The Great Luggage Debate

[lizardhowson]

Haven't sailed for 4 years now, just a little worried about the chance of lost luggage when checked vs carrying on all suitcases. What is the better option? Check bags or carry all bags?

 

Also, hearing a lot about $20+ tips to the porter to ensure bags make it on the ship?

 

Thanks!

 

Well, this is how "fake news" gets started.:eek:

[dmdiver]

We carry ours on - medium suitcase & backpack for each of us. I like to go directly to my cabin & unpack so I don't have to deal with it later. Plus, it minimizes wear & tear on my suitcase. In times past when we gave it to the porters, we had one incident of cuff links going missing. However, I think we also flew that trip, so no telling when they actually disappeared. For the record, I never pack that sort of thing in checked luggage - hubby won't make that mistake again.

 

I have seen those flyers for lost luggage and I've heard reports of luggage falling into the water, but we've been very fortunate not to have experienced either of those.

 

We also carry off so we don't have to search for our luggage in a sea of thousands of suitcases. Plus, I don't like giving up my suitcase the night before.

[evandbob]

IMO, $20 is a decent tip for 4 bags or more. I've seen people with 6 or 8 bags give a porter a $1 tip as well.

 

In 45 cruises, I can recall seeing alerts in my cabin about missing luggage on the 1st or 2nd sea day maybe 6 times? I've also seen a whole skidful of luggage fall off the hi-lo into the water during the loading process as I watched from my balcony.

 

Except for Alaska or Med cruises, I tend to pack just one piece of luggage that I can easily wheel on and off the ship myself.

[Lottacruises]

Haven't sailed for 4 years now, just a little worried about the chance of lost luggage when checked vs carrying on all suitcases. What is the better option? Check bags or carry all bags?

 

Also, hearing a lot about $20+ tips to the porter to ensure bags make it on the ship?

 

Thanks!

 

Experiences will vary, do what feels right to you.

[pacruise804]

Obviously vastly more luggage makes it to the proper cabins in a reasonably timely way than doesn't. Vastly. No way to calculate how big (or small actually) a risk it is. Carry your own bags on if you want - there's no rule against it that I know of. But hauling it all around with you until the cabins are open sounds like a real drag to me - I don't even bring a carry-on. In 12 cruises with an average of 5 pieces of luggage on each one, we've never once had an incident. We don't go nuts tipping the porters either - $5 or $10 for all of them is reasonable and we give it in thanks for the service, not because we're worried they'll do something bad to us if we don't.

 

I agree with most of this, especially that the bulk of the luggage arrives without incident. On only our second cruise we had one piece of luggage delayed (and they never did explain why when we retrieved it) so I am always relieved when the luggage is finally all in the room. Luggage also tends to have scuff marks or worse when checked, so we are trying to pack less and carry-on everything with us when possible. When we do check luggage we tip $5 for our 2 bags.

[A&Jfamily]

Haven't sailed for 4 years now, just a little worried about the chance of lost luggage when checked vs carrying on all suitcases. What is the better option? Check bags or carry all bags?

 

Also, hearing a lot about $20+ tips to the porter to ensure bags make it on the ship?

 

Thanks!

 

This is a personal choice. We travel light with a 20" roller and backpack per person. We like to unpack when we board and even before we were Platinum, we mostly carried aboard for this reason. It is one of the ways that we get into vacation mode. For those that carry more, I can certainly see why the porter would be preferred.

[Elaine5715]

Yes, a family on one of my earlier cruises had two bags go missing. Carnival covered their "logo apparel" during the cruise and distributed printed "be on the lookout" flyers to every cabin with (presumably stock) photos of the missing luggage.

The two pieces mysteriously appeared on the last morning of the cruise. We all figured they had sat in someone's stateroom unnoticed (or not bothering) until debark morning.

 

But as has been mentioned, this sort of situation is extremely rare.

 

 

 

You're incorrect. Our resident CHief ENGineer has stated in the past that the porters are quite well paid...much more than $15/hour and, including tips, more than many of the cruisers they are ostensibly helping.

Still, I generally tip $1 per bag, and if they notice the FTTF logo on the luggage tags and put the orange "priority" tag on our bags without prompting, I double it or hand them a fiver.

No, Chief has not made any such commentary on how well paid they are. If they were that well paid and the work so easy, it would be done by young, caucasian men.

[fireofficer5]

I wonder how many lost luggage stories are really, left at home happenings.

[Pellaz]

No, Chief has not made any such commentary on how well paid they are. If they were that well paid and the work so easy, it would be done by young, caucasian men.

 

A) that sounds pretty racist

 

B) ChengKP75 has indeed posted commentary on how much porters make. See the thread "Are dock workers longshoremen?" in the Royal Caribbean forum.

 

I'll quote a few of his posts:

 

But if you knew they make from $70k to well into six figures, depending on seniority and hours worked, would you still feel compelled to tip them?

Also:

 

The West Coast union, the ILWU, makes higher than the ILA on the Gulf and East Coast, but it is still significant cash. The ILWU, a couple years ago, was found that 50% of the workers earned over $100k, and supervisors made over $200k, some as high as $350k.

So yeah, $70K (minimum) is a FAR cry from $15/hour.

[nealstuber]

A) that sounds pretty racist

 

B) ChengKP75 has indeed posted commentary on how much porters make. See the thread "Are dock workers longshoremen?" in the Royal Caribbean forum.

 

I'll quote a few of his posts:

 

Also:

 

So yeah, $70K (minimum) is a FAR cry from $15/hour.

 

 

 

Thinking of Galveston that is only open 2.5 days a week, bags moving through the port maybe from 8:30 am till an hour before sailing (3 or 4 pm). Skills required: proper lifting techniques in moderate heat and the ability to say “have a great cruise” and “safe travels”.

 

Sign me up!

 

(I’m still tipping $10 no matter how many bags we check).

 

 

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[beshears]

I have cruised on several ship lines, and NEVER in my 25 years or more, have they lost my luggage, as long as I had the information on the outside of the luggage, so they would know where to deliver it. Sometimes it is late getting to the room, but eventually it gets there!

 

 

 

Was my luggage LOST one time, yes, but it happened to be our fault. :( This was years ago, and there were large open taxi's taking the people, as well as luggage. We were told to get on one taxi, and since there was no more room for our luggage, our luggage went on another taxi (this happened to us, and 3 other couples). We couldn't understand WHY our luggage was not arriving, with "many" visits to the Pursers/Help desk, and still, they had no answer. They were really trying hard to help us out, but when you only have what you wore on the plane, and the one change that was carried in our carry on bag, we didn't have anything else to change into. We knew formal nights would not be the same without our beautiful dresses that we had brought to wear, and many tears were shed because of all this mess. To make the long story short, a couple days before getting off the ship, our luggage arrived! One of my suitcases looked like it had been kicked by a football player, etc. We found out the reason WHY we did not have our luggage. It had gone on another ship. So thus they ship had to return before we got our luggage. I was thankful that I had taken out insurance. A person never plans on anything like this, but as you can see, it does happen. The insurance helped some, but when you bring your own nice clothes and want to wear them..............well you know where I'm coming from. To say the least, I ALWAYS make sure my luggage is going to the RIGHT place, or ship! :)

[luckybecky]

Thinking of Galveston that is only open 2.5 days a week, bags moving through the port maybe from 8:30 am till an hour before sailing (3 or 4 pm). Skills required: proper lifting techniques in moderate heat and the ability to say “have a great cruise” and “safe travels”.

 

Sign me up!

 

(I’m still tipping $10 no matter how many bags we check).

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

I think you are unfairly minimizing the hard work these people do. I mean, seriously. You are from south Texas. You know that the heat in Galveston is NOT "moderate" for 8 - 9 months of the year. It is stifling and with unbearable humidity. Yes, in January and February the heat is "moderate." I'll grant you that. Heck, we even once experienced a rare cold embarkation day!

 

The port of Galveston has ships arriving and departing not on 2.5 days per week, but 3-5 days per week.

 

These porters don't start work at 8:30 am. You forget that the ship is Debarking people starting very early. Have you never noticed those little reminders to set your luggage out before you even go to sleep? What do you think happens to your suitcases while you are sleeping? It isn't getting offloaded by magic. And once they get all those tons of luggage off the ship, they turn around and start putting tons of luggage back on again.

 

I would guess that luggage handlers are working 10-12 hour days, in stifling heat, and handling thousands of pounds of luggage each day -- requiring a lot more physical effort than your sneering description of "proper lifting techniques."

 

Really, I'm glad you tip. Good for you. But please give these hard working people a little more respect.

[luckybecky]

Ok, sorry. Off my soap box and back to the original question.

 

I am a firm believer in packing a carry on with essential items. This is for any kind of travel -- air, cruise, whatever. I always have a carryon that I keep with me at all times.

 

What counts as "essential" will vary. At a bare minimum, you should keep with you any medications, and medical devices such as CPAP machine, or your glucometer if you are diabetic, stuff like that.

 

I don't use those items, but I still have an "essential" packing list that I take on every trip and always keep in my possession. That includes a minimum of one complete change of clothes including underwear. A swimsuit, if I am on a tropical vacation. Basic toiletries such as toothpaste, toothbrush, hairbrush. Some basic cosmetics - for me that means a tinted moisturizer that includes sunscreen, a lip gloss or chapstick, and mascara. Usually I also put in some pajamas, or a tshirt and shorts that could double as workout wear/ pajamas.

 

You should also include any electronics that you don't want to be without: your e reader, camera, laptop, phone, tablet -- whatever items you take should be kept with you, not in checked luggage. (this includes chargers too)

 

Basically, think about what you would need to get through 24 hours without your luggage. Take that in your carryon. And yes, I do this every time I travel, including by air or on a cruise ship. Just in case.

 

If they lose my luggage, I can still hit the beach, have a clean change of clothes to put on in the morning, and can brush my teeth and hair. The minor inconvenience of taking a small carryon is worth the peace of mind to me.

 

We have never had our luggage irretrievably lost, but it has been delayed and I've been glad for my "emergency" carryon.

Edited May 20, 2018 by luckybecky

[nealstuber]

I think you are unfairly minimizing the hard work these people do. I mean, seriously. You are from south Texas. You know that the heat in Galveston is NOT "moderate" for 8 - 9 months of the year. It is stifling and with unbearable humidity. Yes, in January and February the heat is "moderate." I'll grant you that. Heck, we even once experienced a rare cold embarkation day!

 

 

 

The port of Galveston has ships arriving and departing not on 2.5 days per week, but 3-5 days per week.

 

 

 

These porters don't start work at 8:30 am. You forget that the ship is Debarking people starting very early. Have you never noticed those little reminders to set your luggage out before you even go to sleep? What do you think happens to your suitcases while you are sleeping? It isn't getting offloaded by magic. And once they get all those tons of luggage off the ship, they turn around and start putting tons of luggage back on again.

 

 

 

I would guess that luggage handlers are working 10-12 hour days, in stifling heat, and handling thousands of pounds of luggage each day -- requiring a lot more physical effort than your sneering description of "proper lifting techniques."

 

 

 

Really, I'm glad you tip. Good for you. But please give these hard working people a little more respect.

 

 

 

The porters have NOTHING to do with getting luggage off the ship. Their work starts in the terminal, not when the “carry your own”passengers debark, but when passengers with checked bags make it to luggage collection. They are not even the ones who unload and organize the luggage in the terminal.

 

Yes I live in South Texas, 300 Miles south of Galveston. But I work in factories with boilers and steam and no AC, wearing long pants, a bump cap, and other safety gear -as do many others who work more than 3 days a week for far less in those conditions. And I’m quite sure my pool guy and lawn guy don’t clear what the porters supposedly make.

 

So I don’t begrudge them their success, and am happy to tip as required by custom, but I am well within my rights to say “that’s a good job”.

 

 

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[richfret]

Never had a suit case lost but twice received my Platinum luggage about 10 pm. I forgive you Carnival but don't let it happen again.

[beerman2]

Tip the porter a $1 or $2, watch him put it on the cart. He/she once it's on the cart isn't going to touch it again until they stack it in the luggage crates.

 

Tow motor operators are then responsible to get the crates on the ship.

 

No worries!

[Elaine5715]

A) that sounds pretty racist

 

B) ChengKP75 has indeed posted commentary on how much porters make. See the thread "Are dock workers longshoremen?" in the Royal Caribbean forum.

 

I'll quote a few of his posts:

 

Also:

 

So yeah, $70K (minimum) is a FAR cry from $15/hour.

Chief may post facts, he doesn't post commentary. In those quotes, he grouped all union members and was not specifically addressing porters. Those also referenced West Coast docks.

And yes, high paid, easy jobs have always gone to those most connected and highest on the social scale. Just look around. You don't find it odd in Miami and Port Everglades there are no women of any race or any latinos working as porters?

[Pellaz]

Chief may post facts, he doesn't post commentary. In those quotes, he grouped all union members and was not specifically addressing porters. Those also referenced West Coast docks.

Read the quote again. He indicated clearly that porters start at $70k/year, and added "...would you still tip them?"

 

And yes, high paid, easy jobs have always gone to those most connected and highest on the social scale. Just look around. You don't find it odd in Miami and Port Everglades there are no women of any race or any latinos working as porters?

 

It's possible the union doesn't (ahem) "encourage" Latinos or women to join, but every porter I've ever had at Miami or FLL was a black male...who are seemingly "those most connected and highest on the social scale," to quote your words.

Seems like if a social adjustment is necessary, it would need to begin with the ILA or the ILWU.

[pe4all]

I tip $5 for 2 bags. If 4 of us traveling, it goes to $10 for 4 bags. Never had a problem. Of course - my comment to the porter of "please make sure our luggage gets on the ship or my dh will be wearing my underwear for the week" may help!

[Havingfun2010]

Haven't sailed for 4 years now, just a little worried about the chance of lost luggage when checked vs carrying on all suitcases. What is the better option? Check bags or carry all bags?

 

Also, hearing a lot about $20+ tips to the porter to ensure bags make it on the ship?

 

Thanks!

 

I never tip a longshoreman for doing their job, just like I don't tip the Captain for navigating the ship safely. They both have the same thing in common. They get a salary, and get paid well for doing their jobs. What do you think will happen with the 200 people or more that did not hand over a tip? So every cruise, you have a couple hundred pieces of luggage left? I'm sure those people want to get fired from the cushy jobs over a $2.00 tip.

 

The best option, is let the shore crew load the ship with the rest of your luggage, and go enjoy yourself.