They drop luggage in the ocean?

[gopher's girl]

I was just playing over on the Royal Caribbean side of this pond and I read a post where a guy got a call telling him that his luggage was dropped in the ocean - they did fish it out and cleaned all of his laundry for free - but they still dropped it in the water!

 

Has this happened to anyone on Princess? What would you do or what have you done? This man was compensated with a bottle of wine and $100 shipboard credit and they ironed his underwear.... is that enough? too much?

 

I just keep thinking that I should get one of those suitcase/trunk things that Tom Hanks had in Joe vs. the Volcano - they floated and he made a raft out of them when the ship sank.

[neildean]

On HAL's Maasdam last May, we were watching the luggage being loaded when one suitcase fell in. It was a hard sided case so it just started to float away. They grabbed it with a long pole with a hook on the end and then carried it onto the ship. Don't know if it being hard sided saved the clothes or not.

 

Neil

[srphnx]

The big containers they use to on-load luggage are open on one side and at the top, if they are stacked precariously the forklift ride can cause some settling. I haven't seen any spashers but I can see how it happens.

[CruiseFever]

Yeah but on Princess if a bag started to fall into the ocean three alert crew members would have hit the water before it, cushioning the fall and saving the day....or so it seems sometimes. They're just that good

[Bob-A-Loo]

One WHOLE container went into the water being off-loaded from the Star in LA in April 2003 - What a mess!!! My luggage was OK but I sure felt sorry for a very young girl who was waiting for her bags to be brought up from the bottom of the harbor - with her family bible in it.

[spongerob]

We watched the process used to load luggage aboard in NYC at the beginning a cruise. It quickly became a case of, "You don't want the truth, you can't handle the truth!" We were better off not knowing. The Princess staff on the ship was pretty good, the casual labor hired ashore to move the bags was, pretty casual. :eek:

 

We've never had a problem with wet or broken items, however.

[verwirrt]

Had read a similar post quite some time ago about luggage landing in the water. Guess that's one more good reason to pack the clothes in the 2 gallon ziplocs!

[Toto2Kansas]

On an RCI cruise a few years ago, we watched them unloading the luggage by conveyor belt from the ship. Yep, you guessed it, half a dozen suitcases had to be fished out of the water. It does happen sometimes, unfortunately! :(

[Druke I]

That is why there is usually netting below gangways and conveyors - to catch that which falls off.

 

Not all luggage is put into those open containers - at Pier 35 in San Francisco, there often are conveyors in operation for the loading of luggage, supplementing the containers put on by fork lifts.

 

Michael

[merela]

I learn something new from this board everyday!

[Eddie4Paws]

While at Port Everglades last November, the Royal Carribean transport bus from the terminal to the ship took a turn too sharply and one of the baggage compartments below opened, spilling luggage onto the roadway. Passengers on the "starboard" side of the bus saw this happen, and started shouting immediately for the driver to stop. The driver continued onward for about an eighth of a mile, then stopped, turned around, and went to retrieve the luggage. Fortunately, none of the bags opened and everyone had a good laugh about it!

[DougYWG]

Since the day my kids were born - they are now adults - they have been trained that they never, but never, get on a plane without carrying with them enough to survive for two days. Seems like a good idea for cruisers too. I am very familiar with airlines losing baggage but had never thought of cruise lines dropping it in the drink.

 

Kids!!... so my son went on his honeymoon to San Francisco. Since he now had a wife, I suppose he thought he didn't have to listen to his dear old daddy any more. You guessed it. Lost baggage, no carry-on....

[jhannah]

Obviously someone didn't tip the steveadores! ;)

[jemingway]

I think it's a new on-board activity...bobbing for bags.:D