Tipping Baggage Handlers

[thunderfrompa]

duplicate in all ways!!

There is also the airport to hotel trip.

We tip the taxi or shuttle driver who loads our bags, drives us over, and unloads our bags.

 

Then we tip the guy who takes our bags from the curb in to the hotel lobby reception area.

 

We check in, go to out room, and tip the guy who brings our bags up to the room and delivers them to us.

 

At check-out, we repeat the whole process in reverse (except for the places when we bring the bags down ourselves, and of course tip ourselves).

 

And of course we always leave a tip for the hotel maid, who is usually some poor, hardworking minimum-wage immigrant who barely speaks English.

 

Any European or Aussie reading this is probably sitting there snickering.

 

What can I say.

We are Americans. It is the way we were brought up. :D

[wwcruisers]

There is also the airport to hotel trip.

We tip the taxi or shuttle driver who loads our bags, drives us over, and unloads our bags.

 

Then we tip the guy who takes our bags from the curb in to the hotel lobby reception area.

 

We check in, go to out room, and tip the guy who brings our bags up to the room and delivers them to us.

 

At check-out, we repeat the whole process in reverse (except for the places when we bring the bags down ourselves, and of course tip ourselves).

 

And of course we always leave a tip for the hotel maid, who is usually some poor, hardworking minimum-wage immigrant who barely speaks English.

 

Any European or Aussie reading this is probably sitting there snickering.

 

What can I say.

We are Americans. It is the way we were brought up. :D

 

"Like" :cool:

Let 'em snicker! :rolleyes: All I know is that, by tipping well, we get great service everywhere we go. And FWIW, our bags have always arrived on board (eventually) with no damage and nothing missing! :D

[pris993]

We feel just the opposite, we generally tip around $5-10, when on the dock. We want to make sure our luggage gets where it is suppose to be. We also generally tip on board the last night, those folks carrying luggage, i.e., down decks, asking that they make sure our luggage is handled properly.

[Putterdude]

We feel just the opposite, we generally tip around $5-10, when on the dock. We want to make sure our luggage gets where it is suppose to be. We also generally tip on board the last night, those folks carrying luggage, i.e., down decks, asking that they make sure our luggage is handled properly.

 

Funny you would mention this, we boarded the Oosterdam in San Diego on Christmas Eve day just past and 3 bags went into the water, two sank to the bottom and one stayed afloat all afternoon and was later rescued by the ship's boat as we pulled away from the pier. Later that evening I happened to meet the people whose bag was rescued and I was awfully temped to asked if they had tipped the porters or not.;)

[Keith1010]

Just want to note that the porters do not only take your luggage but ports also bring luggage onto the ship (not to rooms that's handled by crew but onto the ship). They also take luggage off the ship and line them all up.

 

On the ship it is the crew that takes the bags to each stateroom and removes the bags from outside the stateroom to the holding area for disembarkation.

 

In the end, tipping is a personal decision. No different than how much do you tip the tour guide, the valet for your car, the bell hop at a hotel, etc.

 

In general, most people tip $1.00 to $2.00 per bag. But like anything else you can adjust that as you see fit such as what we do which is to also round up.

 

Keith

[DonnaK]

Our family usually checks 3-4 bags at the pier, and we give a $10 tip.

 

We do self-disembark, so we do not tip on the return trip.

[Gathina]

It's good to tip them and dare I say even more than is recommended if the service is good.

 

The way I see it is that they are just trying to make an honest living and you don't know the "story" behind the person. Have met many foreign born people here in S.Florida who have jobs such as those, and learned that many of them were doctor's and lawyers in their native countries who came here for whatever reason and can't practice their profession. A few times some of the ones I met were starting Medical school for the second time (a few in this situation were from Cuba) because of legalities they couldn't get licensed here due to different issues.

 

Is giving someone an extra $1 for good service really going to break the bank for some?

[Happy ks]

We hand them a tip, usually $1-2 per bag.

 

How many of yu think they actually stop and look at the amount you have given them? I never have, they typically shove it into their pocket and keep on going, never knowing that one person gave them $1 and the next $10.

 

I'm sure they thank the mystery person that night for the odd $10 bill. If you can afford to be generous I think it's great, but your service will be the same no matter the amount of tip.