Is history already repeating itself? For the second time in a relatively short time span, another Carnival guest had their suitcase go missing onboard their cruise ship.
Avid cruise fans are likely already aware of the Merritt family’s saga – in which Jason Merritt’s suitcase went missing for weeks onboard Carnival Magic, only to be discovered in the cabin of another guest booked on back-to-back sailings.
But as the Merritt’s story made waves on social media, another cruiser was dealing with a similar situation of their own onboard Carnival Firenze – albeit on a smaller scale.
Their suitcase went missing for three days – which is still significant considering the 4,126-guest ship is currently only operating shorter 4-night sailings to Baja and 5-night sailings to the Mexican Riviera.
“My luggage was lost on the ship for multiple days, Carnival only offered a 20% coupon for their on ship store and complimentary laundry service on day one and $50 on day two – the bag was found on day three, and they offered nothing additional,” the anonymous passenger summarized on Reddit.
But what makes this situation particularly frustrating is that the luggage was lost onboard the cruise ship – as was the case onboard Carnival Magic.
While the Merritt family was able to track their missing suitcase using a pair of packed AirPods, this passenger actually saw their belongings on their cabin’s deck.
“After checking my bags and going through check-in, I immediately set off to exploring the ship. By super, super random chance, I happened to spot my bag as I was passing my deck,” the guest shared.
“I even went over to my bag to check the tags because it was surprising to me that I would spot my specific bag amongst all the luggage. The porter told me not to worry and to continue to enjoy the ship and that he would deliver it to my room,” they continued.
But unfortunately, the passenger did not see their suitcase again until three days later and a lot of back and forth with the guest services team onboard.
An Accidental or Intentional Mistake?
Drawing another parallel with the Merritt family’s ordeal, this guest’s suitcase was also temporarily taken by another passenger onboard the Vista-class cruise ship.
But while Jason Merritt’s suitcase was definitely stolen and the family is now looking into pressing charges, it’s not clear if this might have been a simple mistake.
After all, many suitcases do look alike and this cruiser did not report that any of their items were missing.
In fact, the recent guest seemed to assume that it was an accident – which their fellow passenger likely noticed after the guest services team made an announcement regarding the missing bag on the second day of the sailing.
“I walked the hallways of my deck and the adjacent decks every couple hours hoping my bag would turn up – which it did on the third day,” the recent guest said.
“It was just left outside of someone else’s room – likely someone on board noticed that they had a bag that didn’t belong to them and left it outside their room,” they continued.
Ultimately, the cruiser still enjoyed their experience onboard – but did wish that guest services would have done more to help them on embarkation day.
Instead of a 20% off discount in the Fun Shops that still required them to shell out some cash, they would have preferred a change of clothes and toiletries.
Read Also: Six Ways to Protect Your Cruise Ship Luggage
That said, you likely don’t need to be too worried about your luggage if you’ll be sailing with Carnival – or another cruise line for that matter – in the near future.
While these two stories can certainly make even a seasoned cruiser nervous, these are only two situations out of thousands of passengers who are currently sailing onboard Carnival’s 27 ships. More often than not, everything does go to plan.
But to be safe, it doesn’t hurt to choose extra distinctive luggage sets, invest in new luggage tags, and/or purchase AirTags so you can track your belongings from your phone.
Additionally, take a photo of your suitcases before you travel so you can share what they look like with the crew members if necessary.
And finally, it is not mandatory to check your suitcases. If it makes you more comfortable, simply keep your luggage with you during embarkation and disembarkation.
