Disney Cruiser’s Bag Goes Missing in Terminal Chaos — Here’s Her Warning to Fellow Travelers

A Disney Cruise Line guest is urging fellow travelers to double-check their luggage after a frustrating — but ultimately resolved — mistake during disembarkation.

The issue occurred aboard Disney Fantasy, which had just returned to Port Canaveral, Florida, after a sailing. Like many passengers, the guest opted into the cruise line’s luggage service, placing her bags outside her stateroom the night before the cruise ended.

The bags are typically collected by crew and returned to guests in the terminal the next morning.

However, while three of her four suitcases were waiting in the designated area, the fourth was nowhere to be found.

Sharing her experience on Reddit, she warned: “Please double check that you have YOUR bags when you leave the luggage hall… My fourth bag was nowhere to be seen.” The missing bag had a bright ribbon and luggage tag, and didn’t closely resemble the one it was mistaken for — raising questions about how the mix-up occurred.

Although the incident appeared to be an honest mistake, it sparked discussion around how easily luggage can be confused in the chaotic cruise terminal environment, especially when many bags look similar and travelers are in a hurry to catch flights.

Fortunately, this story has a (hopefully) happy ending. The guest received a call from Disney just a few hours later while boarding her flight home. The individual who accidentally took her suitcase had been identified and arrangements were already in place to return it via FedEx.

She confirmed that no valuables or critical documents were inside the missing bag, but she’s still hoping her vacation souvenirs and gifts make it back intact. Luckily, she had trip insurance as a safety net.

To avoid similar situations, the passenger recommends travelers take photos of their bags, use highly visible luggage tags or decorations, and consider placing a tracker — like an Apple AirTag — inside.

Better yet, some cruisers may want to carry their luggage off the ship themselves, using the self-assist disembarkation option.

As one commenter put it: “Don’t underestimate people’s ability to make obvious mistakes.”