Royal splash – luggage goes overboard

Why on earth would you hand carry a small bag with you on a flight from PA to FL only to leave it with a porter? Especially with meds and electronics? I assume the bag was not locked. This is just foolish.

Sure it is unfortunate; but stuff happens. Some cruise lines have people going overboard and others have bags. I think RCCL did more than required. They replaced prescriptions they could. They offered free medical treatment. They pampered the guest. They provided a cruise. They gave them almost $1000 in cash. They gave them pretty close to another free cruise.

On the prescriptions. Did the passenger have insurance to cover them on initial purchase? Prescriptions bought outside of the US are typically VERY inexpensive because of lack of FDA regulations.

And had they had a comprehensive travel insurance policy, this whole dispute would have been a moot point.

Chalk it up to inexperienced travelers who may not have been properly advised going into the situation. RCCL did a great job. Kudos to them!

The baggage liability limits are not buried in hard-to-understand language within the cruise contract. They have very low limits that are clearly spelled out. (I do however, disagree with the “no receipts older than six months” policy… I don’t think that is spelled out in the contract.) This is another reason to never travel without supplemental insurance.

And yes, it was not a good idea to turn over the carryon containing stuff they were unwilling to check with the airline.

RCL should have gone above and beyond for what happened, especially the span of time with no information, and go above and beyond they did.

RCCL could have disclosed the ‘incident’ about the luggage going overboard better but I think that they did more than what was required.

However, Mrs. Bandish is at fault for handing over her carry-on bag. It is my guess that Mrs. Bandish didn’t checked this bag with the airline for the fear that it could be loss or etc. I don’t understand why people will hand over their valuables and prescriptions without thinking what if the bag is lost, stolen, mishandled and etc. This reminds me of passengers who ‘gate-check’ their laptop computers on small planes then wonder why their laptop is broken.

If she had travel insurance, it probably would have eliminated the hassles and time that she went through.

While I do think that RCCL could have done more, especially considering it was their direct actions which caused the loss, I don’t think the Brandishs can be considered blameless.

RCCL like all the other cruise lines, and all the airlines, makes it clear in their rules and regulations and contracts with passengers, that they severely limit their liability with valuables, breakables, electronics, jewelry, cash, etc. In this case RCCL while perhaps not going far in enough in many people’s opinion, did go well beyond their contractual obligations.

If you are carrying valuables, electronic gear, breakables, and anything you don’t think you can do without, such as medications, you’ve got to take responsibility for it yourself, and carry it yourself.

Mrs. Brandish knew how important the medications were for herself, and to my mind, should have known better than to give them to someone else to handle.

In my carry-ons, I take my camera and computer equipment, all valuables, all electronic items, anything I can’t afford to loose, medications and a complete change of clothes. Whether flying, cruising, in a bus, driving in a car or van, going up to my room in a hotel, etc., I never let anyone handle my carry-ons but me. That’s never.

I really suggest that should be what everyone does, unless, of course, you’re way beyond me in income and have a personal aide who handles those things. (LOL)

@ Anita Dunham-Potter – “Still, come on, the luggage went in the water!! How can you guys defend that?”

If I was in charge of operations for RCCL, it will make sure that there something like a tarp or net under the ‘luggage conveyor belt’ in case if a piece of luggage falls off given my nature of being customer-centric and planning for all contingences.

Over the years at the airport, I have seen countless bags that have fallen off the conveyor belt as it being loaded and unloaded onto the concrete pavement. In addition, I have seen luggage sitting on the conveyer belt or in carts be exposed to the rain during thunderstorms and downpours. Using your logic, the airlines should have air bubbles, foam cushions or etc. under their conveyor belts to prevent the breakage of an electronic device, a priceless glass vase or etc. that some passenger packed in their checked luggage. In addition, the airlines should install a ‘canopy’ to cover the conveyer belt and luggage cars to prevent the bags from getting wet in case of rain, snow and etc.

There are no plastic bubbles, rubber mats, foam cushions and etc. The reality is that the airlines limit their liability with valuables, breakables, electronics, jewelry, cash, etc. for checked luggage.

The bottom line is 1) to carry anything that is valuable, electronic, breakables, medications and etc. with you; and 2) purchase travel insurance.

ARW, I’ve never seen a conveyor belt used to transfer luggage from the cruise terminal to the ship. Two methods are the norm.

Either way, the luggage is put into very large bins which have open sides so that small pieces of luggage can fall out if the bin gets tipped. Having seen the bins, I would never consider giving the cruise line anything smaller than a standard suitcase to bring on to the ship for me.

The bin is then either lifted on to the ship via a crane (It usually has a small net under it to catch falling luggage if a crane is used.) or lifted on board with a fork lift (most of the time it’s a fork lift). When a fork lift is used, they don’t have the option of a net.

It’s very rare in either circumstance that the bin is tipped at all releasing luggage in the water, and it’s extremely rare when a fork lift is used. It’s more likely to happen when a crane is used.

The ships are actually very careful with the luggage handling over water, but sometimes accidents happen.

For those on a cruise, handle your carry-ons yourself, never put anything valuable in checked luggage, and purchase insurance for the trip which includes insurance on your luggage.

All I have to say is that she was treated very well by R.C. For it was her Fault,for not taking your drugs with you, I myself take 52 pill a day, Being from the UK they are free on the national health, Those drug I carry everywhere,and never let them out of sight, even going through security in my wheelchair, I hate to think how much it would cost to replace them, I am afraid to say this lady was very irresponsible and did a perhaps a little stupid thing to let her bag go.

I read through this very carefully and got out my calculator. The $990 they received covered just three things: the replacement of the medications that were destroyed; the visits to the doctor on board the ship, which likely would never have been needed had they not destroyed the traveler’s meds; and the salon visits, The luggage itself – not paid for. The personal electronics – whether it was camera equipment, MP3 player, whatever – not paid for. The grooming equipment (curling iron, whatever else) – not paid for. The expensive cosmetics – not paid for.

In a nutshell, they didn’t “get” nearly $1,000 in cash, as John Frenaye called it (and I respect John’s work, but he’s way off base on this one). Rather, only about $1,000 of the expenses they incurred due to gross negligence on the part of the cruise ship were reimbursed, and they got a “credit” that requires them to take another cruise – and risk another luggage incident – for it to be of any value whatsoever. Additionally, as the post noted, much of the time the passengers should have been able to spend in port enjoying themselves, they had to spend running around getting prescriptions called in and filled, because the ship didn’t have much of the medication needed. On board, she had to make multiple trips to the doctor to get treated for things she could have handled herself with medication. So the trip itself got largely ruined.

That’s just wrong. It may be legal, it may be in fact more than is actually required under the crappy “contract” for the cruise, but this is just reason #892 or so that I will never, ever take one of those godawful cruises. It ought to be a law that anything you’re taking on a flight OR a cruise that a reasonable traveler might be expected to have, should automatically be the liability of the carrier for damage. Then the cruise ships might actually factor in the possible financial damage that could be done and hire people to load luggage who can take care of it properly, instead of tossing it into the ocean and then not telling the passengers about it. Were they hoping the people wouldn’t notice?

A fair settlement, to me, would have been to pay for the items they did, and to refund a significant portion of the fare paid for the cruise that got ruined. Not a credit, not even a free cruise in the future – who’d want to go back on a cruise line that has that kind of problem – but an outright refund of a big part of the fare. THAT would have been equitable,