Do not ever lose your luggage again!
Have you ever had lost luggage? I have been getting phone calls from our clients who are traveling to Europe this fall about the news of lost luggage. The news is showing pictures of a sea of “lost” luggage at various airports. Some news outlets such as the New York post are even saying that there are baggage system malfunctions which is causing severe delays. So what is really happening, and are bags “lost.” Not really.
Something really cool about the tag that they put on your checked bag is that they have RFID embedded in the tag. So when your luggage arrives at any airport, it is scanned and the system knows where to send it. I read an article several years ago (2003) stating that a Las Vegas airport was the first to try out this system of adding RFID to their luggage tags. They could track luggage with 99.8% accuracy which lead to a significant decrease in lost luggage. After this was a success, many airports started using the same system.
So if there is a system that can pinpoint where your luggage is at all times, how does it get lost? Well, human error. I think we all know about that so enough said. Another way is if the system goes downs as it did in Heathrow a few months ago. This leads to more humans sorting luggage than a system that is 99.8% accurate. In April 2022 more wheelchairs were mishandled than pieces of luggage, double the amount. So if you have someone with you who has a wheelchair, they are more likely to lose that than your luggage.
Is your luggage really lost? The good news is that your luggage doesn’t really get lost. There are many factors that take place: delays, connections, and cancellations. If your flight is delayed and you are running through the airport like the family in Home Alone, you might make the flight but your luggage might not. That is ok, it will be on the next flight to you. If you are delayed coming back into the country and you opt not to pick up your checked luggage because you want to make your connection, again, your luggage isn’t lost but will have to go through a few more checks before it gets to you.
So what can you do to not lose your luggage? I have been reading a lot about people putting Apple Airtags into their luggage. This is a great way to keep track of where your luggage is located at all times and helps the airlines as well. There are also several tags to use in case you don’t have an apple device that you can purchase off of Amazon that help you find your luggage. Either of these will help give you peace of mind, but just remember that nothing is ever guaranteed!
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People rate airports so I have to give my two cents on the cruise terminal. The second cruise I was on was out of Miami back in 2006. At the time, I wasn’t impressed with their cruise terminal at all. I felt rushed, no direction, people wall to wall, and I felt it was tiny. When we took a cruise out of Barcelona, I was impressed. Spacious, open, very well light, people directing you, everything was clean, and bathrooms were around every corner, which is good if you have to wait to board. I have to say I was equally impressed by Port Canaveral’s newer cruise port terminal. Very much like Barcelona’s cruise terminal and there were personnel everywhere to answer questions and direct you. Total time from when we entered the doors of the terminal to the time we stepped foot on the ship was 15 minutes. Very quick!
atrium area. You see people sitting in chairs with their luggage that they didn’t give to the attendants, and the bar is already full. We decided to start walking around the ship to become more familiar with where things were located. Being a travel consultant I wanted to get some good pictures of the ship without too many people in them. For an almost 20 year old ship, I was surprised how nicely kept it was. I didn’t see too much wear and tear considering they do three night Bahama cruises back to back. The ship had plenty of lounges, bars, elevators, huge main dining room with upper level seating, two cafes for additional dinin
g options, a specialty restaurant, a very spacious casino, large theater, spa, fitness center, rock wall climb, trampoline jumps, and several pools and Jacuzzis including an adult only pool and children’s splash area. There was way more than enough to keep us occupied on a three night cruise.
m, we opted to do another activity, planning our shopping in Nassau. They had a shopping concierge on the ship who gave tips as to what to buy in Nassau and where to buy it. It was a very interesting lecture and we were able to set up our shopping game plan within that timeframe. I highly recommend reading the cruise planner daily. They have some interesting activities from basketball games, to charity events, Bingo, lectures, art auctions, wine and liquor tastings, dancing, and show times.
activities that they offered that we almost forget that we could finally get into our cabin. For a three night cruise I, personally, didn’t think that we needed a balcony. I also didn’t want to be at the bottom of the boat. There are a few select rooms on the upper decks called the Panoramic Ocean view. They cost slightly more than just an ocean view but you get a floor to ceiling window. I had seen these rooms on a ship inspection that I had done a few years ago and have wanted to stay in one since. I do have to say that I was disappointed with how
dirty the cabin was. There were crumbs all over the carpet, the bathroom shower was grimy, the sink clogged, the toilet was not clean but we won’t get descriptive about that, and the window had an oil film on the outside of it. The only thing that was clean was the bed. A phone call to housekeeping and most of the stuff was cleaned up very quickly.
