Cruise Terminal Porters

[loman]

I give the porter 5 bucks for two bags and he makes up the luggage tags too

and staples them on .

They always seem happy with the fiver.

[HappyTexan44]

What can we do to make this less likely to happen?   Not tip until they put it on the cart?   It sounds like the bad ones are hustling for the tips but not providing the service to get the tips.  

[Ourusualbeach]

1 hour ago, Scotico said:

How do you overlook a large bag.  Not going to say it was intentional but would not put it past them to flag their bag because they felt the tip was inadequate.  What is the normal rate for each bag when tipping

In 25 cruises I have never once tipped a porter when embarking a ship and have never had a bag not make it on board. 

[DallasGuy75219]

1 hour ago, ONECRUISER said:

Agree, one main reasons WJ was so backed up on my last Cruise. Higher number passengers carrying on their Luggage then I'm use to seeing

And no tables available because people plant themselves and their luggage at a table after eating and wait for rooms to be ready.

[poocher]

What a cynical world we live in.  Do you really think a porter deliberately leaving bags behind would keep their job?

[smokeybandit]

1 hour ago, Scotico said:

What is the normal rate per bag.  One person tells me it $2-$3 bag and others tell me it's $5 bag.

$1 per bag

[not-enough-cruising]

2 hours ago, Scotico said:

What is the normal rate per bag.  One person tells me it $2-$3 bag and others tell me it's $5 bag.

$0 per bag, have never had a bag not

show in my room 

[CruiszBug]

We walk all of our luggage onboard. Even the big bags make it through the scanner. Then we carry it up to our room. Sometimes we stop for a drink first at the pub... But we do not block people. We usually carry 20 plus bags through. Why? We have had medical equipment lost when we allowed the suite porters to carry our bags on (supposedly straight to our room). The bags were not there when we boarded. Trust lost...

Edited January 6, 2023 by CruiszBug

[boscobeans]

3 hours ago, Scotico said:

  They suspect the porter pushed it to the side since they only tipped $10 for the 3 bags. 

The porters toss your bags onto trolleys, and it would be obvious if they left a bag sitting on the ground  by any number of other porters or passengers.

If they did this routinely when tipped 10 dollars there would be a few thousand bags left on the platform.

1 hour ago, BND said:

I think some don't know that after bags are loaded onto carts, they are taken through scanning and moved onto bins that are loaded onto the ship.  What is loaded on the ship is a bin that is moved by forklift.  What the porters load are wheeled carts that are only used to push luggage into the terminal. 

.

This is port dependent. Baltimore and Cape Liberty the luggage goes right on trolleys or covered wheeled bins, like airport baggage trains and then to the forklifts.

Edited January 6, 2023 by boscobeans

[StrikeEagle]

On those ports which has a luggage drop off area (convey belts, luggage room) such as Galveston and Port Canaveral.  I always drop off my luggage at those areas instead of giving it to porters.  I don't trust don't greedy porters for whatever expectation of the tips and do something to your luggage.  I hope Royal Caribbean have some training about the code of ethnics and what expect from the porters interacting with the guests,  they are also representing the Royal Caribbean cruise experience.

Edited January 6, 2023 by StrikeEagle

[deepcman]

Porters, Travel Agents and Stockbrokers have all outlived their usefulness. 

If you can checkout your items at Walmart you can put your luggage in a bin.

 

 

[not-enough-cruising]

11 minutes ago, StrikeEagle said:

On those ports which has a luggage drop off area (convey belts, luggage room) such as Galveston and Port Canaveral.  I always drop off my luggage at those areas instead of giving it to porters.  I don't trust don't greedy porters for whatever expectation of the tips and do something to your luggage.  I hope Royal Caribbean have some training about the code of ethnics and what expect from the porters interacting with the guests,  they are also representing the Royal Caribbean cruise experience.

The porters and the cruise lines have no connection or formal relationship (much like many of the people you interact with at the terminal) 

[neverbeenhere]

Take less stuff, pack efficiently, check in at 1:30, carry bag to stateroom. No issues. 

[StrikeEagle]

deleted

Edited January 6, 2023 by StrikeEagle

[StrikeEagle]

16 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

The porters and the cruise lines have no connection or formal relationship (much like many of the people you interact with at the terminal) 

interesting fact,  I think beside me, and who been cruising with RCI,  I thought those people at the RCI terminal (beside the custom agents)  also a reflection and represent of what RCI experience is and RCI should manage it.  

Edited January 6, 2023 by StrikeEagle

[wreckem2013]

54 minutes ago, StrikeEagle said:

interesting fact,  I think beside me, and who been cruising with RCI,  I thought those people at the RCI terminal (beside the custom agents)  also a reflection and represent of what RCI experience is and RCI should manage it.  

They are all employed by the port and can work at any of the terminals. They all get paid pretty decent wages as well. Generally port workers get paid pretty fair wages for what they do.

[Mum2Mercury]

5 hours ago, Scotico said:

They suspect the porter pushed it to the side since they only tipped $10 for the 3 bags. 

Doubtful.  I always tip $2 for a small bag, and many people tip nothing -- yet lost luggage is not a common problem. 

4 hours ago, pcur said:

There's one common denominator to the theft of my prescription medications and  miscellaneous items.  

Respectfully, your prescription medicines should have been in your personal tote -- not handed over to someone else.  

4 hours ago, Scotico said:

Yea the only thing you can do to ensure that your bag makes it on the ship is to make sure it goes on one of those carts.  Not everyone has time to stand there and stare at their bags waiting fo rit to be loaded.  

Disagree.  You hand over your bag, and it goes on the three-sided cart immediately -- no waiting around and staring is necessary.  They're efficient:  they only handle the bag once; that is, they take it and put it on the cart.  They don't set it down, then move it again later.  

[molsonschooner]

3 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

In 25 cruises I have never once tipped a porter when embarking a ship and have never had a bag not make it on board. 

that has been my experience also

[boscobeans]

As embarkation slows down to a halt there are still dozens of Cruise Line employees and their supervisors in and around the terminal. There are also plenty of porters who are parking the lifts and the luggage carts. Everything is ALWAYS put in order before the port is abandoned. 

A loose suitcase would stand out like a sore thumb sitting all by its lonesome on the empty port.

[S.A.M.J.R.]

5 hours ago, nolegirl01 said:

I wish ports handled luggage like airports. You check them in and it goes into a conveyor belt of some sort. I'm not a fan of giving porters my bags and then walking away. One time I left my bags with the porters and just stayed back and watched and the guy literally left my bags right where I left them (on the sidewalk, in the middle of all the crowd), while he went to get more bags and more tips from other people. I was so upset because literally anyone can just walk away with your luggage. A few mins later another porter grabbed it and took it inside. But my point is, we give a lot of trust with our belongings to these porters and with the amount of luggage going through the port for one cruise, I feel we need a better system that's a little more secure and to make sure our bags make it on. 

Airlines? 

That it's not unusual for bags to go to the wrong flight?  

That bags are put in the collection area for anyone to walk off with (just like the cruise lines, I know)?

 

Not that it means anything, but I found this sign when disembarking at PC:

[DallasGuy75219]

1 hour ago, wreckem2013 said:

They all get paid pretty decent wages as well. Generally port workers get paid pretty fair wages for what they do.

And the porters are generally unionized.

[George C]

I normally tip 20 for our 4 large bags , we use them to carry luggage to taxi area also , I tipped a little more for that we were a few blocks away from taxi area.

[DallasGuy75219]

5 hours ago, StrikeEagle said:

interesting fact,  I think beside me, and who been cruising with RCI,  I thought those people at the RCI terminal (beside the custom agents)  also a reflection and represent of what RCI experience is and RCI should manage it.  

The porters are port employees.  The agents in and around the terminal work for a contractor that the cruiseline hires, so they are a reflection of and represent what the cruiseline's experience is (or should be).  Except it's harder for any company to manage contractor employees vs. its own employees.

 

Many of the contractors have contracts with multiple cruiselines in a given port, so their employees could be handling an RC ship one day and a Carnival ship the next day.  Notice how their uniforms are somewhat generic; they just have a nametag and possibly accessories (e.g. tie or a scarf) specific to each line they work.

[Tree_skier]

$10 for 4 bags. 2 large ones and 2 carry ons. Never had a problem.

[FamilyCruiserUK]

9 hours ago, Scotico said:

The porters fight each other for the tips not caring what happens with the luggage.  

Hold on you tip someone for doing their basic job......this is the issue with employers paying rubbish wages and making the employees fight for tips. Its not set up to tip for good service. A total scam.