Cruise itinerary changes - what happens?

[Muffinz]

As a proud New Zealander I've been following the tragic event that happened at White Island on Tuesday - and my heart goes out to all that were involved

 

I saw on the news this morning that Ovation of the Seas was leaving Tauranga (7am Wednesday NZ time) and is changing it's itinerary and will no longer be going to Dunedin or Fiordland - just going to Wellington / Picton then back to Sydney.

 

So what happens if you've booked a cruise, then something tragic / unfortunate happens like this and half the cruise is effectively 'cancelled' - would celebrity offer some sort of refund or something?

I can imagine most on the cruise would have booked it especially to see the Milford, Dusky and Doubtful sounds in Fiordland.

 

we were unable to tender into Airlie Beach on our GBR cruise because the seas were a bit rough and Celebrity refunded us the port fees / taxes

Edited December 11, 2019 by Muffinz

[Jim_Iain]

It really depends on the cause of the change and the impact.   It is not uncommon for ports to be missed or a port substituted.   

 

I was on a B2B last year  TP and Japan Immersion.     Both cruises were impacted by typhoons.   The first we were evacuated from the ship on turn around day and the second we missed a couple major ports and all ports were shifted by one day.  

 

The first we were given a refundable OBC equal to one day of your cruise fare and on the second we received a future cruise credit equal to one day of our room rate.

 

My understanding is that always if a port is skipped you will be refunded Port and Taxes for that port (usually only a couple dollars). 

[NCHPcruiser]

We were on the Silhouette in July of 2018 when due to “windy weather” we were not able to go through the channel to get to St. Petersburg’s either day we were suppose to be there.  St. Petersburg was THE reason the vast majority onboard booked this cruise.  We were refunded a small amount for port fee’s.  While we understood why the port was missed and do believe that Celebrity did it’s best, we did not like how they handled the two extra sea days.  Instead of making a few goodwil gestures such as galley tours, behind the scene tours, added trivia, dance lessons, etc. to a ship full of very subdued people, they tried to capitalize on everyone’s boredom (it was also too chilly to be outside) by offering lots of extra onboard activities/tours for a fee.  Absolutely nothing else (that we remember or noticed) was changed or added.  In our opinion Celebrity did a poor job of handling the last minute change in itinerary.

 

[PTC DAWG]

Hopefully, life goes on..

[jelayne]

The cruise contract allows all cruise lines to change the itinerary.  The norm is that when a port is missed and replaced with a sea day you are refunded the port fees for the missed port.  Depending upon the circumstances the cruise line may offer some OBC or future cruise credit.  Generally if the change is something caused by something they are responsible for you get some OBC or compensation.  If the change is beyond their control ( weather, port closing, government travel restrictions, etc) then anything they do is a goodwill gesture not a contractual obligation.  

[Northern Aurora]

We were on the B2B set of cruises with  "Jim_Iain" in 2018 on the Millennium when the cruises were impacted not only by Typhoon Trami but also Typhoon KongRei.  We were among the B2B passengers who were evacuated from the ship, and stayed at the same hotel as Jim and Iain (Celebrity evacuated over 200 passengers so they used several hotels in Yokohama).  We also spend 60 to 90 nights a year on Celebrity ships, so have had our itineraries impacted a number of times.  I have always felt that thought our compensation on all those cruises was fair.

 

That being said I can't begin to imagine what the mood is on the Ovation of the Seas.  We have been on cruises when passengers died of natural causes, but never on a cruise like when a number of passengers were either killed or are in ICUs due to an accident as what happened.  I suspect that at the compensation will  be substantial.

 

PS to Jim and Iain -- we are apparently "gluttons for punishment" as we are booked on the Eclipse TP followed by a cruise which ends in Singapore -- in the FALL of 2020.  We were on the Constellation this October for a B2B2B.  There were several crew members who were with us on the Millennium in 2018 so we were all following the 2019 weather problems.  What can I say -- I am apparently an optimist.

 

 

[upwarduk]

4 hours ago, NCHPcruiser said:

Absolutely nothing else (that we remember or noticed) was changed or added.  In our opinion Celebrity did a poor job of handling the last minute change in itinerary.

We too were on the cruise that missed St Petersburg.

We were the only ship that was denied entry. I wished we had been sailing on Azamara Journey, who were at a different Quay ( English Bridge).

While we were refunded our port fees and excursion fees the same evening, I was very disappointed in Celebrity. I think they could have made a gesture eg OBC, or a future cruise certificate, which would have done more for their PR. All we were told to do by the Captain was ‘claim from your insurance.’

[chemmo]

If I was on the Ovation of the Seas at the moment I don’t think I would care about missing ports or compensation...This situation is very different than bad weather causing a change to destinations to be visited.

 

I think most cruise lines could benefit from listening to their guests about the best way to respond if itineraries need to change/ports cancelled owing to weather....I don’t think they always take on board that sometimes a missed port was going to be someone’s ‘Once in a lifetime experience’. Whilst the ship cannot change the weather it can at least make an effort to keep its guests feeling happy and valued...

 

If the only option to a cancelled port is a sea day then, like NCHP cruiser, I think the cruise line should make a real effort to make the day more pleasant by adding in extra activities at no added cost. On occasions like the St. Petersburg miss I am sure the opportunity for some free ship behind the scenes tours would have been really appreciated and giving each cabin a free pay for movie wouldn’t have cost much either...Much as I don’t like karaoke myself surely it would be easy to set that up somewhere and trivia needs nothing but a venue and one member of staff...Run extra cinema shows, have some afternoon live music events and hand around a few canapés...If CC readers can think of lots of thinks that are minimal cost then the Cruise Director should be able to as well...

[Pushka]

If it was a ship created issue then there would be compensation. Weather and such - stuff happens. On the current Oasis issue then simply being with family and potential friends onboard might be all that people need right now. 

[vickykay]

We were on a RC cruise several years ago and we’re unable to tender into Grand Cayman.  Almost immediately a new Daily was printed with loads of activities ( no fee). The cruise director really did a great job.  We have noticed the past few years a big increase in activities with a fee on Celebrity and less non-fee activities.

[waterbug123]

8 hours ago, NCHPcruiser said:

We were on the Silhouette in July of 2018 when due to “windy weather” we were not able to go through the channel to get to St. Petersburg’s either day we were suppose to be there.  St. Petersburg was THE reason the vast majority onboard booked this cruise. 

 

 

I certainly understand booking a cruise based on the itinerary, but one always needs to be aware that the itinerary could change.  If one particular port is the reason for booking a cruise, one might be well advised to instead book a land-based vacation to that destination.  Changes are less likely, and you can spend more time there as well. 

[mickey89]

We just added an optional upgrade to our Travel insurance that gives £150/pp if a port of call is cancelled provided it wasn't known before departure.  Also a few other worthwhile additions like £150/pp if you are confined to your cabin for medical reasons and enhanced missed port departure cover.  Only costs £40/couple for the year. 

Edited December 15, 2019 by mickey89
typo

[chemmo]

42 minutes ago, mickey89 said:

We just added an optional upgrade to our Travel insurance that gives £150/pp if a port of call is cancelled provided it wasn't known before departure.  Also a few other worthwhile additions like £150/pp if you are confined to your cabin for medical reasons and enhanced missed port departure cover.  Only costs £40/couple for the year. 

 

Well worth while reading the small print in your insurance to confirm exactly what you are covered for and add additional cover if necessary. I must say as we get older it is the medical cover we check first...We also find it surprising how high the excess can be on some policies.

[Smmessineo]

We were on a 16 night Transatlantic on Princess several.years ago, missed 3 ports including Iceland and Greenland ( the main point of the cruise for many) due to weather. We were given 100 OBC . But I and many  passengers fought this, because other cruise lines got their ships into Iceland and Greenland those days. After getting home, we were contacted and given back 1/2 our cruise fare as credit towards a future cruise. 

And this past September, the Equinox  missed Nassau to deliver aid to hurricane victims in Freeport instead. We were immediately told we would get a day's cruise fare refunded to us. This was above and beyond what Celebrity needed to do given the circumstances.

Every situation is different. 

[GastroGnome]

We were on Silhouette in October this year which should have gone to the Azores -  which was the reason for choosing that itinerary.  But we were told on boarding there was a change, and what the change was once on board (although we guessed - the weather forecast was dire!)  We got back port fees and excursion costs.  The ship went to Vigo instead.

 

As others have said - the ship has the contractual right to change and I would far rather be safe.  The vessel still has to accommodate us, feed us, clean up etc. I wouldn't expect a refund of the cruise fare unless it was more than just weather / safety.  Nothing like what has happened on Ovation.  That must be a somber ship right now.

[NMTraveller]

We were rerouted due to weather on our Sept. Edge sailing.  We went to different ports in the middle of the cruise.  They were making it up as we sailed along.  We did not receive any monetary comp for the ports changing.  I did have a very large excursion credit due to most of my Discovery Collection excursions being cancelled and replaced with lesser and cheaper excursions.

 

It would be interesting to hear what happens with reimbursement.  But I think that contractually it is up to the discretion of the cruise line.

Edited December 15, 2019 by NMTraveller

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

4 hours ago, Smmessineo said:

We were on a 16 night Transatlantic on Princess several.years ago, missed 3 ports including Iceland and Greenland ( the main point of the cruise for many) due to weather. We were given 100 OBC . But I and many  passengers fought this, because other cruise lines got their ships into Iceland and Greenland those days. After getting home, we were contacted and given back 1/2 our cruise fare as credit towards a future cruise. 

And this past September, the Equinox  missed Nassau to deliver aid to hurricane victims in Freeport instead. We were immediately told we would get a day's cruise fare refunded to us. This was above and beyond what Celebrity needed to do given the circumstances.

Every situation is different. 

 

I was on the Equinox cruise as well.  In my opinion, Celebrity was more than generous with its compensation for skipping Nassau to deliver aid to hurricane victims in Freeport.  I loved that the crew and the passengers worked together to make sandwiches, etc.