Don’t Make This Cruise Luggage Mistake — Disney Guest Shares Hard-Learned Lesson
Thanks to a (suit)case of mistaken identity, a recent Disney Cruise Line guest had a less-than-magical end to their voyage when their suitcase went missing during disembarkation.
As many cruisers do, a recent guest of Disney Fantasy opted to use DCL’s luggage services during disembarkation.
This means that she left her bags outside her cabin door on the final night of the sailing to be collected by the room stewards – with the expectation that they would be waiting for her in Florida’s Port Canaveral, where the 4,000-passenger vessel is currently homeporting.
But while she was able to reunite with three of her four bags in the luggage area as planned, the fourth was decidedly missing.
“Please double check that you have YOUR bags when you leave the luggage hall. I disembarked the Fantasy earlier this week and in the luggage hall easily found 3 of 4 bags all sitting together. My fourth bag was no where to be seen,” she shared in a pseudo public service announcement on Reddit.
Between the exhaustion after a fun-filled vacation and the chaotic nature of a cruise terminal – with those passing through often in a rush to catch a flight or make it to their next destination – sometimes mistakes do happen.
Sometimes suitcases can also look quite similar – with duplicates from popular brands often present – making it easier for distracted and tired passengers to make mistakes.
“I’m assuming good intent in that it was just an accident. But my bag was far fuller than the other bag, and the other bag had a distinctive clip on it. It was pretty clearly not the [same] bag,” the recent cruiser continued. “I had a garish ribbon on it in a very distinctive color, as well as a separate luggage tag.”
Unfortunately, there are times when more malicious members of the cruise community do try to steal other passengers’ bags intentionally – with the most recent example of this unfolding onboard Carnival Magic.
In this case, the family’s lost suitcase was located after weeks of Apple tracking data showing that it was still onboard the ship. It was eventually found in the cabin of a back-to-back guest who allegedly “liked my bag so she took it.”
But on this occasion, this woman’s experience seems to be the result of a genuine accident – especially because the person who took the suitcase is already making an effort to return it.
A (Hopefully) Happy Ending
With thousands of people navigating the cruise terminal and the suitcase potentially already gone by the time its absence was noticed, there was not much that Disney’s crew members or the port staff could do at the time.
The only option was for the cruiser to fill out a lost and found form, cross her fingers, and hope for the best as she began to make her way home.
But thankfully, the guest didn’t have to wait in nervous suspense for very long – as her bag had been located before her flight home even took off.
“I got a call from Disney hours later as I was boarding my flight stating that the person who took my bag is not at home, but they plan to send FedEx to pick it up and ship it back to me this week,” she said.
Now she’ll be waiting to see if her bag makes it home in one piece and with all her belongings, but did note that she is protected for this kind of loss by her trip insurance.
The guest also confirmed that she did not put any critical documents or valuables in the missing bag, but would be disappointed if some of the “clothes, pixie dust gifts and souvenirs” were not returned.”
Read Also: End Your Cruise Smoothly With My 9 Disembarkation Tips
While luggage faux pas aren’t super common, avoiding them entirely is often unavoidable just from the somewhat chaotic nature of traveling.
And as a fellow Redditor replied in the comments: “Don’t underestimate people’s stupidity or their ability to make obvious mistakes. Something like an obvious ribbon to you may not be enough to someone paying half attention.“
The best way to protect your luggage is to keep it with you at all times – such as by opting for self assisted disembarkation where you leave your cruise ship with your own bags.
But if that’s not possible, try to pick a distinctive suitcase or decorate it with recognizable luggage tags or stickers that will make it easier to identify, and take pictures of your bags to show crew members or port agents in the event something does go missing.
These days it is also highly recommended to put a tracker, such as an Apple AirTag, inside of your suitcase to make it easier to hunt down in the event that it does pull a mysterious disappearing act.
Don’t Make This Cruise Luggage Mistake — Disney Guest Shares Hard-Learned Lesson