Stolen Suitcase Returned But Missing Items – Thief Given Lifelong Cruise Ban

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A passenger who tracked his stolen suitcase after it went missing aboard Carnival Magic has now received the bag back – but several valuable items are still missing, leaving him seeking further compensation and legal action.

Luggage storage

The 8-night Southern Caribbean cruise, which set sail from PortMiami on 8th February 2025, was supposed to be a celebratory anniversary trip for Jason and Tammy Merritt.

However, when Jason’s checked luggage never arrived in his cabin, the couple quickly realised something was wrong.

Despite repeated efforts to locate the bag during the voyage, it remained missing – until weeks later, when Jason used a pair of AirPods that had been left inside the suitcase to track its location.

The missing suitcase was eventually found inside another guest’s cabin during a later sailing.

The passenger who took the suitcase allegedly did so because she liked how it looked and had kept it onboard as she was sailing back-to-back cruises.

Once discovered, she was confined to her cabin and subsequently banned from all future Carnival Corporation sailings.

After the suitcase was located, Carnival arranged to return it to the Merritts. But upon its arrival, Jason discovered that many of his belongings were gone.

“Daddy-O’s made it home!!!!” he wrote in a Facebook post – referencing the AirPods that helped track the bag. “Unfortunately, most of my clothes didn’t.”

Among the missing items:

  • All dress shirts, slacks, and belt
  • Both pairs of shoes
  • Boxers and toiletries (including toothbrush and deodorant)
  • Prescribed medication
  • Glasses
  • Key to his Ford Bronco
  • A commemorative Texas Rangers Spring Training hat

Some of these items, like the hat and prescription glasses, are difficult or impossible to replace. Also, who steals someone else’s underwear and toothbrush?!

The couple estimates the value of the stolen items to be around $1,000 – an amount that, in Florida (where the cruise began), qualifies as grand theft (the threshold being $750 or more).

Now, Jason is exploring his legal options.

“I’m pretty ticked off. It will cost a lot of money to replace the clothes, and some of it can’t be replaced,” he shared, adding, “We’ll be contacting the authorities in the coming days to see what the next step is.”

Carnival’s response and compensation process

So far, Carnival Cruise Line has provided $350 in compensation for the lost belongings.

However, after struggling to get in touch with the cruise line, Jason received guidance on how to proceed with filing an incident report.

“Carnival Cruise Line reached out to me and explained how to go about getting the incident report and how I need to proceed. So I do have that information now,” he shared in an update.

The jurisdiction for theft cases on cruise ships can be complicated. While the incident occurred onboard Carnival Magic, the ship is registered in Panama, which could make legal action more challenging.

Additionally, if the alleged theft happened in international waters, it raises further questions about which laws and authorities have jurisdiction.

Now that Jason has filed an incident report, it remains to be seen if:

  • Carnival will offer additional compensation.
  • Local law enforcement will investigate the theft as a criminal case.
  • The Merritts will take further legal action against the passenger who stole the suitcase.

For now, Jason and his family continue to seek justice, hoping to recoup their losses and ensure future cruise guests don’t face similar ordeals.

You can read more on Jason’s luggage fiasco on his Daddy-O’s Airpods Adventures Facebook page.

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Cruise Mummy

Jenni Fielding is the founder of Cruise Mummy. She has worked in the cruise industry since 2015 and has taken over 30 cruises. Now, she helps over 1 million people per month to plan their perfect cruise holidays.

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