How to Get Your Items Back if You Leave Them on a Cruise Ship

Picture the scene, you have a wonderful cruise, get back home tired, but happy – then you realise you have left something behind on the ship.

How on earth are you going to get it back?

In this article, we look at what you can do if you find yourself in this unfortunate situation…

An Item Left On The Ship

Act Quickly

Contact the cruise line or fill in the online form as soon as possible, ideally within 24 hours.

The majority of cruise lines have an online form you can fill in. They will ask many questions, including:

• Your Full name.
• The ship name.
• Sailing dates.
• Cabin number.
• A detailed description of your lost item.

Smaller or regional cruise lines may not have online forms.

If you leave something onboard a Fred. Olsen cruise ship, for example, you will need to contact their Customer Relations Department by phone or email.

Many big cruise companies use a third-party company, such as Chargerback or Complete Lost Property Services, to return lost items to guests.

When a customer reports they have lost something via an online form, this is what happens:

According to Chargerback, normally only around a third of items reported as lost are returned to their owners, yet they claim their automated system reports a higher success rate.

Using a third-party company saves the cruise company time, as cruise line staff don’t have to go through time-consuming manual processes to match the item to the correct owner.

If your item is found, you will have to pay for shipping by credit card before it is returned to you.

P&O and Cunard use a company called Complete Lost Property Services (CLPS), which provides a very similar service to Chargerback.

An Item Lost At The Port

If an item was left in the terminal (security trays, luggage scanners, or waiting areas), contact the Port Authority or terminal operator to see if they have it.

Many ports have their own lost property desks.

I left my laptop in a scanner tray in Southampton. Find out what happened next here:

I Left My Laptop at the Cruise Port – Here’s What Happened

What Happens Onboard

Guest Services will log all found items and store them until the end of the voyage.

Any valuable items, such as phones, jewellery, or passports, will go to Security or the Purser’s Office.

At the end of the voyage, items are sent to a central land-based lost property office.

Proof of Ownership

• Cruise lines may request a photo of the item, its serial number, or ask about distinguishing marks.
• For Example, Norwegian Cruise Line’s policy requires a clear description before shipping any lost property.

Retrieval and Shipping

• Most lines post items via courier at the guest’s expense – often via a third-party company like Chargerback or CLPS.
• The timeframe varies from one to six weeks, depending on the ship’s location.

If It’s Not Found

You can make a claim on your travel insurance or your credit card provider (if the item was newly purchased).

If you have lost your passport, contact your country’s embassy or passport office immediately.

For UK citizens, go to :

www.gov.uk/report-a-lost-or-stolen-passport

If you are a citizen of the USA :

travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/have-passport/lost-stolen.

Commonly Left Items

One of the most commonly left items is phone charges. It is worth doing a last-minute check of all sockets before you leave your cabin for the last time. Other items commonly left behind include:

• Phones.
• Sunglasses.
• Passports.
• Laptops.
• Jewellery.
• Clothes.
• Medication.

Most lost items are found in cabin safes, drawers, or underneath the cabin beds.

Prevention Tips

• Do a full cabin check before disembarkation (drawers, safe, bathroom, balcony, etc.).
• Keep any valuables in your carry-on bag.
• Take a photograph of any expensive or important items before travel. You will then have proof if it is lost.

We found something funny down the back of the drawer on our first Queen Mary 2 cruise. Hopefully, its owner didn’t miss it too much, as Cunard doesn’t return individual clothing items left behind!

Find out what that was here:

What Happens To Unclaimed Items?

Cruise lines, or their partner companies, say they “ethically and sustainably resell, repurpose or donate any unclaimed items”.

Typically, companies keep the items for 3 months before disposing of them.

Different cruise lines have different policies, but below is a typical one from P&O cruises:

We hold items for 90 days from receipt to ensure we allow enough time for our guests to contact us and offer every opportunity to return these to our guests.
After this time frame we reserve the right to dispose of, or donate the items. Any unclaimed items after 3 months will be ethically and sustainably resold, repurposed or donated.
We remove and securely destroy any personal data as part of the end-of-life recycling process using WEEE approved ‘wiping’ process for all Electronics/data storage.

P&O Cruises

Items That Won’t Be Returned…

All cruise lines have their own rules on this, but certain items won’t be returned to you.

Below is a typical example from Cunard. Check the cruise line’s website to see whether your lost item can be returned. There is no point even filling in the forms if your lost item is something that won’t be sent back.

Non Returnable Items
Clothing/shoes (including swimwear/underwear)*
Medical items such as medication
Cosmetic items and toiletries
Items that have been in close body contact (hearing aids/dental items, including electric toothbrushes)
Duty-free items
Consumables of any kind
Debit/credit cards – these are securely destroyed at the end of the cruise if not reclaimed during the cruise (unless found inside a purse/wallet, these are returned as a complete item)
Hazardous, objectionable, or perishable items (this includes lighters, e-cigarettes, food, highly flammable substances)
*If clothing is found in a suit carrier/case with luggage labels we will follow our standard baggage handling process and return it to its owner
 

Cunard

Before You Go

Have a look at the most common things left behind on cruise ships here:

9 Of The Most Common Things Left Behind on Cruise Ships (Plus One That Made Me Laugh)

My whole suitcase got lost after my river cruise around the Venetian lagoon. Luckily, I did get it back. Find out about that here:

My Suitcase Was Left Behind – Here’s How I Knew Before Everybody Else – and Got It Back