Two weeks ago in the This is True newsletter I mentioned that Norwegian Cruise Line lost my “technology bag” with my digital recorder, my iPad, my expensive keyboard that enables my fastest typing, an external monitor, cables, and a lot more.
There was a lot of response: everyone wanted to know more about my keyboard! But really, that is only one problem with what happened.
The Bigger Problem
The bigger problem is that Norwegian Cruise Line lost my “technology bag” …and hasn’t found it. I’m now officially angry after receiving their reply about it, which you can see below. It’s a black canvas “police patrol bag” that I used as a medic for “stuff” (as opposed to medical gear), and used it for my tech gear in large part because it could hold my keyboard in a very protected way.
As background, Kit and I headed to England at the end of April on the NCL Getaway cruise liner. England is where we were to join our ship, sailing from Southampton, in May.
On the way over, we learned that our ship was going to be delayed as the ship before her in the drydock in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Margaritaville at Sea’s Islander, needed quite a bit more time than expected, which was going to delay the drydock work on our ship, the Villa Vie Odyssey. Villa Vie made the decision to try to save a few days and keep on schedule by having us depart from Belfast.
As it happened, the Getaway itinerary already had us going to Belfast, and docked right across the harbor from the Odyssey on May 8. There was a big group of us that were on the Getaway to get to Odyssey, so we asked if they would be able to pick up some luggage while we were in Belfast to make it easier to fly over later from Southampton. Villa Vie, of course, agreed, and hired the “port agent” — Hamilton Shipping — to transfer it from the Getaway to the Odyssey.
The night before, we gathered at Getaway’s Customer Service area and handed over 25 pieces of luggage into the crew’s hands for transfer.
As we got off Getaway in Belfast the next morning, we could see the Odyssey across the harbor — our first view of our new home. And when I got to the bottom of the gangway, there was our luggage stacked up on three carts. I saw Kit’s tech bag, of similar size to mine but in bright blue canvas, but I couldn’t see mine. I wasn’t terribly worried because I saw hers, though I couldn’t see every bag on the carts. I took a photo.
Due to the late entry plus delays with our ship in drydock, I wasn’t able to get to my bag for quite some time …and it was not there when I did get the opportunity. I reported the missing bag to NCL’s Lost and Found.
Their system said to give it 10 days to receive a response, but it didn’t take that long. I got a phone call asking for more details, and then the Odyssey’s Purser stopped by my office to say NCL had contacted him, and he wanted a direct description of what to look for.
I said I was quite sure he would not find it because another Resident had heard about the problem and told me he had photos of the luggage carts and could see almost all the bags, and did I want them? You bet I did!
Mine is not among them. My bag was not dropped off by NCL.
The Odyssey Purser has many years of experience with large cruise ship companies, and says anytime there was a found bag, it would be opened, inventoried, sealed, and would remain on the ship for at least 30 days in case someone asked about it.
After that it would be sent to company headquarters for storage in hopes of returning it to its owner, which they recognize can take quite some time — the passenger, after all, is traveling, often internationally.
Response from NCL
![Your Item Not FoundDear Randy Cassingham, Unfortunately, our Lost and Found department onboard has not been successful in recovering your item claim #[11-digit number].Thank you for offering us the opportunity to address your concerns. Sincerely, Norwegian Cruise Line](https://residentialcruising.com/storage/ncl-do-not-reply.png)
Here’s My Position: NCL agreed to transfer my luggage. It was handed directly into the custody of a ship employee. It was not among the luggage transferred, and it was apparently not sent to lost and found (or, they did a terrible job of looking). They say it is not in their custody after at least 30 seconds of searching …where? In a computer? Certainly not in any sort of warehouse.
Therefore, I maintain that NCL has purposefully stolen my luggage.
How could I consider it anything else? It was well marked in multiple places with my name and phone number, and had luggage tags, and was with other bags that were all supposed to be unloaded hours later to a specific spot.
Why that bag?
It may have caught attention because it “looked like” a camera bag. It wasn’t, but it had plenty of other valuable things. From memory, it contained my…
- Kinesis-Ergo keyboard, $500.
- Kensington Thunderbolt 4 Docking Station, $400
- iPad 9.7″ $329 with Apple pencil $99 and case $25
- Google Home Nest Hub (with 7″ screen), $129
- 4TB USB-3 backup drive, $110
- Portable USB-C ultra-thin monitor, $129
- Zoom digital recorder, $129
- OK, one camera: Sony pocket camera and case, $179
- pTouch USB label printer, $79
- Two computer mouses, $75
- Several batteries and chargers, $175
- Several SD cards and thumb drives, $125
- Various USB cables and adapters, $75
- The bag itself, $175.
- Some NASA/JPL aerogel for demo purposes, priceless.
- And probably other stuff I can’t think of.
…in all, at least $2,500 worth of stuff, plus tax (at U.S. prices; prices for just about any of it are higher here in Belfast. I’ve already bought a backup docking station: it was £300, or US$385, for one that doesn’t have as many connections, such as HDMI, but it’s all I could get).
And they want me to just shrug and go away?
Um, no. Not going to happen. NCL, do I have to file a police report charging theft against your crew, or are you going to actually look for my property that they did indeed take, one way or another?
So What’s Special About the Keyboard?
Long-time readers probably know I use a Dvorak Keyboard. This one isn’t just Dvorak, but convertible between Qwerty and Dvorak at a button push, and had both Dvorak and Qwerty legends printed on the keys.
Thanks to its unique shape and sculpted keys, and its use of all 10 fingers to do the work, I can type in excess of 120 words per minute on this keyboard. I need it to be fully productive. I expected to be without it for a week or three, but it’s been months now, and my output has suffered all of this time because I just can’t be as fast.
NCL, you absolutely need to do more to get my property back to me, or provide fair cash compensation for the luggage entrusted to your very hands, only to be lost or stolen by your employees.
A simple “tough luck, bub” will not do.
Last Updated August 28, 2024
Originally Published August 26, 2024
- About the Author
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Randy is the co-founder of Residential Cruising, and is best known as the founder of the oldest entertainment feature on the Internet, This is True. He and his wife, Kit, are to live full-time on the Residential Cruising ship Villa Vie Odyssey starting September 2024, where they will be “Digital Nomads” — continuing their work while aboard the ship.
Sorry to hear about this, and I hope this publicity gets NCL to work on finding your stuff. I wonder if you can use Apple’s “Find My” function to find your iPad though? And I have to say that I would not let this much valuable gear to float around airlines and cruise lines without having an AirTag hidden in the bag — I use one in all my bags, and it is very reassuring to know exactly where your luggage is, especially when it has been left behind . . . it is reassuring to see it, even when it is in a different country, slowly making its way from an airport terminal building to the aircraft.
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I hadn’t planned to leave it behind, and foolishly trusted NCL. I don’t have any airtags. I have of course tried “Find My…” but it hasn’t been seen. It can’t get online without being unlocked, and it’s locked so I don’t think it’ll ever get online to check in. -rc
Wow! I hope NCL is able to locate and “sheepishly” return your bag ASAP with TONS of apologies AND a full credit for a next cruise!! Fingers crossed!! 🤞🏻🤞🏻
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Well I dunno: would you want to cruise with them again?! -rc
I can see the steam rising from here — and I don’t blame you a bit!
Have you heard of the Elliott Report? I feel like this is a situation they would LOVE to deal with. But first, I know they would want you to contact NCL via the numbers on this page, if you haven’t already.
If you have, gather your paper trail and let Elliott go to bat for you. And I will look forward to their resolution on your behalf in a their future newsletter.
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This is why I write about stuff like this: my readers have resources I don’t know about. Thanks! -rc
I was just going to suggest them as well!
I follow Elliott.org also. They are amazing.
Something similar happened to me at the Toronto airport. The laptop I picked up out of the scanner was identical to mine but I found out later it wasn’t mine. Airport security said, no problem, we’ll find it. Give us the one you have and we’ll get them exchanged. I went in person and emailed the security department, e-mailed airport lost and found, and back to the security department again. They all denied having it even though I gave them one that was identical to mine. I never did get it back. To make matters worse my online backup had been backing up an old laptop and not my new one so I lost two years worth of files. Unbelievable, how little help I got from either department. I feel for you.
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Awful! I at least have been carrying — in my pocket — a 1TB SSD drive that has my laptop’s backups, which is in addition to the most important files being stored “in the cloud” in real time as they’re created or edited. -rc
“Thank you for offering us the opportunity to address your concerns.”
First of all, they didn’t address your concerns. They don’t appear to have done diddly squat. Second, they’re not offering you any way to pursue your efforts to find your bag. Third, it’s odd that the bag that’s missing has the most “toys” and probably the most value.
All I can suggest is the power of humiliation. Post the names of everyone with NCL with whom you dealt or talked. “Here’s the people who haven’t done squat to find and deliver my technology bag–XYN, MWQ, PDM,…” You can also go over their heads and contact the CEO of NCL, and tell him/her that the negative press will continue until your bag is found. I know this is not ordinarily your way, but extraordinary events call for extraordinary measures.
Personally, I have been looking at possibly taking a cruise later this year, probably in December. I’ll support your search by not considering NCL.
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The negative publicity has already started — on this page. And I know some in the industry press is watching this site, because they have professional interest in Residential Cruising as a topic. I suspect this will (slowly) snowball as I keep applying pressure, and people like you weigh in with your reactions, such as deciding not to consider NCL. Thanks. -rc
Absolutely *ABYSMAL* “customer service” (I use the term very loosely) by NCL!!! What? They very casually looked in their “lost & found” area but didn’t see it there so you’re just SOL?!?!?! As you said, how about maybe (I don’t know) ACTUALLY LOOKING AROUND THE SHIP FOR IT?!?!?! How about TALKING TO THE PEOPLE WHO MOVED THE BAGS?!?!?!
I would not be surprised if some anonymous NCL crew member saw the bag, figured it had a bunch of expensive camera/tech. gear in it, realized that NCL wouldn’t care if it disappeared, & just stole it. Too bad you didn’t have something like airtags in it to track it “just in case”.
I think you should file the police report. NCL obviously doesn’t care anymore (i.e. as far as they’re concerned it’s “we did the bare minimum, now go away & don’t bother us anymore”) & clearly doesn’t intend to do anything more about this. If they’re not already, maybe Villa Vie can also pressure NCL to actually *DO* something beyond the barest minimum about this.
Best of luck with this!!!
Good luck, Randy. I think you know what will happen despite your efforts. And I am with you during your fight. But, I also suspect they will be meeting their match.
I have been through this scenario at a hotel in Paris and witnessed the same returning from a cruise. There are thieves everywhere in the industry and the temp employees simply come and go without scrutiny. I’ve seen similar behaviors in the disaster business when there are a sudden rush of employees hired to help in a recovery.
Again, good luck. The Cruise industry really dislikes social media….
The problem is that some employee most likely spirited it away sight unseen. So I’d say there’s very little probability of finding it. But I don’t understand how they are not responsible/insured for replacing it in these circumstances. You shouldn’t have to shame them into doing something. They should have a process for this.
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Yes they should, but they sure haven’t offered it to me. -rc
For reasons he hasn’t explained, my dad seems to have developed some level of animosity towards NCL in the last year or so. And my parents cruise _a lot_. This will simply add to my store of information to use in decision making should my wife and I decide to go on another cruise ourselves in the future. NCL seems to be an even less likely choice.
Amazing that they appear to have not offered any sort of compensation.
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We enjoyed NCL when we cruised Alaska, but our experience on the Getaway this year was pretty horrible even before factoring in this fiasco. They seem to have really gone downhill. -rc
Randy, I am so sorry about your devastating loss. Every time someone has a problem with a company, it seems the thing which motivates them to action is massive publicity. Deb’s suggestion of The Elliott Report may be a good start. I am not familiar with them but anything that gets the NCL name out in front of people as a risky business creates bad publicity and companies don’t like it. I hate it that you are trying so hard to transition to a whole new way of life and are being thwarted at every turn. Don’t give up. Remember, Illigitimati non Carborundum!
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Thanks, Tom! -rc
Last year, I had my own unsavory experience with lost and found. I lost my cell phone on a roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain. I filled out the proper form, and tracked it with my iPad under “Find My Phone”. They found it the second night, and returned it to the roller coaster building. It never made it to lost and found. I remote wiped the phone, and when it showed up at a private residence in the area, I got legal advice and filled out police report which was promptly ignored. I do not know what condition the phone was in, but I wanted the SIM card. It had my phone number. I did spend a week with my carrier trying to get it moved before realizing those idiots had no idea what they were doing and accepting I lost the number (I’m still finding things linked to it, though fortunately most things were linked to my landline).
I’m going to assume you’ve tried to collect on any travel insurance you took out with the cruise and ran into the same results I have when trying to collect (several weeks of ignoring me, then a blanket denial).
I have airtags hidden in all of my luggage (and in my car for that matter). It once told me the bag was still at Heathrow (it was delivered to my porch 30 hours later).
There are several youtubers who specialize in cruise news, and one in particular I think might be interested in a “We lost your bag; now watch us not care” story.
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I haven’t tapped any travel insurance yet: I’d much rather have the stuff than the money. -rc
I’m pretty sure travel insurance requires you to file a claim in 90 days, though your policy might vary. While I’d want my stuff, at a certain point the loss might have to be accepted. As angry as that might make me, losing out on my chance to recover money on travel insurance wouldn’t make me feel any better.
Still, a stolen property police report may help bolster the claim. I’m not sure; I only tried to collect once and I still have the denial letter.
It is probably too late now, but at the time it was lost the IPad may have been reporting its location.
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I shut it down fully since I knew it would be “days” before I got it again. -rc
Definitely not lost, definitely stolen. Probably someone thought the bag looked valuable, glanced in, saw electronics, and snagged it not knowing what the stuff was or stupidly thinking someone wouldn’t notice.
I swear it seems like they’re using an automated system for replies there, and that is not going to cut the mustard. When you got something like this, those emails should not be automated, there should at least be a human being sending something courteous. Not making a bilked customer feel like a number. It’s asinine!
I would say for the amount that bag’s worth and the lousy quality they should be offering you a substantial refund on your cruise. Not twiddling their thumbs. If they don’t think they can do decent customer service, they shouldn’t be in a hospitality industry.
Does anyone have contact information for their board of directors? This is the kind of thing the top of the company should see!
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An early comment did provide a link to good contact info, which I’ll be utilizing. -rc
The scary thought is that perhaps it’s automated because it happens so often that a human just can’t keep up!
Well, damn. That is intolerable. I trust you have comported yourself better than i would have under those circumstances.
Did you by any chance have travel insurance for that cruise? My lovely wife and I got travel insurance for a cruise and I had a minor medical emergency, which was covered in full. (It was handled onboard, fortunately; helicopter coverage would have been a separate policy.) It also covered luggage damage and loss and a few other things. We will probably have travel insurance for cruises from here on out.
If not, then in the absence of further initiative from NCL I hope your high profile, good reputation and Internet presence will convince them to reimburse you for your — excuse me: their — loss.
You have every right to be furious. I would be foaming at the mouth, and trust me, nobody wants to get in my path when I’m that angry! Do follow through with every avenue open to you, including marching into their offices and creating a scene. Now is not the time to sit back and be patient. Boa sorte from Lisbon.
Galling! Some good suggestions on the post, and I’m glad I keep accumulating not just AirTags but third-party Find My compatible trackers as well, in various sizes and form factors.
Here’s hoping if someone did swipe the bag, the iPad eventually gets recharged and is near enough to another Apple device that it can “phone home” to the Find My network and report its whereabouts at least briefly.
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I have marked it Lost or Stolen with Apple, so it’ll lock down if it gets online. -rc
Question: “DO NOT REPLY. There’s good stuff in here. It’s ours now.”
Did you add that? If not, how could any Lost and Found be taken seriously. We’ll return your lost hat, and other things we find, but we keep the good stuff?
If that really was on the note you received, I would be furious. It’s almost like don’t bother, we stole your stuff. Tell me you added it.
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The screenshot shows the email. The caption is my comment in response to that ridiculous message. -rc
Omg. I am infuriated on your behalf. How deeply irresponsible and uncaring.
I have sailed many times with many cruise lines, and NCL was “barely acceptable” the 3 times I sailed with them. I will also support you by crossing them off my list of cruise lines. Holland, Carnival, and Celebrity will get my money…NCL, are you listening???!!!
It seems to me like NCL has picked the wrong person to allow this to happen to. An Internet journalist who can keep costing them business for years simply by telling the truth is exactly the wrong person to annoy. And I suspect that you have a long memory.
By the time this is done, you could cost them, a hundred times the business of allowing you to replace your tech with new. And get a bunch of positive PR for how they could have dealt with this. And the delay in dealing with this makes it even worse. And at some point, even cutting you a check for $5k won’t be enough to stop the PR.
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To be sure, this isn’t about extortion, it’s about them doing the right thing. They blow me off with “DO NOT REPLY”? Then I’m going to “reply” in the way I can. THEY forced me to go public. They could have done the right thing, but no. -rc
It is sad, however, that in order to get them to do the right thing, you even have to consider that they might consider you an extortionist.
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The original comment could be seen by some as a step in that direction, so I wanted to address it directly. Should they do the right thing here, and there are several ways that they can, I will certainly publish the details as an update here. -rc
Remember the chap who had his guitar smashed by the airline? He wrote a song about it which went viral. I am sure you could concoct a clip which criticised the NCL with humour and sarcasm, spreading a viral message about their shoddy conduct. This could prompt them into recompensive action. Good Luck.
Silly question, though. Under regular residential circumstances, if I leave a household possession in my car, and my window is broken, and that item is stolen, I can use my homeowner’s insurance. But I’m guessing, being “homeless”, you don’t have traditional HOI. Is there equivalent non-travel insurance onboard your residential ship, e.g. if someone breaks into your cabin and steals something? Or the ship sinks?
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This is such a new sector the insurance industry hasn’t caught up with it yet. I could only find ONE company that was offering overseas health insurance for (gasp!) an ENTIRE YEAR! We may be the first true Residential Cruising ship, but we won’t be the last and I expect the industry to catch up soon. If they snooze, they’ll lose, since I’m already getting offers from non-U.S. companies wanting my business. -rc
Sorry to hear about your “lost” technology holdall. Since your keyboard is fairly uncommon, have you tried searching ebay to see if anyone is selling one locally, and pointing the local police in their direction? Similarly, there are stores which buy and sell used IT gear. Don’t know if they have them in Belfast though and can’t think of any store names off the top of my head.
Hope your proper journey begins soon.
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Odds are very high that the thief, clearly a crewman on a multi-national cruise ship, doesn’t live here, and likely not in the U.S., either. -rc
From the pictures you and the other passenger took, those carts don’t look very stable, nor secure, especially in a harbor area.
Is it possible your bag was tossed on top, unstrapped, and perhaps ‘fell into the drink’ when being transferred by gangplank? And of course no one wants to lose their job by admitting ineptness, so….
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Is that possible? No. -rc