Partial cruise…..leaving ship one day early….and charged for it

[Paulxyz2004]

Ok, but most of this details are the American view. I know the OP asked for a US port early disembarkation so this applies. However the charge has been implement by Royal globally. It is on different lists but family members and entertainers have similar procedures and visa requirements as regular guests. The paperwork is still easy to do for the pursers office assuming the guest have proper documents and visa for the applicable country on hand. Agents for immigration, however they might be called, are always on stand-by in ports. If you leave early you lose a part of your cruise and still pay for it. The ship can use this cabin for other guests or entertainers or family members of crew, an option they need on a regular basis. So no refund is reasonable as well as a No if it is not possible due to local immigration law or missing legal documents on the guests side but an additional charge is simply for making extra money.

 

 

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Does it matter if the charge is to offset any additional cost or if it is to make extra money?

 

If I want a product to be altered from the original offer I have to expect to get a different price tag attached to it. It´s up to the customer do accept or not. It´s not like any hidden fee, it´s clearly spelled out there.

 

 

Even if it is for making extra money - Newflash - they are in the business to make money !!!

 

If they can make money of this, which I highly doubt at a price of 65, I have to say good for them!

[The_Big_M]

I doubt that all those points are true. However we really don't know.

 

 

 

Which of those 3 points do you doubt are true?

 

 

“there are always...coming and going at most ports”; “ship manifest updated on a daily basis”; “just another way to charge something extra” — BULL

The first two are readily apparent from anyone familiar with operations. The third flows from that, and matches reality which is that it wasn't charged for, but like many other things of them, now is.

[The_Big_M]

 

If I want a product to be altered from the original offer I have to expect to get a different price tag attached to it.

 

 

 

Um, why?

 

 

That's what is known as customer service. Being able and flexible to meet your customer's needs and preferences... not look for a way to gouge them if anything changes from the "standard offer."

 

 

Your way is only correct for budget operators, where they build a standard model to make it as cheap as possible, and the trade-off is it can't be customised, or comes at a cost. Budget air carriers are one example. In normal dealings by business though, you want to satisfy the customer so they return.

 

 

I hadn't placed RCL in the budget operator category, but maybe I was mistaken.

[DirtyDawg]

Hi,

Last April, we booked a cruise Tampa to Barcelona. The cruise port on the 4th day from Tampa was Puerto Rico. Since we were already in PR we decided to get on the ship there. Surprised when our TA said there would be a charge of $65 (for both of us). RC had just implemented the fee two weeks before. So even those we were missing three days of the cruise, there was still a fee. But we did not have to pay the tips for three days. When we boarded in SJ we anticipated some special process, etc. There was nothing - no customs, etc. just a guest services officer handed us our seapass cards. The year before this we had done the same thing & there was no charge.

NJ

 

BTW how was your cruise? We are thinking of doing that transatlantic next April (2019).

 

As for the charge, what's the big deal people? It's only $65 per person, about the cost of a nice bottle of wine on board. And I wager that RCI is making a whole lot bigger margin on the bottle of wine. So OP, is it worth 2 bottles of wine to disembark a day early in Port Canaveral? If so, do it. If not, continue on to Miami and have a bit longer drive to Orlando. Whatever you decide, have a great cruise!

[Paulxyz2004]

Um, why?

 

 

That's what is known as customer service. Being able and flexible to meet your customer's needs and preferences... not look for a way to gouge them if anything changes from the "standard offer."

 

 

Your way is only correct for budget operators, where they build a standard model to make it as cheap as possible, and the trade-off is it can't be customised, or comes at a cost. Budget air carriers are one example. In normal dealings by business though, you want to satisfy the customer so they return.

 

 

I hadn't placed RCL in the budget operator category, but maybe I was mistaken.

 

Well obviously you were mistaken as RCI does charge for the early debarkation.

 

 

If that places RCI in the budget operator category in your opinion (and it´s just your opinion and by no means a fact like you want to make it sound), that´s up to you.

 

At the end of the day you - and others - can moan and groan about the charge, but you´ll just have three options. Do the cruise as advertised, disembark earlier and pay the charge or cancel alltogether. Pretty easy I´d think.

[Ourusualbeach]

Thanks for this and your subsequent posts on this thread. It makes me wonder if the lines charge passengers a fee when they truly miss the ship by accident (as opposed to accidentally on purpose).

 

There’s also a bit of dichotomy of opinion here where the consenwsus is that OP should not walk off as it would cause undue hardship and delays to the line and fellow passengers. Yet; when someone can’t make the cruise in the first place they are routinely told to be a no show to avoid fees.

 

 

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The difference is that at embarkation you must be at the port 90 minutes prior to sailing while on a port stop it’s 30 minutes. At a port stop you have previously been on board and they may wait as they really don’t want to leave anyone behind. Different situations.

[Cyber Kat]

As to just not returning, you would cause a delay in the ship leaving port. They know who has left the ship and not returned. We've all seen a ship waiting for passengers who haven't reboarded on time. Of course if you tried walking off with your cases security would stop you and ask questions. There are rules the cruise line has to comply with so they are not being difficult. A cruise ship is not a ferryboat and has to comply with lots of rules not of their own making.

 

 

 

We were on a cruise to Canada this past September and a couple do just that. I don’t know how they got off in Halifax (our last port) with their luggage, but we were late leaving because of it. We were on our balcony and we could hear the dock workers joking about the passengers we were waiting for - saying things like “it’s a long walk back to NY.”

 

We could also see the ramp and the ship officials waiting there. Finally they boarded without the missing passengers, and took away the ramp. We sailed without them.

 

Next day we were discussing this with some members of our roll call. I said it was our first time the ship left someone behind. The people we were talking with said that the couple intended to leave the ship in Halifax so they could visit with relatives. Apparently, didn’t mention it to anyone official.

 

I wondered what the consequences were for them.

 

 

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