Fort Lauderdale Port Evergaldes

[leesam82]

Hello Cruisers, 

I am excited to go on my first royal caribbean cruise on AotS in a few weeks. We are leaving out of port everglades. I have asked cruisers that have been before their embarkation experience at port everglades. Many people have told me to be careful with the porters that work there as they do not work for Royal Caribbean, but rather work for the port itself. I have heard that they maybe rude and mishandle your luggage. I was told to just ignore the aggressive porters and just bring my own luggage to the loading area. How has your experience been at port everglades?  

 

Thanks

[tiny260]

I have never had this experience in FLL, the porters are usually very friendly and helpful. I've cruised out of FLL 5-6 times.

I usually give a curtesy tip of $2 per bag that I expect the porters to handle, which for me is 2 suit cases, so I tip $4-5.

Pinging @tonyfsu21 , ever hear this?

[GatorGal]

We cruised out of Port Everglades last month and the porters were very nice and helpful. No bag issues at all!. We also tipped $2 per bag. 

[twangster]

At no port will you find Royal employes working at the port.  From security, to check in staff to porters they are all contractors at every port.  At least in North America.

I suppose if you don't tip you might find an unhappy porter.  I always tip a few bucks for my one bag.

From the drop off point luggage carts are right there so there isn't anywhere to haul your own bags to typically.

[tonyfsu21]

4 hours ago, tiny260 said:

I have never had this experience in FLL, the porters are usually very friendly and helpful. I've cruised out of FLL 5-6 times.

I usually give a curtesy tip of $2 per bag that I expect the porters to handle, which for me is 2 suit cases, so I tip $4-5.

Pinging @tonyfsu21 , ever hear this?

never heard anything like this. Also, would be hard pressed to ever find a porter that was an RC employee, they all work for the county as bargaining unit employees (at least in South Florida anyway). I believe they are well paid and tips are just icing on the cake. 

[Hoski]

So sad that someone told you this.  We have found the porters to be super nice and helpful.  They were not overly aggressive at all.  They will ask if you need help and if not move on to the next person.  No way I'm lugging my luggage when these guys do it all.  You will only be able to take carry-on size with you and then you have to drag it around the ship getting in people's way till you get your room between 1 and 1:30. 

[Andrew72681]

4 hours ago, leesam82 said:

Hello Cruisers, 

I am excited to go on my first royal caribbean cruise on AotS in a few weeks. We are leaving out of port everglades. I have asked cruisers that have been before their embarkation experience at port everglades. Many people have told me to be careful with the porters that work there as they do not work for Royal Caribbean, but rather work for the port itself. I have heard that they maybe rude and mishandle your luggage. I was told to just ignore the aggressive porters and just bring my own luggage to the loading area. How has your experience been at port everglades?  

 

Thanks

Treat it no different than any other place in the world. One third go above and beyond, one third are perfectly average, and one third doesn’t want to be there or is having a bad day. They’re all there to get up to 6500 people on a ship and their bags in just a couple of hours. We’ve had great experiences with the porters in four Florida ports, just remember to bring cash to tip as that’s how they sustain. Average 2 or so dollars per bag.