How often are Ports Missed?

[dreaminofcruisin]

For our upcoming  British Isles cruise, I am looking at some private excursions. It seems most of them do not offer refunds if the ship doesn't make it into port.

I know there are no guarantees one way or another, but I was wondering if others could share their experiences for ports that are often missed.

The ports I am most concerned with are:

• Belfast
• Cobh / Cork
• Glasgow / Greenock
• Invorgordon
• Le Havre

 

Thanks much!

[CruiserBruce]

4 hours ago, dreaminofcruisin said:

For our upcoming  British Isles cruise, I am looking at some private excursions. It seems most of them do not offer refunds if the ship doesn't make it into port.

I know there are no guarantees one way or another, but I was wondering if others could share their experiences for ports that are often missed.

The ports I am most concerned with are:

• Belfast
• Cobh / Cork
• Glasgow / Greenock
• Invorgordon
• Le Havre

 

Thanks much!

Seriously doubt Greenock will be a problem. It's a beautiful protected harbor. Belfast is about the same. You could look the others up on Google Maps. 

[gnome12]

13 hours ago, dreaminofcruisin said:

For our upcoming  British Isles cruise, I am looking at some private excursions. It seems most of them do not offer refunds if the ship doesn't make it into port.

I know there are no guarantees one way or another, but I was wondering if others could share their experiences for ports that are often missed.

The ports I am most concerned with are:

• Belfast
• Cobh / Cork
• Glasgow / Greenock
• Invorgordon
• Le Havre

 

Thanks much!

When are you sailing?

[dreaminofcruisin]

46 minutes ago, gnome12 said:

When are you sailing?

July/August

[princeton123211]

18 hours ago, dreaminofcruisin said:

I know there are no guarantees one way or another, but I was wondering if others could share their experiences for ports that are often missed.

Not sure if Waterford, Ireland is included in your itinerary (it is on a lot of British Isles cruises)-- this is one thats been an issue for us with weather on two occasions. Skipped because of winds and chop. 

[geoherb]

Of the ports you listed, Le Havre is the one I've seen mentioned most as being missed. When we took our British Isles cruise, I didn't run into the possibility of losing money if the ship was not able to dock. We were late getting to Cobh, and the company I booked with was very accommodating--emailing everyone to let us know that they were aware of the delay and would rework the tour to fit our new schedule. Fortunately the ship's sailaway time was extended so we were able to enjoy the full tour (Blarney Castle and Kinsale). 

 

On the other hand, on our transatlantic cruise this past fall, the ship skipped going to Portland, England. A lot of folks who booked tours there lost money. The tour company has a strict cancellation policy ("If your ship fails to dock for any reason, do not assume you will automatically receive a refund; you must cancel your excursion before your excursion start time to qualify for a reimbursement.") Even then, the company charges a 18.5 percent fee for administrative costs. I think the company finally relented and processed the refunds even for those passengers who had not canceled by the start time since it obviously knew the ship was not going to be able to dock.