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A cruise with no clothes
A couple's lost luggage makes a long, frustrating trip
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Naked at sea
Lost airline luggage — it's a problem many cruise lines are dealing with more often these days, especially on European cruises. On my recent Mediterranean cruise aboard the Carnival Freedom, 80 passenger suitcases that had been checked on flights into Rome failed to make it to the ship by embarkation day. Some of the bags turned up later and were sent on to our various ports of call, but not all of them made it. Like the Trammels, their owners just had to make do.
"It's a growing problem, particularly on flights connecting within Europe," says John Heald, Carnival Freedom's cruise director. Heald has dealt with many lost-bag problems — he has even joked about it in his popular blog — and he has come up with some creative solutions.
"Many people don't realize it, but most cruise ships have a small supply of clothing on board that guests can borrow, and there is even formal attire for men and women to rent," he says. These reserves can usually tide people over, but sometimes passengers become desperate because their bags are truly lost and they can't find replacement clothes in the ship's supply or even in port. On those occasions, Heald puts in a "shout out" request for clothes during his live "Morning Show" on the shipboard TV. He once put out a call for a pair of extra-large women's underwear, and got back seven pairs from sympathetic passengers. "Cruising can really bring the best out in people," Heald says.
The Trammels got help from their cruise line, too. Holland America loaned them clothes and arranged communications with Alitalia. Even so, the couple racked up a substantial credit card bill buying new clothes.
"I shop at Lane Bryant and trying to find plus-sized clothing in Europe was almost impossible," Nancy says. And when they did find clothes that fit, the Trammels found the prices to be ridiculous. "We paid more than 200 euros for just two pairs of pants," Larry says. The Trammels kept their receipts and filed a claim with Alitalia for the cost of their replacement clothing, which came to almost $1,200.
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"I wanted to get to the bottom of things so I kept calling," Larry says. "It was annoying, you know, because each time it was the same thing: They didn't have updated information on the bags or their system was down. Sometimes there were language issues — I just couldn't understand them and they couldn't understand me."
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