Tipping porter at cruise port

[Captain-John]

Although I am from the UK, and therefore not from an excessive tipping culture, I find it in quite poor taste that a tip is expected, lest something happen to your bag, at US ports.

 

Of course I always tip, not because I am delighted with their 'service', but because I want to see my bag end up on the ship. How many bags go through their hands in an hour? - low-ball it at 25, and low ball the per-bag tip at $1 - an additional $25 an hour, every day, on top of a salary?! Say they work 4 hours solid - $100 a day x 5 days a week - $500 a week x 45 (to account for vacation?).$22K extra. In cash. Wow. Does the IRS get their cut?

 

I know the true numbers are much higher than that but even at the low end, I think a lot of people would be delighted with that kind of salary top-up. A lot of people do manual, physical work similar to or harder than baggage porterage, for just a basic salary, as there's no opportunity to extort anyone for a tip. It's really sad.

 

 

[bones774]

21 minutes ago, Captain-John said:

Although I am from the UK, and therefore not from an excessive tipping culture, I find it in quite poor taste that a tip is expected, lest something happen to your bag, at US ports.

 

Of course I always tip, not because I am delighted with their 'service', but because I want to see my bag end up on the ship. How many bags go through their hands in an hour? - low-ball it at 25, and low ball the per-bag tip at $1 - an additional $25 an hour, every day, on top of a salary?! Say they work 4 hours solid - $100 a day x 5 days a week - $500 a week x 45 (to account for vacation?).$22K extra. In cash. Wow. Does the IRS get their cut?

 

I know the true numbers are much higher than that but even at the low end, I think a lot of people would be delighted with that kind of salary top-up. A lot of people do manual, physical work similar to or harder than baggage porterage, for just a basic salary, as there's no opportunity to extort anyone for a tip. It's really sad.

 

 

That's about right. I feel bad for foreign tourists arriving here and experiencing this thug like behavior, some way to experience NY.

[dltvermont]

Same as your first response,

$1/bag but a $5 minimum

[jaja]

Have only sailed out of NYC...I tip  $  2-3 when arriving.  BUT--always tip more when debarking..as said on other threads..having a porter in NYC when getting off is a big help!!!

[Cruiser_1977]

Recently I've been solo with one bag, under 50lbs. I tip 2 US dollars.

[casofilia]

There are parts of the world where tipping is not expected, Europe is included in general, and there are parts where tipping is completely conta-indicated; Japan.

[Quencups]

5 hours ago, MotownVoice said:

 

Have you taken a sociology class yet?

I have a degree in Sociology...what is your point?...and why do you have to be so nasty to people?

[Quencups]

5 hours ago, MotownVoice said:

 

Have you taken a sociology class yet?

I have a degree in Sociology...what is your point?...and why do you have to be so nasty to people?

[GA Dave]

27 minutes ago, Quencups said:

I have a degree in Sociology...what is your point?...and why do you have to be so nasty to people?

They are from Detroit.  That explains it. 

[Laszlo]

Twice going out of NYC the porter pointed towards the cart. So I put the bags on it.......no I didn't tip

[erdoran]

What’s an appropriate tip in Southampton, UK?  In NY I’d think $1-$2/bag, $5 minimum.  We will have 2 bags to load & will keep our carry-ons with us, bags aren’t super big or heavy.

 

Also yes, Seattle does have bag folks right at the curb, when we sailed out of there the shuttle dropped us off and the porters were right there - and yes, were tipped.

[BirdTravels]

9 hours ago, cottagers2000 said:

Just curious as to why you would want anybody to handle your luggage. Can you not simply take it yourself and put it on the luggage cart?

 You definitely want to see your luggage in one piece again if you do that 🙂

[BirdTravels]

11 hours ago, Named-Tawny said:

Silly question, but are there porters at all of the ports?  When I was cruising out of Seattle, I don't remember seeing any.  There was a bag check line (like at an airport) but that was it - nobody meeting us at the cab to take our bags or anything like that.

Yes. Those people be sitting behind the tables are the union porters at the port of Seattle. They sit in their chairs and wait for you to bring your bags to them and then expect a tip. The port  workers in Seattle are the worst. Even NCL is scared of the union, that’s why they send you luggage tags because the porter, sitting at their tables, are very slow to tag bags.

[Kelownacruiser]

Wondering how much I should tip the guy that puts my bag into the hold of the plane and how do I get the money to him. 

 

Tipping is is getting out of hand. Isn’t the whole purpose of his job to take your bag and put it on a cart? That’s what he gets paid for, right? Why do we feel we have to tip him for doing that, it takes literally 30 seconds to do. I get tipping a waiter that has spent an hour or two personally looking after you and making sure your have an enjoyable meal but a guy that puts your bag on a cart.......

[Deeliteful]

9 hours ago, erdoran said:

What’s an appropriate tip in Southampton, UK?  In NY I’d think $1-$2/bag, $5 minimum.  We will have 2 bags to load & will keep our carry-ons with us, bags aren’t super big or heavy.

 

I would tip £2-£3

[fabnfortysomething]

11 hours ago, erdoran said:

What’s an appropriate tip in Southampton, UK?  In NY I’d think $1-$2/bag, $5 minimum.  We will have 2 bags to load & will keep our carry-ons with us, bags aren’t super big or heavy.

 

Also yes, Seattle does have bag folks right at the curb, when we sailed out of there the shuttle dropped us off and the porters were right there - and yes, were tipped.

 

last time we sailed out of Southampton there were big signs on wall saying tipping not expected

[newmexicoNita]

22 hours ago, bkrickles1 said:

I am in such a good mood when I get to the pier and I want to make sure my bags get to the cabin (Lmao!), that I typically tip $5 per bag.

wow, you must be in a good mood. We used to tip $1 per bag, but lately we have just rounded it up a bit. If we only have 1 bag which is often the case, we tip a couple of bucks, if we happen to have more than just one, we will then, tip $5 period. 

[newmexicoNita]

20 hours ago, GA Dave said:

With all these tipping threads on here, I decided to test a theory.  I stood at my office door for hours one day and not a single person who passed by or stopped to ask me a question tipped me.  SHEESH!  The nerve of some people.

 

 

Wouldn't it be nice if they, at least stopped to ask how your long gone grandma was doing?

[bkrickles1]

47 minutes ago, newmexicoNita said:

wow, you must be in a good mood. We used to tip $1 per bag, but lately we have just rounded it up a bit. If we only have 1 bag which is often the case, we tip a couple of bucks, if we happen to have more than just one, we will then, tip $5 period. 

Lol! Yes I do love to cruise and I keep a smile on my face the entire time.

I will say that last year when I sailed Escape, it was me, my wife, daughter and 2 nieces (2 cabins, 5 people) and I actually gave $25 to the porter for our 6 bags, so it wasn't quite $5 per bag. More like 4.

I didn't realize I was so generous until reading this thread so maybe I need to adjust. Lol

[Named-Tawny]

12 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Yes. Those people be sitting behind the tables are the union porters at the port of Seattle. They sit in their chairs and wait for you to bring your bags to them and then expect a tip. The port  workers in Seattle are the worst. Even NCL is scared of the union, that’s why they send you luggage tags because the porter, sitting at their tables, are very slow to tag bags.

Wow.  It never even occurred to me that that would be a tipping situation - it felt exactly like when I check my bags at the airport (do Americans tip the people who take your bags at the airport baggage check?).  I had assumed they were just NCL employees, tbqh.

Good to know.

[Daytonasailor]

21 hours ago, EleventyBangBang said:

 

I still remember my first cruise.  (This was out of Miami.)  The porter says, with a slow, ominous tone, "So, do you have a donation for the bag man?"  The implication was very clear that I risked angering the Bag Gods if I did not offer at least a token sacrifice. 

 

I gave him 4$ to handle a bag and a case of water.  They arrived in my cabin without incident so I assume the Bag Man was pleased with my offering. 

 

Bang Bang? When I was there it was 11 Boom Boom.

 

[Oakman58]

Normally I give the porter a couple of bucks but a few years ago I was in a bad mood when I finally arrived at the New Orleans cruise port.  When I failed to give the porter a tip he said something to the effect, I hope your bags make it onto the ship.  This just ticked me off even more and put me in a worse mood and I replied, do want you want bud, I have travel insurance.  My bags made it to my room.

As bones774 mentioned. in the United States porters are members of the Longshoremen's Union and make a great wage.  I don't know for sure but I'd bet the porter jobs are primo and go to those with the most union seniority.

I don't mind tipping at all, but I do mind tipping someone who has the potential to make a six figure annual wage.

[bones774]

3 minutes ago, Oakman58 said:

Normally I give the porter a couple of bucks but a few years ago I was in a bad mood when I finally arrived at the New Orleans cruise port.  When I failed to give the porter a tip he said something to the effect, I hope your bags make it onto the ship.  This just ticked me off even more and put me in a worse mood and I replied, do want you want bud, I have travel insurance.  My bags made it to my room.

As bones774 mentioned. in the United States porters are members of the Longshoremen's Union and make a great wage.  I don't know for sure but I'd bet the porter jobs are primo and go to those with the most union seniority.

I don't mind tipping at all, but I do mind tipping someone who has the potential to make a six figure annual wage.

Not only the wages but someone mentioned handling your bag for 30 seconds? in NY its more like 2 seconds, put your bag down in front of porter, he grabs it and swings it onto cart behind him, it takes just as long to give him the tip!

[Georgia_Peaches]

We tip a couple of bucks for our combined bags.  We do the same when we get off the park-n-ride at the airport.  It makes their day without breaking the bank.  When we arrived back to Port Canaveral after a quick trip on the Sun, the debarkation line was incredibly long inside the terminal trying to get through customs.  A porter came by with a cart offering to move anyone interested to the front of the line.  We took him up on it and at the end, tipped him $15 bucks.  Well worth it to skip that sprawling line. 

[graphicguy]

The porters don’t get a salary.  They work strictly on tips.  And, they don’t get benefits, either, as they would get socialized medicine in the U.K or any other cruise port in Europe.  They only work weekends, given no ships go out or come in during the week.

 

So, the idea that they make a fortune isn’t quite accurate.