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Tip the Porter?

Equest

By Equest,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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cmjb4ever

cmjb4ever

Posted
Posted

I believe tipping the porter is just fair and consideration given that is how they are earning money. That said, on my honeymoon, we forgot to have cash immediately ready and while my husband was struggling to get it out, the porter walked away with our bags. We could not catch him to give him a tip. Our bags still made it on the ship and actually beat us to the room.

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Tbay-eh

Tbay-eh

Posted
Posted
I believe tipping the porter is just fair and consideration given that is how they are earning money. That said, on my honeymoon, we forgot to have cash immediately ready and while my husband was struggling to get it out, the porter walked away with our bags. We could not catch him to give him a tip. Our bags still made it on the ship and actually beat us to the room.

 

They are union workers and make union wages - believe me, they make a good buck. That being said - I still tip a buck or two a bag and a nice thank you. I don't think not tipping or cheap tipping will prevent your bag from reaching you.

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jetskier

jetskier

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The thing that gets me is that porters at the pier are "highly" paid union workers of the AFL-CIO International Longshoreman's Association.

 

They are only responsible for putting your luggage into the loading cages and loading the cages on the ship. Once in the ship, the cruiseline workers unload the cages and deliver them to your room.

 

Dave

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mrpayroll

mrpayroll

Posted
Posted
They are union workers and make union wages - believe me, they make a good buck. That being said - I still tip a buck or two a bag and a nice thank you. I don't think not tipping or cheap tipping will prevent your bag from reaching you.

 

Since they do not deliver your luggage to your room, ( carnival employees do ) there is no reason to overtip them. I give a couple bucks ( total ) and have never had a problem..

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uppitycats

uppitycats

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Is there a correlation between tipping the porter the timing of bags making to the room?

 

No. You're talking about two separate and distinct jobs. The porters on the ground at the pier get the luggage from your hands to the ship.

 

Once the luggage is on the ship, the ship's crew get it from the baggage area to your cabin. You usually won't see them do it, so tipping isn't going to help.

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howard6933

howard6933

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When all is said and done, we realize that these guys are well paid. As a matter of fact I have seen signs at some of the piers indicating that the porters are paid employees and tipping is not necessary. However, it is still worthwhile to tip them a buck or so per bag to make sure your bags don't disappear or something like that. On our last cruise from Port Everglades (Ft. Lauderdale), upon leaving the ship, the porter went through customs and immigration with us and even walked to the garage with our bags and helped me load them into the car. That scored him a nice tip. :rolleyes:

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Equest

Equest

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I should have been more clear. Does anyone never tip the porter and has never had an issue with bags arriving late? Does anyone always tip the porter and have had bags not arrive or arrive late? Have any of you worked as a cruise terminal porter and can tell me first hand if tipping well benefits me?

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gobucks_43228

gobucks_43228

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I dont think the tipping has ANYTHING to do with the arrival of your bags. I can say that we tipped the porter a decent tip on our last cruise and my brand new suitcase was damaged beyond use. They gave me duct tape to try and make it home. It wasn't just torn it was mangeled. We know it was fine when we left the hotel that morning, when we left it with the porter but when it got to our room at 1:30 when we arrived..it was a mess. Not a good way to start the vacation stressing about how you are going to pack for home. It made it okay and since I had jsut purchased it less than 30 days, i returned it to the store and they gave me full credit, carnival offered $50-$60 to buy one in port ( like I wanted to spend my time looking for stores to buy a suitcase) or to pay a seamstress bill. Thats it!

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klmorg

klmorg

Posted
Posted
I should have been more clear. Does anyone never tip the porter and has never had an issue with bags arriving late? Does anyone always tip the porter and have had bags not arrive or arrive late? Have any of you worked as a cruise terminal porter and can tell me first hand if tipping well benefits me?

 

We've always tipped $1-2 a bag, and our bags have arrived at all different times, from early to late. Another poster mentioned their experience where they could not catch the porter to tip them at all, and their bags made it fine. As others have said, since Carnival employees are responsible for the actual delivery of your bags to your cabin (not the porters), tipping more or less probably doesn't affect the time they are delivered.

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Equest

Equest

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Thanks. I have always tipped $2 a bag and have never had an issue. I have arrived to the ports at different times and have never had my bags show up late. So far the only variable I have noticed from reading this forum other than chance is having a questionable item in the luggage. Looks like there is not a “no tip” line that gets your luggage delivered late or manually inspected.

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waldocruiser1

waldocruiser1

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I don't think so. However, I believe there is a direct correlation between the porter's tip and your bags making it to the ship!

 

I could see them having a "this cage is last" cage that they put the special bags in, and sense it is last to get on the ship, it is probably last to get sorted and delivered.

 

This cage sits right next to the "wops it fell in the water" spot on the pier.

Sometimes it is also called the "wops it got on the wrong ship" cage.

 

either way, you don't want to be one of those, so tip correctly, or carry on yourself, or lift them into the cage yourself.

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boaterette

boaterette

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I dont think the tipping has ANYTHING to do with the arrival of your bags. I can say that we tipped the porter a decent tip on our last cruise and my brand new suitcase was damaged beyond use. They gave me duct tape to try and make it home. It wasn't just torn it was mangeled. We know it was fine when we left the hotel that morning, when we left it with the porter but when it got to our room at 1:30 when we arrived..it was a mess. Not a good way to start the vacation stressing about how you are going to pack for home. It made it okay and since I had jsut purchased it less than 30 days, i returned it to the store and they gave me full credit, carnival offered $50-$60 to buy one in port ( like I wanted to spend my time looking for stores to buy a suitcase) or to pay a seamstress bill. Thats it!

 

This struck me as odd. Why would you return it to the store and make them eat the cost of it? It wasn't their fault.

 

In Long Beach the bins are in the parking structure area and i have seen all the bags go in the same bins. I don't think it makes a difference. I don't see any correlation between tipping and delivery.

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DocF

DocF

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They are union workers and make union wages - believe me, they make a good buck. That being said - I still tip a buck or two a bag and a nice thank you. I don't think not tipping or cheap tipping will prevent your bag from reaching you.

 

They are union workers, true. At most ports, they must pay the business manager to get a porter job. Then they work strictly for tips. This is the way it has been forever and probably will be forever.

 

Doc

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