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Missed Port Claim


Baronoli
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Hi all

Oriana is unable to dock this morning at Corfu due to strong winds.

 

My travel insurance says I need to have in writing the reason that we couldn't dock. Is this something I have to contact P&O for or will the reception on board give me something?

 

I've never claimed on my insurance before, but saw I am covered for missed ports

 

Thanks all for your help

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We missed out Cartagena recently on our Ventura cruise due to bad weather. I went to reception who already had printed letters for passengers. We claimed on our insurance. Very easy.

Never thought of that about claiming on insurance.

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You may be able to claim on your travel insurance if it includes cover for missed ports due to whatever reason. You will not be able to claim through P&O. In their terms and conditions it states that ports may be missed due to weather conditions - hardly P&O's fault if the weather prohibits a stop if the Captain considers the weather makes it too hazardous to stop. The only time P&O will give any compensation is if the stop is prohibited due to something wrong with the ship. We received £100 per passenger when we were on Arcadia several years ago and we couldn't leave New Orleans as one of the azipods wasn't working and we were a day late leaving and as a consequence had to miss out the port of Key West. When we eventually left New Orleans the following afternoon by the time we got back to our cabin after dinner there was a letter waiting from the Captain apologising for what had happened and telling us about the £100 which was added to our On Board Credit.

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I'm not familiar with P&O's pricing structure, but on US lines where port fees are itemised and charged for per person within the overall price of the cruise, if you miss a port you can ask that the port fees be refunded. They only do this if it is requested and not automatically to every passenger.

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You may be able to claim on your travel insurance if it includes cover for missed ports due to whatever reason. You will not be able to claim through P&O. In their terms and conditions it states that ports may be missed due to weather conditions - hardly P&O's fault if the weather prohibits a stop if the Captain considers the weather makes it too hazardous to stop. The only time P&O will give any compensation is if the stop is prohibited due to something wrong with the ship. We received £100 per passenger when we were on Arcadia several years ago and we couldn't leave New Orleans as one of the azipods wasn't working and we were a day late leaving and as a consequence had to miss out the port of Key West. When we eventually left New Orleans the following afternoon by the time we got back to our cabin after dinner there was a letter waiting from the Captain apologising for what had happened and telling us about the £100 which was added to our On Board Credit.

New years eve 2015 we could not get into Amsterdam canal on Ventura because​ of high winds and we sailed slowly through the channel but no compensation from P&O.

In April on RC Independence we could not dock in Le Havre so they took us to Rotterdam.

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We had £100 OBC because we missed Bora Bora due to propulsion problems. We also missed Samoa and Boracay, because of weather problems, so no OBC. All on different cruises and each time I forgot to claim :mad:

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We missed out Cartagena recently on our Ventura cruise due to bad weather. I went to reception who already had printed letters for passengers. We claimed on our insurance. Very easy.

Thanks. I guess I need to check the fine prints of my insurance if it is included.

 

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Forums mobile app

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I'm not familiar with P&O's pricing structure, but on US lines where port fees are itemised and charged for per person within the overall price of the cruise, if you miss a port you can ask that the port fees be refunded. They only do this if it is requested and not automatically to every passenger.

Pando don't refund port taxes. Different cruise lines different t and c.

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We have just returned from a cruise where we missed 2 out of 3 island stops due to bad weather. I heard on the ship that we can claim for this and we received the letter from P&O to assist the claim. However I've spoken to our insurance company, we had the cruise package included in our cover but apparently missed shore stops are not covered unless you had pre paid tours booked?? Does anyone know if this is correct? Never cruised previously to this so I have no idea how it all works.

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I'm not familiar with P&O's pricing structure, but on US lines where port fees are itemised and charged for per person within the overall price of the cruise, if you miss a port you can ask that the port fees be refunded. They only do this if it is requested and not automatically to every passenger.

On our last cruise with Princess in the Caribbean we missed a port, and the port fees were automatically added to out obc without having to make a request.

 

Sent from my XT1032 using Forums mobile app

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I get a sense that there are a lot more missed ports than there were years ago. You always missed the very odd port for bad weather ( perfectly understandable) but more recently both in my own experience and reading here and other boards there appear to be many more that are not weather related.

 

Perhaps we just hear about it more and more quickly via social media or the pressure on docking due to the increase in ships is a factor however that is not the passengers problem.

 

While I have no problem with the Captain deciding not to go somewhere if the weather is poor it does get annoying if it appears to be poor admin or the company (not necessarily P&O) being cheap and being out bid for a decent / any berth.

 

 

As pax can now easily check the situation with the port authorities it is easy to find out if the dock was ever actually booked or if the alongside had actually always beenintended as a tender port (but was never advertised as that.)

 

In terms of insurance people having to make more claims will push up insurance costs eventually. The insurance companies may even start to fight back in the non weather related cases if they get enough claims.

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Thanks all for your feedback.

 

We are now missing the replacement port of Cartagena! Is it possible to claim for a replacement port being missed too? My insurance just says "£100 per missed port"

 

Again I've never claimed before on any insurance in my life!

 

Thanks

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Thanks all for your feedback.

 

We are now missing the replacement port of Cartagena! Is it possible to claim for a replacement port being missed too? My insurance just says "£100 per missed port"

 

Again I've never claimed before on any insurance in my life!

 

Thanks

I think we were on this cruise......funny how they found time and expense to print off flyers for excursions in Cartagena, .....and then cancel it?.......nice of the Captain to give us half a glass of "champagne " though :)

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  • 3 months later...

Just wondered if your insurance paid out. I have tried to claim for a port where the wind and weather prevented the tenders being launched to access the port. The insurance has declined to pay as they say this was an operational failure. Not sure when you can actually claim on your insurance for adverse weather resulting in a missed port, it’s a mystery.

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Pando don't refund port taxes. Different cruise lines different t and c.

 

I have had this issue with P&O in the past and it is nothing to do with different T&Cs. We missed 2 ports of call on Princess one the cruise lines fault and the other weather related and without any prompting from any passengers we received a letter to our stateroom saying port fees/taxes for both ports of call will be refunded to our onboard account. When this happened on a P&O cruise I enquired about reimbursement of port fees/taxes as because we hadnt berthed they would not have been paid and should be reimbursed to the customer who had paid them in the cruise fare. They initially waffled at great length and then tried to say that customers didnt pay port fees/taxes as these were paid by P&O out of their own pockets (laughable). Amercian cruise companies sell there cruises at a price + port/fees/taxes where in the UK it is included in the cruise fare and states such in brochures. When this was pointed out they then said that it was not company policy to return port fees/taxes at any time and even though customers are charged they are kept by P&O to boost their profits. IMO another charge that P&O do at customers expense just to boost there takings and are really heading to the bottom of the barrell with regards to cruising. Strangely you cannot blame Carnival because Princess is also owned by Carnival and they do reimburse port fees/taxes it is obviously a decision taken by P&O senior management.

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Just wondered if your insurance paid out. I have tried to claim for a port where the wind and weather prevented the tenders being launched to access the port. The insurance has declined to pay as they say this was an operational failure. Not sure when you can actually claim on your insurance for adverse weather resulting in a missed port, it’s a mystery.

 

We missed Bar Harbor on Aurora R715 last month for similar reasons. When we got home last week I contacted our Travel Insurer and then submitted the documentation they requested. A copy of the page from the Captain's Log was sufficient. Received a call on Saturday to advise that the claim was approved and payment will be made this week. Excellent service. :)

 

 

Sounds like your insurer is trying to weasel out of paying and I'd be raising it with them again unless you can find that exclusion in your T's & C's. After all this must be one of the main reasons why a port is missed.

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We missed Bar Harbor on Aurora R715 last month for similar reasons. When we got home last week I contacted our Travel Insurer and then submitted the documentation they requested. A copy of the page from the Captain's Log was sufficient. Received a call on Saturday to advise that the claim was approved and payment will be made this week. Excellent service. :)

 

 

Sounds like your insurer is trying to weasel out of paying and I'd be raising it with them again unless you can find that exclusion in your T's & C's. After all this must be one of the main reasons why a port is missed.

 

Can I ask how you decided on the amount to claim for missing a port, we have this included on our insurance, but would not have a clue. Many thanks.

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We did have an exclusion in our insurance on page 55 of the policy (I obviously should have read the whole document before purchasing the policy) that there would be no cover for missed ports resulting from mechanical or operational failure of the tender. Not sure myself whether the weather being too severe to launch the tender is the same as operational failure of the tender.

I won’t be renewing the policy or buying from that insurance company again.

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