You Better Tip at Port Everglades - Or Else!

[DFWGUYZ]

Having planned our cruise vacations, we always include various, additional tipping costs. We are by no means wealthy, monetarily, however want to include everyone who is working in our travel experience. Tipping is certainly a personal choice however, is one that cheap not to include folks that are truly working by recognizing them with a few bucks? Even though we are not on the high end of the income spectrum we tend to spread the wealth with a smile. Seriously, what is a couple of Benjamin’s througout your trip in tipping really going to cost you?

Edited February 25, 2018 by DFWGUYZ
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[CeeCee59]

Vancouver also has signs saying tipping is not permitted. Union workers - backbone of our modern world - gave you a weekend, stopped child labour, fighting for equal pay for equal work rights.

[dverzic]

We were at the SF pier recently and asked a porter if he could help us with our bags. His reply made it very clear that he expected a good tip IF he helped us. My husband ended up giving him a 20 which I thought was way too much for the very little help we got from him. Basically all he did was bring us a trolley to put our bags on. He did push it for us though!

 

 

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[jakey2004]

I have to disgree with you on this. While I would agree that in some instances unions may have way too much power, there are also instances where if it weren't for unions, the working man would not have any power at all and would suffer greatly. Too much power in either direction is not a good thing. An example of a good policy was when I worked for a short period of time many years ago as a P.E. Aide at an elementary school in CA. I noticed on the first check I got that there was a deduction from my check for something I didn't recognize. When I asked about it I was told that it was the proportional share of the union dues for the teacher's union that paid for the contract negotiations that had to do with salary. That made sense to me that I should be charged for that since I benefited from those negotiations.

 

 

One thing I will say is that most of the longshoremen who work at Pier 91 in Seattle are pretty nice guys. There are some who are at the other end of the scale, but not many.

 

Tom

 

I must say....the Pier 91 guys in Seattle have been the most polite group of porters we have ever seen stateside. 5 trips out of Seattle never an issue. Bayonne...super polite to the point that people seemed startled by it. Port Canaveral has a no tolerance stance for the behavior...however as they grow...we will see.

 

On the other hand Port Everglades has been a crap shoot the last 7 yrs. Cruised out 2x already this year. First trip in Jan super pleasant Pier 4....Feb 2 at pier 2 we witnessed a porter intimidate an elderly couple. It was absolutely unacceptable...and yes I reported to the port authority.

[floridalover5623]

After seeing how little work those guys actually do I stopped checking luggage many years ago.

We pack our own bags and manage to haul it to the pier without any assistance. Why should I be obligated to tip someone to move it the last 20 feet? LOL:D

[compozer]

We've encountered similar intimidation at PE and Miami. NYC used to be tough if you arrived in a cruise bus; a longshoreman came onto the bus and said if you want your luggage on the correct cart, pay as you leave the bus and show us your luggage on the sidewalk. Otherwise, the threat was the luggage will floating down the river or headed to a distant port half way around the world.

Darcy

 

The same thing happened to us in Miami years ago. We have not used the cruise transfer from the airport since then.

I was so mad that I gave my dh my carryon and purse. I then walked off the bus right past him into his little roped off area and picked up our suitcases and walked toward the ship with him yelling at me.

[CineGraphic]

One time a porter at Port Everglades tried to convince us that he personally was going to take our bags all the way to our cabin. I said “yeah, right” and handed him three bucks and walked away.

 

 

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[moki'smommy]

The more I read here, the more I think that the smart thing might just be to take our luggage onto the ship ourselves. If enough people did this, they might get the message!

[Host CJSKIDS]

The more I read here' date=' the more I think that the smart thing might just be to take our luggage onto the ship ourselves. If enough people did this, they might get the message![/quote']

 

Your luggage has to be small enough to fit through the X-ray scanners. That's basically the size of bag that you can take as a carry on with the airlines. Any larger and it has to be checked.

[AnnieB925]

We have never had a problem in all our cruises at various ports. We cruised out of Port Everglades last week and tipped $5 for two bags.

[voljeep]

so, do we need to tip both the Park N Go driver AND the curbside porter???:(

[moki'smommy]

Your luggage has to be small enough to fit through the X-ray scanners. That's basically the size of bag that you can take as a carry on with the airlines. Any larger and it has to be checked.

From your sig line, I can see that you've cruised DCL. Are the Princess scanners smaller than the DCL scanners? DCL uses standard airport scanners which will accept a bag much bigger than what the airlines permit as a carry on. I don't recall the scanners at the Princess ports we've used to be any smaller. If I decide to do so, I can always take my daughter's bag to the scanner; if it is rejected at that point as being too large, it will be handed off to the ship's personnel....again avoiding the extortionists at the curb.

 

My experience is that the guys at the curb only take bags from the curb to the cart which is used to transport them into the ship's screening area. After they are screened, the ship's personnel takes them on board and to the cabin.

 

My goal is not to avoid tipping--I normally tip the person who handles our luggage. My goal is to avoid the ugliness that seems to characterize this port.

[Pierlesscruisers]

The more I read here' date=' the more I think that the smart thing might just be to take our luggage onto the ship ourselves. If enough people did this, they might get the message![/quote']

 

Well, that saves you a tip, true. But, the best thing is probably just to carry (or roll) your bags right into the luggage hall & drop them off there so they can be scanned. They will then be sorted by the longshoremen doing that job (they're separate from the porters and don't even come close to the cruisers) and placed into the various containers which, once they are full, are moved via forklift out to the pier where they are loaded onto the ship. That way you both save the tip and don't have to worry about rolling/carrying your bags onto the ship. No hassle, no cost, no stress, just a nice cruise!

 

Tom

[Thrak]

We're sailing out of FLL on March 18 and it will be our first experience of sailing from that port. The general tone of this thread is upsetting. Hopefully we won't encounter jerks like the ones being discussed. I'm not sure if our larger bag will fit through the scanner or not but I'm feeling tempted to try just to avoid the nastiness that I've seen mentioned here and in other threads over the past few years. This port really does seem to have a bad reputation in this regard.

[moki'smommy]

Well, that saves you a tip, true. But, the best thing is probably just to carry (or roll) your bags right into the luggage hall & drop them off there so they can be scanned. They will then be sorted by the longshoremen doing that job (they're separate from the porters and don't even come close to the cruisers) and placed into the various containers which, once they are full, are moved via forklift out to the pier where they are loaded onto the ship. That way you both save the tip and don't have to worry about rolling/carrying your bags onto the ship. No hassle, no cost, no stress, just a nice cruise!

 

Tom

Well, that's what I was hoping as a possibility, but I hadn't seen it mentioned here. Thank you! Sounds like a plan.

[Host CJSKIDS]

We're sailing out of FLL on March 18 and it will be our first experience of sailing from that port. The general tone of this thread is upsetting. Hopefully we won't encounter jerks like the ones being discussed. I'm not sure if our larger bag will fit through the scanner or not but I'm feeling tempted to try just to avoid the nastiness that I've seen mentioned here and in other threads over the past few years. This port really does seem to have a bad reputation in this regard.

 

I have sailed quite often out of FLL and have never had an issue with my bags. We checked in last week at 10 am. Three guys came to get my bags and my husband was already on line so I was alone. I handed 3 suitcases over and gave them $6 as I was right in front of the bin. They took them and told me to have a nice cruise.

 

Guess we have always been lucky as I have never had any issues in over 30 cruises out of various ports.

[rocker57]

Vancouver also has signs saying tipping is not permitted. Union workers - backbone of our modern world - gave you a weekend, stopped child labour, fighting for equal pay for equal work rights.

 

Just wanted to say hi neighbour, Kitimat here :-)

[famski740]

Just got on the Regal Princess today. Got here about 10:45, and drove straight to the baggage drop off area. I was signaled to pull over near the bins and two porters came over (1 women & 1 guy). They took the bags out of the back of my car that I pointed out (3 of them) and said have a great cruise. I had to catch them to give them a tip ($6.00 for 3 bags), they both said thank you with a big smile.

 

Thrak: I have never had a problem with porters out of Port Everglades, you will be fine.

 

P.S. - All 3 bags have already made it to the room with no problems

[BCCRUSINGCOUPLE]

Always have given 5 bucks never had a issue.

 

 

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[Host CJSKIDS]

From your sig line' date=' I can see that you've cruised DCL. Are the Princess scanners smaller than the DCL scanners? DCL uses standard airport scanners which will accept a bag much bigger than what the airlines permit as a carry on. I don't recall the scanners at the Princess ports we've used to be any smaller. If I decide to do so, I can always take my daughter's bag to the scanner; if it is rejected at that point as being too large, it will be handed off to the ship's personnel....again avoiding the extortionists at the curb.

 

My experience is that the guys at the curb only take bags from the curb to the cart which is used to transport them into the ship's screening area. After they are screened, the ship's personnel takes them on board and to the cabin.

 

My goal is not to avoid tipping--I normally tip the person who handles our luggage. My goal is to avoid the ugliness that seems to characterize this port.[/quote']

 

I was going to take my bag on myself but staff checking your pass to let you into the building wouldn't even let us through the door to get to the scanners as they said they were too big. They said to go check them in.

 

They are the same size as DCL if I remember correctly.

[satxdiver]

I am not so sure the porters that greet pax as they exit their transportation are union workers. If they are like the porters at the airport, they mainly work for tips. The Longshoremen are inside the terminal sorting bags and reloading them by area. The porters are like restaurant servers where they are paid a very minimal wage well below the $7.25/hour rate and are expected to make up the difference in tips. I personally find the whole tipping routine as rather barbaric and would like the US move to the European model where everyone is paid a living wage. However this is where this country is today. We always check two bags and give the porter $5 for the bags usually before he takes them. We have sailed out of PE many times and have never had a problem. Like everywhere there are bad apples who smear the good ones.

 

For those carrying on their luggage, it has to fit though the scanner or it will be rejected. Anything bigger than a carry on will most likely not fit.

[Happy2cruise]

I have sailed quite often out of FLL and have never had an issue with my bags. We checked in last week at 10 am. Three guys came to get my bags and my husband was already on line so I was alone. I handed 3 suitcases over and gave them $6 as I was right in front of the bin. They took them and told me to have a nice cruise.

 

Guess we have always been lucky as I have never had any issues in over 30 cruises out of various ports.

Like you, in all of our cruises out of FLL not one problem.

[GUT2407]

If everyone stopped tipping these extortionists the lines might be forced to act.

 

I’m sure they wouldn’t be happy with hundreds of angry passengers over bags that were wet, damaged or lost

[JValdez]

Exactly, Mr Flagg--in today's world, there's so little actual "work" being performed, it's always a joy to find men actually doing something physical; I'd invite those who disdain these guys to put in a day hauling luggage . . . at our home port of San Pedro, our guys always go above and beyond on arrival and departure; typically on departure we will be accompanied from retrieval through customs, and out to the car--we both use canes, have 4 pieces, one of which is a large Globe-Trotter® case that is difficult to handle; the $20.00 we give is well worth it to us--we also view the $10.00 paid on arrival more insurance than anything else . . . when in Rome . . . we've found in all of our travels that it's much more the exception than the norm to run into thuggish behavior from service personnel, although it can happen.

[CineGraphic]

The porters are supposed to pool their tips, so I’m wondering if the porter in question held back your overly generous tip, hence the confrontation from the person he should have turned it in to. This shouldn’t happen, and I doubt it happens regularly.

I’m sure the folks at Port Everglades read these forums on a regular basis and have already investigated and addressed the issue.

 

 

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