Port Everglades and ILA Host Hospitality Training for Cruise Porters
Professional porters who are members of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) Local 1526 are participating in a hospitality training program designed to augment Port Everglades’ world-class service.
Porters’ primary role is to greet cruise guests, confirm stateroom numbers and stow guests’ luggage for embarkation. They also assist guests with their luggage upon their return.
“Porters are integral to the port’s success as they are often the first and last personal contact for our cruise guests,” said Port Everglades CEO and Port Director Jonathan Daniels.
“I applaud the ILA for taking the initiative to offer customer-service training that enhances the experience for the nearly 4 million cruise guests we anticipate will travel through our port this cruise season.”
Approximately 250 porters are expected to participate in the two-hour training workshops that will be held on various dates in January.
“The interactive workshops are specifically designed to equip port porters with the best ways to deliver a well-received guest experience during the brief — and often rushed — time that they have with cruise guests,” said the training facilitator Pam Evans, Principal at The Evans Group of South Florida.
At the Broward County seaport, the ILA members often work for both cargo and cruise operations. Third-party companies that offer shore and port services contract with the union to staff the cruise porter program at Port Everglades.
About Port Everglades
Port Everglades offers everything under the sun from Caribbean cruises to world voyages to fast ferry getaways — all from the vacation paradise of Greater Fort Lauderdale. Port Everglades’ enviable location in the heart of South Florida and the neighboring Caribbean, makes it one of the three busiest cruise ports in the world with nearly 4 million passengers anticipated this cruise season. Guests enjoy the port’s proximity to three international airports including rapidly growing Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) less than two miles away.
For pre- and post-cruise stays, Port Everglades is a short drive to sweeping beachfronts, a vibrant art scene, world-class restaurants, craft breweries, entertainment, shopping, casinos, and family-friendly activities — including the port’s namesake, the Florida Everglades.
(Port Everglades and ILA Host Hospitality Training for Cruise Porters – Port Everglades)
