Does NCL refund port charges anymore?

[Married90]

2 of the 4 ports of call on our March 6th Getaway Cruise were cancelled "due to weather"...    I have emailed guest relations about a prorated refund on port charges/taxes since those are specific to each port of call and I get an automated replay that we will respond to your email in 30 days and please do not try to contact us in the mean time....    What wonderful customer service.....   Hs anyone had any luck getting money back from NCL for missed ports?  

[shof515]

NCL does not refund any port charges

[julig22]

Depends on the ports.  From my understanding, the port fees/taxes you are charged with your reservation are estimated and may be determined by estimated capacity.  If after all is said and done and they have an overall overage, you might have gotten something back. Doubtful they would do something after the cruise, although they could give you some courtesy obc for a future cruise.

I've been fortunate to have only missed one port over the years and it was because of a hurricane.  It was pre-covid, reasonably full capacity and we got $9 obc added to our account.

[2inTul]

After 20 years cruising with NCL I've been fortunate enough to have only missed a few ports.  Each time the port fees & taxes have been refunded as a credit to my onboard account.  That's my experience, other's may vary.

[MoCruiseFan]

3 hours ago, 2inTul said:

After 20 years cruising with NCL I've been fortunate enough to have only missed a few ports.  Each time the port fees & taxes have been refunded as a credit to my onboard account.  That's my experience, other's may vary.

Exactly what we have experienced. The port fees and taxes are not a large amount per port so it would be rather easy to miss the credit.  Chances are that (if any was due) you already received the refund.

[Middleager]

We took the Dec. 5-22 Getaway transatlantic cruise.  Weeks before the cruise, NCL announced dropping Bermuda, making it 7 sea days in a row at the end.  But NCL gave everyone some OBC (forgot amount, it was not bad).

 

On ship, just after we left Lisbon, captain announced we'll skip Ponta Delgada due to high wave coming.  That made it 9 sea days in a row.  The day after Lisbon, we had our Cruise Critic Greeat & Meet.  It was a big one, lots of people.  Captain and officers showed up.  Someone asked the captain if we'll get refund/credit.  Captain said it'll go to our accounts automatically.

 

We didn't get any refund/credit.  It was not a big deal for me, as we did enjoy the cruise.

 

Some others reported NCL changing and/or dropping ports in recent months especially with omicron, and many didn't seem to get refund/credits.  The NCL accounting people must be very busy these days.  Today NCL cancelled our Sept. 3, so that'll pile on more work to the accounting people.

[TrumpyNor]

8 hours ago, 2inTul said:

After 20 years cruising with NCL I've been fortunate enough to have only missed a few ports.  Each time the port fees & taxes have been refunded as a credit to my onboard account.  That's my experience, other's may vary.

This is my experience as well. 

[sydmike]

We were on the Escape 2 weeks ago and missed GSC, 40/pp refunded for missed port

Edited March 15, 2022 by sydmike

[Married90]

15 hours ago, 2inTul said:

After 20 years cruising with NCL I've been fortunate enough to have only missed a few ports.  Each time the port fees & taxes have been refunded as a credit to my onboard account.  That's my experience, other's may vary.

Unfortunately when I asked onboard I was told they have no idea what port charges are and this would have to be done after the cruise by contacting NCL guest relations.   In the past (pre-COVID) we received the refund onboard....  

[Married90]

20 minutes ago, sydmike said:

We were on the Escape 2 weeks ago and missed GSC, 40/pp refunded for missed port

Thank you!    Was that onboard or after the fact? 

[Married90]

11 hours ago, MoCruiseFan said:

Exactly what we have experienced. The port fees and taxes are not a large amount per port so it would be rather easy to miss the credit.  Chances are that (if any was due) you already received the refund.

Nope.   When I inquired onboard I was told they do not know what the port charges are and I would have to contact NCL guest relations after the cruise …. 

[MoCruiseFan]

43 minutes ago, Married90 said:

Nope.   When I inquired onboard I was told they do not know what the port charges are and I would have to contact NCL guest relations after the cruise …. 

 

 

Except Yep.  It is EXACTLY WHAT WE HAVE EXPERIENCED.  What makes you think you have a slight clue what we have experienced?  Just because a crew member at the CS desk does not know the amount does not mean that a credit didn't happen.  It is highly probable that only the accounting team on the ship would know the exact amount to credit.  Unless you carefully examined your final bill/on board account reconciliation, you have no idea if a credit was made.  It is just as probably that contacting GR after the cruise will get you the answer I am providing.  In any care it is a pretty small amount.  Don't expect to be getting a refund/credit/etc of any substantial size.

[mking8288]

I know, from our pre-Covid cancelled port stops, namely, GSC - which we missed 3 or possibly 4 times, port fees & charges were adjusted and returned automatically within a day as OBC, per "Dear Guest" letters distributed into all staterooms.  Shorex/tours with NCL were cancelled (obviously) for missing GSC and refunded as well.  On a per person basis, the refund didn't add up to much, but ... it is what it is.  YMMV. 

[Married90]

On 3/15/2022 at 10:14 AM, MoCruiseFan said:

 

 

Except Yep.  It is EXACTLY WHAT WE HAVE EXPERIENCED.  What makes you think you have a slight clue what we have experienced?  Just because a crew member at the CS desk does not know the amount does not mean that a credit didn't happen.  It is highly probable that only the accounting team on the ship would know the exact amount to credit.  Unless you carefully examined your final bill/on board account reconciliation, you have no idea if a credit was made.  It is just as probably that contacting GR after the cruise will get you the answer I am providing.  In any care it is a pretty small amount.  Don't expect to be getting a refund/credit/etc of any substantial size.

I didn’t intend to imply I know what you experienced.  I can only state what we experience and we’re told.  Thank you but I know EXACTLY, to the penny what we spent on board and have have reviewed the statement.  Please don’t tell me I don’t know that a credit was already given.   You are right it may only be $50 or so P/P but I will happily ask for that refund rather then writing it off .   Since it is non substantial to you maybe you would be happy to give me the refund…

[Married90]

19 hours ago, mking8288 said:

I know, from our pre-Covid cancelled port stops, namely, GSC - which we missed 3 or possibly 4 times, port fees & charges were adjusted and returned automatically within a day as OBC, per "Dear Guest" letters distributed into all staterooms.  Shorex/tours with NCL were cancelled (obviously) for missing GSC and refunded as well.  On a per person basis, the refund didn't add up to much, but ... it is what it is.  YMMV. 

Thanks.   Yes, pre COVID that has been my experience also, the past two trips, no automatic port refunds were offered only automatic refunds on shore excursions purchased.   Part of me wonders if this is just another “nickel and dime” revenue method.   Unless you ask for it back they pocket it now…

[horseboarder]

And even if you ask for it you are denied. That is our recent experience. 

[julig22]

Calculation of Port Fees and Taxes - Ask a Cruise Question - Cruise Critic Community

 

[MoCruiseFan]

2 hours ago, Married90 said:

I didn’t intend to imply I know what you experienced.  I can only state what we experience and we’re told.  Thank you but I know EXACTLY, to the penny what we spent on board and have have reviewed the statement.  Please don’t tell me I don’t know that a credit was already given.   You are right it may only be $50 or so P/P but I will happily ask for that refund rather then writing it off .   Since it is non substantial to you maybe you would be happy to give me the refund…

Sorry for the confusion, what part of "Unless you carefully examined your final bill" did you miss. I doubt it was even close to $50 per person, it is usually much less than that.  For now I'd suggest going to the NCL web site and use the case submission form to inquire.  Hope you get the full amount you are due.

[mking8288]

Just to be clear, refunds for our most recent (2019) port fees/charges for missing the tender port at GSC/Bahamas - due to weather/safety reasons - was either $14 or $15 USD p/p as OBC, wasn't really much but appeared to be appropriate & properly pro-rated, given the total amount for the 7 nights cruise out of NY with 3 stops.  Others that had booked and been charged for shorex were issued full refunds for the cancellation(s).   Don't recall whether it was non-refundable or fully refundable if not used - DW "spent" it (and then some) in duty-free gift shopping. 

 

NCL is going/has gone paperless and will email finalized statement for all onboard charges, which DOES make it a little bit more difficult to review & challenge/dispute an item possibly before disembarkation morning. 

[vacation44]

And what happens if NCL cancels a port before the cruise but within final payment?  Do they automatically refund those port fees?   The Grenada port was cancelled and replaced with a sea day for our March 2023 Epic sailing.   However, they did add some six hours to our Curacao stop.  

[dexddd]

18 minutes ago, vacation44 said:

And what happens if NCL cancels a port before the cruise but within final payment?  Do they automatically refund those port fees?   The Grenada port was cancelled and replaced with a sea day for our March 2023 Epic sailing.   However, they did add some six hours to our Curacao stop.  

I know this is an older thread, but we sailed September and first night Captain came on and said due to weather we'd miss Scotland which was a port of interest to us.  Said ...don't hassle guest services desk.... about it which implied they would make us whole, just don't complain about not being able to get there.  Whether people did or didn't, I have no idea.  

 

Guess what, no refund of port fees.  Asked concierge, never got back to us.

 

But to answer your question, we've had few changes before trip but never recall refund or charge in that window.

Edited December 8, 2022 by dexddd

[cruiseny4life]

In April we had to skip our scheduled Norfolk stop due to embarkation lasting well past our scheduled departure time. I shed no tears over this, but some were very upset. We did not receive any refund of port fees. 

 

In September we missed Bermuda due to a storm and were provided with $50 onboard credit for each of us ($100 total for the stateroom). This was unexpected, but I thought an actual kind gesture on the part of NCL. 

[BirdTravels]

If you miss a port, it is refunded as an OBC that day. Normally a few dollars. Most people complaining don’t even notice the credit. 

[vacation44]

36 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

If you miss a port, it is refunded as an OBC that day. Normally a few dollars. Most people complaining don’t even notice the credit. 

But what about a port being deleted before a sailing?  

[zzdoug]

Does ncl ever substitute a port? If so, is there any chance we could be responsible to pay the difference if the new port's fee is higher?