Worried about these baggage handlers

[NCTribeFan]

Once again, Carnival actually posts information in their FAQs. Imagine that! :p

 

http://www.carnival.com/CMS/FAQs/Baggage_Information__Embarkation_Debarkation.aspx

 

In many ports, guests have the option of carrying luggage on board at embarkation and off the ship at the end of the cruise as long as it does not exceed 24"w x 16"h.

...

 

I personally do not believe the horror stories about "if you don't tip the porter, your bag will end up in the drink." The very rare cases where someone's luggage did end up in the water occurred EVEN THOUGH large tips had been given to the porters! Gasp! How dare they! That large tip is supposed to guarantee that everything is perfect!

 

Accidents happen.

 

Large tips (either to porters or to cabin stewards up front) do not guarantee a thing.

 

Anyway, I tip around $1/bag. The 2 of us usually have 4 bags (a case each and a small duffle each), I give $5.

 

It isn't some sort of extortion. It's a tip. Not mandatory; not regulated. Just a means of thanking someone for their services.

[big_duck]

Does the same go for tipping the staff on the crew?

 

In Europe:

 

You can tip anyone on this ship in US $ if you prefer.

 

Nobody off the ship wants greenbacks ... oh how the mighty have fallen.

[Bunkie103]

If you arrive at the port with a smile on your face and a few bucks in your hand you will have no problem. On our 7 cruises we have NEVER had anyone ask for a tip because my DH is a gentleman and always makes it clear he will "take care" of the porter. When we arrived back in Brooklyn last year on the Queen Mary2 the porter came with a cart, introduced himself and said "Welcome Home". My DH said right out to him, "help us with all this luggage and I'll take care of you" and he took us all the way thru Customs. The porters only want to be treated like human beings and although they make a good hourly wage, unless there is a ship in port they do not work every day.

You can sign this....PROUD daughter of a deceased ILA member.

[Ken076]

Generally the luggage goes pretty much directly to a "container" that is fork lifted to the ship, where it's unloaded and sorted onto baggage carts for delivery to the rooms (there may be x-ray/inspection along tyhe line somewhere). If you hand the porters $5 for two bags (or $2 or $3 for one large bag) with a genuine "Thank you" they're happy and will take care of you. When you're returning, if porter takes your bags to your car in the garage, a slightly larger tip. ken

[NotAPirate]

UK, most have beat me to it, but as you can see there's some contention in what to do and how much to tip.

 

Personally, I carry my own bags on ship. As long as your bag is no larger than 16"x24", length not an issue (seriously, if you could take snow skis on a cruise they'd fit through the scanner...), you can carry as many onboard with you that you'd like. You'll probably hear/read horror stories following this reply about how "that will be difficult" or "will hold up the line," but never in the last 4 cruises has it taken my family of four any more time to check in than when we used to trustingly hand our bags over to the... (really trying to NOT interject personal feelings about porters and unions here!) "personnel" at the pier. Sorry, they make a LOT more than I do for a lot less work overall. The concept that someone must be tipped for DOING their job has always astounded me; you're getting an hourly wage based on the work you are required to do (in this case handling luggage), basically taking a bag from point A to container B which gets loaded onto a ship. Do we tip the bag handlers at the airport? How about the Fed Ex guy who drops off your 50lb EBay package? Tips are supposed to be for "above average" service (such as a server who anticipates refilling your drink and checks back to make sure your meal is perfect, or a cabin steward who cleans up your cabin... after your "Little Hurricanes" tear through the place), not lifting my suitcase into a bin 10ft. away with umpteen others, I can do that easily by myself, thanks.

 

But if you must, the suggestion of $1/bag is great, just consider how many bags they are handling per cruise (ship of 3000 passengers times 2 bags average per person = 6000 bags = $6000 to spread around the 15-20 porters present... not bad for 2 hours of work, eh?).

[SJ]

Has anyone carried their own luggage in NYC terminal recently? In the past, our big suitcase fit through the x-ray machine fine. Just wondering if the size of the opening has changed?

 

I rather deal with the inconvenience of carrying our own luggage and unpack right away than stress over whether our bag made it onto the ship.

[Bruce&Pam]

The Port of Houston has been the only place where I had a porter refuse a tip.

Port of Mobile....easy going not demanding.

Port of Galveston...a little blatent with the hand out.

Port of New Orleans....demands tip, refuses to take your luggage to your car

Port of Miami...easy going not demanding

Port of New York.....easy going not demanding

 

All are highly paid union workers.

Dave

I've had different experiences. I've sailed out of Galveston many times and I usually get friendly handlers who always say "Thank You" after I give them a tip. In my experience the rudest handlers are at the Port of Miami where I had one snatch my $5 out of my hand and turn around without so much as a "Thank You" or any acknowledgement whatsoever. Seems to me it must not be a port thing, but a personal thing. It just depends on whether you get a friendly handler or a pissed off one.

 

---Bruce

[LemurCat]

Has anyone carried their own luggage in NYC terminal recently? In the past, our big suitcase fit through the x-ray machine fine. Just wondering if the size of the opening has changed?

 

I rather deal with the inconvenience of carrying our own luggage and unpack right away than stress over whether our bag made it onto the ship.

 

No, it's still the standard x-ray machine as of February.

 

I've cruised out of NYC and Jacksonville and I've never had a problem with the porters nor a concern about them. They are all union members. They are all bonded. They are all vetted by Homeland Security. If you're that worried about them, get their number off of their union ID and write it down. If you have a complaint to make, you can call the port and make the complaint and it can be traced back to that particular porter. There are very good reasons by cruise ship personnel doesn't handle the bags in port -- not just unions, but Homeland Security reasons as well. A good bit of the working crew of a cruise ship does not have the proper visas to work in the US, nor the proper clearance to work in a US port.

[jetskier]

But if you must, the suggestion of $1/bag is great, just consider how many bags they are handling per cruise (ship of 3000 passengers times 2 bags average per person = 6000 bags = $6000 to spread around the 15-20 porters present... not bad for 2 hours of work, eh?).

 

And that is just for the people getting on the ship. You forgot about the people getting off, though with self-disembark that has cut into some of tips.

Dave

[Molly the Cat]

I've watched the baggage handling in several ports. The porter who takes my bags at the curb may NOT be the porter who puts them in the cage and will NOT be one of the fork lift drivers who move the cages around and will NOT be the porter on the inside of the ship who unloads my bags and will NOT be the porter who carries them to my cabin. ( the last two are probably Carnival Crew) So, does the porter I tip share with all the others? Maybe I should run down the fork lift driver and tip him, too, since he's the one near the water.

 

I always tip and have had bags ruined twice, but there's no way of knowing who the guilty parties are.

 

Alix

[Pegs222]

I have never been on a European cruise, but don't they use US $$ on Carnival ships?

 

I would not think that the crew would be happy with US given in tips as they are on this European cruise for quite a while. They would have to exchange that US for Euros and they would not be very happy about that. With the dollar in the toilet, they are not going to going to do very well.

 

Cash is not used on the ship, except for the casino. Everything is on your S&S card.

[big_duck]

I'm on vacation, I'm no so cheap as to begrudge someone a couple of bucks for making my vacation a little easier.

[Pegs222]

I'm on vacation, I'm no so cheap as to begrudge someone a couple of bucks for making my vacation a little easier.

 

Hey Don, I just called my bank and I was told that they would charge me $18.00 to purchase the English Pound and Euro. She told me to wait until we got to the London airport and get some English Pounds there at an ATM machine. Everyone seems to think that is the way to go, the rate is better and it can be cheaper. Sooo, that is what I am going to do.

[MikeNKim]

I just measured my luggage and if I have this right

 

24" wide - 16" high and lenght doesn't matter you should be able to pretty much carry on any average size luggage??? Except those huge ones which when full are over the 50pds allowed by the airlines anyways.

 

Do I have this right?????

 

Actually I just double checked and none of my luggage is bigger then 24 X 16 so I could technically (if I wanted to) carry these on????

 

Not sure I would want to just curious.

 

Thanks

kim

[Ehpride]

Hey Don, I just called my bank and I was told that they would charge me $18.00 to purchase the English Pound and Euro. She told me to wait until we got to the London airport and get some English Pounds there at an ATM machine. Everyone seems to think that is the way to go, the rate is better and it can be cheaper. Sooo, that is what I am going to do.

 

That's what I did in Europe. I waited until I got to Germany and found an ATM machine. Some may not even charge any fees.

[MikeNKim]

Actually I answered my own question. I checked on the Carnival Website and it is almost like they encourage you to carry on your own luggage

 

Do you have luggage restrictions?Guests are encouraged to limit their checked luggage to two suitcases per person, with each suitcase not to weigh more that 50 pounds and not exceed 16"h x 24"w x 30"length. Please attach your Carnival Cruise Lines luggage tags PRIOR to leaving home and make sure that they are still on your bags when checking in with us. In many ports, guests have the option of carrying luggage on board at embarkation and off the ship at the end of the cruise as long as it does not exceed 24"w x 16"h. This is an advantage you may want to consider as it will allow for quicker easier access to your bags.

 

 

Hummmm, didn't think you could do this.

[Pegs222]

That's what I did in Europe. I waited until I got to Germany and found an ATM machine. Some may not even charge any fees.

 

I am so glad that I talked to someone from the bank that gave me that information. Usually they just do what you ask them to do and take your money.

 

Thanks for replying, much appreciated. To be honest, I was kinda looking forward to purchasing some English Pounds and Euros. I guess I thought it would make this very special cruise actually getting closer, yea, very lame I know :rolleyes: .

[crshipley]

Well, I've had two different experiences with this situation. My first cruise, DH and I sailed out of New Orleans. It was my first time cruising, AND my first time dealing with porters. As my husband got our luggage out of the pile that came of the bus, one of the porters kept saying over and over to me,"This is the last time you'll see me ma'am." Well, considering I was tired from getting up at 4 am and being in an car/plane/bus all day, I was excited about my first cruise, and I was confused by all the commotion going on around me (plus, like I said, I'd never dealt with porters before), I had no idea why the guy kept repeating himself. Finally, my husband (who has 2 cruises over me) said "give him 5 bucks." Ha.

In Port Canaveral, however, we were not hounded for tips, we weren't even spoken to by the porters, and there were big signs all over the place saying "It Is Not Necessary To Tip The Porters." So, my husband being the money-concious man he is, we didn't tip. And in both situations (New Orleans and Canaveral) our luggage arrived dry and unharmed at our stateroom door.

So I guess the experience really just depends on the port.