Key Aspects:
- John Heald has shared a rare behind-the-scenes look at the processing of lost items onboard Carnival Conquest on debarkation day.
- Popular items left onboard include sunglasses, jewelry, clothing, toys, shoes, water bottles, and much more.
- The process to reunite a guest with their lost items can take several weeks, depending on the ship’s individual sailing schedule and homeport.
Most experienced cruise passengers have done it at least once: lost an item onboard and hoped they might get it back. Lost-and-found claims can take some time to process, but why?
It can be especially frustrating if you know exactly where you left the item, such as that lip gloss I left on the top shelf in the bathroom, yet days later it still hasn’t been located or returned (honestly, I didn’t care about getting the lip gloss back).
One anxious guest wrote to John Heald, Carnival Cruise Line’s brand ambassador, about their frustrations on how long it has taken to track down their items.
“My husband and I were on the Glory. We left behind two bags of souvenirs,” the guest explained.
“I filled out the form on the very same day that I disembarked, describing the items in detail and explaining exactly where in my cabin I had left the bags. That was eight days ago and we still have not had the souvenirs returned. What is taking so long. This is not good customer service.”
Homeported from Port Canaveral, Carnival Glory offers 3- and 4-night Bahamas sailings. Based on the timing of the guest’s inquiry, they were likely on the ship’s September 29, 2025 departure, a 4-night trip that visited Celebration Key and Nassau, along with a fun day at sea.
Heald opted not to share the guest’s question right away because he knew he would be aboard several ships in mid-October and would have the opportunity for a firsthand look at the lost-and-found processing onboard.
Now, he’s shared a video showing exactly what goes on at the Guest Services desk when lost-and-found items are turned in.
While Heald was onboard Carnival Conquest rather than Carnival Glory, the two vessels are sister ships in the same class with the same guest capacity of 2,980 travelers at double occupancy, making their operations very similar.
First, Heald showed the piles and piles of items that were left onboard this one single cruise. Multiple boxes of lost-and-found items were stacked in the office, including:
- Sunglasses
- Jewelry
- Portable fans
- Water bottles
- Charging cables
- Walkie-talkies
- Cell phones
- Clothing
- Neck travel pillows
- Shoes
- Children’s toys
- An umbrella
“This is just from this cruise,” Heald confirmed. “And there is more stuff that is going to come.”
All the items are collected as the housekeeping teams clean out staterooms, making them ready for guests embarking that day.
Throughout the cruise, crew members would also have been collecting and turning in other items that might have been left behind in the casino, tucked under poolside loungers, dropped in the show lounge, or forgotten in other public spaces.
What Happens After Items Are Found?
Once a lost item is discovered, no matter where it was found, it will be turned in. That may first be to a supervisor in the immediate area, such as a casino manager, and later to Guest Services.
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Each individual item is then catalogued with notes on where and when it was found, what sailing, and which ship.
“Then it all has to go back to Miami,” Heald noted. “But it won’t go off this cruise, it will go off next cruise because it has to go through customs and all the other paperwork has to be done. And then – and THEN – we will try and get it back to you.”
Carnival Glory Cruise Ship (Photo Credit: Melissa Mayntz / Cruise Hive)
Since Carnival Glory is homeported from Port Canaveral, when the original poster’s items actually left the ship would have been after the next sailing, on October 3. At that time, the packages would have been transported to Carnival Cruise Line’s headquarters in Miami.
That might take a day or two, depending on how the items were transported and when they were picked up from Port Canaveral.
Heald has previously explained what happens to lost items at the cruise line’s Miami headquarters. They must be sorted and logged by ship and sailing date again, and staff works to match up individual items with lost items reports that guests have submitted.
Once confirmed, Carnival does return the items to guests. The entire process can take two weeks or longer, even when items are lost aboard ships on shorter itineraries.
If a ship is sailing longer itineraries, such as a Carnival Journeys cruise or a transatlantic voyage, it may be even longer before lost items can be returned.
Appeared first on: Cruisehive.com
