Dawn 6/21 Lost Luggage Nightmare

[MsTabbyKats]

I would hate to be missing any of my belongings but I would still be on a cruise and would simply not allow myself to not have a wonderful time.

 

I'm not one of those "a bad day at sea is better than a day at home" people....

 

How could one have a wonderful time without one's toiletries and clothing??? You'd miss out on such things as the dining room, the pool and beach destinations. Not to mention you might smell and have bad breath.....

 

And if you can't participate in certain activities, it would probably limit what your travel mate(s) do also.......

 

I'd be sitting in the cabin and calling room service :(

 

In this case, since the luggage was misplaced by the cruise line (no contest there) and thus ruining the OPs vacation, I feel that NCL should give a large credit towards another cruise. That's just good PR.

[WinnieinWA]

He should have wrapped a towel around himself and went about his normal business -- dinner, shows, the casino, a formal picture -- that certainly would have had NCL scrambling to find his bag!!!

 

LOL... that was the best answer yet!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for the chuckle.:D

[BarbRN]

OK folks, here is some advice for all cruisers! Always make note of the time and place of your 1st CC meet & greet. You don't have to attend unless you want to get a hold of the higher ups such as hotel director, captain etc as some of them always attend . If you arrive an feel out of place you can just introduce yourself as CCer and wait till the end of the meeting but don't let your eyes off of them as they have a habit of leaving before the end.

 

 

I don't know what you are saying here, having never been to a greet and meet yet.

[lyndyb]

He should have wrapped a towel around himself and went about his normal business -- dinner, shows, the casino, a formal picture -- that certainly would have had NCL scrambling to find his bag!!!

 

Or falling all over themselves to offer some complimentary clothing! :)

 

We've always cross packed - but I got complacent on one trip and that's when one suitcase went missing on a direct flight. We did recover it because I went to every luggage carousel before leaving the airport - but that taught me a lesson. However, since we'll drive to the port, I doubt I'd have cross packed for our upcoming cruise until I read this thread.

 

I know how I felt when our piece of luggage was thought to be AWOL - and my reaction was far more upset than I'd have thought. I felt guilty my piece made it and DH's didn't - he took it well. So I can imagine how upset you'd feel, especially on a honeymoon, which you hope will be perfect.

 

So thanks for the cautionary tale that will have us cross-packing as a precaution.

[paulam]

I'm not one of those "a bad day at sea is better than a day at home" people....

 

How could one have a wonderful time without one's toiletries and clothing??? You'd miss out on such things as the dining room, the pool and beach destinations. Not to mention you might smell and have bad breath.....

 

And if you can't participate in certain activities, it would probably limit what your travel mate(s) do also.......

 

I'd be sitting in the cabin and calling room service :(

 

In this case, since the luggage was misplaced by the cruise line (no contest there) and thus ruining the OPs vacation, I feel that NCL should give a large credit towards another cruise. That's just good PR.

 

never mind

[hat776]

I suppose any cruise line can't be too generous as it might tempt greedy passengers to march up to Reception and say their luggage had gone missing. A good excuse for some OBC.

However, the OP could have been given something more than $ 100 and also some shaving gear. Also free laundry.

Do you think someone who has only shorts and t-shirt would be allowed into the MDR as a special concession ?

[*Wink*]

Thankfully CL's have cut ties with some of their more "demanding" customers.. That should be a wake-up call to those who think they'll do anything for their business... They won't, nor should they.

[CruisnGram]

Thankfully CL's have cut ties with some of their more "demanding" customers.. That should be a wake-up call to those who think they'll do anything for their business... They won't, nor should they.

 

Exactly Wink. Perhaps everyone doesn't know the story of one CC member who pushed the cruiselines for compensation for things that went wrong on their cruises and ended up being banned from the cruiseline.

 

Cruiselines want their customers to be happy and will usually give some sort of compensation for problems. However, there is a limit and when it crosses the line to rediculous (such as a free cruise for misplaced baggage) the cruiseline will cut their losses and let the customer go elsewhere.

 

CG

[mp8shnt]

Exactly Wink. Perhaps everyone doesn't know the story of one CC member who pushed the cruiselines for compensation for things that went wrong on their cruises and ended up being banned from the cruiseline.

 

Cruiselines want their customers to be happy and will usually give some sort of compensation for problems. However, there is a limit and when it crosses the line to rediculous (such as a free cruise for misplaced baggage) the cruiseline will cut their losses and let the customer go elsewhere.

 

CG

 

CG - where can I find the thread on the banned CC person? Sounds like a good read.

[codycats]

Thankfully CL's have cut ties with some of their more "demanding" customers.. That should be a wake-up call to those who think they'll do anything for their business... They won't, nor should they.

As far as I know that only happened to one customer. I remember reading about it, but that is not the issue here.

As I have stated before, when you travel on a cruise ship, the CL has an obligation to provide service to the customer. This is part of what you are paying for. Service.

From reading the OP's post I find zero(0) service from the CL. OK, some people got notice of the lost luggage, but other's stated they did not.

 

For those who think he should have just let it go and enjoy the vacation, I can't believe I'm reading that. It's almost laughable. Enjoy the vacation? Without clothes? LOL. Wait!! let me laugh again..LOL.

 

Some vacation for this poor guy. He's stuck on a ship without clothes, but if he want's he can purchase clothes at the shops on board.. LOL some more..LOL

 

Designer dress shirts about $100.00 each. T's about $25.00 each.. Ties, about $50.00 each Shorts about $50.00, pants, god knows how much, rent a suit or tux........ LOL LOL... Do they sell underwear?

 

Great selection and choice... Let me laugh some more....LOL LOL..

 

Give this guy a do over Free cruise.

 

After reading this guys post and what he went through it's the only right thing to do.

 

I would like to hear again from the OP as to what the CL is doing for him...

Please OP if you are reading this respond.

[iheartbda]

LOL

 

Designer dress shirts about $100.00 each. T's about $25.00 each.. Ties, about $50.00 each Shorts about $50.00, pants, god knows how much, rent a suit or tux........ LOL LOL... Do they sell underwear?

You don't NEED a tie on NCL.:p

 

And yes, where IS the OP?

[CanadianTwosome]

As far as I know that only happened to one customer. I remember reading about it, but that is not the issue here.

As I have stated before, when you travel on a cruise ship, the CL has an obligation to provide service to the customer. This is part of what you are paying for. Service.

From reading the OP's post I find zero(0) service from the CL. OK, some people got notice of the lost luggage, but other's stated they did not.

 

For those who think he should have just let it go and enjoy the vacation, I can't believe I'm reading that. It's almost laughable. Enjoy the vacation? Without clothes? LOL. Wait!! let me laugh again..LOL.

 

Some vacation for this poor guy. He's stuck on a ship without clothes, but if he want's he can purchase clothes at the shops on board.. LOL some more..LOL

 

Designer dress shirts about $100.00 each. T's about $25.00 each.. Ties, about $50.00 each Shorts about $50.00, pants, god knows how much, rent a suit or tux........ LOL LOL... Do they sell underwear?

 

Great selection and choice... Let me laugh some more....LOL LOL..

 

Give this guy a do over Free cruise.

 

After reading this guys post and what he went through it's the only right thing to do.

 

I would like to hear again from the OP as to what the CL is doing for him...

Please OP if you are reading this respond.

 

You miss my point - as one of the people you're referring to as saying 'just let it go'. I'm not saying that. What I'm saying is that we have to take some responsibility for our own happiness. If there's a choice between being stuck in dirty clothes (NCL DID offer free laundry, by the way) or using my own money to get some that will enable me to change, swim, dine, etc. I'll use my own money and sort it out later! What possible benefit is there to waiting and being miserable when there is an option available that will allow me to be HAPPY? You think the OP should be compensated with a free cruise because not having clothes RUINED this one - he had the choice to change that. Would I WANT to spend money on some new clothes at cruise prices? Absolutely not. Would my desire to enjoy my vacation and be happy outweigh that? By so much that I wouldn't hesitate for even a second.

 

Please go back and find Why Knot Me's post about a similar (worse, in my opinion, due to the baby's involvement) incident that happened to them and how they handled it. This is what I'm talking about - and there is absolutely no way of knowing whether or not NCL would have compensated the OP for his spending, so any speculation is moot. Based on other threads where people have had issues and written to NCL, they are open to trying to compensate people and I have no reason to believe they wouldn't have offered the OP a future OBC or discount worth more than any clothes he bought on board.

 

Also, consider the position of the cruise staff. This bag was taken into someone else's cabin - the story about the steward putting it in the closet is BS and anyone who has ever been on a cruise knows that - and so after exhaustive searching (we have no reason to believe they EVER stopped physically searching for it until it showed up), for all intents and purposes, the bag appeared to NOT BE ON BOARD. A call to shore would have easily confirmed that it was also not in the terminal. So... while they were dealing with an irate passenger who CLAIMED his bag was lost on board, there was NO EVIDENCE that the bag existed or had made it out of the OP's car. Do you honestly think no unscrupulous people have ever tried to scam them and claim lost luggage that didn't exist? We know from this thread at least one person thought their luggage was lost when it was in the trunk of their car. If the cruise line started handing out compensation to everyone indiscriminately, you can bet it would become a problem. We'd no doubt even see a thread here titled 'How to get an easy $100 OBC once on board'.

 

If nothing else, I hope people will learn some things from this thread that will help them be more prepared in the future if something similar happens to them. Cross packing is a good idea, but also - if you find yourself without essentials due to a lost bag - BUY SOME. You may or may not be compensated, but at least you can enjoy yourself while you wait to find out. The wait is going to take just as long either way, but YOU get to CHOOSE whether to spend that time enjoying yourself or stewing in your cabin. :)

[*Wink*]

Thankfully CL's have cut ties with some of their more "demanding" customers.. That should be a wake-up call to those who think they'll do anything for their business... They won't, nor should they.

 

As far as I know that only happened to one customer. I remember reading about it, but that is not the issue here.

 

Actually, the OP is not who I was referring to in my post. ;)

[peg013]

As far as I know that only happened to one customer. I remember reading about it, but that is not the issue here.

.

Yes but they are banned from multiple CL's.

 

Actually, the OP is not who I was referring to in my post. ;)

 

The point being all the people here that are telling the OP he desires a free cruise may in the end get him or others banned when they believe they should be rewarded with a free cruise because they were inconvenienced. The CL does not want to lose customers but be reasonable, a free cruise for misplaced but recovered luggage???? A discount on a future cruise or OBC for a future cruise YES...a free cruise......Not going to happen!

 

And if there's anyplace clothing isn't as necessary, it's on a honeymoon! :rolleyes::D

[ohioNCLcruiser]

I just read the first few posts but wanted to say I'm shocked by the way the Dawn's Front Office handled this I wouldn't have accepted so many "come back later" things and after the first day you should have been given more credit to buy clothes and free laundry after that 2nd day. This wouldn't have happened on the POAmerica. It wasn't NCL's fault the passenger didn't notice till Friday but they sure had a horrible I don't care attitude. Next time ask for the Hotel Director.

[billrach]

Wow. I never realized I would start a thread with such an overwhelming response.

 

To clarify a couple of things.... I informed NCL we were on our honeymoon. I also went to cabin 8158 and left a note. I eventually left the gent a voicemail. He responded by voicemail backing up NCL's story. He never noticed the bag at the bottom of his closet until the 6th day. He apologized.

 

I have a letter that NCL delivered to my cabin with the bag to back this up.

 

We are not bitter, I am a seasoned traveler, 6 cruises and well over a million air miles. I used to travel to SE Asia frequently. I once had my bag misplaced in Tokyo/Narita and had to go out and spend over a $1500 dollars on suits and clothes to get me by......Japan is quite expensive. United Airlines found my bag and still paid me for my out of pocket expenses. I understand **** happens.

 

I just expected NCL to have a more caring/ the customer is always right attitude. I also would of expected that the credit they offered would of been forthcoming sooner and would at least of been enough to purchase the essentials I needed to get by. $100 on the third day of the cruise was a token amount at best and cannot be used to purchase more than two garments...shirt and shorts at the boutique on board.

 

Of course saying they might need to check my car......which to me is questioning my integrity, really set me off.

 

We will be writing a letter to NCL. I will post it when it is written and let you all know the results.

 

Thanks for all the great advice.

[Mooder]

Some have poo-poo'ed the idea of a monetary compensation. You underestimate how important repeat cruisers are to NCL, and repeat business in general. To give another example, recently at Lowe's I purchased a light fixture for $70 and got it home to find it was defective. When I returned it to Lowe's after complaining about the inconvenience, I got another $70 light and $60 worth of other merchandise, gratis. They think nothing of eating $130 to keep a customer returning... NCL can make $1500 back with a couple of spa visits...

 

Just because a company is willing to shell out freebies doesn't make it right. I have never agreed with those that want to get all they can just by being the loudest complainer.

[lescas]

Were you guys the couple walking to Alex. Battery for the sea glass? I remember talking to a couple from the dawn, we were the family of five walking in the hot bermuda sun. That was a long hot walk back to the Majesty, we got burnt, and just got to the ship before the next rain. Im glad to hear you got your bag, What a mess. We were very unhappy with majesty, but not for the same reasons. Best on luck on whatever cruise line you decide on next :)

[billrach]

Yes that was us. I hope you made the best of your cruise. Great sea glass at Alex.Battery.

We got caught in that rain!!

It's a small world!!

[cruisingqueen]

Just for the record, we were on deck 10, balcony and an inside room and didn't recieve a note about lost luggage!

[ZoneHPH]

....and the saga continues! :D

[Mooder]

Just for the record, we were on deck 10, balcony and an inside room and didn't recieve a note about lost luggage!

 

We got one on deck 10 - aft balcony. :confused: I'm not saying everyone got one. If you say you didn't, you didn't. But I also have to say that with all the paperwork we sometimes receive each day of the cruise, I wouldn't be surprised if some people missed it. But what can you do?

[CC Help Michell]

We got one on deck 10 - aft balcony. :confused: I'm not saying everyone got one. If you say you didn't, you didn't. But I also have to say that with all the paperwork we sometimes receive each day of the cruise, I wouldn't be surprised if some people missed it. But what can you do?

 

I thought about that too (since this thread's now been resurrected). On my Carnival cruise last month one evening I returned to the cabin and picked up the next day's Capers. As I was pulling out all the sales junk they stick in there (which I automatically toss) I glanced at one page and thought "geez they even sell luggage onboard!" On the way to the trash I dropped the paper, and as I picked it up I noticed a large "MISSING" headline on the sheet, and that's when I realized it was a flyer asking about someone's missing suitcase, with a photo of the type of suitcase on the sheet.

 

If I hadn't dropped the page and then taken a second look I'd never have known it was there, so these things really can be overlooked. That doesn't mean the ship didn't distribute them, or that anyone is lying about receiving (or not receiving) them.

[Mooder]

I thought about that too (since this thread's now been resurrected). On my Carnival cruise last month one evening I returned to the cabin and picked up the next day's Capers. As I was pulling out all the sales junk they stick in there (which I automatically toss) I glanced at one page and thought "geez they even sell luggage onboard!" On the way to the trash I dropped the paper, and as I picked it up I noticed a large "MISSING" headline on the sheet, and that's when I realized it was a flyer asking about someone's missing suitcase, with a photo of the type of suitcase on the sheet.

 

If I hadn't dropped the page and then taken a second look I'd never have known it was there, so these things really can be overlooked. That doesn't mean the ship didn't distribute them, or that anyone is lying about receiving (or not receiving) them.

 

Perfect example, Michell, of what I was imagining. :)

[CanadianTwosome]

Wow. I never realized I would start a thread with such an overwhelming response.

 

To clarify a couple of things.... I informed NCL we were on our honeymoon. I also went to cabin 8158 and left a note. I eventually left the gent a voicemail. He responded by voicemail backing up NCL's story. He never noticed the bag at the bottom of his closet until the 6th day. He apologized.

 

I have a letter that NCL delivered to my cabin with the bag to back this up.

 

We are not bitter, I am a seasoned traveler, 6 cruises and well over a million air miles. I used to travel to SE Asia frequently. I once had my bag misplaced in Tokyo/Narita and had to go out and spend over a $1500 dollars on suits and clothes to get me by......Japan is quite expensive. United Airlines found my bag and still paid me for my out of pocket expenses. I understand **** happens.

 

I just expected NCL to have a more caring/ the customer is always right attitude. I also would of expected that the credit they offered would of been forthcoming sooner and would at least of been enough to purchase the essentials I needed to get by. $100 on the third day of the cruise was a token amount at best and cannot be used to purchase more than two garments...shirt and shorts at the boutique on board.

 

Of course saying they might need to check my car......which to me is questioning my integrity, really set me off.

 

We will be writing a letter to NCL. I will post it when it is written and let you all know the results.

 

Thanks for all the great advice.

 

Before I say this, I want to again repeat how crappy I think the situation was and that I have nothing but sympathy for you. That being said, I'm especially curious now that I've read this - if you had a similar experience in Japan and went out and bought what you needed, why didn't you do the same on the ship? NCL may have also compensated you... we'll never know.

 

I agree that taking three days to offer the OBC was strange. On every single other thread where people have had similar issues, it was immediately forthcoming. The amount is determined according to what's in the cruise contract. I think generally they're expecting to find the bag really quickly, so one outfit should be enough... the wait was really strange though.

 

I hope after reading some of the responses on the thread you don't still feel that NCL was questioning your integrity by suggesting your bag might be in your car. At least one of the replies was from someone who DID leave their bag in the car and believed without any doubt that the bag was lost until they found it there at the end of the cruise. I know what it feels like to have someone ask me a question like that, and the initial reaction is 'How dare you!', but if you can see it from their point of view - the bag was nowhere to be found, so it was a natural progression to consider where else it could be. At least they didn't ask you if the bag actually existed or if you were just trying to pull a fast one...

 

I also still think the guy in 8158 was full of it. Stewards don't put full bags in closets. I also can't imagine not noticing a full sized suitcase in one of those closets for six days. If I were you, I would be placing a LOT more responsibility on that guy than NCL. The customer service would still be an issue, but due to the actions of this other passenger, as far as the staff knew, the bag was absolutely not on board. That had to affect their perceptions and reactions.

 

Thank you so much for sharing your further correspondence with NCL with us. It will be very interesting to see how things progress from here. :)