Advice on how to escalate RC losing my luggage. Give me all your tips!

[melhuns]

TLDR: RC lost my luggage. And they want me to pay to get it back.

I showed up at our luggage pick up location upon disembarkation and my 1/3 pieces of luggage were not there. I filled out a form and was told RC would be in contact with me. After 3 weeks no one contacted me and I filled out a lost item report on the RC website. Yesterday someone from  https://mcadmc.com/  called me and said they found my luggage "pushed to the side" (whatever that means). I got an automated email from Chargerback and they want me to $460USD to have the luggage shipped back to me. No idea who MC&A is and how they are associated with Chargerback.... and I get they want to be reimbursed for their shipping fees... but RC lost my luggage. Its not like I forgot it in my room. How can I make RC pay this bill?

Pls don't tell me to get a luggage tracker. 

thanks

M

[Rackham]

"pushed to the side" sounds like your luggage was in the baggage claim area, but wasn't collected before you left. MC&A is probably handling left luggage for Royal or for the port it was left at. A luggage tracker would've helped, but at this point for this situation, it's like closing the barn door after the horses escaped.

[CanHardlyWait]

5 hours ago, melhuns said:

TLDR: RC lost my luggage. And they want me to pay to get it back.

I showed up at our luggage pick up location upon disembarkation and my 1/3 pieces of luggage were not there. I filled out a form and was told RC would be in contact with me. After 3 weeks no one contacted me and I filled out a lost item report on the RC website. Yesterday someone from  https://mcadmc.com/  called me and said they found my luggage "pushed to the side" (whatever that means). I got an automated email from Chargerback and they want me to $460USD to have the luggage shipped back to me. No idea who MC&A is and how they are associated with Chargerback.... and I get they want to be reimbursed for their shipping fees... but RC lost my luggage. Its not like I forgot it in my room. How can I make RC pay this bill?

Pls don't tell me to get a luggage tracker. 

thanks

M

Did you have travel insurance? They may be able to help and reimburse you for the cost of getting it back.

[melhuns]

@CanHardlyWait

I sure do. My coverage is a little odd and I need to discuss with my adjuster. I filed a claim for lost luggage, as I genuinely thought it was a goner. But their terms are very clear that once I file a claim I cannot change the type of claim. And you can only file once per contract. So I took that as I cannot 'downgrade' my claim from lost luggage to delayed luggage.

I guess I am just super disappointed with RC and the whole process. Carrying off for now on.

[melhuns]

@Rackham that is what I thought as well. But the odd part is, that day the staff at the terminal were so helpful, we searched the area for 2 hours and they went behind the corridors and everything for me. It was a re positioning cruise so that means the luggage got off the ship, but never made it to the pick up area. I would love to hear some conspiracies or staff guesses as to where it was.

Photo: of the empty pick up area that I find amusing now. 

[Xaa]

Sorry to hear it @melhuns.  I don't have any advice, but that picture may help you if their story is that it was there and you just didn't claim it.

[ChessE4]

When Royal lost my wife's suitcase, we looked up executive emails at another site and made persistent contact. We provided receipts for gifts and clothes. In the end we got about 200 plus Allianz insurance. This blog has published CEO email.

[bobroo]

I think the complaint here very likely lies with the Longshoremen Union but good luck getting accountability out of them. 

[WoodsTravels]

Sorry to hear your luggage was lost. That always puts a damper on things. That is why we only pack carry ons anymore. Too many lost luggage fiasco. I hope you find resolution without it costing you a penny. 

[WAAAYTOOO]

We lost one piece of luggage in Galveston a number of years ago.  It was never found or returned.  THAT is why we carry our luggage off now, unless we are in Star Class....and even then, it stays with us the entire way.

[Montemy2419]

49 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

We lost one piece of luggage in Galveston a number of years ago.  It was never found or returned.  THAT is why we carry our luggage off now, unless we are in Star Class....and even then, it stays with us the entire way.

We think so much alike !  Losing a piece of luggage is a fear of mine since I even carry my own pillows.  My neck will hurt for weeks if I don't have them so to me it's not the value but the pain I would be in for weeks to use hotel/cruise ship pillows.

We  always carry off our own luggage no matter when we get off the ship.  Just like the airport there aren't checks and balances so anyone can grab your luggage and leave.  We did a b2b in April and learned we just leave our luggage in the room with marked tags to move to our next room.  I felt better when I talked to our room steward to learn that he is the one that moves our luggage.

[tjcruisers]

I've never liked the luggage pickup, always the most stressful part of the cruise. If it's just the wife and I, we carry them off (ok, mostly I'm the luggage mule). When the kids were younger didn't have much of a choice. In the end we did buy airtags for our last cruise.

[Pooch]

Mbayley@rccl.com. I would absolutely include that picture.  Good luck,

[TXcruzer]

Where does Royal's liability end?

Once the bag makes it off the ship, is it not now the liability of the port? On embarkations day, your luggage is the liability of the port until it is on the ship?

 

If your bag was found in the terminal, as you have been told, it would appear to me that you really have no recourse with Royal.

[CanHardlyWait]

58 minutes ago, TXcruzer said:

Where does Royal's liability end?

Once the bag makes it off the ship, is it not now the liability of the port? On embarkations day, your luggage is the liability of the port until it is on the ship?

 

If your bag was found in the terminal, as you have been told, it would appear to me that you really have no recourse with Royal.

Well now hold on. When an airline looses your bags it's on them, not the airport and there employees. Unfortunately I think it's a gray area/easy to pass the buck situation. When lost bags are found by an airline, they pick up cost to return the bags. This IMHO should be the same.

[TXcruzer]

27 minutes ago, CanHardlyWait said:

Well now hold on. When an airline looses your bags it's on them, not the airport and there employees. Unfortunately I think it's a gray area/easy to pass the buck situation. When lost bags are found by an airline, they pick up cost to return the bags. This IMHO should be the same.

BUT, just playing devil's advocate her. Full disclosure, I don't know the answer.  The rules, however, for airlines and cruise lines have always been different on many many topics. With air travel, your luggage is handled by airline employees from the moment you check it in at your home airport until the minute it hits the baggage carousel at your destination airport.

We do know, it is a FACT that one embarkation the cruise line is not liable for your bags when they are on the pier, they must be transferred to the ship by the Longshoreman union, and then the liability is transferred, this is indisputable.

Would it not make sense in reverse?  Royal transfers the bags to the Longshoreman, hence transferring liability.  Royal employees are not permitted to be in the terminal or luggage claim area in any OFFICIAL capacity. (FACT)

How can a cruise line be held responsible doe  bag that was not in their care at the time of its disappearance?

 

It is a very interesting delineation of responsibilities.

[USCG Teacher]

3 hours ago, CanHardlyWait said:

When an airline looses your bags it's on them, not the airport and there employees.

I may be incorrect, but I believe that the airlines are responsible for hiring their own baggage handlers and/or subcontracting companies to do so.  If so, they aren't airport employees, and that is major difference between the two situations.

[CanHardlyWait]

Who's to say the bags ever made it off the ship with the rest. They could have been lost by Royals staff in the first place. 3 weeks past. I bet they were still somewhere on board. Once found probably put off with that week's luggage. Buck past. You leave in hall the night before. It should and I believe is the cruise lines responsibility. I'm not talking about some stupid cruise contract. I'm talking good customer service and reputation. This doesn't look good to anyone who reads this story. And if people all start trying to carry everything on and off out of fear, well it would be hell for the cruise lines and turnover days. This is the kind of thing they should help fix, fast and with little fuss or attention drawn to it.

[Ray]

You could use the insurance money you get for your missing bag claim to pay for the transportation costs.  

[Mike.s]

14 hours ago, TXcruzer said:

Where does Royal's liability end?

Once the bag makes it off the ship, is it not now the liability of the port? On embarkations day, your luggage is the liability of the port until it is on the ship?

 

If your bag was found in the terminal, as you have been told, it would appear to me that you really have no recourse with Royal.

Have to disagree, you paid Royal for the cruise, which includes the baggage handling services, not the port. Your contract is with Royal so they have to be responsible. Either way as good customer service Royal should pick up the tab.

[tjcruisers]

I see both sides, having the split between the ship and port responsibilities isn't ideal. Wonder how frequent this is, the number of lost bags per any given cruise. If it's a low number (something I can count on one hand), from a PR perspective Royal should just cover it.

Comparing to the airlines/airport, they have a bar code on the tag they put on your luggage they scan at multiple points. Maybe something like that should be done. Royal scans the tag when they pick it up from the hallway, when put it on the luggage cart to leave the ship and the guys in the terminal scan it when they take it off the luggage cart. At least it gives them some traceability

[asquared17]

On 6/22/2023 at 8:25 AM, WAAAYTOOO said:

We lost one piece of luggage in Galveston a number of years ago.  It was never found or returned.  THAT is why we carry our luggage off now, unless we are in Star Class....and even then, it stays with us the entire way.

us too. we ALMOST lost bags and it cost us time getting into transpo to the airport, which delayed us further and vowed after that to carry off no matter what. it puts a damper on the final morning disembarkation but at least we have the peace of mind knowing where our bags are. 

but i do feel that even though i saw more self assist pax on our harmony cruise this past may, most are fine with the luggage pickup. i don’t think we are in any danger of everyone selecting that option it’s such a hassle!! if i wasn’t so type-A, and we didn’t arrange flights and transpo the way we do, i’d probably not be carrying off like a pack mule. 

[Pooch]

I understand, when someone forgets an item on board, charging a shipping fee to return it.  After all the passenger made the mistake.  But this does not appear to be the case here.  OP didn’t “forget” his bags.  They were not where they were supposed to be or anywhere else that they could find.  He should not be assessed a fee for mishandled bags.  He didn’t mishandle them.  

[teddy]

We got caught in luggage limbo land when my wife’s suitcase was crushed disembarking in Nassau. 
 

It was a third party company that transported all the luggage to the airport. Royal passed the buck to them and they passed it back…over and over.   We ended up filing a claim on our travel insurance policy and were paid promptly.  
 

[TXcruzer]

On 6/22/2023 at 3:51 PM, USCG Teacher said:

I may be incorrect, but I believe that the airlines are responsible for hiring their own baggage handlers and/or subcontracting companies to do so.  If so, they aren't airport employees, and that is major difference between the two situations.

This is correct airline employees handle your luggage from check in to baggage claim which makes the airline liable from point to point.

This is not the case with a cruiseline.

[TXcruzer]

On 6/23/2023 at 2:17 AM, Mike.s said:

Have to disagree, you paid Royal for the cruise, which includes the baggage handling services, not the port. Your contract is with Royal so they have to be responsible. Either way as good customer service Royal should pick up the tab.

I don’t disagree with you in spirit, however, once royal unloads the bags to the longshoreman, has not royal, fully satisfied their legal and contractual obligations?

At this point your luggage is the responsibility of the port personnel.

How can you hold company A responsible for an incident that happened on the property of Company B 
 

[CanHardlyWait]

3 hours ago, TXcruzer said:

I don’t disagree with you in spirit, however, once royal unloads the bags to the longshoreman, has not royal, fully satisfied their legal and contractual obligations?

At this point your luggage is the responsibility of the port personnel.

How can you hold company A responsible for an incident that happened on the property of Company B 
 

I take this right back to my last post. Who's to say it was lost after it left the ship? In this case or any other. You leave in hallway in cruise lines hands. The A to B assumption is all about B being the one's at fault. If bags don't make it off ship for whatever reason, possibly for 3 weeks in this case, it's A responsibility. This is why I personally think it is completely within reason to expect help from the people who's hands you initially put your bags in. Because you can never know when and who dropped the ball. But you can know who you entrusted them to. It should be the cruise lines responsibility to pay for your bags return. Then the cruise line should go after the next party they entrusted the bags to for reimbursement. 

[TXcruzer]

12 minutes ago, CanHardlyWait said:

I take this right back to my last post. Who's to say it was lost after it left the ship? In this case or any other. You leave in hallway in cruise lines hands. The A to B assumption is all about B being the one's at fault. If bags don't make it off ship for whatever reason, possibly for 3 weeks in this case, it's A responsibility. This is why I personally think it is completely within reason to expect help from the people who's hands you initially put your bags in. Because you can never know when and who dropped the ball. But you can know who you entrusted them to. It should be the cruise lines responsibility to pay for your bags return. Then the cruise line should go after the next party they entrusted the bags to for reimbursement. 

 Valid  point, I can not disagree at all. 

[melhuns]

Thanks all for the wonderful discussion. After 53 days my luggage showed up at my house. I had completely written it off in my mind. The luggage lock was busted off, but everything appears to be in it. 

 

Maybe this will turn to a new topic.... But 1) we had to cancel out tour that day as we look through the terminal (free cancellation) and then 2) we had to hit Target for some essentials. Should we still pursue some sort of compensation from RC? The customer cruise contract does not mention anything like this.

Thoughts?

[Linda R]

We once had a bag missing when we disembarked.  It was taken by mistake by another passenger. When it seemed everyone had black luggage. Ended up the person who took it called right away and lived about 60 min from the port.  Also lucky we had booked a rental car for a few extra days in Florida and could just drive up and get it.  Am not sure what would have happened if that were not the case.

A person in our party once also had a bag missing.  And it was also black.   It was again taken by someone else and the cruise line did mail it back, but took about 3-4 weeks to receive. 

We no longer carry large luggage.  And for few years now always carry our luggage off ship.  Just makes it easier all the way around.  Plus we can just get off when we want.  Problem solved. 

[Pooch]

5 hours ago, melhuns said:

Thanks all for the wonderful discussion. After 53 days my luggage showed up at my house. I had completely written it off in my mind. The luggage lock was busted off, but everything appears to be in it. 

 

Maybe this will turn to a new topic.... But 1) we had to cancel out tour that day as we look through the terminal (free cancellation) and then 2) we had to hit Target for some essentials. Should we still pursue some sort of compensation from RC? The customer cruise contract does not mention anything like this.

Thoughts?

Be happy you got your stuff back.  If you have/had travel insurance, check the policy for reimbursement of the essentials purchase.  Also your CC might have some type of reimbursement.  How much are we talking here?

[bluer101]

Glad you got your bag. We use AirTags in every bag we travel with. We check our luggage with porters on embarkation day and we carry our luggage off when disembarking.