Tip Porters?

I've read posts from both of you many times over the years and have always enjoyed and valued your input. I'm sure each of you cruise more often than me, so it surprises me that you have not been solicited for a tip or even heard a remark that directly "encouraged" you to give a tip.

 

Of my 11-12 cruises, about half have originated in Fort Lauderdale or Miami. I suspect that at least 50% or more included a very obvious expectation or request for a tip.

 

They do get a tip from me, but less than they would have if they hadn't made it so obvious that it was expected or required.

 

YMMV

 

 

 

Walter

 

 

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Maybe I come off as a cheapskate. ;p:D One of our 2016 cruises was a Pacific Coastal cruise out of Seattle. We got out of the taxi, a porter came over and asked if he could help. You bet. When he unloaded our luggage in the terminal and before I could tell him thank you and hand him a tip he started to leave. I had to stop him so I could give him his tip.

Maybe I come off as a cheapskate. ;p:D One of our 2016 cruises was a Pacific Coastal cruise out of Seattle. We got out of the taxi, a porter came over and asked if he could help. You bet. When he unloaded our luggage in the terminal and before I could tell him thank you and hand him a tip he started to leave. I had to stop him so I could give him his tip.

I'd much rather have that experience than some I have had in Florida ports. ;)

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People who are estimating wages for the porters and calculating amounts as high as $200,000 annually are not thinking it through. Yes, perhaps if they worked 8-10 hours per day for 7+ days a week and everyone tipped generously that might be the case. But think about it. There is a rush in the morning hours as people get on and off the ship. They are not loading luggage at 4:00 pm for a ship that sailed at 3:30. Also, there are peak periods (Friday, Sat, Sun) where they need to employ a lot of porters to get the job done. And then there are non-peak periods (the other days of the week) where there are some cruises but not nearly as many as on the week-end. I suspect many of the porters work less than 40 hours per week, and I also suspect many people do not tip, or do not tip a lot so $200M seems a bit unreasonable when you do the math.

See this artidle:

https://cruisefever.net/1008-7-cruise-traditions-that-should-go-away/

What some on this thread don’t realize is the people serving as “porters”at cruise terminals are union longshoremen. Many of them make six figures WITHOUT tips. As can be seen on this thread many people throw $20 at them for 30 seconds of work. If you hand them luggage as you check in they are NOT providing much service. They move your luggage a few yards on a cart and that is it. From there behind the scenes people who get no tips and mostly earn MUCH less money do 99% of the work. The “porter” spends 20-30 seconds with you and moves on to the next passengers. Sure they only are getting these tips a few hours a couple days per week, but this is in addition to $100,000 or so in wages and excellent benefits. $10 here and $20 there for a miniscle amount of service really adds up. Personally I save this money give as extra tips to the staff on the ship who provide FAR more than 30 seconds of service and earn nearly nothIng in wages.

See this artidle:

https://cruisefever.net/1008-7-cruise-traditions-that-should-go-away/

 

What some on this thread don’t realize is the people serving as “porters”at cruise terminals are union longshoremen. Many of them make six figures WITHOUT tips. As can be seen on this thread many people throw $20 at them for 30 seconds of work. If you hand them luggage as you check in they are NOT providing much service. They move your luggage a few yards on a cart and that is it. From there behind the scenes people who get no tips and mostly earn MUCH less money do 99% of the work. The “porter” spends 20-30 seconds with you and moves on to the next passengers. Sure they only are getting these tips a few hours a couple days per week, but this is in addition to $100,000 or so in wages and excellent benefits. $10 here and $20 there for a miniscle amount of service really adds up. Personally I save this money give as extra tips to the staff on the ship who provide FAR more than 30 seconds of service and earn nearly nothIng in wages.

My tip to the porter is not instead of my tip to anyone else. I don’t tip anyone based on their negotiated wage with their employer, that’s none of my business. The transaction and Care in making sure my bags make it on the ship is important. The interactions I’ve had at Miami & Fort Lauderdale have been excellent.

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See this artidle:

https://cruisefever.net/1008-7-cruise-traditions-that-should-go-away/

 

What some on this thread don’t realize is the people serving as “porters”at cruise terminals are union longshoremen. Many of them make six figures WITHOUT tips. As can be seen on this thread many people throw $20 at them for 30 seconds of work. If you hand them luggage as you check in they are NOT providing much service. They move your luggage a few yards on a cart and that is it. From there behind the scenes people who get no tips and mostly earn MUCH less money do 99% of the work. The “porter” spends 20-30 seconds with you and moves on to the next passengers. Sure they only are getting these tips a few hours a couple days per week, but this is in addition to $100,000 or so in wages and excellent benefits. $10 here and $20 there for a miniscle amount of service really adds up. Personally I save this money give as extra tips to the staff on the ship who provide FAR more than 30 seconds of service and earn nearly nothIng in wages.

Don't tip, then wonder how your luggage ended up on a Carnival ship and your sailing on Princess..

How is this even a topic for discussion? Just hope no one in your (generally speaking) family works for tips and has you at their table, cruise ship or resort.

You don't have to tip $20 for every occasion but when a tip is required loosen your bottom and cough up a few bucks for those who are helping you out.

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And I'd bet 90% are not long shoremen and what they make is none of my business either. It's polite and simply the right/correct and expected thing to do.

Don't tip, then wonder how your luggage ended up on a Carnival ship and your sailing on Princess..

How is this even a topic for discussion? Just hope no one in your (generally speaking) family works for tips and has you at their table, cruise ship or resort.

You don't have to tip $20 for every occasion but when a tip is required loosen your bottom and cough up a few bucks for those who are helping you out.

 

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My God, you are one of those people who would argue that 2+2=5. I am a generous tipper - for people who provide an actual service and are in a position where their salary is expected to be supplemented by tips.

Please call the Port of Miami (or pick a US port) and find out for yourself. The people serving as porters at US cruise terminals absolutely are union longshoremen. They earn upper middle class salaries and provide nearly zero service if you simply hand them your luggage as you enter the terminal to check in. And I have yet to have any luggage end up not be delivered to my stateroom (only tipped the porters twice - both were occasions I upgraded after I had my luggage tags and the porter filled out new ones for me).

Here is an old thread on sister line RCI where some people actually contacted the port and received verification (pay particular attention to post #107 in the thread): https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1013765&highlight=Longshoremen

And FYI if you receive an email from a rich Nigerian prince it is also a scam. ;)

Best to tip if you want to see your bag. One time in Miami we had nothing smaller than a $20. My husband bag didn't arrive. Turned out the label had been torn off. We eventually found it behind guest services desk!

You folks sure know how to beat a dead horse. Here's the bottom line to tipping porters or anyone else providing services to cruise passengers, tip if you want to and don't tip if you don't want to, but give it a rest for now.

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They do get a tip from me, but less than they would have if they hadn't made it so obvious that it was expected or required.

 

Walter

If that happened to me, in the future I would get a $1 bill with several blank sheets of paper and fold it over a couple of times so he thinks he's really getting a wad.

I'm not going to argue if I should tip or not, I do.

We did a Carnival cruise out of Miami a month ago and didn't feel much pressure at all from our porter.

We did Uber from our hotel and a porter met us at the car and was actually quite kind. He asked if we had been to this port before and we had not. So he took a couple of minutes to explain the layout of the building, what paperwork to make sure we had handy and so on. It was nice.

I'm not going to argue if I should tip or not, I do.

 

We did a Carnival cruise out of Miami a month ago and didn't feel much pressure at all from our porter.

We did Uber from our hotel and a porter met us at the car and was actually quite kind. He asked if we had been to this port before and we had not. So he took a couple of minutes to explain the layout of the building, what paperwork to make sure we had handy and so on. It was nice.

That's the kind of service that deserves a better than average tip.

That's the kind of service that deserves a better than average tip.

:D

LOL, they did quite well. For some reason, no one realized that the other people tipped. So he got four nice tips. We figured it out at dinner the first night and had a good laugh.

I've read posts from both of you many times over the years and have always enjoyed and valued your input. I'm sure each of you cruise more often than me, so it surprises me that you have not been solicited for a tip or even heard a remark that directly "encouraged" you to give a tip.

 

I guess some of us are just luckier than others or maybe we just look like we tip or maybe we just look grumpy and they don't want to make us angry!

I've been working on the grumpy old man persona - kind of a cross between Ed Asner and Walter Matthau.

My God, you are one of those people who would argue that 2+2=5. I am a generous tipper - for people who provide an actual service and are in a position where their salary is expected to be supplemented by tips.

 

Please call the Port of Miami (or pick a US port) and find out for yourself. The people serving as porters at US cruise terminals absolutely are union longshoremen. They earn upper middle class salaries and provide nearly zero service if you simply hand them your luggage as you enter the terminal to check in. And I have yet to have any luggage end up not be delivered to my stateroom (only tipped the porters twice - both were occasions I upgraded after I had my luggage tags and the porter filled out new ones for me).

 

Here is an old thread on sister line RCI where some people actually contacted the port and received verification (pay particular attention to post #107 in the thread): https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1013765&highlight=Longshoremen

 

And FYI if you receive an email from a rich Nigerian prince it is also a scam. ;)

But don't feel you have a right to dictate to me how I spend mine!

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As a Brit, I must say that it appears to me that many Americans are a bit obsessed with tipping. When in the US, we tip waiters (20% when service is good, 15% if it’s a bit poor) because we understand that you have a different system to the rest of the world and they are only paid a small retainer by the restaurant. We know that the tip is essentially simply paying the wait staff for their service. We also tip Valet Parking, but surely there is no need to tip people who are paid a proper wage for their work. A Spanish friend of mine used to work in a restaurant in the UK before being able to teach here. She told me that tipping is simply not part of Spanish culture and that (since there is a different system in the UK and Europe where wait staff are paid a proper wage), she actually felt offended when given a tip because it felt patronising! That was an eye opener to me, as, for years, hubby and I had been tipping £3 for a meal for two in UK. We discussed this further and have stopped doing that. We live on modest pensions and have some savings to spend on travel. Many of the people we were tipping, had a higher income than we do!

On a recent cruise in Central America (where tipping is not part of their culture and they don’t tip each other)! Some children danced for tourists and an American guy on the tour went around everyone asking for tips for them. If he wanted to tip, that’s his own business, but he was getting $10 notes off people. They were kids, they were not impoverished. Did they need to pay mortgages? 🙄

In countries where tipping is not part of the culture, workers etc often behave as if it is specifically to Americans because, well why wouldn’t they? Most people like money. Individual Americans who tip all ove the place, merited or not and having an impact on other cultures expectations. I try to have local currency when travelling, traders often enthusiastically tell me the price of things in US dollars. When I shake my head, say I am not American and ask for the price in local currency, the price often drops considerably.

For the record, I tip very generiously the guys with the little trolleys at airports for assistance with bags. I know they are not paid a wage and they tend to look too old for the work and tired (we don’t have them in the UK). I do not tip porters at cruise ports though and nothing bad has ever happened to my bags (and yes I have been through Fort Lauderdale). If one held their hand out to me, I might shake it!

As a Brit, I must say that it appears to me that many Americans are a bit obsessed with tipping. When in the US, we tip waiters (20% when service is good, 15% if it’s a bit poor) because we understand that you have a different system to the rest of the world and they are only paid a small retainer by the restaurant. We know that the tip is essentially simply paying the wait staff for their service. We also tip Valet Parking, but surely there is no need to tip people who are paid a proper wage for their work. A Spanish friend of mine used to work in a restaurant in the UK before being able to teach here. She told me that tipping is simply not part of Spanish culture and that (since there is a different system in the UK and Europe where wait staff are paid a proper wage), she actually felt offended when given a tip because it felt patronising! That was an eye opener to me, as, for years, hubby and I had been tipping £3 for a meal for two in UK. We discussed this further and have stopped doing that. We live on modest pensions and have some savings to spend on travel. Many of the people we were tipping, had a higher income than we do!

 

On a recent cruise in Central America (where tipping is not part of their culture and they don’t tip each other)! Some children danced for tourists and an American guy on the tour went around everyone asking for tips for them. If he wanted to tip, that’s his own business, but he was getting $10 notes off people. They were kids, they were not impoverished. Did they need to pay mortgages? ��

 

In countries where tipping is not part of the culture, workers etc often behave as if it is specifically to Americans because, well why wouldn’t they? Most people like money. Individual Americans who tip all ove the place, merited or not and having an impact on other cultures expectations. I try to have local currency when travelling, traders often enthusiastically tell me the price of things in US dollars. When I shake my head, say I am not American and ask for the price in local currency, the price often drops considerably.

 

For the record, I tip very generously the guys with the little trolleys at airports for assistance with bags. I know they are not paid a wage and they tend to look too old for the work and tired (we don’t have them in the UK). I do not tip porters at cruise ports though and nothing bad has ever happened to my bags (and yes I have been through Fort Lauderdale). If one held their hand out to me, I might shake it!

Are you sure? What airports?

Don't tip if that makes you feel better, "it's your money spend it when you want to"

But don't feel you have a right to dictate to me how I spend mine!

I couldn't care less how you spend your money. I have only been correcting blatant factual inaccuracies you (and some others) have been posting so that people can make an informed decision whether or not to tip the porters. For example in your recent post you proclaimed that 90% of them are not union longshoremen. That is simply untrue.

If someone wants to tip for leaving their luggage with the porters as they enter the terminal knowing that:

A) They are union longshoremen earning upper middle class wages and one has already compensated them via the port fees you pay when booking a cruise.

&

B) They are not really providing much of a service when you simply hand them your luggage as you enter the terminal; they stick it on a cart (beside them) and push the cart a few yards (where others take over and do 99% of the work, but are unseen - and therefore not tipped - even though many of them earn far, far less) -

then have it; leave them half your estate in your will for all I care. Personally I'd rather give this money to the hard working, poorly paid crew on the ship, but you-do-you.

.

Are you sure? What airports?

Well, I thought that was the case in the US. Also in Costa Rica.

This is very interesting. I thought the only way to leave luggage in ft Lauderdale is a porter

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As a Brit, I must say that it appears to me that many Americans are a bit obsessed with tipping.

BTW, many of us do research as to the customs in other countries we visit, because we would never want to push our customs on them, because when in Rome....

I couldn't care less how you spend your money. I have only been correcting blatant factual inaccuracies you (and some others) have been posting so that people can make an informed decision whether or not to tip the porters. For example in your recent post you proclaimed that 90% of them are not union longshoremen. That is simply untrue.

 

 

If someone wants to tip for leaving their luggage with the porters as they enter the terminal knowing that:

A) They are union longshoremen earning upper middle class wages and one has already compensated them via the port fees you pay when booking a cruise.

&

 

B) They are not really providing much of a service when you simply hand them your luggage as you enter the terminal; they stick it on a cart (beside them) and push the cart a few yards (where others take over and do 99% of the work, but are unseen - and therefore not tipped - even though many of them earn far, far less) -

 

 

then have it; leave them half your estate in your will for all I care. Personally I'd rather give this money to the hard working, poorly paid crew on the ship, but you-do-you..

Wow Lisa, I want to be there to take a picture of what you do when we are leaving the port [emoji6]!

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OMG, all I can do is shake my head and wonder what can be motivating comments and an attitude like this. Why does anyone direct so much energy and animosity to a topic such as this? Scary.

You are the one who commenced making snarky, insulting comments. All I have been doing is posting objective facts so that rational people can make an informed decision on the topic. Not sure what is causing you to be so dramatic.

Wow Lisa, I want to be there to take a picture of what you do when we are leaving the port [emoji6]!

 

 

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I had NO IDEA the can of worms I was opening! [emoji15]

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