sea day instead of GSC

[angel 77]

We were recently on a 4 day Bahamas cruise on the Sky and didn't get into GSC b/c of rough seas. Very disappointing
Should we have been offered a refund of the port charges? Or do I have to go looking for that?

[Cubechick]

Originally Posted by angel 77

We were recently on a 4 day Bahamas cruise on the Sky and didn't get into GSC b/c of rough seas. Very disappointing
Should we have been offered a refund of the port charges? Or do I have to go looking for that?

There are no port fees because GSC is owned by NCL. As the island can only be reached by tender it's not uncommon that it can be missed due to choppy seas.

[silkhair1]

We never get off at gsc as we do not like it. We stay on and enjoy the empty ship, sit by the pool and have a wonderful lunch on board. We have a stop there this cruise in January and I am excited by it. No tendering too.

[crew mom]

As Cubechick said, NCL owns the island so you never paid port charges for it in the first place so no port fee refund.

They missed it again today and were able to go to Freeport instead.

[njhorseman]

Originally Posted by Cubechick

There are no port fees because GSC is owned by NCL. As the island can only be reached by tender it's not uncommon that it can be missed due to choppy seas.

Originally Posted by crew mom

As Cubechick said, NCL owns the island so you never paid port charges for it in the first place so no port fee refund.

They missed it again today and were able to go to Freeport instead.

On a recent thread, this post reports that port charges were refunded when the GSC stop was missed:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showp...59&postcount=7

The fact that NCL owns a part of that island does not mean there are no port taxes. GSC is not its own sovereign nation, it is part of the Bahamas, and the government of the Bahamas may impose taxes.

[tiggerfan616]

We missed GSC on our cruise in Jan ended up in Key West instead and I got a refund check from NCL 2 weeks later for I belive it was $18 or $12 dont hold me to the exact amount but the explanation was refund of port charges for missing GSC

[jame_g]

We never got any refund when we missed GSC. We got a Sea Day instead.

I see some people say they get another day in Freeport or a day in Key West, but I see a lot of people say they end up with a sea day. The other thread was the first time i ever saw a reference to a refund of port fees. It's possible it depends on whether or not NCL was going to use their own tenders or local tenders.

[hannibal54]

Tiggerfan,
I really liked your definition of a Veteran. I copied it and sent it to all my fellow veteran friends and family. Thank you.

[nmprsns]

We just finished up a cruise on 11/07 and missed GSC on our last day due to rough seas. We simply anchored out at sea and enjoyed a day on the ship. Back in our cabins a letter was dropped off for everyone with the apology of NCL, and the return to each passenger a port charge amount of $15.22 which NCL credited back to our shipboard accounts automatically. Enjoyed both the sea day and the credit.

[Cubechick]

This is the first time I've seen people report a refund of port fees for skipping GSC. Thanks for the updated information!

[Pendragoncruising]

We were on the Star departed 10/14, we got in the way of Hurricane Rick and couldn't tender into port at Cabo incase they had to suspend tendering later in the day which was fair, we got a credit of $9.02, now here's the question why was the credit so little?
We were on the Carnival Legend in June and had to mis Cosumel due to the swine flu scare and received $30 OBC which was exactly 25% of what we paid up front for port fees and taxes, according to my bill our port fees and taxes for the star was $156, I smell something fishy and I'm no longer at sea.

[njhorseman]

Originally Posted by Pendragoncruising

We were on the Star departed 10/14, we got in the way of Hurricane Rick and couldn't tender into port at Cabo incase they had to suspend tendering later in the day which was fair, we got a credit of $9.02, now here's the question why was the credit so little?
We were on the Carnival Legend in June and had to mis Cosumel due to the swine flu scare and received $30 OBC which was exactly 25% of what we paid up front for port fees and taxes, according to my bill our port fees and taxes for the star was $156, I smell something fishy and I'm no longer at sea.

Each cruise line has its own method of allocating port charges and taxes to the passengers. It's not so simple as $xx per passenger. First, they can and do differ by port and include charges for the harbor pilot, any tugs that may be used, tenders supplied locally that are not from the ship, docking fees and per passenger head taxes.

Cozumel isn't Cabo and if the ship was supposed to dock there, the charges likely are greater than they would be if a ship is tendering in the port because of the docking charges.