Proper tip for Porters at the port?

Omg, I'd be so mad if a porter called me cheap for giving him $10, especially when I watch so many people NOT tip at all.

My husband always insists we tip $10 per bag because he's so afraid our luggage won't make it onto the ship. That theory makes no sense to me. All that luggage getting loaded into those bins, I seriously doubt the porter is going to remember who did and who didn't tip and then "accidently" toss their luggage overboard.

Omg, I'd be so mad if a porter called me cheap for giving him $10, especially when I watch so many people NOT tip at all.

 

My husband always insists we tip $10 per bag because he's so afraid our luggage won't make it onto the ship. That theory makes no sense to me. All that luggage getting loaded into those bins, I seriously doubt the porter is going to remember who did and who didn't tip and then "accidently" toss their luggage overboard.

If they threw luggage into the water or switched/ripped the tags every time someone gave them no tip or a small tip, the majority of people would not get their luggage.

Seriously, $10 per bag is a lot of money for someone to pick up your bag and move it 5 feet to a cart.

I usually give $2 dollars a bag - they move loads of bags per cruise so its a good earner - what a cheek to call you cheap !

Im wondering about my upcoming Southampton trip. Im fitting 4 suitcases and us three in my Merc E class convertable. Its going to be a Monkey Puzzle to get them in and out - I hope they dont hassle me in the car park rushing me as I'll get in a state lol. Im wondering in the UK how much to tip ? Any ideas ? Our money is in coins save for £5 note = $8 or £10 = $ 16 :)

I usually give $2 dollars a bag - they move loads of bags per cruise so its a good earner - what a cheek to call you cheap !

 

Im wondering about my upcoming Southampton trip. Im fitting 4 suitcases and us three in my Merc E class convertable. Its going to be a Monkey Puzzle to get them in and out - I hope they dont hassle me in the car park rushing me as I'll get in a state lol. Im wondering in the UK how much to tip ? Any ideas ? Our money is in coins save for £5 note = $8 or £10 = $ 16 :)

No need to tip at all in Southampton. They don't expect it, certainly don't hassle. You'll probably find the porters have grabbed your bags, loaded them onto the trolley and on to the next passenger before you have time to open your purse. Same goes in Barcelona.

No need to tip at all in Southampton. They don't expect it, certainly don't hassle. You'll probably find the porters have grabbed your bags, loaded them onto the trolley and on to the next passenger before you have time to open your purse. Same goes in Barcelona.

Cheers :)

Oh when I meant hassle - I mean rush me :) my 2 door low car means the roof has to come down, I then put the cases on the back seat ( wedged in ), the roof is put back up, protector for roof in trunk pushed up out of the way, cases then put in the trunk - finally packed! Taking them out means it must all be done in the reverse order or I'll break my soft top ! Lol. I dont mind giving a fiver (£5) if someone waits till I complete the puzzle lol :)

Cheers :)

 

Oh when I meant hassle - I mean rush me :) my 2 door low car means the roof has to come down, I then put the cases on the back seat ( wedged in ), the roof is put back up, protector for roof in trunk pushed up out of the way, cases then put in the trunk - finally packed! Taking them out means it must all be done in the reverse order or I'll break my soft top ! Lol. I dont mind giving a fiver (£5) if someone waits till I complete the puzzle lol :)

I get what you mean, we have much the same with suitcases in a roof box, behind seats, under legs, etc! Don't worry about the porters at Southampton - they're very used to the likes of us. They'll just pick up cases as they see them available - if yours aren't they'll pick up the next car then come back to you. Just make sure you hold tight to your carry-ons, or they'll be on the trolley before you know it.

And really, there's absolutely no need to tip UK porters. They're very efficient in their jobs and won't be hanging around waiting for you!

Every porter wears a large identification number.

If you have a bad experience...report the porters identification number to the Port. The Port will forward to the ILA Union and the cruiseline.

We have used Porters for years at the cruise ports. Especially now that we are getting older. Last cruise was this Spring out of Port Everglades,Fort Lauderdale. We had two large suitcases and two carry-ons. We tipped the Porter $10.00. As I started to walk away, he said not so softly CHEAP!

Have the tips gone up or was he just being rude? I thought it was a fair tip.

Your tip was more than fair.

It totally depends on whether you are using them to check in or get off the boat. For getting on they don't do much so a small tip would seem fine. For getting off, they may eat up 30-40 minutes helping you. I'd say $10 is low in this case no matter the number of bags. To me, for getting their help to get my luggage to my car is a min $20. Only recently have I used one as we now have a baby. To me there was no choice so I budgeted $30 in my mind since I was asking someone to haul my heavy luggage (4 bags total) for what took 30-40 minutes. I couldnt imagine tipping less than $20 in that scenario. Like I said, checking in is totally different however as they don't have to do much in this scenario. You have no choice but to go through them when getting in the ship. When getting off the boat you are electing to use them because can't or don't want to carry your own bags. In this case being cheap is quite rude IMO. You are the one that asked them to haul your heavy luggage.

Are the porters cruise ship employees or port employees and how much do they make an hour?

2 bucks a bag is plenty. 1-2 dollars a bag is ok. If they have a problem with that.... they can load the bags without a damn tip on my next few cruises. They have to load them anyway, no one is making me tip them.

 

Itas funny if I heard that I would said that to the guy and made sure the other porters heard it..... and also removed my bags from the stack and took them to another porter farther down the line :)

Since he carried their carry on one would assume this was getting off the boat not checking in. So they asked for help which is quite different than when they move your bags 5 feet at checkin. You would never hear a porter say that at checkin as $10 is a generous tip in that scenario.

Are the porters cruise ship employees or port employees and how much do they make an hour?

Port employees.

Are the porters cruise ship employees or port employees and how much do they make an hour?

Does that really matter? But to answer you they work for the ports not the comanies. They are govt employees and do more than just haul luggage at most ports.

Port employees.

The porters are members of the ILA union. This union has members who work cruise ships from Maine to Texas.

The cruise line awards a contract to the stevedore company to handle not only the porter duties but also the loading and unloading of ship stores and other cargro.. The stevedore companies hire the necessary amount of longshoremen to perform all jobs needed to make sure all ship side cruise operations are done as quickly as possible.

The cruise ship operation is only a small part of the different and dangerous jobs the longshoremen do on a daily bases.

The longshoremen are paid only for the hours they work and not on any type of salary .

Too bad OP didn't return to specify whether this was in reference to either before or after the cruise.........

We always tip $2-$2.50 a bag. I have a friend who is a police officer who works details at the pier in Boston. He chats withe the porters frequently and they all say $2-3 per bag is standard provided the bags are unloaded from a vehicle. IF they have to unload etc he said they usually get $10 or $20 depending on the number of bags.

Well I 'll be. My adult son works as an upscale Uber partner. He puts the bags in the car and takes the bags out. Many times handing them to the porter.

However, 98% never receives a tip.

In the port of Barcelona, my taxi dropped me off. And not one porter came to my aide. I must have looked cheap or not enough people in my party (just me). I ended up taking to the cart myself, me and my limping leg.

Post cruise Pt. Everglades. Tried to get a Porter, same thing. They flocked to the big families and I limped off to immigration.

At the prices you quoted they are making quite a bit of cash with bags.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

just wondering why you drop off your carryons

By definition, you can't do that. A carry-on is a carry-on regardless of size, and a checked bag is a checked bag, also regardless of size.

We always have 2 suitcases and 2 garment bags and also tip 10

By definition, you can't do that. A carry-on is a carry-on regardless of size, and a checked bag is a checked bag, also regardless of size.

Pretty obvious the op was referring to using the porter getting off the ship. They usually put all your bags on their cart.

Pretty obvious the op was referring to using the porter getting off the ship. They usually put all your bags on their cart.

Then that would be a carry-off which is different from a carry-on. My post was in response to the post I quoted, not a response to the OP's post.

We have used Porters for years at the cruise ports. Especially now that we are getting older. Last cruise was this Spring out of Port Everglades,Fort Lauderdale. We had two large suitcases and two carry-ons. We tipped the Porter $10.00. As I started to walk away, he said not so softly CHEAP!

Have the tips gone up or was he just being rude? I thought it was a fair tip.

Here we go again.

I don't tip them anything and nothing has ever happened to our bags. They receive a really good hourly salary for the minimum skill level job that they have. After all, it does not take a lot of training or a high IQ level to learn how to pick up a bag, carry it 5 feet and deposit it on a cart.

Shame that you could not have gone back and demanded your $10 back but I guess that that would be asking for it.

DON

Losing or dumping bags in the drink are not likely as a response to a perceived poor tip. If the carts are coded by deck it is more likely to get on the wrong cart and be delayed for delivery top cabin. Conversely a bunch of years ago was a thread about how good tipping could get bags on a cart likely to have bags delivered sooner. Consensus was... prove it! No way to know. As Seattle scales up to $15/hr minimum wage if the ILA contract is not at least that already at this port they will be paid adequately for manual labor. I generally view the tip as not so much "earned" but a way of saying "thank you."

We have used Porters for years at the cruise ports. Especially now that we are getting older. Last cruise was this Spring out of Port Everglades,Fort Lauderdale. We had two large suitcases and two carry-ons. We tipped the Porter $10.00. As I started to walk away, he said not so softly CHEAP!

Have the tips gone up or was he just being rude? I thought it was a fair tip.

Assuming thatvthisnwasnatmembarkatiin and all he did was put your bags on a cart from the cab, It was too much, and he was just being rude. $5 would have been more than enough.

If at disembarkation and he helped get your bags and through customs it was the perfect amount and he was still being rude.

Hi there

Just so you understand, a lot of people don't tip at all.

You can give them a couple of bucks and they will be just as happy as if you were giving them 10 or 20. Think of it, you are giving them money to do their job. They are not underpaid.

There are a lot of threads here where people make it sound like you can buy people with your tips. Why is it that people feel that if they don't give tips on top of tips on top of a salary, they won't get good service and are willing to give people "whatever" to ensure they will get that "preferred" service. Of course at the same time you have the people that don't want to give any tips. Two extremes, very funny.

Of course you can do whatever you feel is right and if someone makes your vacation into something exceptional then they deserve it, but it is not necessary as the norm.

have a great cruise

By the way a couple of bucks per bag is fine for the porters...they have always said thank you and we have never had an issue with our bags. If someone has had a bad experience it is because someone is not doing their job properly...you might have experienced people like that in your workplace...it has nothing to do with how much they are paid.

have a great cruise everyone

Assuming thatvthisnwasnatmembarkatiin and all he did was put your bags on a cart from the cab, It was too much, and he was just being rude. $5 would have been more than enough.

 

If at disembarkation and he helped get your bags and through customs it was the perfect amount and he was still being rude.

What is a "thatvthisnwasnatmembarkatiin"? Are they dangerous? Do they bite? Is it safe to allow little kids around them?