Porters

[pigget74]

If I get a porter when leaving the ship--do I still have to stand in the customs line?

 

[jrabbit]

EVERYBODY goes through customs. No getting around that. Some people swear that if they have a porter that they never get a second glance from the customs people.

 

[goofyforlife]

everyone goes through customs.... You will show your id. The porter will give customs your form and wheel your luggage through. No guarantee that they wouldn't stop you for something though.

 

[Howdill]

Having left the ship last week, we had 6 suitcases to shift and definitely needed the porter. We queued in the customs lines, but the porter seemed to know instinctively which was the fastest, took our declaration form, and handed it over as we passed by the customs man. I normally avoid using porters, but on this occasion he was worth his weight in gold. Thoroighly recommended.

 

[rjh8115]

When we returned last Feb, the porter got all of our bags and wisked us right through customs. They really do know the quick routes out of the port. Well worth the tip money.

Rick

 

[b&j's_mom]

Get a porter!!! Wow, do they know what they are doing!! Our guy had our luggage and had us glide through customs before I even knew what was going on - it was great.

 

[jlowejd5]

I second (or third, or whatever we're on) the porters. They make everything go much quicker, and the couple of bucks is well worth it.

 

[JimmyJackJunior]

Absolutely get a porter they probably saved us half an hour by knowing how to get through the line as fast as possible. I would second that the customs guys hardly asked anything while others handling their own affairs seemed to take much longe.r

 

[lbgraves]

The first thing I do before getting on the ship is put away $2 per bag so that I will have the cash to tip the porter when we get off the ship. On our first cruise there were alot of people standing around waiting for one with their bags. I held up a folded ten & we had a porter within a matter of seconds. On both cruises it was wonderful to have someone else cart our bags out thru customs & to the car. They even loaded everything inside for us while we go the kids settled into their carseats.

 

[pdarrah]

Just one mention here... We did not have enough luggage to need a porter, but we were VERY annoyed by the porters that were cutting and pushing "their group" up in line. Some were behaving fine, but there were some that were using their carts to barge up between the lines and then cut in at the front. Personally, I would be embarrassed if I were with a porter who was doing that and would ask them to stop, but most of the people with these porters looked either oblivious or smug.

We had a chuckle when the group w/porter that had pushed in front of us had to step out of line at customs when it turned out they hadn't filled in any of their forms!

The lines weren't that long and the wait wasn't that bad - these porters were just rude.

pdarrah

 

[yazee1]

Wow, I learned a lot reading this thread. I never even thought about using a porter but with a family of five, that sounds like the way to go!