West Coast Ports

This story has reached urban legend status. "I heard" this happened. "Someone told me" this happened. I haven't heard yet from someone who was there who saw it first hand. No video on Youtube. I expect to hear now about someone who was told by someone who claims to have seen it with his own eyes. For some reason, people really want to believe that the longshoremen enjoy dumping luggage in the water.

......I saw the union dock workers doing there stupid slow down tricks from our balcony on the January 13, 2015 15 day cruise to Hawaii with my own eyes. This is a first hand account! A great cruise but it did get off to a rocky start thanks to the dock workers and our 11:00 PM departure. Fork lifts with nothing on them driving around in circles, other guys on fork lifts sitting empty and doing nothing as the luggage carts stacked up.....and yes, I have pictures! I must admit, it was entertaining to watch the clowns play the games on the dock since our bags were already in the cabin. Shredie, you almost sound like an apologist for the stupid union tricks.

Dave, glad to hear you got off today during daylight hours. Unfortunately on our cruise, we went under the GG around 11:45 PM and many onboard missed it because of the late hour. I hope you have a great cruise. Just as an FYI, we saw more whales off of Hilo on sail away than we did in Lahaina, although we did see many there also. You might want to be on the lookout if whale watching interests you. Bon Voyage!

Thanks for details. Driving around empty forklifts and such. I've been asking what exactly the people were doing. It's true that I don't think belonging to a union is a sign of pure evil, but mainly I have been asking for eyewitness accounts of the luggage-in-the-drink episode. When I first heard of the wet luggage, it was reported to have been an accident. As the story was repeated, it became an act of sabatoge performed by evil dock workers in full view of helpless passengers. I just keep asking to hear the factual account of what really happened from someone who saw it. Video would be even better.

I have been cruisng since 1973. I am in the habit of asking where some of the food items are bought. Cruiselines have lots of countries to buy their foods.

West Coast doesn't have all the types of foods that the cruise lines serve.

They have to buy their tropical fruits from other countries where they have their trusted vendors. I know for a fact that the catfish was bought in India. NCL buys Australian lobsters which s the best in the world according to my taste buds.

Regarding the porters..... they always do a great job because I always tip them. They do work for a private company that keeps an eye on them.

If it is raining the luggage will get wet so I use plastic bags to pack my clothes. I have flown on air lines where my luggage got all wet when the luggage was left for hours while the plane was being fixed.

I plan to stay positive because after my adult son died of a brain tumor I told myself that nothing could be as bad as losing my son. So what if I get my luggage late to my cabin. I still plan to enjoy my cruise. Plus, I can also find a ship cruise worker to take my luggage to my cabin since I am handicapped if the porters are not available. LucyR.

I'm on the star now, ship is being loaded, no lockout. The porters were helpful and friendly, no demanding for tips. Everyone relax

Interesting, as Scott Pelley on the CBS Evening News last night stated that West Coast ports would be shut down this weekend to avoid paying the weekend overtime being generated by work slowdowns during the week.

I wondered how this would affect cruise ships. Perhaps the above applies only to cargo, but that was not made clear in the report. Glad to hear things went okay on the Star!

...I plan to stay positive because after my adult son died of a brain tumor I told myself that nothing could be as bad as losing my son. So what if I get my luggage late to my cabin. I still plan to enjoy my cruise...

Very sorry to hear about your son. Life events such as yours can really put relatively unimportant things such as luggage into perspective.

With that said, I am still doing carry-on only until the West Coast dockworkers decide as a group to behave like professionals.

Thanks for details. Driving around empty forklifts and such. I've been asking what exactly the people were doing. It's true that I don't think belonging to a union is a sign of pure evil, but mainly I have been asking for eyewitness accounts of the luggage-in-the-drink episode. When I first heard of the wet luggage, it was reported to have been an accident. As the story was repeated, it became an act of sabatoge performed by evil dock workers in full view of helpless passengers. I just keep asking to hear the factual account of what really happened from someone who saw it. Video would be even better.

I've been a union member for the last 28 years. Having said that, I don't have any sympathy for my union brothers/sisters in the longshore unions having witnessed their sabotage of cargo, false attendance (paying for 6 line handlers and getting 3 if you're lucky) and slow work during normal hours to trigger overtime. If the longshoremen would accept retraining in modern technology that would take them from outside at the ships and move them to inside jobs operating computerized equipment (as many of the most productive ports in Europe do), then I could agree with their demands for increased wages to match increased productivity. Right now, their productivity has not increased in decades. Those high tech jobs would eliminate the phantom workers and this is one major sticking point.

I have been cruisng since 1973. I am in the habit of asking where some of the food items are bought. Cruiselines have lots of countries to buy their foods.

West Coast doesn't have all the types of foods that the cruise lines serve.

They have to buy their tropical fruits from other countries where they have their trusted vendors. I know for a fact that the catfish was bought in India. NCL buys Australian lobsters which s the best in the world according to my taste buds.

 

Regarding the porters..... they always do a great job because I always tip them. They do work for a private company that keeps an eye on them.

 

If it is raining the luggage will get wet so I use plastic bags to pack my clothes. I have flown on air lines where my luggage got all wet when the luggage was left for hours while the plane was being fixed.

 

I plan to stay positive because after my adult son died of a brain tumor I told myself that nothing could be as bad as losing my son. So what if I get my luggage late to my cabin. I still plan to enjoy my cruise. Plus, I can also find a ship cruise worker to take my luggage to my cabin since I am handicapped if the porters are not available. LucyR.

You are correct that the food is purchased overseas, as is quite a lot of food everywhere in the US. What the longshore strike will affect is the loading of that food and luggage onto the ship, which will affect when the ship leaves port, not when you get your luggage delivered to the cabin. Also, the strike will affect the unloading of these food items from the cargo ships that brings the items to the US. So, implying that foreign sourced food would negate the effects of a longshore strike is completely contradictory, since US sourced food would be loaded into trucks by teamsters, and the longshoremen would only have one chance to slow it down, when loading the cruise ship, not the two chances with foreign source products.

......I saw the union dock workers doing there stupid slow down tricks from our balcony on the January 13, 2015 15 day cruise to Hawaii with my own eyes. This is a first hand account! A great cruise but it did get off to a rocky start thanks to the dock workers and our 11:00 PM departure. Fork lifts with nothing on them driving around in circles, other guys on fork lifts sitting empty and doing nothing as the luggage carts stacked up.....and yes, I have pictures! I must admit, it was entertaining to watch the clowns play the games on the dock since our bags were already in the cabin. Shredie, you almost sound like an apologist for the stupid union tricks.

I've been a union member for the last 28 years. Having said that, I don't have any sympathy for my union brothers/sisters in the longshore unions having witnessed their sabotage of cargo, false attendance (paying for 6 line handlers and getting 3 if you're lucky) and slow work during normal hours to trigger overtime. If the longshoremen would accept retraining in modern technology that would take them from outside at the ships and move them to inside jobs operating computerized equipment (as many of the most productive ports in Europe do), then I could agree with their demands for increased wages to match increased productivity. Right now, their productivity has not increased in decades. Those high tech jobs would eliminate the phantom workers and this is one major sticking point.

Both of these posts reveal that the dock workers are not saints. Neither reveal that forklifts deliberately haul luggage to the edge of the dock and feed it to the fish. Not sure how driving unladen forklifts in circles became dumping luggage in the drink. As we are all well aware, (especially after the Boston Marathon bombing), security cameras are EVERYWHERE. Docks are under heavy watch. Some of the most surveilled (is that a word?) and secured areas anywhere. If longshoremen were routinely and deliberately dumping pallets into the water, it would be caught on camera. Every time. Do accidents happen? Sure. Can a disgruntled employee take some baggage for a swim? Sure. But it would be his swan song as he would surely be videoed doing so.

There are many ways to interpret the actions of the dockworkers, and all may be right or wrong at any given time.

Since the cruise lines place a limit on what they will compensate for damaged or wet luggage, why take a chance. The $50 dollar limit may pay for one change of clothes.

I will handle my own luggage and if I damage it, at least I will know the cause and whom to blame.

Maybe some good will come from this in the end. The cruise lines could automate luggage handling and check in procedures by using technology that is available today.

So you saw--with your own eyes--a longshoreman walk over to the side of the dock and purposely dump a bunch of luggage into the water? Did you report him?

We will never know if the luggage was dumped over the side on purpose or not. However the longshoremen DID NOT walk over to the side and dumb luggage. The luggage was in one of those steel cages which holds probably a hundred or more pieces of luggage. They use a fork lift to load the cage onto the ship. However on Dec 19th, they somehow missed the ship and the netting and the whole cage went into the drink.

So you saw--with your own eyes--a longshoreman walk over to the side of the dock and purposely dump a bunch of luggage into the water? Did you report him?

Photo or video please......I agree that these stories are nothing more then exaggerated rumors......:cool:

Anyone know if a 24inch suitcase will go through security scanners?

It is just a bit larger than a carry on(22inch).

Leaving shortly from the West coast (LA)

In 2002 we were on a Carnival ship out of San Diego when the Union workers strike was in full force. They started to offload luggage, then came to a halt. The dock workers were pulled off the job to unload a

Military ship. We didn't start disembarkation till noon.There were mobs

waiting in the rain to get on the ship and they had them lined up outside the gated port area, all over the sidewalks.

If I read before our cruise that dockworkers are creating a mess for cruisers, will just make due with carry ons but would prefer to carry our 24inch suitcases through security ourselves.

Photo or video please......I agree that these stories are nothing more then exaggerated rumors......:cool:

I believe the stories about wet luggage are true. I have seen wet luggage being sorted. It is up to each individual whether they attribute these events to incompetence or intentional acts. Asking for proof on these boards indicates a biased opinion.

Anyone know if a 24inch suitcase will go through security scanners?

It is just a bit larger than a carry on(22inch).

Leaving shortly from the West coast (LA)

 

 

I just returned from LA port. Yes, I think a 24 inch would fit, but I can't swear to that. There were porters all over, and the one we dealt with was polite and did not ask for a tip. However, he accepted the $5 I gave him with a smile and a thank you.

I just returned from LA port. Yes, I think a 24 inch would fit, but I can't swear to that. There were porters all over, and the one we dealt with was polite and did not ask for a tip. However, he accepted the $5 I gave him with a smile and a thank you.

To avoid any misunderstanding, the person you tip is NOT the same person who loads the cage of luggage onto the ship with a forklift.

We heard on the news today that West Coast Ports are closing and/or staging a slow down due to a bitter and drawn out contract dispute between Shippers and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. Does anyone know if such disputes spill over to cruise ship ports?

We saw it firsthand on our 1/13 cruise out of San Francisco. We didn't leave port until after 11:00 pm. We witnessed locks being cut off of semis from our balcony. We saw loads of goods sitting by the fence and not being loaded onto the ship. We saw a guy sitting at a table with his head on the table napping. No one was on the forklifts moving stuff onto the ship. We heard that some luggage got dumped into the bay. We talked to a couple who checked in their case of wine and paid the corkage fee. Two bottles went missing from the case.

I wouldn't be taking a cruise out of the ports right now - if you can help it. We have an Alaskan cruise planned for May and hopefully it will be resolved by then. Meanwhile, stock up on aluminum foil, baggies, etc., as shortages are going to happen.

This story has reached urban legend status. "I heard" this happened. "Someone told me" this happened. I haven't heard yet from someone who was there who saw it first hand. No video on Youtube. I expect to hear now about someone who was told by someone who claims to have seen it with his own eyes. For some reason, people really want to believe that the longshoremen enjoy dumping luggage in the water.

They do and I saw the passengers luggage all wet! Pretty sad when Princess has to send its crew out to get 5# sacks of flour in Hilo because it didn't get loaded on board in SF. I saw it, I was sitting there and watched the crew unload it onto a big cart - 2 big carts. They told us that they have another load waiting for them on the big island. The longshoremen are devious A-holes. I saw other stuff from our balcony in San Francisco. I was there you weren't.

To avoid any misunderstanding, the person you tip is NOT the same person who loads the cage of luggage onto the ship with a forklift.

Yes, I know that. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes: I assume you also know that the porters in SF that people have been accusing of extortion were not the same people who loaded the luggage into the ocean?

I was there you weren't.

Yes, this is true, which is why I have been asking for eyewitness accounts of the luggage being deliberately dropped in the ocean. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes: So you saw someone in the act of dropping the luggage in the water? Did you report that person?

...In the ports of Long Beach and San Pedro/L.A..... there is no way that the porters will do any thing wrong to our luggage or they will get fired on the spot if they break any rules. i have seen it happen.

Don't worry about your luggage at our west coast port.

 

The Los Angeles port is located at a different area than our cruise ports.

 

The cruise ships can buy their supplies in other countries like Canada, Mexico, South America. They even buy their food supplies from many other countries. I have eaten delicious catfish that was bought in India.

 

I wouldn't worry about that problem. The cruise lines will not let any problems get in the way of cruising. They plan ahead. LucyR.

Like you, I'd like to think that people are fired immediately for wrong-doing, but it just doesn't happen in the real world.

Your first comment in red above is a very naïve statement. I have had a garment bag sliced open and a camera stolen out of it. It was out of my hands from midnight until 8am. I immediately filed a report and there was no compensation, no follow-up and no one was fired. How could they? Who knows who did it? I suspected a longshoreman, but how can you prove that

You have to have proof of wrong-doing, not just suspicions. In California especially, you have to have a history of write-ups on employees before they can be fired or the company can face major recourse. Life is not that simple anymore, especially in California and especially with unions.

Yes, this is true, which is why I have been asking for eyewitness accounts of the luggage being deliberately dropped in the ocean. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes: So you saw someone in the act of dropping the luggage in the water? Did you report that person?

I don't want to explain further but as I said no one will NEVER know if the luggage was dumped on purpose. Accidents do happen However you seem to have trouble believing those that were there. This includes the amount the porters were asking for tips. What they did on Dec 19th was the talk all around the ship with many people reporting exactly what I said here. Video's needed? Come on and try to trust us as humans.

Yes, I know that. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes: I assume you also know that the porters in SF that people have been accusing of extortion were not the same people who loaded the luggage into the ocean?

I know that ---- but they are in the same union and involved in the same dispute.

I don't want to explain further but as I said no one will NEVER know if the luggage was dumped on purpose. Accidents do happen However you seem to have trouble believing those that were there. This includes the amount the porters were asking for tips. What they did on Dec 19th was the talk all around the ship with many people reporting exactly what I said here. Video's needed? Come on and try to trust us as humans.

Sigh. :rolleyes: Okay, let's see if I can put this in simpler terms: did you or anyone on that voyage SEE with your own eyes the very moment the luggage went into the water? In this day and age, with every imaginable thing posted on YouTube, I would not be surprised if someone made a video of the incident (if he were there witnessing it with his own eyes.) So far, no video has surfaced, apparently. I believe you when you say there was "talk all around the ship." What I'm asking is if any of that talk originated from someone who physically saw the luggage going into the water? I also believe you when you say some porters asked for money. However, as has been pointed out recently, the porters are not the people loading the luggage on to the ship and would have had to roll a cart of luggage over to the dock and dunk it. So far, the story seems to be that a forklift was involved, so I think we can rule out the greedy porters as agents of the dunking. I believe you when you say there was some wet luggage. What I want to know is this:

Did anyone see with their own eyes the luggage being dumped into the water?

Years and years ago on my first cruise our family all travelled together on a HAL (Old Niew Amsterdam) ship out of San Francisco. My brother and cousin were teenagers so they went and watched the bags getting loaded. They came running back laughing because one of the bags fell out of the cage and ended up teetering on the brink of going in the water. Of course it ended up being my bag! Luckily it was retrieved but it was pretty damaged. They tried to fix it and ended up making a new handle for it on the ship (my husband got to go down to the machine shop which was exciting for him as he is a machinist). While not perfect, it worked and we had a wonderful cruise and a funny story- so accidents do happen.

Now, I worked for the airlines for several years and one of my first jobs was in lost luggage. Luggage issues are not limited to cruise ships- I could tell you some horror stories!

I want to qualify that even more. Dumped as opposed to fell.

Workers, union or not, are certainly capable of delaying issues, which is what work-to-rule is. It's VERY rare they turn to outright damage, especially of property not related to one of the parties in the conflict (undermines their position). It is possible that shenanigans could have the net result of damage as well, but intentional damage is generally a no-no.

 

Did anyone see with their own eyes the luggage being dumped into the water?