tipping the luggage handlers at the cruise terminal

[bussub]

Remember reading somewhere that tipping is not the custom in Australia. Just wondering if one is expected to tip the luggage handlers at the Sydney cruise terminal when dropping off the luggage. If yes, how much should we tip?

 

Thanks so much

[SeaDog-46]

You are correct - NO tipping is required or needed in Australia because everybody is paid a livng wage.

At both Sydney cruise terminals just remove your bags from your taxi or transfer bus & a member of the Maritime Union of Australia [Longshoreman] will check that correct labels are on the luggage & take them away to be loaded onto your ship.

You should only consider giving a tip in the tourist industry if the person has gone over & above to assist or inform you & then just a few dollars - but it is never a requirement like the curse of the USA.  -  ie round up the taxi fare to the next dollar or so.

[Aus Traveller]

8 hours ago, bussub said:

Remember reading somewhere that tipping is not the custom in Australia. Just wondering if one is expected to tip the luggage handlers at the Sydney cruise terminal when dropping off the luggage. If yes, how much should we tip?

 

Thanks so much

Absolutely no tips required or expected. I recall that when ships operated from Barangaroo in Sydney, there was a sign that tips were NOT to be given to the baggage handlers.

[MicCanberra]

There is no tip required but then you will likely have to lug your bags to the area where they take them,  as opposed to them coming to meet you at the taxi or shuttle at the roadside. 

[Swissmiss6253]

I'm probably more of a tipper than most Australians and I have never tipped the luggage handlers in Australia

 

[NSWP]

They will take them if offered, but not expected, not from Aussies anyway.

[PerfectlyPerth]

10 hours ago, SeaDog-46 said:

 

You should only consider giving a tip in the tourist industry if the person has gone over & above to assist or inform you & then just a few dollars 

 

And remember - "over and above" means they performed CPR on you or something else well and truly above and beyond the service you have already paid them for.

[MicCanberra]

LOL, you would want to be tipping if they are giving CPR.

[Swissmiss6253]

Maybe if you are feeling a bit queasy you should tip in advance?

 

[MicCanberra]

But that is not tipping for a service.

[Russell21]

The only time I tip in advance is the cabin steward, from experience $20.00 in the first handshake does make a difference.

[MicCanberra]

Not going to happen for me, I leave the tips on, if the room steward goes above and beyond the normal duties, then they get an extra tip at the end of the cruise. Otherwise, they have the normal tips.

[Brisbane41]

Definitely do not bring that filthy custom to Australia. It is a form of bullying, belittlement and discrimination. If you hand out a tip to one porter then how do you think the other porters are going to feel who miss out? That is why it is bullying because it is rewarding one and excluding others who just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Fortunately we live in a country where everyone is paid a decent wage that we can all live off and even the porters are paid a wage that enable them to take cruise holidays, so please leave that custom at home. WE do not want it here, we do not need it here and we despise it here.

[NSWP]

3 hours ago, Brisbane41 said:

Definitely do not bring that filthy custom to Australia. It is a form of bullying, belittlement and discrimination. If you hand out a tip to one porter then how do you think the other porters are going to feel who miss out? That is why it is bullying because it is rewarding one and excluding others who just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Fortunately we live in a country where everyone is paid a decent wage that we can all live off and even the porters are paid a wage that enable them to take cruise holidays, so please leave that custom at home. WE do not want it here, we do not need it here and we despise it here.

I hear the Cruise Missiles whistling across the Pacific from the west coast of the 'land of the free' as we speak.

 

I am heading for the bunker with a chilled bottle of Chardonnay.

Edited December 17, 2018 by NSWP

[gbenjo]

3 hours ago, Brisbane41 said:

Definitely do not bring that filthy custom to Australia. It is a form of bullying, belittlement and discrimination. If you hand out a tip to one porter then how do you think the other porters are going to feel who miss out? That is why it is bullying because it is rewarding one and excluding others who just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Fortunately we live in a country where everyone is paid a decent wage that we can all live off and even the porters are paid a wage that enable them to take cruise holidays, so please leave that custom at home. WE do not want it here, we do not need it here and we despise it here.

AHHH...It must be Christmas    🤬  Sutho's back......wonder if he gives anyone a present at christmas???????.......nah

[Aus Traveller]

3 hours ago, Brisbane41 said:

Definitely do not bring that filthy custom to Australia. It is a form of bullying, belittlement and discrimination. If you hand out a tip to one porter then how do you think the other porters are going to feel who miss out? That is why it is bullying because it is rewarding one and excluding others who just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Fortunately we live in a country where everyone is paid a decent wage that we can all live off and even the porters are paid a wage that enable them to take cruise holidays, so please leave that custom at home. WE do not want it here, we do not need it here and we despise it here.

I agree that we do not want tipping to become the 'norm' here, however, I feel you have expressed yourself a little bit too directly.

[Russell21]

4 hours ago, Brisbane41 said:

Definitely do not bring that filthy custom to Australia. It is a form of bullying, belittlement and discrimination. If you hand out a tip to one porter then how do you think the other porters are going to feel who miss out? That is why it is bullying because it is rewarding one and excluding others who just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Fortunately we live in a country where everyone is paid a decent wage that we can all live off and even the porters are paid a wage that enable them to take cruise holidays, so please leave that custom at home. WE do not want it here, we do not need it here and we despise it here.

.....and if you work for me you had better be sweating blood at the end of the day.

[NSWP]

1 hour ago, gbenjo said:

eHHH...It must be Christmas    🤬  Sutho's back......wonder if he gives anyone a present at christmas???????.......nah

But I do believe he is or was a coach driver out Ayers Rock way, or to be politically correct - Uluru,  now plenty of tips there,  pass the hat around for the driver.  Tis Christmas I must be gentle and kind.

Edited December 17, 2018 by NSWP

[MicCanberra]

5 hours ago, Brisbane41 said:

Definitely do not bring that filthy custom to Australia. It is a form of bullying, belittlement and discrimination. If you hand out a tip to one porter then how do you think the other porters are going to feel who miss out? That is why it is bullying because it is rewarding one and excluding others who just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Fortunately we live in a country where everyone is paid a decent wage that we can all live off and even the porters are paid a wage that enable them to take cruise holidays, so please leave that custom at home. WE do not want it here, we do not need it here and we despise it here.

 

[MicCanberra]

1 hour ago, gbenjo said:

AHHH...It must be Christmas    🤬  Sutho's back......wonder if he gives anyone a present at christmas???????.......nah

LOL, and I have heard that Xmas is just a pagan ceremony dressed up in Commercialism.

[The_Big_M]

11 hours ago, Brisbane41 said:

Definitely do not bring that filthy custom to Australia. It is a form of bullying, belittlement and discrimination. If you hand out a tip to one porter then how do you think the other porters are going to feel who miss out? That is why it is bullying because it is rewarding one and excluding others who just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Fortunately we live in a country where everyone is paid a decent wage that we can all live off and even the porters are paid a wage that enable them to take cruise holidays, so please leave that custom at home. WE do not want it here, we do not need it here and we despise it here.

Ah sutho, your ironic display of verbosity makes an eloquent statement on the negative practice of bullying.

[The_Big_M]

6 hours ago, NSWP said:

But I do believe he is or was a coach driver out Ayers Rock way, or to be politically correct - Uluru,  now plenty of tips there,  pass the hat around for the driver.  Tis Christmas I must be gentle and kind.

 

But he refused all tips. "Being able to serve in your presence gives me immense job satisfaction."

[Russell21]

22 hours ago, Russell21 said:

The only time I tip in advance is the cabin steward, from experience $20.00 in the first handshake does make a difference.

......and I tip more at the end if he/she has earned it. When I was in business my employees always got a Xmas bonus, is this not a tip?

[MicCanberra]

Wouldn't the Xmas bonus be a gift? did everyone get one? Were they of varying size or value? 

[Brisbane41]

You will find it is being banned in some workplaces now because it is a form of bullying and discrimination, particularly the workplaces that start employing people with disabilities be it physical or mental. The issue is that the person with the disability is less likely to receive a tip as such it is being banned outright and tourists are discouraged from doing it.

 

The other issue is with baggage handlers is that it is packing bags to be sent to a customs controlled area and that any money handed over could be perceived as a bribe to slip illegal items through baggage clearance. That is probably why it is banned at some terminals.