what is customary tipping of your porter?

$5 for two bags getting on the ship.

Double getting off if we use one to bring our bags to the car.

At San Juan the line at the airport for our departing flight was unbelievable and barely moving.

We hailed a redcap who took our bags, led us to an unused ticketing station, printed up our tags, boarding documents and we walked directly to security. For our party of three it was worth the generous tip.

bosco

Depends on the country - US $2-$2.5/pb, AU $0, UK £2 Europe ,1 Euro/pb

Just love sailing out of Harwich and Southampton in UK never tipped the guys there they do not expect it either.

Never seen anyone tip them.

Thats the difference in worldwide tipping cultures.

Between $5 & $10.

 

Give the all ones so it looks like more....

I like it.

Usually $5 for our three bags.

Same for us.

I've always heard a couple bucks a bag for anyone that handles your bag, porter, skycap, hotel porter, etc.

Just love sailing out of Harwich and Southampton in UK never tipped the guys there they do not expect it either.

Never seen anyone tip them.

Thats the difference in worldwide tipping cultures.

If we bought a transfer package to and from the ship we don't tip. If doing our own transfers don't tip going on board but getting off would tip a dollar, pound or euro per bag

$10 for 4 suitcases.

$1-2 per bag is customary.

Our cruises are a minimum of 2 week cruises. We've never learned the art of packing light, even though we haven't taken tux/gowns, but we still have at least 4 bags....two very heavy ones.

 

Hubby usually gives $10 for them all, but has given $20 when porters have had to walk pretty far with our bags (usually leaving, and taxi is pretty far away).

 

I just asked him about the $1 a bag theory and he said that was 40 years ago and that's airport handlers, not luxury cruise line handlers.

 

Dawn

I agree with your DH, Dawn. It was $1 or $2 per bag 40 years ago.

Even the porters deserve a raise after 40 years :).

Somewhat change of topic...how much tip for the cab ride airport to port, FLL? I'm not well versed with cab rides.

I'm guessing that when we get to port we need to top and not sure what is customary...suggestions?

You can tip as much as you like or as little as you like, the choice is yours.:)

We generally tip $5 for 3 bags on embarkation...in some cases like Port Everglades they don't carry the bags more than 3 feet. On disembarkation where the porter takes the bags to the curb or taxi line then it may be double that depending on the length of the lines.

I tip $2 per bag, large or small, and then round it up. I have always and only had good, friendly and helpful porters and I appreciate it with a good tip.

QTPie :cool:

We usually tip $5.00 - $10.00

Leaving San Juan.. I do give the guys extra since we has such a long way to get through customs... carried all of our bags through the lines, through the customs and to the taxi. So much easier. Plus sometimes they get us through the lines quicker.. :)

Cathy

I do not tip them. They are well paid union workers who carry your bags about 10 ft from your vehicle to a cart. Say it takes them 3 minutes (probably less) to carry your bags and then they come back for more bags. Five dollars per group times 20 groups per hour means that they are getting $120 per hour.

Before you start telling me that you have to tip to ensure that the bags do not end up in the drink and that do end up on the right ship - this has never occurred in any of my travels. BTW, the ship's crew does most of the bag handling work and we do not tip them for this service.

Also before you flame me for not tipping, I leave the suggested daily tip on my ship charges and I also tip extra if the service warrants.

DON

I do not tip them. They are well paid union workers who carry your bags about 10 ft from your vehicle to a cart. Say it takes them 3 minutes (probably less) to carry your bags and then they come back for more bags. Five dollars per group times 20 groups per hour means that they are getting $120 per hour.

 

Before you start telling me that you have to tip to ensure that the bags do not end up in the drink and that do end up on the right ship - this has never occurred in any of my travels. BTW, the ship's crew does most of the bag handling work and we do not tip them for this service.

 

Also before you flame me for not tipping, I leave the suggested daily tip on my ship charges and I also tip extra if the service warrants.

 

DON

I certainly don't disagree with anything you say....particularly about being very highly paid members of the Longshoremen's Unions. The part about luggage, well deep down I don't believe that the luggage of people who don't tip goes into the drink...but I have seen luggage go into the drink. I just call the tip insurance and I kind of joke with the porter, "now we will be sure that these don't go into the drink....won't we"; this usually results in a smile.

I do not tip them. They are well paid union workers who carry your bags about 10 ft from your vehicle to a cart. Say it takes them 3 minutes (probably less) to carry your bags and then they come back for more bags. Five dollars per group times 20 groups per hour means that they are getting $120 per hour.

 

Before you start telling me that you have to tip to ensure that the bags do not end up in the drink and that do end up on the right ship - this has never occurred in any of my travels. BTW, the ship's crew does most of the bag handling work and we do not tip them for this service.

 

Also before you flame me for not tipping, I leave the suggested daily tip on my ship charges and I also tip extra if the service warrants.

 

DON

I agree with you. The porters are WELL paid according to union scale. And like you, I have never had luggage end up in the water because I didn't tip.:)

If it's just me, I tip $5, if two of us, I tip $10. It probably has no bearing on the bag getting to the cabin, but it makes me feel better.

 

My first year out of college I also worked as a bellman, so I tend to tip baggage handlers well.

We do the same, in over 30 years of cruising we have only had one bad experience, it was not with the shore staff but with a local taxi in Ft Lauderdale, who entered the port wrong, had to go around and then dropped us a loooooooooooog ways from the drop area, my DH is 82 and I am 67. A short side person gave us a hand. Happened to us this past year... I was really surprised at how inconsiderate the taxi driver was, we would easily have tipped over and above to bring us to the right spot, even so we paid him too much. :eek:

My bags are so heavy I tip $5-$8, apologize for the weight and thank them for the service.

Just love sailing out of Harwich and Southampton in UK never tipped the guys there they do not expect it either.

Never seen anyone tip them.

Thats the difference in worldwide tipping cultures.

Will have to remember that when we sail out of Harwich next year.:)

Perhaps Tip them any ways to see if a trend happens. ;)

You know that these guys are longshoremen union workers who are paid very well. Some of them are working overtime and getting around $70.00/hour when getting time and a half. They are paid by the Port and RCCL via Port rental fees.

 

I generally tip $5 for our two or three bags and more if they unload and assist me in assembling DWs scooter.

 

Conversely, last year on the Allure, we got off the hotel shuttle, unloaded our bags and stood there waiting for a porter to take our bags. After about ten minutes and no porters came to help us, I loaded our bags on the luggage rack and tipped myself $10.00.

 

Our bags got to our cabin just fine.

 

In Miami, there are signs in the embarkation area that tips are not necessary.

Your statement shows how uninformed you are about longshoremen and how wrong you are about their wages.

They make not nearly the wage you claim.

They are not paid by the port and RCCL. They are paid by the stevedore company that hires them.

The stevedore company contract with cruise lines are somewhat in line with the current mater contract that is in place from Maine to Texas.

The union members have reworked the contract for cruise ships allowing them more flexibility for less wages than the contract calls for.

Working as porters on cruise ship is a very small amount of work they do.

Most of their work is on container ships and ro-ro ships along with other types of vessels.

The longshoremen only get paid when they work and many do not work 40 hours a week but a lot less

Just love sailing out of Harwich and Southampton in UK never tipped the guys there they do not expect it either.

Never seen anyone tip them.

Thats the difference in worldwide tipping cultures.

I'd never even heard about tipping until I read these forums a few years ago....so once I handed over a £1 coin, and the man was amazed- but took it....

This year we took our cases very early to the stevadores at City Terminal, Southampton, because we were staying in the hotel next door and wanted them out of the way. A group of stevadores were standing around in their area, waiting for work to begin, and they just yelled cheerily to "leave 'em there and they'll get sorted!", and that was that...not a hand out for a tip.....

I, as most of us know, you don't have to tip, but for some people, like me, it makes me feel better. Last year my family of 21 people when on a cruise on the Oasis, I tipped the porter very well and our bags were at our cabins a few minutes after 1pm when they let us go to the cabins. I know that the tips most likely had nothing to do with us getting our bags quickly, but it still made me feel good about it.:)

Do you realize that the porters are not the ones who deliver the bags to the cabins? All porters do is put the bags in the bins.

Your statement shows how uninformed you are about longshoremen and how wrong you are about their wages.

They make not nearly the wage you claim.

They are not paid by the port and RCCL. They are paid by the stevedore company that hires them.

The stevedore company contract with cruise lines are somewhat in line with the current mater contract that is in place from Maine to Texas.

The union members have reworked the contract for cruise ships allowing them more flexibility for less wages than the contract calls for.

Working as porters on cruise ship is a very small amount of work they do.

Most of their work is on container ships and ro-ro ships along with other types of vessels.

The longshoremen only get paid when they work and many do not work 40 hours a week but a lot less

You are certainly right that they probably do not work 40 hours per week. However, I based my calculation on the hourly rate amortized over a theoretical 40 hour week regardless of how many hours they theoretically make.

It is not my problem that they have chosen what is essentially a part time profession. They have other career opportunities available to them that are full time. Also, based on their hourly rate, they are grossly overpaid for what is simple manual labor.

DON

We always seem to get into this. One tends to get flamed from one side or the other. If you want to tip . Tip; if not don't.