Most guests leave their luggage with porters before embarking on a cruise ship under the assumption it will be safely delivered to their cabins. However, that wasn't the case for one unlucky Carnival passenger.
Jason and Tammy Merritt were looking forward to celebrating their anniversary on an 8-night cruise aboard Carnival Magic in early February. Things quickly went downhill when Jason's bag never made it to his stateroom.
Initially, Carnival Cruise Line gave the Merritt's just $50 per day, or $350 for the entire sailing, to purchase necessities like underwear, clothing, and toiletries.
By the end of the sailing, they had also received $250 in cash for the inconvenience but were told by Carnival they'd need the receipts for everything in the luggage if they wanted more compensation.
Merritt's daughter Abbey informed KFOR that, "The keys to his Bronco were also [in his suitcase] as well with his prescription glasses, his CPAP machine and all of his medication."
The suitcase remained missing weeks after their cruise ended on Feb. 16 and they returned home to Texas.
The Merritts kept tracking the suitcase using Apple AirPods that were inside the luggage, which revealed the suitcase stayed onboard Carnival Magic for weeks.
“We kept showing [Carnival], ‘Hey, we’re tracking it. Hey, it’s here.’ You know, ‘Can you go to deck zero?’ No, it’s not going to be there. You know, we’ve searched all the floors, every room’s been checked. There’s nothing,” Merritt told KFOR.
The saga came to a somewhat happy ending when the missing luggage was delivered to their home after more than 30 days of waiting. Unfortunately, some of their stuff was missing.
Read more: 10 Reasons You Could Get Banned From A Cruise Ship
Merritt kept avid cruisers informed of the situation through the public Facebook group, Daddy-O's Airpods Adventures, which is where he shared the news that his bag had been found.
"THEY FOUND MY LUGGAGE!!!!!!," he ecstatically begins, "[T]here [was] a back to back to back thief!!! They found it in a [lady's] cabin a 'couple doors down' from our cabin! The assumption is she liked my bag so she took it."
Ironically enough, Carnival confirmed it was Merritt's because of the AirPods serial number.
"It is my understanding that her room had been checked and she said it was her bag. It wasnt until a crew member saw a pic of my bag that he remembered seeing one like it and went back to check the room again. This time they searched it and found my stuff. She was put under house arrest and has been banned from all future sailings, is what i’m told," he continues.
Though his suitcase was returned to him, he noticed that it was missing some of its contents, which had been presumably taken by the bag's thief.
These include his dress shirts, slacks, and belt; both pairs of shoes; boxers and toiletries (including his toothpaste and deodorant); prescription medication; glasses; car key; and a commemorative Texas Rangers training hat.
Merritt hasn't been quiet about his dissatisfaction with Carnival and how they handled the situation
"This debacle began on Feb 8 and on March 7, Carnival finally decided to do the right thing. What was probably a small PR nightmare, could have been easily avoided. I hope that Carnival's Guest Services receives some training in the proper way to handle [guests'] problems," he explains in a subsequent post on March 12.
He thought Carnival could have been more proactive from the start. Instead of keeping the situation on a need-to-know basis, he claimed announcements could have been made or flyers distributed to other passengers.
"It was only by word-of-mouth on the ship that anyone even knew my luggage was missing," Merritt adds.
Because of Carnival's lack of accountability and action, Merritt took it upon himself to contact his local police department to figure out the next steps.
However, after learning that filing a report wouldn't be a simple or cheap process, he said he had no choice but to accept Carnival's response:
"As of now, I have no choice but to take Carnival at their word and take comfort in knowing that the lady has been banned from all future sailings. I guess that's something, as if she was a back-to-backer, she probably enjoyed cruising a lot and now that has been taken away from her. At least on Carnival."
The last update shared to the Facebook group revealed that he received a call from Carnival with "an offer to make this right." He doesn't explicitly state what was offered but hinted that a Carnival cruise might be in the couple's future next year, though they'll never sail on the Carnival Magic again.
He adds, "And I would also say we learned at least one other thing. Don't give up! Persistence was the key. I am lucky because my Airpods were in my bag. If I would not have been able to track my luggage, this would have ended 4 weeks ago and a thief would have left the ship with my property."
Merritt's story highlights why travelers should invest in AirTags
Even if you don't have an upcoming cruise planned, throwing AirTags into your luggage is a great way to keep tabs on your bag when traveling through an airport.
"Did your luggage make it on your flight?" and" Are my bags en route to baggage claim?" are questions that AirTags can easily help answer.
When on a cruise ship, you can rest easy by tracking whether it's waiting to be placed on the ship or has already made it onboard.
Elizabeth Wright
Elizabeth graduated from New York University's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute with her M.A. in Journalism in May 2023. Growing up, she traveled frequently with her family and fell in love with cruising after sailing on the Oasis of the Seas during her freshman year of high school. Having sailed on nearly 30 cruises across different lines, including Royal Caribbean, Carnival, MSC, and Princess, she loves sharing her insight and expertise on all things cruising!
