MISSED PORT DUE TO WEATHER - REFUND FOR PORT CHARGES?

[NJ&Ozzie]

Hi,

We are on Adventure of the Seas.  On October 12th we were supposed to dock in Halifax but due to inclement weather could not get into that port.

 

Should we expect a refund for port charges paid for missing Halifax?  On this cruise total port charges were $618.75 per couple.

Thanks!

NJ

 

[time4u2go]

Yes, for the Halifax port charges.

[blackshirt]

It will be credited to your onboard account.

[cruisegirl1]

It is likely that your taxes fees/port charges made up the $618, not just port fees. Don’t expect lots of $$ in return. You should get port fees back as a credit to the sea pass account. 
 

m

[bilyclub]

I'm guessing the snowbird voyage?  $300 is a lot of port fees.  How many stops?

[NJ&Ozzie]

3 minutes ago, bilyclub said:

I'm guessing the snowbird voyage?  $300 is a lot of port fees.  How many stops?

Yup, it's the Quebec to Ft. Lauderdale. 

 

Have asked Guest Services twice now since Oct. 12th about the refund - was told they are "working on a list".  Now a fellow cruiser was just told "no refund".  This ship does seem to give out a lot of misinformation.  This is last day of cruise & no refund - what do we do?

NJ

[bilyclub]

I'm pretty sure it's in the contract that they have to refund the fees for missing a port. I wouldn't stress over it.  The per passenger fee was $10.75 in 2017. Don't know if it's higher in 2019.

 

http://www.portofhalifax.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2017-HPA-Tariffs.pdf 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

I am doing a Live thread form this cruise.  

 

BahamaMamma66 posted the following on my thread. 

 

3 hours ago, BananaMama66 said:

Regarding the non-refund of port fees for Halifax, the explanation that I was  given by Guest Services is as follows (and this is their explanation which I had to ask the rep to explain to me twice):  originally the itinerary was to be all Canadian ports (Charlottetown, Sydney, Halifax, Saint John) followed by US ports. When the itinerary was changed and we were going to Saint John after visiting 2 US ports, apparently all of the port fees charged went up in price. 🤔. So the amounts that we all pre-paid for port fees were not adequate so RCCL made up the difference. When Halifax was cancelled and the port fees refunded, RCCL decided to keep the money to make up the shortfall that they had to pay to cover the increase in port fees. 
 

I am curious to hear if any other Cruise Critic members have ever heard of this or had this happen to them. 

[Another_Critic]

Nevermind

Edited October 19, 2019 by Another_Critic

[villager70]

38 minutes ago, NJ&Ozzie said:

Hi,

We are on Adventure of the Seas.  On October 12th we were supposed to dock in Halifax but due to inclement weather could not get into that port.

 

Should we expect a refund for port charges paid for missing Halifax?  On this cruise total port charges were $618.75 per couple.

Thanks!

NJ

 

 

 

Hi Cruiser. See you are in unsunny Florida today at Canaveral . We are on the Oct 26 sailing. Can you advise if the casino  slots have the scan card type machines and if you can get credits from your  account without going to the cage.  Had the new machines on last two cruises last month. Thanks in advance.

[FLACRUISER99]

It all depends if the port refunded the fees to AD.

[ONECRUISER]

Feel Lucky. In 1980's and 90's Royal did not ever Refund these. There was a Class Action over 20yrs ago I joined. Settlement amounted to 7 Million or $7ea for ea missed Port over the years, this we had to use toward a Future Cruise on Royal within 12 months. I got $28. But bigger benefit is we now get these back in OBC

[sjb317]

We’ve had port fees refunded several times over the years and I don’t think it’s ever been more than $10 pp.  I wouldn’t get riled up about this.😂

 

Sherri🙂

[bilyclub]

My question would be if you booked after the itinerary changed, the port fees would have been included in the price already. Royal would be losing nothing on those passengers, instead they would be making money.

[dplusd]

2 hours ago, NJ&Ozzie said:

Should we expect a refund for port charges paid for missing Halifax?  On this cruise total port charges were $618.75 per couple.

I am pretty sure the $618.75 was for taxes and port fees.  I imagine you will receive a credit for the missed port fees, but I expect they are not what you're hoping for.  Actual port fees that will be refunded are actually quite low...probably in the neighborhood of $10pp.

[Another_Critic]

1 hour ago, sjb317 said:

We’ve had port fees refunded several times over the years and I don’t think it’s ever been more than $10 pp.  I wouldn’t get riled up about this.😂

 

 

1 hour ago, dplusd said:

Actual port fees that will be refunded are actually quite low...probably in the neighborhood of $10pp.

 

I was refunded $28.81 for missing Bar Harbor on the 9/6 northbound cruise.

[NJ&Ozzie]

2 hours ago, ONECRUISER said:

Feel Lucky. In 1980's and 90's Royal did not ever Refund these. There was a Class Action over 20yrs ago I joined. Settlement amounted to 7 Million or $7ea for ea missed Port over the years, this we had to use toward a Future Cruise on Royal within 12 months. I got $28. But bigger benefit is we now get these back in OBC

I did read about the lawsuit.  It is still not clear whether all of port charges/taxes are actually used for that or is this another way of getting increased revenues for cruise?

 

We are only curious coz there seems to be so much misinformation on this ship.  We on our the last of our B3B cruises on Adventure.  Now we spoke to a number of fellow cruises - they all got small refunds ranging from $4 to $10 per person on our 1st cruise for port charge refunds, but we didn't for some reason.  Small amounts but no rhyme or reason to us.

NJ

[cruisestitch]

Port fees are a very fluid quantity.  They go up and down over time, for a variety of reasons, one of which is currency exchange fluctuation but there are others as well.  It is possible that port fees for one or more of the ports you are visiting have actually risen since you booked, but they don't come after you for the extra.  Thus, when you might be looking for a refund for a missed port, you could be told that you won't get any (because you originally underpaid) while someone else might get a refund.  It's incredibly complicated.

[twangster]

Last year's snowbird migration on Adventure skipped Sydney due to weather.  No refunds offered.  On that occasion the port offered anchorage and tendering but since it was too windy to dock the Captain wisely declined since tendering would be unsafe.

 

Perhaps the Nova Scotia ports don't refund the ship if they fail to make port due to weather.  I could see the port arguing they still have to pay people to show up even if a ship makes a last minute decision to skip.  It's not the port's fault the weather was bad either.

 

At any rate, no refund last year for skipping Sydney, NS.

  

[MsDolly]

14 hours ago, twangster said:

Last year's snowbird migration on Adventure skipped Sydney due to weather.  No refunds offered.  On that occasion the port offered anchorage and tendering but since it was too windy to dock the Captain wisely declined since tendering would be unsafe.

 

Perhaps the Nova Scotia ports don't refund the ship if they fail to make port due to weather.  I could see the port arguing they still have to pay people to show up even if a ship makes a last minute decision to skip.  It's not the port's fault the weather was bad either.

 

At any rate, no refund last year for skipping Sydney, NS.

  

 

I was on this sailing, first we were told they would be returning the port charges and when they hadn’t appear by the last day of the cruise I asked again as was told they weren’t going to return them.  Reason given to us was that the overall port charges had increased since the cruise was released so missing a port did not create any excess to the cruise line to return back.

 

While we are not happy with this I am not sure how much effort I am going to put into getting $20 back!

[Merion_Mom]

On 10/19/2019 at 2:46 PM, Another_Critic said:

 

 

I was refunded $28.81 for missing Bar Harbor on the 9/6 northbound cruise.

 

That's interesting.  I got $16.02

[Another_Critic]

9 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

That's interesting.  I got $16.02

 

How much did you pay in total per person?

 

I paid - Taxes, fees, and port expenses $194.34

[Merion_Mom]

1 hour ago, Another_Critic said:

 

How much did you pay in total per person?

 

I paid - Taxes, fees, and port expenses $194.34

$194.46 😄