Surprise by theft in cabin-worried for next sailing...

[pcur]

Now that we have all been educated MOST EMPHATICALLY that curling/flat irons are not considered a fire hazard, this does appear to be a dishonest cabin steward, or assistant.

 

I think the previous poster commenting on what items fetch good prices on the resale market in the Caribbean is correct. If it's an item that is useful, especially if it costs a few hundred dollars, then the curling iron was probably stolen as a gift for a family member, or for extra cash.

 

It's not a matter of locking everything up, but getting them out of sight. If your cabin steward is a thief, and I think about 99% of them are NOT, then only the safe will work. I just put things in drawers and in the side cabinets on the mirror, keep the jewelry, money, passports, and camera in the safe, and enjoy my cruise!! :D :D

[Cindy]

Since the attendants were very good to us, we decided not to file a report.

 

I don't care HOW nice somebody is, if something was missing from my cabin I would report it. Whether the culprit was a cabin steward or a passenger, it's not a laughing matter and should be looked into immediately.

[iheartbda]

My DW's sunblock was stolen from the stateroom on Grandeur. It was a large brand new unopened bottle. Cost about $10.00. She never even used it one time. She had placed it in the bathroom and then it vanished midway through the cruise. We're usually very careful about leaving things out but who would think a bottle of sunblock would get taken?

 

My guess would be the person who took it figured since it wasn't an expensive item, you would think that you had just left it somewhere else and wouldn't make a big deal out of it.

 

I guess the lesson to be learned, after reading this thread, is to report ANYTHING that is missing. If would be thieves know everything is being reported, they may think twice. I would hope so. Have never had anything missing but I'm going to be a bit more careful now.

[TahoeBob]

I use to work at a large Northern Nevada Hotel casino in the lost and found, I would say over half the items that were reported missing from hotel rooms would turn up after the guest checked out. The funny thing is that they would be found in the room. There was one time one lady clamed something was missing, after check out her item was found in a drawer with some of her other personal items that she forgot to pack. Another lady went to security and clamed her bracelet was stolen from her room, when she was filling out her report the security officer asked the lady for a discription of the item. Security then asked her if it matched the bracelet she had on her wrist. oops she looked for her bracelet everywhere but her wrist. One man clamed some money was missing from his room, when asked where he left it he said on his pillow. leaving money on a pillow is where you leave a tip for the maid. many items were found when the trash was the can was emptied. there were items that were reported stolen that turned up on the casino floor, these were items that you would think would never leave a hotel room. A bra was found one time next to a slot machine, a set of luggage was left in a bar......

 

One thing I saw happen one day is a lady put her purse on the floor when she was playing slots, she noticed her purse was missing, at this time she saw another lady walking by with her purse so she went and grabbed the purse from the other lady and screamed for security, when security showed up lady #1 said the other lady stold her purse, well guess what the second lady had a purse that was the same type and color as the first one.

 

the list goes on and on. this is not to say that nothing ever gets stolen, because it does. There are two sides to every story and when someone clames that something was taked that is only one side of the story.

[Host Kewlguy]

My guess would be the person who took it figured since it wasn't an expensive item, you would think that you had just left it somewhere else and wouldn't make a big deal out of it.

 

I guess the lesson to be learned, after reading this thread, is to report ANYTHING that is missing. If would be thieves know everything is being reported, they may think twice. I would hope so. Have never had anything missing but I'm going to be a bit more careful now.

 

That's exactly what we thought. What made it so obvious was that it wasn't opened yet. People can make jokes about it but anytime anything is missing from your stateroom it's a serious issue, regardless how small the item may be.

[MAKEM]

Never had anything taken from our stateroom but have found plenty.

 

Just look behind the drawers under the mirrors, things drop down when the drawers are opened and end up on the floor behind the bottom one.

A lot of undies and a new silk tie were amongst the finds......just left them for the cabin steward.

[dc-snoopy]

I don't care HOW nice somebody is, if something was missing from my cabin I would report it. Whether the culprit was a cabin steward or a passenger, it's not a laughing matter and should be looked into immediately.

 

No, we did not report the theft as we would have had to miss a shore excursion that cost significantly more than $35 to wait for a security officer and the head of housekeeping to come and search my parents room. We were gone all day. We were told that the search and the paperwork would take over an hour to complete. After we returned, I wanted to pursue it, but my mother said she didn't want to be hassled that much over $35 so we just let it go.

 

Later in the week, when we lost two of their $22 towels (they were left on one of the of vans that we went on a beach shore excursion), we felt that the cabin attendants were very nice to look the other way and not charge us for them. That was what I was referring to about the attendants being nice. I felt that we ended up even (losing $35 but not paying $44).

[riteonglor]

On our Carnival Destiny cruise last month, I stopped by my mother's cabin to pick up my parents for breakfast. My father had just given my mother an envelope with $35 in small bills ($1's and $5's) for shopping in port. She decided not to take the time to put it in the safe right away and just put it on the counter. it was a plain white envelope. We went to breakfast and came back about an hour later and the envelope was gone. I watched her put it down and it was gone. The room had been serviced. I went to speak with the room attendants who were only about 3 doors down. They came back to look over the room and didn't remember an envelope. We went through the trash, but it was gone. I went to report it to the purser's desk, but they said that I would have to wait for a security officer and the head of housekeeping to be free and then they would do a room search and I would have to fill out paperwork. They expected it to take over an hour and we were about to leave to meet a shore excursion. We decided not to pursue it

 

Since the attendants were very good to us, we decided not to file a report. I would guess that the envelop disappeared while they had the door open but may not have been in the room and someone probably saw the envelope, just grabbed it and left. The attendants were very nice to us later in the week, when we lost two Carnival towels that would have cost us $44 to replace. They told us that if we didn't say anything, they wouldn't say anything and we wouldn't have to pay for them.

 

Basically, I don't think the attendants are dishonest (their jobs mean too much to them for petty theft). But, do not leave anything valuable that is easy to remove (small like jewelry, cash, iPods, small electronics, etc) out and easily accessible since it is not unusual for them to service several rooms at once and may not always be able to monitor every room. As long as you are cautious, you should be fine. And this goes for all cruise lines and not just Carnival or RCI, etc.

 

It may be a possibility the room attendants thought the envelope with money was a tip for them. Then when you came looking for it they were to embarressed to say they thought it was a tip. I might think it was a tip for me if a white envelope with $35 was left laying on the counter. Food for thought.

[wlee]

My guess would be the thief may be a young lady who forgot her curling iton at home and saw one sitting on a dresser of an open cabin as she walked by, and decided to snatch it. Teenage girls will do a lot to look beautiful. I can't imagine a room steward stealing an old curling iron when there are so many to choose from.

[nimbex1970]

I've had a curling iron stolen on a land vacay, had to fill out a report, security the whole bit... yes we went through the motions.... It didn't get it back for me, but placed a possible pattern for the room stewards. thats why we spent the time.

 

now on the ship, leave a lap top, jewlery, cell phones designer gowns, designer shoes... designer cologne and loose money..... never had a problem.

 

we've gotten a bit laxed due to the "lack of thievery", and sometimes you're in a rush, don't mess with the safe, other times you return and go "whew", didn't know I left that out.

 

for us, 10 cruises, I've never had anything stolen, doesn't mean it didn't happen to you, just saying we've been lucky. and thereby get a bit lazier each time with our valuables.

 

fill out a late report, but I think the only value, which IS valuable is setting precident for the steward to be watched more closely. The safes are not large enough to secure ones valuables, we're not bringing the computer anymore (large storage chip) and we try to be careful... it can happen anywhere, but I agree with the filing of a report, no matter how "silly".

[Lynnees]

I believe this is the likely reason, especially if the head of housekeeping was inspecting your cabin steward's work. Curling irons are supposed to be on the no-no list. Keep it out of sight.

 

No they arn't.

[FreewayFortune]

I always remember to put money, expensive jewellery, cell phone, ipod and insurance policies into the safe. But I don't always think about things like sunblock and perfume or even some shoes and less expensive jewellery or trinkets that I have bought. But now I will be a lot more conscience of that too.

[dc-snoopy]

It may be a possibility the room attendants thought the envelope with money was a tip for them. Then when you came looking for it they were to embarressed to say they thought it was a tip. I might think it was a tip for me if a white envelope with $35 was left laying on the counter. Food for thought.

 

This is why when I first approached the cabin attendants, I was very polite and non-confrontational. We had been on good terms, so I called him by his first name and asked if when he was cleaning my mother's stateroom he came across an envelope of small bills. I said that it was her shopping money and she had forgotten to put it in the safe. I never made an accusation and was trying to pass it off as a mistake. It still might have been as you said, but I'd like to think that as hard as they worked for us that week (we had 4 cabins of family in their area and they knew all eight of us by the end of the week) that if it was a misunderstanding, they might have owned up to it.

 

Again, I'm often a half-full kind of guy. In the long run, we didn't think it was worth arguing about and for our family, $35 doesn't mean nearly as much to us as it does to them.

[RevSmith]

About three years ago I dropped a roll of money on the cabin floor without realizing it. We were out of our cabin for the entire day. When I returned there was a note from my steward to call him. When I called he told me he had found a roll of money on the floor of the cabin and put it into my night table by my bed, he didn't want me to worry.

Needless to say no one has ever taken anything from my cabin...you were just unfortunate. I'll be that if someone took it they are not working for RCI any longer.