Nassau turned into sea day on upcoming Independence

[zanydoc]

For Nov 5th sailing-No loss there, in my opinion! Does anyone know if RC will refund the port charges? And what is your favorite plan when you get an unexpected sea day? 

[bt6799]

Any explanation as to why?   No change to the 11/1 itinerary yet.

[pstone1]

Changed our November 19th to a sea day instead of Nassau as well.  No indication of RCG returning Port Fees as of now.

[twangster]

A mock booking shows the port fees are now more than they were when I booked Indy.

 

The bulk of port fees and taxes covers the home port in the US where port fees are higher.  Pilot fees, docking fees and things like longshoremen are typically higher in the US by a significant amount.  More importantly these are fixed fees that don't change if there are 4,000 on board or 400.  With reduced capacity there are the same fees spread across fewer guests. 

 

Port fees and taxes are estimated and get updated as the ship sells over time.  Sometimes they down a few bucks, sometimes they go up a few bucks.  However they are not eligible for price drops so when they go down you cannot reprice your cruise.

 

Since they are currently higher compared to when I booked, I'm not expecting anything back for dropping Nassau.    

[BuckeyeMark]

Still showing that we'll be in Nassau on the Nov 15th sailing...

[zanydoc]

1 hour ago, bt6799 said:

Any explanation as to why?   No change to the 11/1 itinerary yet.

 

I received the info from my TA, (Who had gotten an email from Royal) but I haven’t heard directly from Royal...and no explanation. 

[zanydoc]

28 minutes ago, twangster said:

A mock booking shows the port fees are now more than they were when I booked Indy.

 

The bulk of port fees and taxes covers the home port in the US where port fees are higher.  Pilot fees, docking fees and things like longshoremen are typically higher in the US by a significant amount.  More importantly these are fixed fees that don't change if there are 4,000 on board or 400.  With reduced capacity there are the same fees spread across fewer guests. 

 

Port fees and taxes are estimated and get updated as the ship sells over time.  Sometimes they down a few bucks, sometimes they go up a few bucks.  However they are not eligible for price drops so when they go down you cannot reprice your cruise.

 

Since they are currently higher compared to when I booked, I'm not expecting anything back for dropping Nassau.    

 

Thank you for the explanation! I always assumed that the port fees were added on at each port visited. I didn’t realize that they were mainly due to the home port. 

[smokeybandit]

One could argue that a sea day is better than a stop in Nassau

[twangster]

1 minute ago, smokeybandit said:

One could argue that a sea day is better than a stop in Nassau

 

Nassau for me usually is a sea day.

[ulcards99]

Our Dec 6th Indy sailing flipped the original sea day and the Nassau day.  Says we are still stopping there, but for less time.  Interested to see if it eventually gets nixed as well.

[bouhunter]

1 hour ago, zanydoc said:

 And what is your favorite plan when you get an unexpected sea day? 

Stay on the ship.

[zanydoc]

1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

One could argue that a sea day is better than a stop in Nassau

 

No need to argue, totally agree! I’m sure my husband will make good use of the Flowrider and I will make good use of my diamond drink benefit, lol!

[zekekelso]

2 minutes ago, zanydoc said:

 

No need to argue, totally agree! I’m sure my husband will make good use of the Flowrider and I will make good use of my diamond drink benefit, lol!

The fun is hitting the Flowrider after making good use of the drink benefit. And by fun, I mean fun for those of us hanging out watching. 

[Tee & Chilli]

Is the Nassau change for all sailings?

[emeraldcity]

1 hour ago, twangster said:

The bulk of port fees and taxes covers the home port in the US where port fees are higher.  Pilot fees, docking fees and things like longshoremen are typically higher in the US by a significant amount.  More importantly these are fixed fees that don't change if there are 4,000 on board or 400.  With reduced capacity there are the same fees spread across fewer guests. 

 

Port fees and taxes are estimated and get updated as the ship sells over time.  Sometimes they down a few bucks, sometimes they go up a few bucks.  However they are not eligible for price drops so when they go down you cannot reprice your cruise.

 

Thank you for posting this detail. I always thought those fees were "per person" and didn't realize estimated guests are paying a percentage of the ship fees. 

 

Back in 2012, I did a 7-night cruise of Cartagena and the ABC islands from Colon, Panama ... followed by a 3-night non-stop repo to Miami. The port fees for the three-night cruise were significantly higher than the 7-night cruise with 4 port calls. While I guessed at the time that it was due to higher fees in Miami, I now suspect it was just as likely due to the very low passenger count (under 700) on the Grandeur.

[thomasale]

Just read my note from RC and no explanation as to why...we were staying onboard anyway!

 

[lr657]

Looks like the December 13, 2021 Independence has also switched Nassau to a sea day. Received the email earlier without any explanation why. Since they can no longer go to Labadee, Grand Cayman, and Key West, they might be needing to use Nassau for some of the ships that had these ports on their itinerary. 

Edited October 21, 2021 by lr657

[dezertcruzer]

1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

One could argue that a sea day is better than a stop in Nassau

I hear this all the time.  I love going to Nassau because I love going to Ardastra Gardens.  They have the most unbelievable flamingo show with trained flamingos.  The other birds are incredible.  The grounds are beautiful.  It's definitely worth a visit!

[tpokels]

December 10, 2021 Independence - also received notice of Nassau changed to a sea day

[Crazy planning mom]

Could this be due to construction at the port?

[zanydoc]

45 minutes ago, zekekelso said:

The fun is hitting the Flowrider after making good use of the drink benefit. And by fun, I mean fun for those of us hanging out watching. 

 

Yessir, that’s the plan!

[zanydoc]

12 minutes ago, dezertcruzer said:

I hear this all the time.  I love going to Nassau because I love going to Ardastra Gardens.  They have the most unbelievable flamingo show with trained flamingos.  The other birds are incredible.  The grounds are beautiful.  It's definitely worth a visit!

 

Huh, I’ve never even heard of this place, let alone trained flamingos! Now my curiosity is piqued! I would love to see that...

[cruisefan0110]

We have been to the Gardens also. Fun stop. 

[coaster]

Just did some quick research as we were originally suppose to go to Costa Maya and Cozumel, but now going to Nassau and CocoCay on Serenade. This caught my interest. Read some recent Google reviews and it really sounds nice.

 

They are only doing small group prepaid tours at $50 a person due to Covid according to their website. This place is all outside. I don't get the issue and I would of gladly paid the $18 per person. Using Covid to more than than double the price is not good.  Nassau is a real tourist trap and why so many folks stay on ships that go there. Part of a Google review below...

 

This is sad part of our experience, the website advertises $18 entrance fee per person, we were charged a $100 and no invoice.Please make sure that you know what the admissiin fee is before entering. We don't mind if the money go towards the upkeeping of lthe animals but this was just wrong in every way.

Edited October 21, 2021 by coaster

[rockmom]

16 minutes ago, coaster said:

Just did some quick research as we were originally suppose to go to Costa Maya and Cozumel, but now going to Nassau and CocoCay. This caught my interest. Read some recent Google reviews and it really sounds nice.

 

They are only accepting prepaid tours at $50 a person due to Covid according to their website. This place is all outside. I don't get the issue and I would of gladly paid the $18 per person. Using Covid to more than than double the price is not good. Part of Google review below...

 

This is sad part of our experience, the website advertises $18 entrance fee per person, we were charged a $100 and no invoice.Please make sure that you know what the admissiin fee is before entering. We don't mind if the money go towards the upkeeping of lthe animals but this was just wrong in every way.

I looked at their site and I think this is because they are basically closed Mon-Fri unless you book the private tour for the $50.  For the 'regular rate' they are only open on Saturday and Sunday and even then, you must book your preferred timeslot and those timeslots are limited to 20 guests.   It doesn't seem misleading to me at all, they lay it out on their page quite clearly.