The guests have gone. The cabins are stripped, the tender is back on its chocks, and in the bottom of a bedside drawer, under the spare charging cable, is a gentleman's watch. The guest is on a plane. He does not know it is missing. You are now holding a five-figure problem, and how you handle it is a test of the whole course.
The departure check
Do the sweep before the guest leaves the vessel, not after.
- Every drawer, every safe (ask the guest to open and empty it in front of you), under every mattress and pillow, the bathroom shelf, the wardrobe rail, the sofa cushions.
- Behind and under the bed, the desk and the sofa. Small hard items travel.
- The tender, the beach club, the sun deck, the gym, the laundry.
- Two people, ideally, and a checklist. A departure sweep signed by one person is worth less than one signed by two.
When something is left behind
Log it before you move it. Photograph it where it lies, then follow the same custody chain as any other valuable: describe, photograph, witness, receipt, into the ship's safe under the captain or purser.
Then it goes up, never out:
| Step | Who | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Report the find | Chief stew, then captain or purser | Immediately, not at the end of the charter |
| Secure the item | Ship's safe | Logged, witnessed |
| Contact the guest | Via the broker, management or agent — never you, never directly | The chain exists to protect you |
| Return the item | Captain or management decide the method | Insured courier, hand carry by a named person, or collection |
You do not post it. You do not courier it on your own initiative, and you do not carry it ashore in your bag. Shipping a high-value item across a border raises customs, duty and declaration questions, and with exotic skins it raises CITES questions too. Those are decisions for the captain, the purser and the management company — never for the interior crew.
Confidentiality
What a guest owns, wears, spends and forgets is private. Do not photograph guest possessions for anything except the log. Do not describe them to friends, to other crew ashore, or on any social media, ever. Your NDA is not a formality — but even without one, the moment a guest's inventory becomes gossip, you have created a security risk for them and a suspicion problem for yourself.
Onboard Notes
- The departure sweep happens before the guest disembarks, with two people.
- Left-behind items go into the ship's safe and up the chain, never into a post box.
- Guest contact goes through the broker or management, not through you.
- Never discuss, photograph or post a guest's possessions. Ever.
- This is independent study. xplor is not an accredited training provider, and this course awards no certificate or qualification.