Tipping at the port? How much?

[gvre]

How much should I tip for the bell person who brings up our bags from the hotel lobby to our room?

I usually give them $2 a bag including small stuff, like briefcase, backpack, computer bag along with our suitcase.

Think I should be giving them $5 for each?

[roxievegas]

Pre covid cruise our first with Princess was a 28 day out of San Pedro (LA) to Tahiti and back.

 

We got to the port and stood in line with others to give our luggage to the porter.  The couple in front of us were French - spoke little english, but were digging in their pockets for money, which they tried to give to the porter - it was Euro coins, and the porter yelled at them.  I yelled at him to leave them alone and told them to ignore him.  He pulled a wad of money out of this pocket and said he didn't need their quarters, he had plenty of money.  I refused to give him our bags and reported him.

 

Tipping is optional

Tipping is based on service proved

Tippping is at your discretion

Tipping is not manatory

 

If you get tips be thankful for whatever you get.

 

end of story

[cr8tiv1]

Scene:  Los Angeles World Cruise Terminal

Actors:  2 old ladies

Setting the stage:  Traffic enforcer directed our driver to pull to the opposite curb (away from the loading and unloading area)

 

We are standing on the island nearest the parking lot trying to flag down a porter to take our luggage.  Finally get the attention of some random terminal worker (but not a porter) who literally runs around to find a porter, points him in our direction, and disappears into the crowd of busy passengers.  I would have gladly given him a tip.  But the porter with the cart was just as gracious and earned his keep for the day.  You bet I was appreciative.  As a bonus, this guy was really nice!

[antsp]

On 8/6/2022 at 5:58 PM, ruimin said:

Do you tip them at Southampton port?

 Thanks 

No, the UK us a civilised country 

[WatchHill]

13 hours ago, mellon1 said:

What size did you try to check?  I am thinking of packing a medium sized bag, bigger than carryon but smaller than a really large bag.  I wanted to get a head start on cleaning the room and setting things up.  Last cruise we didn't get our luggage until after we came back from dinner, and that was like 9:30 p.m.   Oh, and yes I tipped porters $5 a bag!  

I check large pieces, of luggage. The one I attempted to put through the scanner was an oveseas size piece.  Crazy to think I could do that, but I tried - and annoyed a lot of people. Now we drop off the large pieces and only walk on with hand-carry items. Those large pieces are heavy and take up too much space in elevators. I let the cumbersome pieces be our challenge as we do direct walk-off at the end of the cruise.

 

For the most part, our luggage arrives in the room within an hour of our arrival. Things in the carry-on seem to take the longest to organize and store away - with DH and I agreeing [?} on who get what shelf in the bathroom. Plus always pack a change of clothes, etc., in the carry-on. 

 

Darcy

Edited August 8, 2022 by WatchHill

[MissP22]

2 hours ago, WatchHill said:

I check large pieces, of luggage. The one I attempted to put through the scanner was an oveseas size piece.  Crazy to think I could do that, but I tried - and annoyed a lot of people. Now we drop off the large pieces and only walk on with hand-carry items. Those large pieces are heavy and take up too much space in elevators. I let the cumbersome pieces be our challenge as we do direct walk-off at the end of the cruise.

 

For the most part, our luggage arrives in the room within an hour of our arrival. Things in the carry-on seem to take the longest to organize and store away - with DH and I agreeing [?} on who get what shelf in the bathroom. Plus always pack a change of clothes, etc., in the carry-on. 

 

Darcy

Of course if you can't handle large suitcases it wouldn't be prudent to try & bring them with you. We've had experiences where we didn't receive our suitcases until well after early dinner when we wanted to go to the first main show. The last thing I want to do is unpack at 10 PM at night.

Even since we carry our bags with us, we have the convenience of unpacking immediately after lunch knowing our bags are waiting on the bed. 

[Ptroxx]

On 8/6/2022 at 8:53 AM, LovetheSea said:

Years ago in Florida we tipped a porter who helped with our luggage at the port. We gave him $5. for two bags. As we were walking away he said "cheap". It has been a couple years since we cruised. Stopped after Covid hit. Seattle RT port. What would be a fair tip for two bags? After the cruise. taking it through the terminal to outside.

I would have walk back to him and said ok give me the 5 back. I’ll give you something more.   And walked away.  Way outta line.  5.00 is more than enough.    I usually only have 1 bag and give 2-3.00    If everyone did that how much ya think he’s making an hour.  
let’s not talk about excursions. I watch people just walk off an excursion and give nothing.     Ugh 

[rbtan]

On 8/8/2022 at 10:26 AM, Ptroxx said:

I would have walk back to him and said ok give me the 5 back. I’ll give you something more.   And walked away.  Way outta line.  5.00 is more than enough.    I usually only have 1 bag and give 2-3.00    If everyone did that how much ya think he’s making an hour.  
let’s not talk about excursions. I watch people just walk off an excursion and give nothing.     Ugh 

Plenty of cheapskates on Cruise lines. See how empty the MDR is on last night & look at the lines at the pursers desk of pax trying to screw over the staff by removing the auto gratuity. Deplorable. At least some cruiselines are having you "prove" how bad your service was before allowing you to remove the auto tip.

[PTMary]

41 minutes ago, rbtan said:

Plenty of cheapskates on Cruise lines. See how empty the MDR is on last night & look at the lines at the pursers desk of pax trying to screw over the staff by removing the auto gratuity. Deplorable. At least some cruiselines are having you "prove" how bad your service was before allowing you to remove the auto tip.

 

Couldn't agree with you more! And based on the home country of the people who remove the service charges, and sometimes even brag about removing them, it seems that it's always people from the same three English speaking countries who are the worst offenders.

 

NCL used to, and may still, require a passenger to send in a form AFTER the cruise ended with their reasons for having the service charges refunded. That reduced those "remove for poor service" requests by almost 85%! I applauded NCL for blocking these selfish people from stiffing the very people who worked so hard to make their cruise as enjoyable as possible. 

 

For those cheapskates who at the end of the cruise claim that service was so poor, or their room was not maintained, or what ever weak excuse the can conjure up, I can not understand why they would endure any poor service for the entire cruise only to try to remove the service charges at the very end of the cruise. Anyone who does that has a screw loose - or several. Or they are just lying because they are cheap. 

Edited August 9, 2022 by PTMary

[Wakepatrol]

On 8/6/2022 at 12:31 PM, MissP22 said:

It's just as easy to take your own bags onto the ship and bypass the porters altogether. 

Yes- As long as you aren’t in front of me😂

[Wakepatrol]

Five pages of how much do I tip the bag dude? Ugh my head hurts

[PrincessLuver]

1 hour ago, PTMary said:

 

Couldn't agree with you more! And based on the home country of the people who remove the service charges, and sometimes even brag about removing them, it seems that it's always people from the same three English speaking countries who are the worst offenders.

 

NCL used to, and may still, require a passenger to send in a form AFTER the cruise ended with their reasons for having the service charges refunded. That reduced those "remove for poor service" requests by almost 85%! I applauded NCL for blocking these selfish people from stiffing the very people who worked so hard to make their cruise as enjoyable as possible. 

 

For those cheapskates who at the end of the cruise claim that service was so poor, or their room was not maintained, or what ever weak excuse the can conjure up, I can not understand why they would endure any poor service for the entire cruise only to try to remove the service charges at the very end of the cruise. Anyone who does that has a screw loose - or several. Or they are just lying because they are cheap. 

 

Princess just needs to add these charges into the price of a cruise and quit playing games with their passengers and employees.  

 

"The “Crew Appreciation” is a daily amount for each guest that will be automatically added to your onboard account for your convenience, to recognize the efforts of a wide variety of crew members who contribute to the experiences of all our guests."

 

I am never impressed with the service I get on a cruise ship.  It is what I expect for what I pay so Princess just needs to own up to the issue and pay their crew a better wage.  

 

 

[Phantom of the Seas]

“Never say never”.......has not been the case on any of my cruises....

[SantaFeFan]

1 hour ago, PrincessLuver said:

 

Princess just needs to add these charges into the price of a cruise and quit playing games with their passengers and employees.  

 

"The “Crew Appreciation” is a daily amount for each guest that will be automatically added to your onboard account for your convenience, to recognize the efforts of a wide variety of crew members who contribute to the experiences of all our guests."

 

I am never impressed with the service I get on a cruise ship.  It is what I expect for what I pay so Princess just needs to own up to the issue and pay their crew a better wage.  

 

 

 

What games?? If the service charge was included in the base fare, the cruise would cost the same amount of money as a lower fare PLUS the service charge. Either way, you will pay the same total amount. Why is that so darn difficult for some of you to understand. It is simple math!!

 

What is even more important, if the staff's salary included the gratuities instead of them being kept two separate incomes, many of them would be paying much more in income taxes in their home country. Many of the countries the majority of the staff are from only include salary when annual income taxes become due. Tips earned from service charges are not counted. The staff then pays less to taxes, and keeps more for themselves. If the service charges were included, their taxed salary would be much higher. If you actually cared about their wellbeing, you would happily pay the service charges to help them save money rather than complaining about games being played. The only games that are being played is by people who out of their own selfishness look for any excuse to stiff the staff.

 

 

[geoherb]

A porter in Port Everglades remarked to his co-worker that one of the dollars I gave him for one bag was very worn and had a tear. It irked me. As others have pointed out, they move bags 10-15 feet most of the time and load them onto the luggage container that someone will pick up with a forklift to load onto the ship. 

I doubt any of them would sabotage a piece of luggage because someone did not tip or did not tip what they thought was adequate. They'll make it up from the suckers who are tipping $5-$10 or more per bag. They wouldn't risk their job by doing anything malicious to someone's luggage.

[oakridger]

Porters at San Francisco Pier are in the Longshoremen's union and make over $100,000 per year in wages PLUS any tips they get.  One porter was rude and harassed some cruise pax about his tip and the pier staff reported him.  He wasn't seen working at the cruise pier after that!!!

[SantaFeFan]

5 hours ago, Wakepatrol said:

Five pages of how much do I tip the bag dude? Ugh my head hurts

 

Then don't read the comments. No one is forcing you to read this thread. Your head hurts because of you, not how many pages long it is. 

[Ombud]

Delete 

Edited August 10, 2022 by Ombud

[Fjord4Fun]

On 8/8/2022 at 3:26 PM, Ptroxx said:

 I watch people just walk off an excursion and give nothing.     Ugh 

In Japan tipping on excursions, like anywhere else these, would be considered very bad manners as it implies they would not have done their job well unless you tip them.  Height of bad manners.

[MissP22]

9 hours ago, Wakepatrol said:

Yes- As long as you aren’t in front of me😂

If we're behind you, you better keep moving. My husband isn't one to drag a$$. 😉

[WatchHill]

On 8/6/2022 at 12:58 PM, ruimin said:

Do you tip them at Southampton port?

 Thanks 

The drop off process on our last few cruises from S'hampton [the newest terminal] did not involve any direct contact with porters. 

 

Darcy

[Ptroxx]

6 hours ago, Fjord4Fun said:

In Japan tipping on excursions, like anywhere else these, would be considered very bad manners as it implies they would not have done their job well unless you tip them.  Height of bad manners.

Good thing we’re not in Japan.   
we’re in America.  🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

[Princessfan20]

12 hours ago, SantaFeFan said:

 

What games?? If the service charge was included in the base fare, the cruise would cost the same amount of money as a lower fare PLUS the service charge. Either way, you will pay the same total amount. Why is that so darn difficult for some of you to understand. It is simple math!!

 

What is even more important, if the staff's salary included the gratuities instead of them being kept two separate incomes, many of them would be paying much more in income taxes in their home country. Many of the countries the majority of the staff are from only include salary when annual income taxes become due. Tips earned from service charges are not counted. The staff then pays less to taxes, and keeps more for themselves. If the service charges were included, their taxed salary would be much higher. If you actually cared about their wellbeing, you would happily pay the service charges to help them save money rather than complaining about games being played. The only games that are being played is by people who out of their own selfishness look for any excuse to stiff the staff.

 

 

The game is Princess makes it sound like you are doing something really nice for their employees for basic services and not the corporation.  Get real. It is a corporate scheme to avoid taxes and pay a living wage.  What is it you do not understand???

[LovetheSea]

The luggage handlers in the Port of Seattle are Teamster Union members. So I wont worry they will starve without my $10 tip 🙂 I always tip on excursions. Which begs the question Do you base an excursion tip on how long the excursion is? Or the original price of the excursion? Or how well the people treated you? We have a 6 hr excursion in Juneau. Whale watching and Mendenhall Glacier. I am thinking maybe $20 tip? 

[SantaFeFan]

1 hour ago, Princessfan20 said:

The game is Princess makes it sound like you are doing something really nice for their employees for basic services and not the corporation.  Get real. It is a corporate scheme to avoid taxes and pay a living wage.  What is it you do not understand???

 

“You are entitled to your opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts.” ― Daniel Patrick Moynihan

 

Unlike you, I am not into conspiracy theories. I happen to know from having read these tipping threads for years that what I described is factual. There have been several industry experts, one who had the financial responsibilities of dealing with staff pay with various cruise lines, who have described what the reasoning is, and that is what I explained in my comment. 

 

So, believe whatever conspiracy theory you want. I prefer to believe in facts. 

 

 

 

Edited August 10, 2022 by SantaFeFan