Long beach luggage porters

[cruiseism]

First of all there is a great big sign saying NO TIPPING, porters are port paid employees(but we know we have to surcumb>sp<to extortion.

Second I was putting them in myself as it was right next to my car but the porter came over to help(help himself into my pocket)

lucky for him I didn't throw him 2 quarters and tell him to get lost you filthy animal, that would have got some points.

 

 

Porters do not work for the Port. They are paid hourly by a Stevedoring Company..the stevedoring companies are hired by the cruise lines.

[G'ma]

Porters do not work for the Port. They are paid hourly by a Stevedoring Company..the stevedoring companies are hired by the cruise lines.

 

They are employees of the Port....and the port is run by the county..... Security of the port is run by the Coast Guard.

 

They are NOT porters....they are longshoremen with a tight union.

[Shipyard Cruiser]

They are employees of the Port....and the port is run by the county..... Security of the port is run by the Coast Guard.

 

They are NOT porters....they are longshoremen with a tight union.

 

In Long Beach, CA?

 

Do you have a source or a web link?

 

Thanks.:)

[calicruise74]

I always approach the longshoremen with my suitcase' date=' visible cash in my hand and a smile.

 

I've never, ever had a problem.......[/quote']

 

 

I dont think the lack of visible money here is the issue...everyone mentioned that they did indeed tip, but were "encouraged" to give more.

 

Or maybe it was your smile! :D

[royd1968]

I recieved fantastic service from my luggage porter in long beach....I cant remember what I tipped, but I never felt hustled

[samikitty]

Originally, I tipped the guy $10 for 4 bags.

 

I guess I am cheap, I was always from the $1 a bag camp... and $2 a bag if they were heavy.

[skylock]

On embarkation (5/31) the luggage porter basically threatened the loss of our bags (3 bags) if we did not tip MORE. This "Hustling" must stop. My DW was nervous. So I tipped an extra $5, and the PORTER told us everything will be "A" ok.

 

Originally, I tipped the guy $10 for 4 bags. But then he started telling DW that her shoes might get lost, so instead of K!CK the GUYS A $ $ , I decided to tip him 5 more dollars and start the vacation in a nice way.

 

I made a comment to a Carnival staff member.

 

Just be careful and dont let an incident like this ruin your first impression of your vacation. I had a bitter taste in my mouth.

 

If anything like this ever happens to you again, pull out your phone, snap a picture and call 911 in front of them.

 

I saw something very similiar happen in New Orleans. The lady told the 911 operator than there was an attempted robbery at the cruise terminal. The would be thief headed down behind the building, but the lady yelled after him that she had his picture so there was no need to hide.

 

If more people stood up to these people, it would stop.

 

I just wish I could have stayed around till the cops showed up. But it was too hot.

[cruisenwithchris1]

I was on the Splendor of 4-26-09 and had the best porter ever when getting off the ship. We were one of the first to get off, so not too much of a crowd yet. Our porter picked up our luggage as we self assisted off the ship and we all stood together as my daughter in law went to retrieve the car from the garage. This was 4 women, so you know we had a lot of luggage!

 

She was gone a long time and I realized that I had her purse with me and she probably didn't have enough money to get out the gate and then pick us up. The porter and I looked down through the end of the garage and sure enough she was in line in my car just stopped at the window to pay (she didn't realize she didn't have her purse until it was too late and she had the car in reverse, I have no idea what she was going to try and do)....luckily no one was behind her yet. I needed to get money to her fast so the porter offered to take the money and run down to her. I gave him $100.00 thinking this would be enough for a 7 day cruise, but was apparently short $5.00, the porter used his own money and she was on her way to meet us with our luggage. Again, the porter ran back to where we were (never thought to have him just jump in the car with her) and he helped load our car and we were on our way. He got a well deserved bigger then usual tip and $5.00.

 

Of course, there will always be the few to spoil it for the rest like the OP's experience. What a way to start a vacation, gimmie, gimmie.

 

BTW, I live in Long Beach and work in the harbor. I have friends who do work as porters every now and then and they are all Long Shoreman. Most of them have jobs like UTR drivers, lashers etc and just do this to earn extra money. Many don't work a 40 hour week, but many do. Still porters are normally tipped, so I tip them too.

 

Happy Cruisen

Chris

[tedjazz]

I dont think the lack of visible money here is the issue...everyone mentioned that they did indeed tip, but were "encouraged" to give more.

 

Or maybe it was your smile! :D

 

I think she's the Head of the Longshoremen's Union. ;)

[T. Advisor King]

1. So what is the deal with loading luggage? Can you just bypass the porters and do it yourself? It sems like a crazy thing to bring your bags all the way to the port and then pay some guy to take them the last 10 feet. It sounds like there is nothing technically stopping you, but there is significant intimidation.

 

2. If you are using the porters, what is the customary tip? I've heard $1 per bag, but someone here scoffed at $10 for 7 bags (which seems to me to be a tip of about $200 per hour).

 

We always just bring our bags with us through check-in. It is a bit of a hassle and I wouldn't recommend it for anyone with more than one small child or elderly or other passengers with mobility problems. But the advantage is that you have your bags right away, which means you have everything you need as soon as you board (and don't have to plan for your first couple hours). Plus you can unpack right away without having to wait for your bags to arrive.

[cruisenwithchris1]

For me, the reason I always use a porter is my husband ALWAYS wants to be the first on the ship and if we were to take our luggage with us, we would have to drag it around for a couple of hours. I have gone sometimes to our room early to just drop off our stuff (they don't like when we do this), sometimes the doors to the hall are open, sometimes locked and I don't want to take that chance.

Or the other reason would be my mom comes with us and she uses a walker (can't carry her own luggage) and it is a big pain to have one person try to manuever 2 large suitcases plus other bags by themself. So for us it's convenience.

 

Someone asked about tipping, I usually tip 1.00 per bag or separate item (like ice chest, case of water etc) and sometimes a few dollars more for heavier items or if they give me extra service. Basically like what you would tip a hotel bellman. I hope this is the norm? I will keep reading to see what others do :o

[glrounds]

I don't believe this.......

neither do I, sorry :rolleyes:

[Cruising Aussie Mum]

Yep, it happens.

 

On our last cruise (out of Miami) the 2 porters taking our bags asked us for more money. They didn't actually make any threats and I suppose we could have just ignored them, but we felt uncomfortable, hate confrontations, so gave them a few more dollars. Yes, I know, we are pathetic push-overs...

 

Two other tipping "incidents" on our last trip: 1) The car rental shuttle driver said "aw come on, there are a lot of bags here" after we had given him his tip when he helped to unload our bags off the shuttle at the cruise port. 2) Our 2 children got henna tattoos in Key West. The guy charged them $15 each and probably spent 10 minutes on each kid. When the kids and I (trying to just be polite) said "thank you very much" to him at the end, he said "don't thank me, thank the bucket" and pointed to his tip bucket - no "thank you" or "you're welcome" or even a smile.

 

I understand the importance of tipping to supplement some people's wages (while I live in Australia now, I grew up in the USA) and I always tip the recommended amount when we are in the states. - But, has anyone ever really thought about the hourly wages (with tips) that some people actually collect? I worked out that our waiter at a Disney restaurant one night would have made about $189 in tips in the hour and a bit that we were there (and that was at a buffet restaurant). The car rental shuttle guy probably did a couple of round trips an hour and I estimate (from the number of people and what he expected us to tip him) that he must have made at least $50 in tips from our bus - so that's like $100+ an hour. The henna tattoo guy - I don't know how many customers he gets in a day, but he already got $30 for 20 minutes work, and then expected a tip on top of that.

 

It just seems to me that tipping has really run amok.

[Kurbanfan]

It just seems to me that tipping has really run amok.

 

LOL! If you read these boards often enough you will find that out:D

[Cruising Aussie Mum]

LOL! If you read these boards often enough you will find that out:D

 

Yeah, guess I'm a bit slow...:D

[cruiseism]

They are employees of the Port....and the port is run by the county..... Security of the port is run by the Coast Guard.

 

They are NOT porters....they are longshoremen with a tight union.

 

 

 

 

Porters do not work for the Port. Some Ports are under the County. Some Ports are Port Authoritys. Security is either Port police or contracted out. It is different from Port to Port. At Port Everglades' date=' they contract out the Browards Sheriffs Office (the Coast Gaurd and the FDLE make sure the rules are being followed). But the security guards inside the termianls are hired by the cruise lines. Stevedores, longshoremen and porters are the same! Their union is International Longshoreman Association. www.ilaunion.org Their hourly rate is paid by the Stevedoring Company which is contracted out by the cruise lines. If Porters were County employees they would not be able to accept any tips. Have you ever heard of your County hiring 'porters' at the local port? If you ever have a problem with a Porter...they have a highly visible number printed on a badge...remember the number and report it to the cruise line.

Edited June 11, 2009 by cruiseism

[thedeadman]

On 6/7/2009 at 8:24 PM, Kurbanfan said:

I don't believe this.......

 

I just came back from 3 day cruise. The porters basically wanted money to get your luggage on board.  Period.  This is the truth,  Now, they wont say they wont take it but he was so hostile that we could not take a chance and had to bring our luggage on board. I am going to be calling carnival tomorrow.  We took another 3 day cruise months before and the same thing happened.  The only difference is the porters at this cruise looked like my luggage would never reach the ship.  At other ports, a totally different experience.  They were excited to take our luggage and get it on board safe and sound with not even a hint of wanting money.  

 

A note to carnival.  Raise the price of the cruise and higher your own baggage folks.  I pay the higher  price.  Unless you like them to shake down your customers before they board

Edited December 4, 2018 by thedeadman

[thedeadman]

26 minutes ago, thedeadman said:

 

I just came back from 3 day cruise. The porters basically wanted money to get your luggage on board.  Period.  This is the truth,  Now, they wont say they wont take it but he was so hostile that we could not take a chance and had to bring our luggage on board. I am going to be calling carnival tomorrow.  We took another 3 day cruise months before and the same thing happened.  The only difference is the porters at this cruise looked like my luggage would never reach the ship.  At other ports, a totally different experience.  They were excited to take our luggage and get it on board safe and sound with not even a hint of wanting money.  

 

A note to carnival.  Raise the price of the cruise and higher your own baggage folks.  I pay the higher  price.  Unless you like them to shake down your customers before they board.  Note there was no place for me to put the luggage on the bins or hand it over to a carnival staff to take.  

 

 

[skrufy]

On 6/7/2009 at 10:17 PM, EL Capitan Z said:

On embarkation (5/31) the luggage porter basically threatened the loss of our bags (3 bags) if we did not tip MORE. This "Hustling" must stop. My DW was nervous. So I tipped an extra $5, and the PORTER told us everything will be "A" ok.

 

Originally, I tipped the guy $10 for 4 bags. But then he started telling DW that her shoes might get lost, so instead of K!CK the GUYS A $ $ , I decided to tip him 5 more dollars and start the vacation in a nice way.

 

I made a comment to a Carnival staff member.

 

Just be careful and dont let an incident like this ruin your first impression of your vacation. I had a bitter taste in my mouth.

 

Edited December 4, 2018 by skrufy
Answered in previous post

[DAllenTCY]

In front of me on my desk is a photo of a porter who passed away 5 years ago.  He was the nicest porter I've ever worked with in my job as a shoreside employee (now 14 years).  His name is John Shaw.  

 

On the other hand....plus 50+ cruises I've taken....(and  having worked part time in POM and FLL)....not even the surliest Miami porter can top the rude behavior of those longshoremen in the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro.

 

I've overheard some of the conversations that they've offered arriving guests......and they can be very intimidating . In some cases they will just walk away and leave your bags on the curb ....while cussing you out.   Eventually the porter boss will instruct one to load them but who wants to start a vacation in that manner?

 

I wonder if anyone in the ILWU gives a hoot.....and... as a fact, there is nothing that the cruise lines can do about it.

 

Yes, I agree that it these guys work long and hard....with a lunch break....and $25-42/hr.....and full medical/retirement benefits. 

 

Apparently many of them now think $1/bag is inadequate.

 

David

 

Edited December 5, 2018 by DAllenTCY

[thedeadman]

29 minutes ago, DAllenTCY said:

In front of me on my desk is a photo of a porter who passed away 5 years ago.  He was the nicest porter I've ever worked with in my job as a shoreside employee (now 14 years).  His name is John Shaw.  

 

On the other hand....plus 50+ cruises I've taken....(and  having worked part time in POM and FLL)....not even the surliest Miami porter can top the rude behavior of those longshoremen in the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro.

 

I've overheard some of the conversations that they've offered arriving guests......and they can be very intimidating . In some cases they will just walk away and leave your bags on the curb ....while cussing you out.   Eventually the porter boss will instruct one to load them but who wants to start a vacation in that manner?

 

I wonder if anyone in the ILWU gives a hoot.....and... as a fact, there is nothing that the cruise lines can do about it.

 

Yes, I agree that it these guys work long and hard....with a lunch break....and $25-42/hr.....and full medical/retirement benefits. 

 

Apparently many of them now think $1/bag is inadequate.

 

David

 

Thank you.  My point I was trying to make.  I know I am not the only one.

[Gallivanting Souls]

Count us in too!  Port Everglades. We walked our two bags right up to the cage,(not even one full step) the porter lifted up our bag into the cage and I gave him a couple of bucks. He looked at the amount and held out his hand asking for more. My husband started to argue with him. I just pulled him up towards the check in area and crossed my fingers that our bags would make it. (they did). Maybe it was just a random occurrence. I also think this was the cruise that my bag was broken, but I will chop that up to my bag not being new.

[Sotermarler]

Ugh.  I will be sailing out of there in January. Maybe I’ll have my phone ready in case they try to shake us down. 

[Cushing985]

Dang...there are a lot of liars on this thread!  Obviously there is a problem otherwise why all the reported problems?  I've never had a problem with our luggage making it onboard the ship without paying a huge amount of money to the porters.  I think most of these guys are honest and are happy to receive any amount of money for a tip.  Unfortunately, all it takes is that "one guy" to make everyone at the port look like thieves.  Taking a conservative estimate, I would think each porter services 20-30 passengers on each cruise and if 20-30 get that  "one guy" those people will come on Cruise Critic to warn us that the porters at a particular port are hustlers for a bigger tip.  So, why wouldn't you believe the OP who obviously ran into that "one guy?"

[Nic6318]

Hi

 

Please remember that while some feel hostility or pressure to tip more, it isn't the normal experience.

 

This thread was "dead" for nine years. Now if you look, the same person who dug this thread up managed to find an open again another similar thread that was originally opened in 2005, just to say the same thing. He/she has even thought the need to quote him/herself???

 

This person joined this site on Monday. We have seen this formula before, you have to take these entries with the grain of salt they deserve. This site wasn't designed to specifically air one's complaints. If you have a real issue, direct it to the company, they are the only ones that can correct it.