Stolen jewelry

[wemjam]

I am so very sorry to hear about this, it is hard enough to lose something, but a sentimental piece is always irreplaceable.

 

I am in the minority here probably, but I always wear nice jewelry on my cruise.  That is the one place I feel I CAN wear it safely - on the ship.  It is part of my packing ritual, I select my jewelry to wear just as I select what outfits to wear.  It ALWAYS stays with me, like my purse.  It is in my shoulder bag at my feet on the plane, at my side with the strap under my backside or in my hand, or on my or my husbands shoulder.  In the room it goes in the safe.  And before people get started, I KNOW there are ways to break into the safes on the ship, but I also know after 50 cruises that the room stewards do not have the time or inclination to jeopardize their jobs by breaking into the safes.  I have accidently left things sitting out, and even on purpose that I wasn't overly worried about, that could easily be picked up and they are ALWAYS still there when we got back to the room after they had cleaned. 

 

I will say things easily happen, I found an amazing REAL diamond ring one time in our safe (expensive piece).  It was like day 2 of a cruise and I was reaching in feeling around for our shore excursion tickets and it was tucked under the lip edge of the front of the safe.  I am sure someone set it in there and didn't check completely enough and forget it when they left.  Luckily I am honest and turned it into guest services (Hope it made its' way back).  

 

This is also why I only put my jewelry in the safe IN a closed container where it can't fall out (too easy to set something in there loose and miss it!)  I found the perfect solution (after years of trying everything under the sun) for carrying it.  I use a little divided box from the dollar store meant for little screws and such.  Very flat and small, each has it's own section, and the lid keeps it all in place safely without everything getting all jumbled up.  Kind of like this one (just found a picture as an example), but mine is configured slightly different.  Easy to travel with, easy to see what you want and pull it out to wear.  This is even how I store all my pieces in my safe now for easy access and viewing.

Edited August 1, 2023 by wemjam

[jimbo5544]

29 minutes ago, wemjam said:

I am so very sorry to hear about this, it is hard enough to lose something, but a sentimental piece is always irreplaceable.

 

I am in the minority here probably, but I always wear nice jewelry on my cruise.  That is the one place I feel I CAN wear it safely - on the ship.  It is part of my packing ritual, I select my jewelry to wear just as I select what outfits to wear.  It ALWAYS stays with me, like my purse.  It is in my shoulder bag at my feet on the plane, at my side with the strap under my backside or in my hand, or on my or my husbands shoulder.  In the room it goes in the safe.  And before people get started, I KNOW there are ways to break into the safes on the ship, but I also know after 50 cruises that the room stewards do not have the time or inclination to jeopardize their jobs by breaking into the safes.  I have accidently left things sitting out, and even on purpose that I wasn't overly worried about, that could easily be picked up and they are ALWAYS still there when we got back to the room after they had cleaned. 

 

I will say things easily happen, I found an amazing REAL diamond ring one time in our safe (expensive piece).  It was like day 2 of a cruise and I was reaching in feeling around for our shore excursion tickets and it was tucked under the lip edge of the front of the safe.  I am sure someone set it in there and didn't check completely enough and forget it when they left.  Luckily I am honest and turned it into guest services (Hope it made its' way back).  

 

This is also why I only put my jewelry in the safe IN a closed container where it can't fall out (too easy to set something in there loose and miss it!)  I found the perfect solution (after years of trying everything under the sun) for carrying it.  I use a little divided box from the dollar store meant for little screws and such.  Very flat and small, each has it's own section, and the lid keeps it all in place safely without everything getting all jumbled up.  Kind of like this one (just found a picture as an example), but mine is configured slightly different.  Easy to travel with, easy to see what you want and pull it out to wear.  This is even how I store all my pieces in my safe now for easy access and viewing.

Love your funky jewelry….😉

[OneLuckyMom]

1 hour ago, jimbo5544 said:

Love your funky jewelry….😉

Maybe she's a robot 😁

[Roscoe13]

8 minutes ago, OneLuckyMom said:

Maybe she's a robot 😁

I heard this elderly guy say that back in high school he didn't have cuff links for a dress shirt so his mom used nuts and bolts instead. 

[ultrafighter]

Oh man, I am so sorry.  I'm going to hope against the odds that somehow it makes its way back to you.

[ultrafighter]

1 hour ago, Roscoe13 said:

I heard this elderly guy say that back in high school he didn't have cuff links for a dress shirt so his mom used nuts and bolts instead. 

I absolutely LOVE the resourcefulness.

[BlerkOne]

On 7/31/2023 at 12:28 PM, CSMITHFL said:

TSA locks are opened you will find a standard paper notice.  

TSA has nothing to do with port security. You could use a tow chain and padlock if you want.

[Butterbean1000]

On 7/30/2023 at 10:17 AM, Rv6flyer said:

Why even take precious jewelry on a cruise. My wife snd Idon’t even wear our wedding bands because of this fear. She takes some costume ear rings and that is it. Do not have the need to show the world what we have or don’t.

I take my good jewlery because it is an oportunity to wear it.  I don't take all my good stuff, but some pieces I got on past cruises and I like to wear them. I understand the risk and am careful with them.

[FTLCruiseGal]

I once worked in a hotel and the guest was very adamant that the housekeeper stole her necklace. She was screaming and going on and on in front of other guests. We had her call the police to file a report. I get a call about 2 months later saying she found it in another bag that she did not even bring with her. Not saying this is the case, but this woman insisted she had the necklace with her on the trip. I am hoping there is the same outcome here. I often think I put things in my bag and when I get to the hotel or ship, turns out I left it at home.

[Mavrick_RN]

I thought Carnival Security can always check your bag for contraband.  I found that out when my wife and I tried to sneak sealed bottles of Pre-mixed Margaritas on board in each of our checked bags.  Hers made it through.  My bag got searched and bottle seized and kept in Security for the duration of our trip.  They did leave a printed note that said I could retrieve my "item" from Security upon debarkation. Got it back and we had Margaritas in the hotel post-cruise.

[sanger727]

On 7/31/2023 at 9:15 PM, mz-s said:

 

Pawn shops run everything they buy by the police.

 

This is a pretty broad statement. Maybe in some places they do, but certainly not all places. Alot has to do with how state laws treat pawn shops in possession of stolen goods. In Ohio, even if you can prove the items were stolen from you, they belong to the pawn shop and they can sell them. Typically the pawn shop will return the item for free or sell it for to the owner for the amount they spent on it. And in this case we do have a very good database that pawn shops report the items they buy to. It's optional, but many report to it. 

 

In Kentucky, if you can prove the items in the pawn shop were stolen, they can be seized and returned to you. Pawn shops there are much less willing to report purchases or work with the police since they are out their money if stolen items are found. 

[mz-s]

57 minutes ago, sanger727 said:

 

This is a pretty broad statement. Maybe in some places they do, but certainly not all places. Alot has to do with how state laws treat pawn shops in possession of stolen goods. In Ohio, even if you can prove the items were stolen from you, they belong to the pawn shop and they can sell them. Typically the pawn shop will return the item for free or sell it for to the owner for the amount they spent on it. And in this case we do have a very good database that pawn shops report the items they buy to. It's optional, but many report to it. 

 

In Kentucky, if you can prove the items in the pawn shop were stolen, they can be seized and returned to you. Pawn shops there are much less willing to report purchases or work with the police since they are out their money if stolen items are found. 

 

I'll keep that in mind the next time I'm on a cruise leaving out of Kentucky or Ohio and my jewelry is stolen ((the entire point of this thread you know)). Always someone trying to play "gotcha" on forums...gets so tiring.

[2wheelin]

19 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

I'll keep that in mind the next time I'm on a cruise leaving out of Kentucky or Ohio and my jewelry is stolen ((the entire point of this thread you know)). Always someone trying to play "gotcha" on forums...gets so tiring.

What’s tiring is when someone makes an absolute statement and then gets all pantywadded when someone else legitimately clarifies the statement for others, who might otherwise believe it. 

Guessing here, but KY and OH are probably not the only examples and who says all stolen items, if pawned, are done so where they are stolen.

Anyway, my opinion is that these particular items were more likely misplaced or lost than stolen.

[BlerkOne]

I'm still waiting for Paul Harvey to tell us the rest of the story. The jewelry is somewhere and it got there somehow.

[Kanyon71]

My parents owned pawn shops for over 20 years. Based on them stating that every pawn in the US is required by many local, state AND Federal laws I am lead to believe that the laws may vary on how merchandise is treated if needing to be returned to someone but that all of them including the federal government requires every transaction to be logged (back when we first started by hand, now all done digitally) and sent to the police department. I do not remember how often we had to do this by hand (weekly or monthly) but now it's all nightly.

 

Now I'm sure you will get some sketchy ones that try to skirt the law but based on their years in the business most of the pawn shop owners where pretty good people and always worked with the law to get people their stuff back.

 

My parents always would either return the item to the person or at most return it with them paying us back what we paid for it.

 

As for the OP, I'm really sorry this happened to you, sucks that we live in a world where we always have to think someone is just waiting to rip us off. It seems to be getting worse and worse, between the people stealing stuff and those always trying to scam us via, Phone, Email, Text and so on.

[mz-s]

5 hours ago, 2wheelin said:

What’s tiring is when someone makes an absolute statement and then gets all pantywadded when someone else legitimately clarifies the statement for others, who might otherwise believe it. 

Guessing here, but KY and OH are probably not the only examples and who says all stolen items, if pawned, are done so where they are stolen.

Anyway, my opinion is that these particular items were more likely misplaced or lost than stolen.

I really don’t know how many times OP has to explain they know the items were stolen.

 

it’s bordering on victim blaming at this point.

 

you all can unclench - we acknowledge that carnival themselves aren’t the ones that scan luggage - we aren’t blaming CCL. So I don’t understand the white knighting in the replies of this thread.

[StephPS79]

2 hours ago, mz-s said:

I really don’t know how many times OP has to explain they know the items were stolen.

 

it’s bordering on victim blaming at this point.

 

you all can unclench - we acknowledge that carnival themselves aren’t the ones that scan luggage - we aren’t blaming CCL. So I don’t understand the white knighting in the replies of this thread.

 

I'm with you on this one.

[BlerkOne]

10 hours ago, mz-s said:

 

 

it’s bordering on victim blaming at this point.

 

If the jewelry wasn't stolen, who's the victim?

[Elaine5715]

On 8/2/2023 at 11:45 PM, Mavrick_RN said:

I thought Carnival Security can always check your bag for contraband.  I found that out when my wife and I tried to sneak sealed bottles of Pre-mixed Margaritas on board in each of our checked bags.  Hers made it through.  My bag got searched and bottle seized and kept in Security for the duration of our trip.  They did leave a printed note that said I could retrieve my "item" from Security upon debarkation. Got it back and we had Margaritas in the hotel post-cruise.

yes, they can.  It is part of your cruise contract.  

[OneLuckyMom]

19 hours ago, mz-s said:

I really don’t know how many times OP has to explain they know the items were stolen.

 

it’s bordering on victim blaming at this point.

 

you all can unclench - we acknowledge that carnival themselves aren’t the ones that scan luggage - we aren’t blaming CCL. So I don’t understand the white knighting in the replies of this thread.

I don't know that it's victim blaming, but the number of people who seem to think the OP doesn't have a clue and can't possibly be correct in saying it was stolen is amazing to me.  It is very dismissive. I personally choose to believe the OP isn't an idiot and searched thoroughly for the item before determining it was stolen, like all of us know to do.

 

[aborgman]

On 8/3/2023 at 10:04 AM, Kanyon71 said:

 I am lead to believe that the laws may vary on how merchandise is treated if needing to be returned to someone but that all of them including the federal government requires every transaction to be logged (back when we first started by hand, now all done digitally) and sent to the police department.

 

Nope.

 

There are several federal regulations that affect pawn brokers (IRS 8300, Military Lending Act, SDN regulations, Precious Metals Dealer rules, etc.) - but no federal regulation requires logging every transaction or reporting it to anyone.

 

State and City regulations on reporting vary WILDLY.

 

All states require pawn brokers to LOG transactions, keep the logs for some amount of time (2-3 years is common), and turn those logs over to law enforcement IF ASKED.

 

Michigan - where I live - requires no reporting at all.

Maryland (where this took place) DOES require daily reporting of transactions to local police.

 

 

...

 

 

[ProgRockCruiser]

2 minutes ago, aborgman said:

Maryland (where this took place) DOES require daily reporting of transactions to local police.

I have no reason to believe the OP is wrong in thinking the items were stolen.

 

So, that means the thief was fast-acting, knew what to look for, and probably has done this before, maybe as an organized racket.  i.e. not just a casual first-time opportunistic thief.

 

Therefore, they will know pawned items will be reported in MD.

 

Conclusion: the items probably went to a state where tracking is more lax.

 

Leading to this question: what are the pawn reporting laws in DC, PA, and VA?

 

It sucks, but there are organized crime rings for everything, so this unfortunately does not surprise me.  Heck, it would surprise me there aren't thieves actively looking out in the baggage-handling-chain of custody system.

[BlerkOne]

4 hours ago, OneLuckyMom said:

I don't know that it's victim blaming, but the number of people who seem to think the OP doesn't have a clue and can't possibly be correct in saying it was stolen is amazing to me.  It is very dismissive. I personally choose to believe the OP isn't an idiot and searched thoroughly for the item before determining it was stolen, like all of us know to do.

 

Who said anyone was an idiot? More than one has admitted to being mistaken before. What is strange are those who refuse to consider the possibility, whatever the odds, even though it clearly happens.