confused re: baggage handlers at ports

[MamaParrotHead]

OK, I'm just not grasping this. Who are these people? DH is kind of concerned re: handing over his luggage to complete strangers who are NOT affiliated with the cruiseline. It didn't really occur to me to question it until he made a comment, but post-9/11 isn't that kind of odd to anyone else? are these people contracted independently by the cruiseline? Or they just show up every afternoon and position themselves by the curb at the port to work for tips? seems kind of weird and un-controlled in the day and age where you are specifically ASKED if someone you don't know has handled your luggage (while checking in prior to boarding the plane) and if some poor sap leaves a carry-on unattended in an airport, they're descended upon by a squad of armed men who pounce on it.

[Cotton]

I only know for sure about N.O., but assume all ports are the same...

 

The porters/loaders are employees of the New Orleans Port Authority, and they are union employees, so NO, they aren't just people who show up. They are in charge of getting your luggage on the ship. There's a guy there with a manifest, checking off your name and making sure you luggage gets on the ship. Don't worry. It's VERY rare that you hear about anybody's luggage not making it to their cabin.

 

It's customary to tip the porter at least $1 per piece of luggage.

[cruisead]

Why would you think it's weird? Don't you do basically the same thing with the baggage handlers at any airport (just hand over your luggage---you have no idea if some guy just gets into the airport area and looks like a baggage handler)? It doesn't matter if it's porters at the dock or the baggage guys from American Airlines, it's the same thing.

 

The dock workers are contracted by the local port authority. No one just walks up to the dock and takes your bags. These guys have to wear special clothing and they wear ID tags. While they don't work for the cruise line, they do work for the county in which the port is located, so I guess they're government workers.

 

Besides, you cannot carry your large bags onto the ship yourself, so you have to give them to someone. They have to xray the bags, and the machines they use at the boarding place are smaller than the ones you see that screen your carry on bags at the airport. Inside the terminal they have huge xray machines that scan everything that comes onto the ship.

[kujobie]

I think the point is that anyone could give a bag to a porter and that bag would end up on the ship, regardless of whether or not the person does. This could happen too easily. On our last cruise, we ported our own bags. The glory was late coming in so embarkation/disembarkation was chaos. There was noone around to help us so we just hoisted our own bags into the giant bins they load on the ship. Hey, we saved a tip, right? But it made me think that anyone could get a bag on board if they wanted to. Let's just hope they x-ray those bags carefully. It is not a secure process, at least at Port Canaveral. Tampa seemed a little better because the porters carted the bags to a secure area before putting them in the giant bins. At the airport, it's a little differrent. They match you with your luggage. If you don't go on the plane, neither does your luggage. That's the way it's supposed to be anyways.

[boards]

The time we cruised out of Port Canerval, we used the cruise line transportation and the luggage was off loaded from the bus and then into a container. We never touched them or identified them and yet before we left the bus it was (kinda) suggested it would be a good idea to give a tip if you wanted to be sure your luggage made it. Someone stood right at the exit door to collect the tips. We tipped not a huge amount mind you, but I question the method and the inferred suggestion. We got our luggage okay and on time, by the way.

[MamaParrotHead]

every time I've flown, I drive up to the curb of my airline and the people taking my bags are wearing the uniforms of the airline I'm flying. I think it odd that in the same industry (travel) where national security is such a major concern (and rightly so) that the contract something like this out.

[Cotton]

As I tried to explain, they aren't 'contracting' this out. The N.O. Port Authority is IN CHARGE of loading everything onto a cruise ship - or any other ship, cargo ships for example. They are the ONLY ones allowed to load anything onto a ship. The Port Authority has the final say as to what gets on any ship. Carnival, NCL, any ship that ports at N.O. goes by N.O. Port Authority rules. Hope that makes you feel more secure....?

[bUU]

Yes-and-no. The cruise lines do not "contract out" baggage handling on the pier. Rather, in most cases, the port is responsible for baggage on the pier, not the cruise line. Indeed, this is perhaps a situation that the cruise lines wish they had more control over, but are granted that control. By the same token, I believe some ports do contract out baggage handling. Indeed, porter service for curb-side check-in at airports are also often contracted-out. Back before TSA, remember that most security in airports were contractors, not employees of either the airport nor the airlines.

[MamaParrotHead]

I guess I need to clarify that I'm not speaking in *literal* terms...when I say, "contracting it out", what I *mean* is "it's being handled by someone other than the individual cruiselines themselves". And I still think it's weird, considering how easily things slip through the cracks and miscommunications occur when things are handled internally (one entity, i.e. the airlines) versus having to deal with 2 entities (such as the examples provided in the above posts regarding people just tossing baggage into the bins that are just blindly loaded on to the ships).

 

no need to get all pissy. chill out. :cool:

[Cotton]

IF you are referring to me, I'm just trying to help you understand that the port authority, not the cruiseline, has final authority.;)

[IggleDoer]

You cannot lock your luggage when you fly. Can you lock your luggage at the port before it goes to the ship? Do the cruise lines ever open and inspect bags before they are put on the ship?

[bUU]

You can lock your luggage with TSA-approved luggage, when you fly.

 

You can definitely lock your luggage at the port before your luggage is given to the stevedores to put aboard the ship.

[5668200]

Wow, this thread is getting testy. It's really no big deal. The porters make sure your bags get on the ship. If you have a guaranteed room, they have a list with everyone's name and room #. They will give you your room # so you can mark your bags before they take them. Really nothing to get all worked up about. You hand over your bags to lots of people, how about the taxi driver or the people shuttling you to the ship. It's their job.

[spongerob]

Why do we tip these people? They are employed under a union contract, with benefits and other contractual guarantees along with a guaranteed wage for their day's work. I've never had one of them say, "No thank you sir, I am well compensated and protected through my union contract, which is partly paid through the port fees that have been added to your cruise fare. Please keep your money; I am already treated fairly in exchange for my work."

 

Something is wrong with this picture. We're not talking about underpaid room stewards and waiters here. These are people who belong to one of the most powerful unions in the country.

[bUU]

I always thought you tipped them so they don't inadvertently lose your luggage. :D

[boards]

I think I would agree with you if you let them handle your luggage directly into the container from your car, but if you are on a bus that drops you off at the pier they have no way of knowing with luggage belongs to you if you don't tip enough (at least they may think you didn't, tip enough). I have no problem with tipping them, but don't like the intimidation factor that something may happen to your luggage if you don't.

[I Luv Crusin]

The time we cruised out of Port Canerval, we used the cruise line transportation and the luggage was off loaded from the bus and then into a container. We never touched them or identified them and yet before we left the bus it was (kinda) suggested it would be a good idea to give a tip if you wanted to be sure your luggage made it. Someone stood right at the exit door to collect the tips. We tipped not a huge amount mind you, but I question the method and the inferred suggestion. We got our luggage okay and on time, by the way.

 

We had transfers from the airport in New Orleans to the pier. We were running very late but when we got to the pier we were to claim our luggage and point it out to the luggage people. TIPS where HIGHLY recommend if we wanted to get our luggage anytime that night! :-/

 

I was puzzled because these people don't actually take your luggage to your cabin, right?? They load them into those big bins and take them through the x-ray and the ship staff places them in the cabin. Or am I wrong?

[bUU]

Our cabin steward brought our luggage to our cabin (though I actually helped), not the stevedore.

[Cotton]

Correct. The Port Authority workers load the luggage to be taken on board the ships, and the cruiseline employees take the bags to the cabins.