Michael Karagiannakis
Cruise Ship Passenger's Wheelchair Stolen
Carnival Cruise Lines - January 6, 2008
Michael Karagiannakis
Date: January 6, 2008
Cruise Bruise: Theft
Bruise Location: Tampa
Age: 75
Home Town: Florida
Cruise Line: Carnival Cruise Lines
Ship: Inspiration
Details:
Michael Karagiannakis has had a rough go of it the past few months. At age 75, he has had colon surgery, endured chemotherapy, suffered with swollen legs and feet, and has had to use a wheelchair when he needs to walk a dozen feet or more.
So, when his five adult children posed the cruise to him and his wife Maria, he thought it would be great to get away and relax, have some fun.
When he embarked on a Carnival Caribbean cruise, he used the wheelchair continually to get around the ship and while in the various ports the ship called at.
The night before the ship was to return to Tampa, he was told by a crew member to put his wheelchair outside his cabin door along with his luggage. Not knowing any differently, the wheelchair and luggage went into the hallway before he went to bed that night.
The next day when Karagiannakis went to disembark the ship, the luggage was there, but the wheelchair was gone and Carnival Cruise Lines had no idea where the wheelchair was, nor were they willing to admit it ever existed.
Karagiannakis says that when he was ready to disembark the ship, and the wheelchair could not be found, a crew member borrowed the wheelchair belonging to the ship, and let Karagiannakis use it to get to the parking lot. When he was done, the crew member took the wheelchair back, still having not found the wheelchair Karagiannakis brought with him.
That wheelchair didn't even belong to Karagiannakis, it was a loaner from the U.S. Veteran's Administration.
When Karagiannakis contacted Carnival after he got home, they denied having any knowledge of his wheelchair, the report that it was missing and the crew member who assisted Karagiannakis to the parking lot.
Then they told him that all missing items are not considered for compensation until they have been missing for a period of 90 day. The 90 days gives the cruise line the chance to find the missing item(s) and delay compensation.
If this was the normal missing jewelry, electronics, cash or luggage that is so commonly seen at Carnival, it might be reasonable to delay assisting Karagiannakis for 90 days. But, Karagiannakis is now stranded at home, unable to go anywhere, because he can not walk. He needs that wheelchair immediately, not after 90 days when the cruise line might compensate him with a new wheelchair of funds to purchase another.
"It's like they say, 'Go to hell. And stay there for 90 days.'", Karagiannakis says.
It was unreasonable for a crew member to tell Karagiannakis or any passenger who is bound to a wheelchair to put it out the night before. These passengers are usually wheeled out of their cabin in their own chair to disembark.
"Our records indicate that Mr. Karagiannakis contacted Carnival's guest relations on Jan. 7, 2008, the day after his return to report his wheelchair missing, and a case was opened at that time. According to guest relations, at no time before, during or after debarkation did Mr. Karagiannakis report his wheelchair missing."
In effect, Carnival is calling this disabled 75-year old man, his wife, and five adult children liars and have given him a 90 day prison sentence for the crime of having taken a cruise aboard a Carnival cruise ship.
Thefts aboard cruise ships are very common. This case gives warning to all passengers that anything and everything not attached to your body, and even then closely guarded, may be stolen on a cruise ship. There are no limits, no boundaries when it comes to cruise ship crime.
