Luggage porters speed you through immigration lines ?

We almost always use a porter , there is a new option on some ports, luggage direct ,cost is 25 per person , you put your bags out at night , next time you see them will be at your home airport , rccl this is perk for suites.

Not an option for those of us who do post cruis e hotel stay after we disembark the shp We go direct ly from ship terminal to taxi.and like it just fine that the porter takes our luggqge to the taxi for us .

HAL has offered tha t luggage choice for years but not for all airlines.

Those are probably people with elevated status, as the other poster mentioned. We were in a Haven access but not right in the Haven Owner's suite and thought we were to have that treatment. We were told that privilege was for the people who were actually in the physical Haven area.

 

What? NCL irritates me on so many levels...

Once you walk off the ship there is no elevated status.

Thanks for all the responses folks. I based my question on disembarking the Celebrity Summit last week at Cape Liberty.

Those using the porter service literally avoided the lines and went around the outside of the queueing lanes and went straight to the front to be seen by the border agent, although they were being fed in with those who were at the front of the normal queue

I do believe using the porters at Caor Liberty gets you through faster, now you know for next time. It took me until my 3rd cruise out of NYC to catch on.

Once you walk off the ship there is no elevated status.

I'm guessing that your'e talking about NCL, specifically -- since some cruise lines (like X) DO have a priority customs line, for their Suite/Zenith folks. :confused:

I do believe using the porters at Cape Liberty gets you through faster, now you know for next time. It took me until my 3rd cruise out of NYC to catch on.

A couple of weeks ago in Cape Liberty/Bayonne NJ we basically just walked off and through the lines. We were in no rush, had Group 13 or 14 as I recall, but there were no lines, no hold-ups. Porters were there ready and able to help but no extra help needed.

Stan

We disembarked in Long Beach a few days ago, and there appeared to be a much shorter, dedicated line and checkpoint for pax electing to use a porter. A porter approached us and said any payment is strictly gratuity-based.

With that said, I didn't see any pax w/o a porter try to use that line, and I'm not sure if there were any official restrictions w/doing so. As mentioned, the process likely varies by port.

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POrters are always gratuity based, in cruiset terminals, airports, hotels At least that has been my experience using a huge number of porters, every where possible.

A couple of weeks ago in Cape Liberty/Bayonne NJ we basically just walked off and through the lines. We were in no rush, had Group 13 or 14 as I recall, but there were no lines, no hold-ups. Porters were there ready and able to help but no extra help needed.

 

Stan

Yes, our last NCL cruise was the same. The previous one had a huge line at customs, so we grabbed a porter.

I have never used a porter service when disembarking, I will consider it next time we arrive at a US port.

This is true. We always use a porter! :D

No matter where we were in the world, we always used porter if given the option. if there were porters ,w e wanted one. :) Help is always very appreciated.

It differs from one port to another. At Pier 91 in Seattle, the porters do not go into the C&BP lines at all. If you use a porter, after they get your bags, you go get into the line to be checked by the C&BP agents and the porters go ahead, out the door of the luggage hall area and wait for you outside that area. When you get through customs, you go outside the hall, marry up with your porter and go out to the transportation area. Apparently it works differently at other locations.

Tom

Remember that those porters are there every day, and will have buddies among those directing the queues. When porters share a cut at the end of the shift, the line-monitors are much more likely to let them slide in to the front.

Why not? It's not fair? Grins -- they figure that if we don't want to tip, we can stand in line. Same philosophy of FTTF or other pay-to-privilege programs.

Remember that those porters are there every day, and will have buddies among those directing the queues. When porters share a cut at the end of the shift, the line-monitors are much more likely to let them slide in to the front.

 

Why not? It's not fair? Grins -- they figure that if we don't want to tip, we can stand in line. Same philosophy of FTTF or other pay-to-privilege programs.

Share tips? You've got to be kidding me. There is no sharing of tips. Jobs are assigned by seniority. At least they are in Seattle. As to queues, all the porter's carts are dropped off at a scanner where they are scanned and placed in other carts where they're taken by forklifts to the ship and loaded on-board. The porters doing the scanning are just concerned with getting the bags scanned and gone. They have neither the time nor desire to pick and choose which carts to work first. May work differently at other ports, I guess, but I doubt it.

Tom

Been awhile, but out of the old pier in Seattle. Taxi dropped us off in front of cruise building. Off to the left was a LONG line of PAX dragging all luggage with them. Porter approached and he picked up our three bags to be checked (one of which very large roller). We followed him to A SEPARATE LINE WITH IT'S OWN XRAY MACHINE. Porter transferred bags from trolley to security. I thankfully tipped $5 per bag. Within 15 minutes we were on the long snaking gangway to the ship. Once we were high enough, we could see that the line went 3/4 around the cruise building. It should be noted that as a group, the pax on this trip were the cheapest I've ever encountered. Ever see 15 drink runners sitting at a table because no one willing to spend $8 on a drink.

Share tips? You've got to be kidding me. There is no sharing of tips. Jobs are assigned by seniority. At least they are in Seattle. As to queues, all the porter's carts are dropped off at a scanner where they are scanned and placed in other carts where they're taken by forklifts to the ship and loaded on-board. The porters doing the scanning are just concerned with getting the bags scanned and gone. They have neither the time nor desire to pick and choose which carts to work first. May work differently at other ports, I guess, but I doubt it.

 

Tom

I believe the OP was talking about disembarkation and going through Customs after the cruise, not embarkation. :)

I believe the OP was talking about disembarkation and going through Customs after the cruise, not embarkation. :)

Makes no difference, the porters are not going to share their tips with others in either case.

Tom