Porter shortage coming off Nieuw Amsterdam

We always get a porter but today we were told they had only one porter and that was for handicapped. Carts were sitting empty, but I was forbidden when I tried to borrow one. Though I saw another lady put some bags In one without getting yelled at.

 

We got a terrorist alert email for Vancouver. So maybe they had to be vetted. The lady that ordered me not to borrow the cart told me the porters were not allowed to accept tips. And that may also explain the porter shortage.

 

 

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Was there more then one ship in port?

Where did this terrorist email come from? There are 13,000 passengers at the port of Vancouver today, could explain why there aren’t any porters available.

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Email was from the State department. We signed up at the STEP before we left home. I heard we had three ships in port. Really surprised me we couldn’t tip them. We had to grab a taxi to take us a few hundred feet down the street to the pan pacific. Because we couldn’t manage our bags. I was in the process of connecting my two carry ons together so I could also drag the big suitcase and leave dh the suiter, when a kind passenger helped dh with the suiter

 

 

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When we disembarked the Westerdam on April 29 with four suitcases plus hand luggage, we looked for carts that weren’t there. A port lady told me they weren’t being supplied anymore and porters were just for the handicapped.

I told her I had an elderly husband and I couldn’t manage all that luggage myself. I then hailed a porter who was more than happy to help.

When we got to the elevator to the Pan Pacific the usual bellman from the hotel was not there collecting luggage. The porter was more than happy to take the luggage up the elevator to the bell desk in the hotel. I gave him an extra tip for doing that and he was happy to receive it.

 

That was the first time in many arrivals at the port that there were no carts and no hotel bellman available.

It makes one a little reluctant to sail into Vancouver again.

This was about our eighth time sailing into Vancouver and the first time we encountered such problems.

Where did this terrorist email come from? There are 13,000 passengers at the port of Vancouver today, could explain why there aren’t any porters available.

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Terrorist alert in Vancouver......... That's funny. :'):o Never have I ever heard of that. I've lived here all my life.

I think your State Dept got something wrong

Email was from the State department. We signed up at the STEP before we left home. I heard we had three ships in port. Really surprised me we couldn’t tip them. We had to grab a taxi to take us a few hundred feet down the street to the pan pacific. Because we couldn’t manage our bags. I was in the process of connecting my two carry ons together so I could also drag the big suitcase and leave dh the suiter, when a kind passenger helped dh with the suiter

 

 

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no need to tip, they are paid well.

We got a terrorist alert email for Vancouver.

 

Email was from the State department. We signed up at the STEP before we left home.

Can you post a copy of the email? There is nothing at all posted on the State Department website, including its travel advisories, and there's no mention whatsoever in any of the news media, so I'm curious as to what this email actually said.

All I have is my iPad. I’ll have to wait till I get home, but here’s the gist.

 

Terrorist alert. Terrorist using knives, guns and ramming with trucks. Take extra care, be inconspicuous, and one of the places mentioned was transportation hubs.

 

 

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I said to the lady at the port that we weren’t cruising out of Vancouver again. Our next Alaska cruise is round trip Seattle. The bell hop at the pan pacific said he’d heard they were getting more porters.

 

 

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Terrorist alert in Vancouver......... That's funny. :'):o Never have I ever heard of that. I've lived here all my life.

I think your State Dept got something wrong

We have been down at Canada Place all day today, watching tourists and ships come and go.

It was a beautiful day and busy as usual and no signs of extra security. Those kinds of e-mails are scare mongering and can worry people.

Sandra

I think this is the link

 

https://ca.usembassy.gov/security-alert-u-s-consulate-general-in-vancouver-canada-may-11-2018/

When we disembarked the Westerdam on April 29 with four suitcases plus hand luggage, we looked for carts that weren’t there. A port lady told me they weren’t being supplied anymore and porters were just for the handicapped.

I told her I had an elderly husband and I couldn’t manage all that luggage myself. I then hailed a porter who was more than happy to help.

When we got to the elevator to the Pan Pacific the usual bellman from the hotel was not there collecting luggage. The porter was more than happy to take the luggage up the elevator to the bell desk in the hotel. I gave him an extra tip for doing that and he was happy to receive it.

 

That was the first time in many arrivals at the port that there were no carts and no hotel bellman available.

It makes one a little reluctant to sail into Vancouver again.

This was about our eighth time sailing into Vancouver and the first time we encountered such problems.

 

Very occasionally Vancouver gets overwhelmed with too many ships in on the same day - usually at the beginning and the end of the cruise season. There were reports of five hour delays a few years ago when this also happened .

 

One more layer to cruise planning before making one's own choice - check the port schedules to see who will also be sharing the port with you for the dates you are looking at - and again this usually happens at the beginning and end of the repositioning season for Vancouver. No one is happy about this but apparently it just is for those impacted cruises.

 

One reason we like the off-weekend departure on the smaller HAL ships for Alaska instead of the week-end to weekend 7 day cruises - those are the tough ones when too many of the larger ships come in and out on the same days. Not a happy way to either begin or end what was probably a very nice cruise.

I certainly don't like their new rules of no porters.

There seems to be more going on here than we have. here on this thread.

Nobody tells me who I must, or can not, tip.

Perhaps there is some kind of organized walk-out?

 

I don't know what is going on, but would never believe that terrorists have anything to do with it.

 

Cruise ships are private property, and they can have whatever employees that they wish.

If the porters that are needed are actually at the port once one disembarks, than that would be a totally different issue.

The Port Authorities, and/or any organized trade organizations would be responsible for that.

We had cruised b2b from San Diego. On turn around day, we has to leave the ship. Stand in a line for 20 to 30 minutes. Is it the Canadians customs kiosk. Then visit US customs, only three officers, then sit in a “sterilization” area. Finally we were told to board, and they stopped us on the gangplank within ten feet of the ship, making us wait for another 20 minutes. Later, muster drill was delayed twice due to customs delay. The captain never did make up the late departure. We were hours late getting to Juneau, our first port.

 

 

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I don't know what is going on, but would never believe that terrorists have anything to do with it.

As I understand it, any porters would work for (or be agents of) the port, not the cruise line. So I was wondering what the port said about this. It's weird. I couldn't find anything on the port's own website portvancouver.com about porters.

 

 

Cruise ships are private property, and they can have whatever employees that they wish.

As pointed out above, this isn't a matter of the cruise ship, but rather the port. In Vancouver, the port is a government installation. Even if it was private property, the government can still restrict who can and cannot work there.

As I understand it, any porters would work for (or be agents of) the port, not the cruise line. So I was wondering what the port said about this. It's weird. I couldn't find anything on the port's own website portvancouver.com about porters.

 

 

As pointed out above, this isn't a matter of the cruise ship, but rather the port. In Vancouver, the port is a government installation. Even if it was private property, the government can still restrict who can and cannot work there.

 

 

 

In a way it is. A cruise company can decide to stop sailing to that port. For example, Princess sailed out of Houston for years, but stopped a few years ago.

 

We considered princess in Houston, but decided on Galveston instead due to traffic.

 

 

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As I understand it, any porters would work for (or be agents of) the port, not the cruise line. So I was wondering what the port said about this. It's weird. I couldn't find anything on the port's own website portvancouver.com about porters.

 

 

As pointed out above, this isn't a matter of the cruise ship, but rather the port. In Vancouver, the port is a government installation. Even if it was private property, the government can still restrict who can and cannot work there.

 

 

Porters do n ot work for the cruise line. They work for the port authority.

As I understand it, any porters would work for (or be agents of) the port, not the cruise line. So I was wondering what the port said about this. It's weird. I couldn't find anything on the port's own website portvancouver.com about porters.

 

 

As pointed out above, this isn't a matter of the cruise ship, but rather the port. In Vancouver, the port is a government installation. Even if it was private property, the government can still restrict who can and cannot work there.

 

 

 

Originally posted by bUU As I understand it, any porters would work for (or be agents of) the port, not the cruise line. So I was wondering what the port said about this. It's weird. I couldn't find anything on the port's own website portvancouver.com about porters.uote

 

Porters do n ot work for the cruise line. They work for the port authority.

Edited May 13, 2018 by sail7seas

Very occasionally Vancouver gets overwhelmed with too many ships in on the same day - usually at the beginning and the end of the cruise season. There were reports of five hour delays a few years ago when this also happened .

 

One more layer to cruise planning before making one's own choice - check the port schedules to see who will also be sharing the port with you for the dates you are looking at - and again this usually happens at the beginning and end of the repositioning season for Vancouver. No one is happy about this but apparently it just is for those impacted cruises.

 

One reason we like the off-weekend departure on the smaller HAL ships for Alaska instead of the week-end to weekend 7 day cruises - those are the tough ones when too many of the larger ships come in and out on the same days. Not a happy way to either begin or end what was probably a very nice cruise.

 

 

 

You have a good point here. We had a porter lose a bag after a repositioning cruise. He put the bags on the cart, then grabbed only two and hurried for the taxi lane. At first glance,he seemed totally overwhelmed.

 

 

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I'm sorry some of you experienced such a bad circumstance of no porters. ThaT is a problem The port has to work on..

Very occasionally Vancouver gets overwhelmed with too many ships in on the same day - usually at the beginning and the end of the cruise season. There were reports of five hour delays a few years ago when this also happened .

 

One more layer to cruise planning before making one's own choice - check the port schedules to see who will also be sharing the port with you for the dates you are looking at - and again this usually happens at the beginning and end of the repositioning season for Vancouver. No one is happy about this but apparently it just is for those impacted cruises.

 

One reason we like the off-weekend departure on the smaller HAL ships for Alaska instead of the week-end to weekend 7 day cruises - those are the tough ones when too many of the larger ships come in and out on the same days. Not a happy way to either begin or end what was probably a very nice cruise.

We have taken six previous repo cruises into Vancouver at the beginning of the Alaska season and this is the first time there has been a porter issue. It wasn’t the number of porters, or lack of same; it was the fact that they removed the carts and insisted a handicap was necessary for one to access a porter.

Previously we had always used a cart to take the bags to the hotel porter at the underground hotel access.

In a way it is. A cruise company can decide to stop sailing to that port.

I don't believe that is what Wishing on a star was referring to.

 

Porters do n ot work for the cruise line. They work for the port authority.

Precisely.

 

 

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Porters are not connected to Port Agent They have very d ifferent duties and responsibilities.