Missing a port that was "originally" on the itinery and how RCL reinbursed customers

[beshears]

I may be wrong, but I'm sure I had seen where RCL had cancelled ports on some of their ship itineraries, and gave the customers "credit" for this.  My question, for those that did receive credit, how did you go about getting it from RCL? Did you have to be on a BIG or NEW ship, or pay a BIG amount for your room or what, to get this credit?

[mduffy1834]

Usually, they reimburse any port fees/taxes, but nothing else.  Any shore excursion booked through the ship would also be reimbursed.  Don't look for anything else.

[Ptroxx]

1 minute ago, beshears said:

I may be wrong, but I'm sure I had seen where RCL had cancelled ports on some of their ship itineraries, and gave the customers "credit" for this.  My question, for those that did receive credit, how did you go about getting it from RCL? Did you have to be on a BIG or NEW ship, or pay a BIG amount for your room or what, to get this credit?

Only credits you’ll get are port fees prorated for that port. If I’m not mistaken.  And I’d guess guest services would handle it.  

[Jimbo]

It will be added to your sea pass account while you are on the cruise. You don't have to do anything but spend the extra OBC

[BecAus]

Not sure if you are referring to pre-cruise or once onboard?

 

When we've missed a port a few times (mainly South Pacific but also a couple in NZ) we didn't receive any compensation, not even port fees as far as I recall (but we may have as most people report getting back the port fees but not sure we did.)

 

For our upcoming (hopefully) TP in October we received notification on 11/19/21 that Bora Bora had been dropped and was being replaced with an additional day in Moorea.

We had until Dec 3rd to advise if we wanted to cancel for full refund of monies paid if you wanted.

 

If you wished to keep your booking then we were offered $100 USD obc - this appeared on our cruise planner automatically a week or two after the Dec 3rd deadline.

 

I used it to rebook my 5n Dining Plan which I'd purchased with my other items in the Black Friday sales - the DP wasn't on sale but I'd purchased it anyway, however taking the $100 off made it a bit more palatable and felt like we'd therefore got it at a bit of a sale / discount!

[radarcruiser]

17 minutes ago, BecAus said:

Not sure if you are referring to pre-cruise or once onboard?

 

When we've missed a port a few times (mainly South Pacific but also a couple in NZ) we didn't receive any compensation, not even port fees as far as I recall (but we may have as most people report getting back the port fees but not sure we did.)

 

For our upcoming (hopefully) TP in October we received notification on 11/19/21 that Bora Bora had been dropped and was being replaced with an additional day in Moorea.

We had until Dec 3rd to advise if we wanted to cancel for full refund of monies paid if you wanted.

 

If you wished to keep your booking then we were offered $100 USD obc - this appeared on our cruise planner automatically a week or two after the Dec 3rd deadline.

 

I used it to rebook my 5n Dining Plan which I'd purchased with my other items in the Black Friday sales - the DP wasn't on sale but I'd purchased it anyway, however taking the $100 off made it a bit more palatable and felt like we'd therefore got it at a bit of a sale / discount!

Why no Bora Bora almost a year out?  I hope you’ve been there or will get another chance.  It is the best port day we have ever had.  

[BecAus]

I have no idea - I'd been going to ask the question here on CC.

 

I feel like a while ago I read people talking about changes to port/s in that region and didn't realise it applied to us until I got the email from RCI but maybe i was imagining it. 

I agree, it seemed to be very early to be making that call!

 

No, we've never been . Have rebooked this TP a few times now and who knows if they'll allow cruising by then into AUS - gosh I really hope so.  It may be iffy as, if it happens, it would be the one of the first ships arriving down-under since the pandemic began.  If they do allow the cruise ships in it may be without passengers on the TP crossing but we will have to wait and see.

 

I was confident enough that I've booked all flights and hotels so my fingers are crossed that things start to look more normal by then!

[beshears]

Thank you ALL for your replies.  I'm just disappointed, as they are NOT giving us a credit, etc. for missing this port, ONLY a sea day. 😞  Of course I would rather be in St. Lucia, than a sea day, as that was the REASON I booked this for the 8 of us.

[Ptroxx]

16 minutes ago, beshears said:

Thank you ALL for your replies.  I'm just disappointed, as they are NOT giving us a credit, etc. for missing this port, ONLY a sea day. 😞  Of course I would rather be in St. Lucia, than a sea day, as that was the REASON I booked this for the 8 of us.

Unfortunately it’s in the terms and conditions you agreed to that anything can happen and they don’t have to compensate you but port Fees.  
 

 

[cruiselvr04]

 Most of the time you get back port fees as mentioned.  This is part of the cruise contract.  It’s disappointing but it is what is is especially right now during the pandemic.  We’ve missed many ports due to weather, patients who needed to be evacuated and once supposedly another ship took our berth. Now we can add to that too many with covid on board. 

[broberts]

1 hour ago, beshears said:

Thank you ALL for your replies.  I'm just disappointed, as they are NOT giving us a credit, etc. for missing this port, ONLY a sea day. 😞  Of course I would rather be in St. Lucia, than a sea day, as that was the REASON I booked this for the 8 of us.

 

The ship may have been denied entry. Seems odd to me that there is an expectation of compensation for circumstances that may well be beyond control of the cruise line.

[gogo65]

2 hours ago, radarcruiser said:

Why no Bora Bora almost a year out?  I hope you’ve been there or will get another chance.  It is the best port day we have ever had.  

As of 2022 Bora Bora are no longer accepting ships larger than 700 passengers.

[Ptroxx]

1 hour ago, gogo65 said:

As of 2022 Bora Bora are no longer accepting ships larger than 700 passengers.

Incorrect.    

[gogo65]

32 minutes ago, Ptroxx said:

Incorrect.    

Sorry it is 1200 passengers. Regardless we were sent a letter from RCI advising the restrictions (No RCI ships can port in Bora Bora) and giving us $50 OBC PP

[gogo65]

 

6 minutes ago, gogo65 said:

Sorry it is 1200 passengers. Regardless we were sent a letter from RCI advising the restrictions (No RCI ships can port in Bora Bora) and giving us $50 OBC PP

 

[Ptroxx]

57 minutes ago, gogo65 said:

Sorry it is 1200 passengers. Regardless we were sent a letter from RCI advising the restrictions (No RCI ships can port in Bora Bora) and giving us $50 OBC PP

Wrong again. Each capacity is 2800.  
must have been a covid thing. 

Edited January 1, 2022 by Ptroxx

[Ptroxx]

55 minutes ago, gogo65 said:

 

 

Ok after reading some I do see about the 1200 pax.   But why would sell cruises ships with a capacity of 2900.  Weird.   

[BecAus]

>>>Wrong again. Each capacity is 2800.  
must have been a covid thing. <<<

 

Actually, I don't think this is related to Covid.  I googled earlier and found an article about it.

There had been a push from locals from as far back as early 2019 to change the number of passengers arriving, particularly on large cruise ships.

They are concerned about the impact it is having on their surrounding environment, particularly as companies build bigger and bigger (mega) ships.

? Perhaps not dissimilar to Venice who were concerned about the impact of cruise ships there.

There was mention in the article that the President of French Polynesia said an exception might be made for TP voyages.

A few stops in Tahiti are affected and Bora Bora was specifically mentioned as only allowing 1,200 daily cruise passengers to arrive.

 

O.P. - Apologies, sorry to go off topic and derail your thread although I think you did get the answers you were after (hopefully!)  Happy New Year to all!

[gogo65]

3 hours ago, Ptroxx said:

Ok after reading some I do see about the 1200 pax.   But why would sell cruises ships with a capacity of 2900.  Weird.   

The transpacific cruises have been released for some time, before the announcement in November 2021 in regards to restrictions, so I suppose they still need to get the ships down south, so the cruise still needs to go ahead. In fact I was expecting a lot more cancellations as the maximum ship capacity for all of Tahiti is 3500, so I assume they will restrict the number of passengers (on Ovation and Quantum) so other ports wont be impacted.

[shipgeeks]

9 hours ago, beshears said:

Thank you ALL for your replies.  I'm just disappointed, as they are NOT giving us a credit, etc. for missing this port, ONLY a sea day. 😞  Of course I would rather be in St. Lucia, than a sea day, as that was the REASON I booked this for the 8 of us.

Are you aboard now?  A refund of port fees happens during a cruise, not in advance.

[cruisestitch]

Issue of missed ports is incredibly complicated.

 

if you have not sailed yet and ports are dropped from an itinerary, there may be an adjustment in the cruise fare.

 

But I think the OP is talking about what happens if you are on a cruise and you cannot get into a port? Say there is bad weather or the tides go against you or there is some problem with the pier. Will you get the port fee back for that port?

 

Sometimes you do and sometimes you don’t. This is because port fees go up and down all the time.

 

Let’s say you paid $20 port fee for that location. The current port fee is $25.  The cruise line will not give you back your $20. 
 

but let’s say you paid $20 and the current port fee is $10.  You MIGHT get a $10 credit on your on board account.

 

however it’s just as likely that you won’t get anything.  Why? Because it’s possible that in that same itinerary, a different island’s port fees went up.  So say that you paid $10 when you booked to visit that island but the current fee is $30.  The cruise line basically “eats” that increase.  On this trip however, they could decide not to refund the port fee for the missed island to offset the increase they had to pay for that other island.

 

If they do issue a credit, not everyone would get that same amount.  Port fees also can vary by your country of origin.  Let’s say you are Dutch.  You might not have paid the same port fee to visit one of the Dutch Islands as someone from the US did.  So the Port fee refunds would be different for the two passengers.

 

finally, since port fees go up and down, someone who booked a month after you might have paid a completely different amount than you did.

 

and last but not least, in a rare few cases, you might get a portion of your cruise fare refunded. In December when Explorer was refused entry to St.Lucia, passengers got an astonishing 1/7 of their cruise fare refunded.  It became a refundable OBC on their on board account.  This was astonishing and almost unprecedented so don’t look for it to happen again.

[Starry Eyes]

12 hours ago, beshears said:

Thank you ALL for your replies.  I'm just disappointed, as they are NOT giving us a credit, etc. for missing this port, ONLY a sea day. 😞  Of course I would rather be in St. Lucia, than a sea day, as that was the REASON I booked this for the 8 of us.

Ah, if seeing a specific port is The Reason you booked, then you are now learning a memorable lesson.  I say memorable as I still remember the long ago cruise (not Royal as it happens) that taught me this lesson.  Change upon disappointing change while under way caused me to pull out my cruise contract; from that I learned cruise lines pretty much commit only to provide a cabin somewhere on ship plus food…everything else, including itinerary can change anytime.  I was a bit stunned when I read the contract in view of all the changes but accepted it.  No longer do I book for specific ports; I book knowing I will roll with whatever changes.  If one really wants to go to a specific port/island/city, one should book a land vacation there as that gives one the best odds of enjoying that locale (though such vacations have sometimes bitten the dust, too, especially during the pandemic).

Gorget that port; enjoy the cruise and your family.

 

BTW, we did not receive a port fee credit when we missed a port (due to local sea/wind conditions) last month.  I do not care as such fees are normally relatively small.

 

[gatour]

Back to the original topic.

 

Also ast week Aruba and Curacaos denied one of RCCL ships when some crew and passengers tested positive for covid.  RCCL issued OBC equal for two days of the fare paid.  The were also given 50% credit on a future cruise based on what they paid for the current cruise.

 

Mind you this kind of special, generally if you miss a port of call due to weather the only refund  you would is is the port fee

[MommaBear55]

13 hours ago, radarcruiser said:

Why no Bora Bora almost a year out?  I hope you’ve been there or will get another chance.  It is the best port day we have ever had.  

Bora Bora is limiting the size of the ships allowed. 

[beshears]

Thank you "everyone" for your responses.Cruisestitch, I appreciate your explanation, even though I had read, just like a couple had posted here, they had received cruise credit, and maybe that is because they were ON the ship at that time, when they did not go to that port/island. I did contact the touring company that we were to do our tour with in St. Lucia. They did tell me they believe the reason RCL is NOT stopping there is because of the cases of Covid-19 of the people/crew on RCL.  It is a bummer for me, but I'm sure we'll make the best of it. The bad part was everyone had ALREADY seen/visited the ports we are doing again.