Puerta Plata removed from itinerary

[BirdTravels]

On 8/22/2024 at 1:55 AM, caribbeanfever said:

We scheduled a family cruise on the Icon for June 21, 2025. We specifically picked this itinerary for the 4 stops, with Puerta Plata being included. They have removed this stop “Due to our Icon Class of ship not being approved yet”. Instead they are giving us 4 more hours at St Thomas, which is by no means a valid trade off in my opinion. None of us have ever been there, and it was the most expensive itinerary for the month of June. I would have hoped that they would add a different port. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what would be a fair compensation?  Thanks in advance. 

A fair compensation is nothing. That is consistent with the contract you agreed to. And is best for shareholders. 
 

I assume that they have not been approved to dock in the DR yet. Kinda reasonable. NCL had one of their Quantum sized ship get blown out of the narrow channel last year and beach, causing a hull breach.  

[orville99]

14 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

A fair compensation is nothing. That is consistent with the contract you agreed to. And is best for shareholders. 
 

I assume that they have not been approved to dock in the DR yet. Kinda reasonable. NCL had one of their Quantum sized ship get blown out of the narrow channel last year and beach, causing a hull breach.  

There are two unique characteristics of that port that make it difficult for any ship to dock:

1) the navigable channel is quite long, narrow, and lined with shoals, and

2) there is no room in the port basin itself to turn a ship around.

 

If you pull bow in, you have to back out or you turn around in open water and back down the channel. The larger the ship the more delicate the maneuver needed to dock.

[taglovestocruise]

6 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

I think there is a big difference between looking for compensation and expecting taxes and fees to be refunded. I understand no compensation for a weather related missed port. I do not expect RCI to pocket the taxes and fees that would have been paid to that port. As for it being a small amount of money, try departing the ship at the end of a cruise owing RCI anything other than a zero balance on a seapass account and see what happens.

To their credit Royal does not bill passengers for taxes or port fees that have increased since the booking was made.  We always book at least 18 months out and I am sure many ports increase their fees over a 18 month timeframe. 

[Ocean Boy]

2 hours ago, taglovestocruise said:

To their credit Royal does not bill passengers for taxes or port fees that have increased since the booking was made.  We always book at least 18 months out and I am sure many ports increase their fees over a 18 month timeframe. 

I guess that is the little risk RCI takes in exchange for the benefit of having cabins booked that far out.

[smokeybandit]

I've gotten tax refunds during cruises even when we make all our ports. Granted, it has been a couple dollars, but still.

[orville99]

1 minute ago, smokeybandit said:

I've gotten tax refunds during cruises even when we make all our ports. Granted, it has been a couple dollars, but still.

So have we. Not at all uncommon.

[LobsterStalker]

12 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Carnival gives them back. I see posters here telling me I'm being silly because it's a small amount of money they are keeping from each passenger. I call it theft. It's not going to keep me from cruising on royal but I think its unethical. Those wanting to call me petty can stow it. I'm entitled to my opinion. 

 

And if I say I'm on the ship and they have told me no refund of port fees for a missed port, telling me to talk to customer service on the ship is a worthless suggestion. I said I've done that and they said no refund because its weather related. 

 

 

Let's just throw a hypothetical out to boost your point . Let's just use 30$ per passenger with a 6000 passenger count . Is $180 000 retained by Royal for a single occurrence a small amount ?

... SCAM .... Or apparently Captain's bonus

 

Cheers

[LobsterStalker]

2 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

5 hours ago, taglovestocruise said:

To their credit Royal does not bill passengers for taxes or port fees that have increased since the booking was made.  We always book at least 18 months out and I am sure many ports increase their fees over a 18 month timeframe. 

I guess that is the little risk RCI takes in exchange for the benefit of having cabins booked that far out.

And do you think maybe Royal may  upcharge a bit on every port fee to account for the increases when they do occur ?

 

[taglovestocruise]

42 minutes ago, LobsterStalker said:

Let's just throw a hypothetical out to boost your point . Let's just use 30$ per passenger with a 6000 passenger count . Is $180 000 retained by Royal for a single occurrence a small amount ?

... SCAM .... Or apparently Captain's bonus

 

Cheers

Revenue this year is expected to be 15+ billion. Yes 180,000k is a very very very small amount. hardly worth the paperwork. And port fees are somewhere in the 12 - 15 dollar range per port. 

Edited August 24 by taglovestocruise

[firefly333]

5 hours ago, taglovestocruise said:

To their credit Royal does not bill passengers for taxes or port fees that have increased since the booking was made.  We always book at least 18 months out and I am sure many ports increase their fees over a 18 month timeframe. 

Oddly enough I was billed extra for 2 cruises that go to the Bahmas which I wrote back and said to them they dont even follow their own words. I dont remember, maybe $18 extra for the new bahamas tax this year that WAS added after I booked. 

 

Posts there when it was posted it would be added to already booked all said well you cant expect royal to eat the increase can you? So they got it both ways. My xmas cruise on adventure has added bahamas tax and maybe it is harmony 8mday going to coco cay. I had 2 affected. ... just saying. .. this contradicts what you just said.

[firefly333]

2 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

I guess that is the little risk RCI takes in exchange for the benefit of having cabins booked that far out.

See my post below refuting this. Royal is adding bahamas taxes to already booked cruises this year. People probably already brushed that under the rug. I have 2 where my TA added the bahamas new tax this year... already booked cruises.

 

All the posters about that said well you cant expect royal to eat the increased taxes can you. The loyalists always defend royal. I am not suggesting quit cruising but my eyes are wide open to numbers.

[taglovestocruise]

4 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

 Just saying. .. this contradicts what you just said.

I am getting my application for Royals IT department in the mail tomorrow. 

[smokeybandit]

16 minutes ago, taglovestocruise said:

I am getting my application for Royals IT department in the mail tomorrow. 

Last time took a look at their listings they had a ton of openings.

If I could keep my telework status and have a salary and/or cruise comps commensurate with my current salary, that'd actually be tempting.

[pcur]

On 8/21/2024 at 11:20 PM, firefly333 said:

I was not reimbursed for missed ports. I wrote to mbayley office and was told it's not their policy, it's up to each ship. Just because you got them back doesnt mean everyone does. Sorry. But it's not the policy. I can post the email if you dont believe me.

 

They have the right to change or miss ports. It is then up to the ship what they do.

Oh, I believe you. It surprises me that any ship will deliberately alienate potential future passengers over port fees. I've read so many posts where people do get them reimbursed, that I did, indeed, think it was company policy. Thanks for the info.

[caribbeanfever]

10 hours ago, kdnurs said:

I received a letter from RCI about our August 9-16, 2025, cruise. Our cruise has changed its itinerary also. We will no longer stop at Dominican Republic but will stop at Labadee instead. Said something about not being allowed to dock there.🥲

To me the worst part was, even though we were looking forward to Puerta Plata was that we paid $500 more for the 4 ports. We decided to stay with Icon but go with the 3 stop itinerary then. Saved the $500 and they talked to the Resolutions Department and agreed that the change fee would be waived for our 4 cabins. We’ll go to Puerta Plata on a smaller ship. 
 

FYI-Last I heard that Royal is not stopping in Labadee any time soon due to political unrest. You might investigate your options. Happy cruising 😊

[kitkat343]

Glad you were able to work something out Caribbeanfever.

 

When NCL does this, they often make the announcements after final payment.  We lost the DR on a cruise after final payment "to help the environment."  They wouldn't let us switch to another identical sailing 2 weeks later that kept the original itinerary, and we'd chosen the cruise for the DR (my 4 year old daughter was so obsessed with monkeys she told the TSA officer her name was monkey when he questioned her).  I know it's frustrating when ports are dropped for non-emergency reasons, but if it happens outside of final payment you at least have some options.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2919290-are-ncl-selling-cruises-to-ports-they-have-no-intention-of-going-to/

Edited August 24 by kitkat343

[caribbeanfever]

On 8/24/2024 at 3:36 AM, kitkat343 said:

Glad you were able to work something out Caribbeanfever.

 

When NCL does this, they often make the announcements after final payment.  We lost the DR on a cruise after final payment "to help the environment."  They wouldn't let us switch to another identical sailing 2 weeks later that kept the original itinerary, and we'd chosen the cruise for the DR (my 4 year old daughter was so obsessed with monkeys she told the TSA officer her name was monkey when he questioned her).  I know it's frustrating when ports are dropped for non-emergency reasons, but if it happens outside of final payment you at least have some options.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2919290-are-ncl-selling-cruises-to-ports-they-have-no-intention-of-going-to/

Thank you! I don’t know how old your daughter is now, but hopefully you were able to get her to the DR. There’s another island our grandsons did that have monkeys but the excursion and island name escape me at the moment but I’m sure someone else on Cruise Critic knows of some options!

[firefly333]

On 8/24/2024 at 12:23 AM, caribbeanfever said:

FYI-Last I heard that Royal is not stopping in Labadee any time soon due to political unrest. You might investigate your options. Happy cruising 😊

You might revisit that thread as what it says is beginning of oct royal scheduled to go back to labadee. That's a month plus away. People posting they are on the first or second cruise back to labadee. Idk .. I'm not scheduled until dec.

[caribbeanfever]

Just now, firefly333 said:

You might revisit that thread as what it says is beginning of oct royal scheduled to go back to labadee. That's a month plus away. People posting they are on the first or second cruise back to labadee. Idk .. I'm not scheduled until dec.

Thanks. I was unaware of this and appreciate you letting me know. We were looking at booking a cruise in March that goes to Labadee. I’ll check it out. 

[Ken at the beach]

On 8/22/2024 at 8:51 PM, LobsterStalker said:

And this is one of those Shady policies that rubs me the wrong way with large companies like this. In what world should a mega company be able to get away with ripping people off in such a manner , .....and to use the excuse that this decision is not made by the BigWigs at the top. As if a financial decision of this magnitude should be up to An individual Captain of his ship . 

Totally unacceptable answer ! JMHO

 

Cheers

Not saying this is right or wrong I am only providing the reason why it is left up to the revenue manager on the ship (not the Captain)

 

Port taxes and fees are a variable amount.  They constantly change from the day the itinerary is released up until the day the ship sails.  Some are fixed such as a port charging $10 per person while others may be a flat rate for the day so the amount would vary based on the number of passengers on board.  Port fees are initially set years in advance and while increase may be factored in the exact amounts of any annual increase may not be known (look at what the Bahamas implements.

 

As time passes Royal adjusts the taxes based on expected occupancy levels of the ship and known changes.  They try to get it so at the end of the cruise the passengers have paid exactly what the port taxes and fees finally came in at.  Sometimes they have more and sometimes they have actually underestimated.  

 

For the same reason that they do not charge you if they have a shortfall they may not refund you if they have an overage.  Of the $150 to $200 per person in port fees and taxes the vast majority of that is for your embarkation port and not the actual port stop.

 

 

[Ocean Boy]

10 hours ago, caribbeanfever said:

Thank you! I don’t know how old your daughter is now, but hopefully you were able to get her to the DR. There’s another island our grandsons did that have monkeys but the excursion and island name escape me at the moment but I’m sure someone else on Cruise Critic knows of some options!

St. Kitts is know for its green monkeys.

[smokeybandit]

Just now, Ocean Boy said:

St. Kitts is know for its green monkeys.

Sounds like some nasty drink you'd get at a college bar.

[Ocean Boy]

4 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Sounds like some nasty drink you'd get at a college bar.

[notscb]

On 8/21/2024 at 11:20 PM, firefly333 said:

Just because you got them back doesnt mean everyone does.

I've always gotten mine back, usually in the form of OBC on embarkation, never as cash refund.

[MaddyandMax]

We just got off the Liberty on Saturday.  We lost Haiti months ago and it was replaced with Grand Turk, then the night before the cruise we lost Bermuda because of the storm.  We ended up getting a second day at Grand Turks.  Nothing was said in the email about any compensation but the second day on the ship we got port taxes back ($62 per person).  We cruise during hurricane season so we've seen lots of port changes.  We almost always get the port fees back but it's never said beforehand.  it just magically appears as a credit on our account the 2nd or 3rd day.

 

Our Liberty cruise in September go rerouted to Canada instead of Bermuda and we only got $100 per person back.  The cruise before us got half their fare back.  Tried to fight it when we got home and go no where.  Basically told us they can do what they want with any cruise.  We weren't happy with the unfairness but that's what's in the cruise contract.

 

All that to say, you may see some port fees returned to you onboard if you decide to stay on this cruise.  We went to Puerta Plata on this cruise.  It was our first time.  The port is lovely and new but everything is VERY expensive so I wouldn't be too heartbroken over it.