggage for the airline and gives the checked baggage claim ticket to the passenger). Thus, there is no need for skycaps to issue a skycap receipt, and so only checked baggage claim tickets are issued. If airlines lose or damage checked baggage, their liability is limited to $3,800 per passenger, but accept no liability for baggage not checked.

 

For the cruise lines, baggage given to porters is taken into their custody, and they then deliver the baggage to the cruise line for handling onto the vessel and to passenger staterooms. There is separation of baggage from passengers, and, as with the case for Amtrak red caps, rightfully a receipt should be given to support any claim for loss or damage. But receipts are not given. It is a he said, she said, situation, made worse by most passengers not even knowing to whom the baggage was given (almost certainly it was not given to a cruise line employee but to someone employed by the port, a service company, or perhaps someone independent). Assume you get past the issue of proving loss or damage to baggage by a porter. The cruise lines limit baggage claims for loss or damage at very low limits (though accepting liability for baggage that is in a passenger's stateroom and not checked). For example, Norwegian Cruise Line imposes a limit of $100 (which can be increased if additional charges are paid), while Royal Caribbean International disclaims all liability. But cruise lines would likely disclaim any loss or damage of baggage by porters not employed by the cruise lines. Yet this might actually be beneficial because the failure of the porter to have delivered any receipt containing the terms of a contract limiting liability for loss or damage to baggage while in their custody (or adequate signs posted as to liability limits) could render the porter liable for the entire amount of loss or damage without limitation. There might be finger pointing between the porter and the cruise line, as to whom caused loss or damage, but if it can be proven that baggage was delivered to the porter, and that the baggage was lost or damaged by the porter, then there might possibly be full recovery of the amount of loss or damage.

 

(Just to be clear on terminology. "Checking" is the process by which custody over baggage is assumed by a carrier, such baggage then becoming "checked baggage," and the carrier assumes responsibility for the safekeeping, transportation, and delivery of the "checked baggage." Transportation of baggage within a baggage area of the vehicle is not necessary checked baggage: most bus lines will transport baggage in the underfloor baggage compartment of buses, but such baggage is not checked baggage unless the bus line accepts custody over it (which most bus lines do not do today). A "baggage check" is the privilege of being able to check baggage, and is normally a part of the passenger ticket contract, and the receipt portion of a ticket typically indicates that it is both a receipt and baggage check (Amtrak, bus lines, and airlines have all traditionally had a baggage check space on their tickets, which was punched when the baggage checking privilege was used). A "claim ticket" is the receipt for having checked baggage and for identifying the specific baggage that was checked; sometimes "claim ticket" is referred to casually as a "claim check." Where baggage is not checked, sometimes a "courtesy tag" is attached to the unchecked baggage, with an identifying receipt given to the passenger, but no liability is assumed by the carrier for baggage not checked and only identified with a courtesy tag. Yes, there is a lot of transportation lawyering going on here.)

 

This is my approach to the problem. Other thoughts?

[pasodancer]

For what it's worth - we use Apple Air Tags on all luggage when we travel......an added piece of mind for us.  (and, I am debating whether to put one on my DH when we go big box stores - I can lose him in a blink of an eye!)

[grobma]

While it's true that no legal bailment is created when handing off your bags at the pier, nor is there any documentation, I do appreciate the suggestions for AirTags. Just ordered some and know that it will definitely bring some peace of mind. I will at least be able to ensure that they're aboard before we sail!

[Got2Cruise]

I’ve been here on CC for 25 years and very rarely have luggage been reported lost at the NYC pier. Misdirected luggage by the airlines is a different story. 

[GTJ]

3 hours ago, grobma said:

While it's true that no legal bailment is created when handing off your bags at the pier * * *

I would not so readily concede that legal conclusion (though I have not researched the specific issue). But there would be difficulties, relating to evidence and proof of facts, in prevailing on a claim. Having a receipt would be helpful (though photographs or video of the hand-off might be adequate proof of custody having been transferred).

[Noxequifans]

On 9/19/2022 at 7:44 PM, Got2Cruise said:

I’ve been here on CC for 25 years and very rarely have luggage been reported lost at the NYC pier. Misdirected luggage by the airlines is a different story. 

Excellent information.

[navybankerteacher]

On 9/19/2022 at 7:15 PM, grobma said:

While it's true that no legal bailment is created when handing off your bags at the pier, nor is there any documentation, I do appreciate the suggestions for AirTags. Just ordered some and know that it will definitely bring some peace of mind. I will at least be able to ensure that they're aboard before we sail!

And what will you do when your AirTags start showing a growing distance between you and your bags as your ship backs away from the piers?

[princeton123211]

1 hour ago, navybankerteacher said:

On 9/19/2022 at 7:15 PM, grobma said:

 

And what will you do when your AirTags start showing a growing distance between you and your bags as your ship backs away from the piers?

You have electronic documentation to present to the Purser to demand immediate action and have the bags shipped to your next port of call. Our experience with BA is that it got them to act immediately and to stop making excuses. Positive results came much quicker than they did for those who couldn't identify exactly where their bags were. 

[navybankerteacher]

14 hours ago, princeton123211 said:

You have electronic documentation to present to the Purser to demand immediate action and have the bags shipped to your next port of call. Our experience with BA is that it got them to act immediately and to stop making excuses. Positive results came much quicker than they did for those who couldn't identify exactly where their bags were. 

Agreed, but my comment addressed an earlier post which claimed that you could ensure that the bags were on board before you sailed.

[pasodancer]

Unless you are using "carry on" luggage - a sure way to guarantee your luggage is onboard the ship would be to cruise Star Class.    Air Tags won't guarantee your luggage is on board the ship, but it really does help to pinpoint exactly where your luggage may be and will help in recovery.  We've never had our luggage lost by a cruise ship - but misdirected several times by airlines.  We've put in claims several times for delayed baggage.