tipping porters when dropping luggage off

[bceagle76]

I tip $10 -20 at the Curb and $20 when we come back. They will always take the bag to the car help load. There are 4-5 of us.
One time at RC at Miami I only tip $5 and got "I will take good care of these bags". Never again less then $10.

 

[TChrist05]

Yes, we tip the curbside porters at the port.

On our last cruise we got out of the rental car shuttle and tipped the driver for his service and for managing the bags. We turned around and a porter took the bags and we tipped him as well. Two tips in less than two minutes. But that's how tipping goes sometimes; I was taught that anyone who touches my bag as part of their position deserves to be tipped.

My DW and I have been on 35 DCL cruises and we try to always work in stays at Disney World when we go. My wife laughs at me because I always say when we get the rental car and leave for DW "Let the tipping begin". My wife has a handicap and we use valet parking at the resorts so when you pull up someone takes your bags and someone takes your car...and everyone is being tipped. What I do before we leave home is get $50.00 broken up into singles and fives and my wife keeps it in her purse so I always have something handy.

 

[lisamarie12]

We tip them, but I hope for the right reason. Not because it is expected, not because they might depend on it for their income. In every single cruise where we drive up and drop off our luggage, the porters (longshoremen employees of Ambassador Services Inc who has a contract with DCL by the way), we've been greeted with a smile, friendly banter, open doors, no hurry or pressure. They remind us about such things as making sure we have our passports (not leaving them in the checked luggage) and meds, tell us how the system works, check the tags, tell us when to expect the bags, etc.

They have provided me with a great service - what could be easier than just driving up, your bags are taken away by someone, how easy. In the US this is a traditional tipped position, and we're happy to do so.

Not the OP's question, but if I may add a bit more. At the end of the cruise, if you get help taking your luggage back to your car, you'll be spending some time with them. I always advise talking to Disney CMs on the ship, no matter their job, and the save advice applies to these folks. They all are great conversationalists, and everyone has a story. We've run into veterans, Disney retirees, and grandparents. It's fun.

Well said. I agree

 

[abitagirl916]

I always tip the porter who takes our bags when we arrive at the port at least $10. When we disembark, I usually tip $15-20, because they are so good about helping you find your bags, and then will carry on their cart all your checked luggage as well as any carry-ons you have, and they move you through customs so efficiently. I always enjoy talking to the porter as we are going through the customs line. I have even had the same porter for two separate cruises a few years apart.

 

[mhconley]

We tipped the porter who met us curbside and unloaded our car on embarkation morning $20 for 6 large bags, 3 backpacks, a beach bag and a snorkeling bag. We tipped the porter who met us as we debarked, helped us find our bags, walked us through immigration, hauled our bags to our car in the port parking garage and loaded them into our car $40.

Martin

 

[ptcbass]

I imagine the porters jobs aren't easy. Now I see that they also are probably trying to guess if they should or shouldn't open your car door in addition to helping with the luggage.
We are in the "I would rather open my own door when I am ready" camp. Otherwise I would feel as if they are rushing me. Our doors are usually locked till we are ready to get out too. LOL! There are 3 of us and we usually have 3 or 4 large bags and 1 or 2 small ones. I have tipped $10 coming and going. Now I wonder if that is enough and especially when leaving because the guy helps us find out luggage, waits through customs and then goes all the way out to the car and helps load the luggage. That should warrant more $$ than just dropping it off curb side. I wish I had the name of the ones that were rude or that "took good care of" the luggage that was lost or damaged. That way when we drive up if it were one of them I could tell them we need a moment and they should help someone else and then we could flag down another porter to help us.

 

[christianweecare]

We normally tip around $10 for 3-4 bags.

 

[Goofy4Ever]

My family usually tips about $10. We also give the drivers to the port (from CIS) a few bucks as well. My husband tends to store our luggage for them as my suitcase usually weighs a ton

 

[ptcbass]

For those of you that had your bag misplaced or damaged and it might be related to not tipping or not tipping enough: Don't they just hand the bags over to another guy on the other side of the fence into the huge pile of luggage? I don't doubt that something like that could happen due to tips but I wonder how they would even do it in the middle of all the chaos and mounds of luggage.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

i carry my own bags after one time I forgot and they said where's my tip - I said get another job.

 

[LovesTimone]

We always make sure to tip these guys or gals well. Whether flying, cruising or whatever, you want these people to be happy. You want your bags to arrive to you in good condition. Also I would bet that the porter could have broken the 50.00 with out a problem. DH and I were flying back from Vegas, and DH asked me for a 20.00, bell hop was like I can break whatever you have, and he did without batting a eye.

Normally we tip 10.00 for 2 bags, 20.00 for 4 bags. I want them to know that we appreciate them, and to please take care of my bags.

 

[brianvdb]

Also I would bet that the porter could have broken the 50.00 with out a problem.

If they break a bill or make change for you, I would tip on the high side. Although I'm sure they'll do it for you - it is somewhat bad form. It slows them down, and can create an awkward situation if they just started their shift, or can't make change for some reason.

If the alternative is a low or zero tip, then go for it - otherwise, try to have small enough bills available.

 

[brianvdb]

Double post

 

[Zeppelin]

Again I'm honestly not advocating not tipping b/c clearly we all want our bags to get on board safely... No offense but it's not always Crazy Hot, and not sure if it's working their butts off to take bags from the curb to behind the fence...

duplicate

 

[bumbershoot]

i carry my own bags after one time I forgot and they said where's my tip - I said get another job.

You can only carry your own bags onto the ship if they are carryon sized and will fit through the scanners.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

Yeah we don't have anything too big anyway - so I'm not concerned. It happened only once to me on Carnival and I said never again.

 

[goherdibg]

Just back from the Fantasy and had excellent porters at embarkation and disembarkation. I had 5 bags (2 large, 2 med, and 1 small) and gave $20 at embarkation. He unloaded all of our luggage carefully and gave us lots of information about lines, parking, and our return, and didn't rush us at all.

Found a nice guy at the bottom of the escalators during disembarkation who found all of our luggage (which was in 2 sections since the room steward gave us the wrong colored tags), found us the fastest line, walked us to our car, and even helped me load the luggage in a better orientation so I could see better out the rear view mirror. I gave him $35.

The last person said they work for a private company contracted to Disney - so they are not Disney employees.

Great experience overall and worth the tips in my opinion - but I am usually a heavy tipper when I feel people do a good job and are nice all the while.

 

[ptcbass]

Just back from the Fantasy and had excellent porters at embarkation and disembarkation. I had 5 bags (2 large, 2 med, and 1 small) and gave $20 at embarkation. He unloaded all of our luggage carefully and gave us lots of information about lines, parking, and our return, and didn't rush us at all.

Found a nice guy at the bottom of the escalators during disembarkation who found all of our luggage (which was in 2 sections since the room steward gave us the wrong colored tags), found us the fastest line, walked us to our car, and even helped me load the luggage in a better orientation so I could see better out the rear view mirror. I gave him $35.

The last person said they work for a private company contracted to Disney - so they are not Disney employees.

Great experience overall and worth the tips in my opinion - but I am usually a heavy tipper when I feel people do a good job and are nice all the while.

Thanks for sharing. What tips did he give you when you got there about lines?

 

[goherdibg]

Thanks for sharing. What tips did he give you when you got there about lines?

Since this was my first Disney cruise I think he could tell I was a little overwhelmed so he told us exactly where to drive, where to park (2nd floor for faster exit since I mentioned we wanted to leave as early as possible upon our return), and where to stand in line since it was fairly cold and windy on the 28th and we were in shorts and short sleeve shirts - a little too eager I guess . Since a decent line had already formed by 10:30am on the 3rd floor of the parking garage he told my kids to go stand near the entrance and wait on my wife and I to get closer.

 

[ptcbass]

We waited on the 3rd floor last time and I think we might try the ground floor entrance this next time.