How much should a cruise line pay for lost luggage?
— -- Question: After I took a Hawaiian cruise with Princess Cruises, the cruise line lost my luggage. I put my suitcase outside my cabin on the last night of the cruise, as directed. The next morning, I went into the baggage hall to claim my suitcase, but could not find my bag. I alerted one of the assistants and we searched for my suitcase to no avail.
Princess asked me to itemize everything I had in the suitcase, which took me several hours. I submitted the list along with the proper paperwork and estimated the value of my missing belongings at $2,100. My list included heirloom jewelry, making the loss more grievous.
Princess replied that it would only give me $250. The cruise line further suggested that I should have bought its travel insurance. I feel they should be competent enough to move one suitcase down three flights of stairs and onto the pier, and I should not have to buy insurance to cover such a simple operation.
I have traveled all over the world for forty years and never lost a suitcase until now. I feel Princess should reimburse me for the loss. Can you help me?
-- Sara Hanlon Columbus, Ind.
Answer: Don't expect cruise lines to be like airlines. While it's always distressing to have your luggage disappear, at least airlines will reimburse you up to $3,300 if they lose your bag on domestic flights. But cruisers are often shocked to discover that cruise companies drastically limit their lost-luggage liability to just $100-$300 per passenger.
Princess' passage contract details its baggage policy, including the $250 cap on lost- or damaged-luggage compensation. That sum is for regular clothing and toiletries; the cruise line won't reimburse passengers for lost jewelry, electronics, or other "valuable items." Even locking up your valuables in your in-room safe or at the purser's desk won't change the $250 ceiling. These limits are yet another reason cruisers should buy travel insurance, either directly from the cruise line or through a third-party insurer, even if lost luggage on board is unusual. Princess' Vacation Protection plan bumps the baggage compensation up to $1,500, or $3,000 under its Platinum option.
"We all know that luggage passes through many hands during a vacation, including on a cruise," says Princess representative Julie Benson. "Very rarely does a piece of luggage go entirely missing between the ship and the pierside luggage drop off."
Following standard baggage offloading procedure, Hanlon's cabin steward would have taken her suitcase to the baggage elevator and handed it over to ship crewmembers, who would then have loaded it into a baggage cage on deck four. The following morning, the cages were offloaded quayside, and local port stevedores transported luggage into the baggage hall. Princess searched the route for Hanlon's wayward suitcase, but found no trace of it.
Sometimes other passengers claim the wrong luggage by mistake. Usually they quickly realize their error and return it to the pier, or contact the cruise line once they get home and start to unpack someone else's dirty laundry.
"Regardless of this puzzle about where her suitcase could have gone, we recognize that we made a customer service error when we spoke to Ms. Hanlon about her missing piece of luggage," says Benson. "Recognizing that she didn't have insurance, and that our policy was a reimbursement of only $250, we never should have asked her to take the time to produce an itemized list."
Princess' list request raised Hanlon's hopes for reimbursement, and needlessly wasted her time. As a gesture of goodwill, Princess offered to give Hanlon $1,000, half of her original claim.
How can you avoid trouble?
• Buy travel insurance. Cruisers face punitive last-minute cancellation penalties, strict baggage liability limits and staggeringly expensive medical evacuations in case of illness, all of which may be covered by travel insurance.
• Don't bring what you can't afford to lose. Airlines and cruise lines alike disclaim responsibility for jewelry, computers, heirlooms, and a laundry list of other valuables.
• Make your bag stand out from the crowd. Black roller bags all look alike in a sea of luggage, so pick brightly colored luggage, or add colorful tags or straps so you can spot your suitcase from afar—or notice if someone's walking off with it.
• Put your contact information both inside and outside your bag, so it will be easier to reunite you with your stuff.
Linda Burbank first began troubleshooting travelers' complaints for the Consumer Reports Travel Letter. She now writes regularly for Consumers Union publications and is a contributing editor for National Geographic Traveler. E-mail her at travel@usatoday.com. Your question may be used in a future column.