Port Cancellations

[zwallace]

I got a call today from Celebrity and he advised there would be no OBC or refund for loss of the two additional stops to Key West and Grand Cayman.  I'm cancelling this cruise and rebooking on the Silhouette for January 24 which has Cartagena and Nassau (which we'll skip and stay on board).  I thought it was ridiculous to not offer a refund or OBC for the missed ports.  Our new cruise is a bit more expensive but we will be happier with the itinerary and also the overnight in Aruba instead of Curacao. 

[EatonDoolittle]

1 hour ago, Beba-Beba said:

@EatonDoolittle

Hi

Did you see these posts from someone on the Constellation now  (the 11/7/21 sailing:

 

BTW  - Personally I like the revised itinerary better.  I LOVE the at sea days.  Grand Cayman with the tender is a hassle and Key West - who cares.  It's all about the ship at this point in my cruise life.

 

P.S.   Are we ever going to be on the same cruise??

 

HI Mary - I missed that good news from the Constellation, I'll look for it. I kind of burnt out on all the  "live from" threads after reading a few of the early Equinox ones. 

 

I'll be on the EQ on Nov 28, and so far, we are only allowed off the ship (without a ship tour) in 2 of the 6 ports. Hoping they revise the list for December, which is when we will actually arrive anywhere. 

 

My Constellation B2B is while you are on your EQ B2B in Feb. We'll just have to have a toast as we pass at sea.  I have a short EQ in May, then the next few are on Princess.

The Constellation itin. in question (ABC, KW and Gr. Cayman) is the second 10 days for me, so I'll be fine relaxing on the ship anyway. 

 

That said, if we have learned anything watching the return to sailing, things can change quickly. 

All we know for sure is that hopefully, we'll be going somewhere in a ship soon. 

 

 

 

[zwallace]

Well scratch my earlier post. Since I booked flights thru celebrity, American airline won't change my flight unless we're willing to pay $200/person fee. I'm not willing to spend another $400 so guess we're back to the 3 port cruise. I like 4 sea days but 6 is a bit too much. But I guess it beats sitting home in freezing Missouri. 

[kearney]

I cancelled out Nov 22 cruise back in August when it was pretty clear these two ports would not be on the final itinerary. I am a bit surprised that it took this long to make it official...but perhaps they needed to wait to confirm KW was not going to happen so that they could decide at that point...what the schedule would be. Nassau is okay...but I would have preferred the KW stop

[MisterBill99]

On 11/8/2021 at 1:34 PM, Denny01 said:

I’d rather be at sea than Nassau. 
 

den

 

Nah. If the ship is in port, many people will be off the ship, so it will be less crowded if you stay on board. And the spa may offer port day discounts. The only disadvantage is that the MDR probably won't be open for lunch, if you care about that stuff. Oh, and the casino will be closed.

[MisterBill99]

 

12 hours ago, breadandbutter said:

My TA says we will not be refunded for not going into a port,  but Carnival does.

Is he wrong?

12 hours ago, deliver42 said:

I think your TA is wrong.

 

The only refund would be port charges, since the passenger is charged those and the cruise line will no longer have to pay. It's possible that they will issue a refund while on board since there is one less port day. Celebrity has refunded port charges for missed stops in the past. MSC does not. 

Edited November 10, 2021 by MisterBill99

[zwallace]

Everyone who is unhappy to not get at least a refund or OBC should email the Celebrity CEO to complain. That's what my TA advised me to try. I'm really upset about it. I'm more upset that American Airlines wouldn't let me switch flights. I should've stuck with Southwest and took my chances. Both airlines are canceling left and right but at least you can change flights with SW. 

[phoenix_dream]

10 hours ago, upwarduk said:

Key West voted to ban large cruise ships ( more than 1000 passengers)weeks ago.

I cannot understand how it is a surprise that you are not going.

It's a surprise because the governor overturned that ruling. Doesn't matter what we think of him or not, but legally they cannot prevent cruises from docking.  So not sure why they still won't. 

[bikerunner]

26 minutes ago, phoenix_dream said:

It's a surprise because the governor overturned that ruling. Doesn't matter what we think of him or not, but legally they cannot prevent cruises from docking.  So not sure why they still won't. 

I really doubt it would be a good environment for cruise ships at kw currently.  Doubt the town would be welcoming overall.  Plus I bet there would be some type of protest etc.  cruise lines will stay away until it all gets worked out. I am not going to miss it. I lived in Miami long time and went to kw many times its not the same as it was anymore.  Nassau as a substitute is just another day hanging on board relaxing.  No worries there for me. L

[MisterBill99]

50 minutes ago, zwallace said:

Everyone who is unhappy to not get at least a refund or OBC should email the Celebrity CEO to complain. That's what my TA advised me to try. I'm really upset about it. I'm more upset that American Airlines wouldn't let me switch flights. I should've stuck with Southwest and took my chances. Both airlines are canceling left and right but at least you can change flights with SW. 

 

Why should they do anything and especially give you OBC? The ports are closed, they had no choice. They dd not make these changes on their own. It's been obvious for some time that Grand Cayman and Key West were going to be closed to cruise ships. The cruise contract even allows them to make changes while you're on the ship with no compensation.

 

Too bad about AA not allowing you to cancel.

[nocl]

1 hour ago, phoenix_dream said:

It's a surprise because the governor overturned that ruling. Doesn't matter what we think of him or not, but legally they cannot prevent cruises from docking.  So not sure why they still won't. 

For 2 of the docks the city controls them and it doesn't matter about the law, the city can still not allow a ship to dock.

 

So technically they could dock at the one remaining dock (the privately owned one).

 

However the cruise lines have in general decided to honor the referendum at this time.  Probably because they do not want to incite the locals any more.  Instead I think they are hoping that staying away might result in enough economic impact that might flip more locals in favor of the cruise ships.

[nocl]

2 hours ago, zwallace said:

Everyone who is unhappy to not get at least a refund or OBC should email the Celebrity CEO to complain. That's what my TA advised me to try. I'm really upset about it. I'm more upset that American Airlines wouldn't let me switch flights. I should've stuck with Southwest and took my chances. Both airlines are canceling left and right but at least you can change flights with SW. 

Why should they.  When the cruise lines restarted they made it pretty clear that the ports could change at any time.  They are allowing people to cancel, even in the penalty period.

 

Considering that the  two ports were Cayman Islands and Key West.  Cayman made it very clear for months that they were not allowing cruise ships to call this year.  With Key West every other large ship has canceled the port.  So it should have been rather clear that the odds of either port being visited was pretty low.

Edited November 10, 2021 by nocl

[breadandbutter]

7 hours ago, nocl said:

Why should they.  When the cruise lines restarted they made it pretty clear that the ports could change at any time.  They are allowing people to cancel, even in the penalty period.

 

Considering that the  two ports were Cayman Islands and Key West.  Cayman made it very clear for months that they were not allowing cruise ships to call this year.  With Key West every other large ship has canceled the port.  So it should have been rather clear that the odds of either port being visited was pretty low.

The issue is that we have been charged port fees, and are not going into port on some days. Celebrity has made money off of this unless they refund us. 

[DCPIV]

2 hours ago, breadandbutter said:

The issue is that we have been charged port fees, and are not going into port on some days. Celebrity has made money off of this unless they refund us.

 

Any net reduction in total port fees will be refunded to your payment method (rather than OBC).  I believe what at least some are discussing is additional OBC or compensation beyond that.

 

Just as an aside, in the age of drink packages and high fuel costs, Celebrity most likely loses money on changing to sea days.  They'd much rather sit in port and collect their cut of the excursion costs while passengers were off the ship not drinking on their package.

[Homosassa]

We booked this same itinerary for February awhile ago.

 

At the time of our booking, I told my travel agent that I did not expect to make port in Key West or Grand Cayman.

 

The port cancellations should not be a surprise for anyone who did any research before booking.

 

I don't know what port fees will be returned as the fees for Grand Cayman and Key West no longer apply but an extra night in Curacao has been added.

 

Celebrity will do the math and any port fee  difference will probably be returned as OBC as we are past final payment. 

 

By the way, for those who think Key West is missing cruise ship traffic and that it has a negative impact on the local economy, it is not true at all.

 

Key West has been doing well with land tourists that come and stay and spend more money than many cruise ship passengers on some lines whose goal  is to go ashore, get drunk and buy a tacky tee shirt.

Edited November 10, 2021 by Homosassa

[zwallace]

13 hours ago, MisterBill99 said:

 

Why should they do anything and especially give you OBC? The ports are closed, they had no choice. They dd not make these changes on their own. It's been obvious for some time that Grand Cayman and Key West were going to be closed to cruise ships. The cruise contract even allows them to make changes while you're on the ship with no compensation.

 

Too bad about AA not allowing you to cancel.

My point is that if we're not docking at 2 ports that was included in our cruise fee, that Celebrity should refund the money to its customers. That's all. 

[RGEDad]

As near as I can figure - the Mayor is now unilaterally refusing to complete the required paperwork for a ship to dock, so they cannot dock. 

There is a discussion in the CC Key West thread:

 

and an article in the Key West paper/blog

https://keysweekly.com/42/could-key-west-compromise-on-cruise-ships/

 

The Following link still has the Key West port Schedule accessible (the City of Key West cruise port schedule is now behind a pay wall): 

https://www.cruisemapper.com/ports/key-west-port-121

Look under the Schedule tab - you can also select the month..

Still shows some ships scheduled to dock in November & December, and beyond... 

 

In short: No Key Lime Pie for me this year in Key West...

[nocl]

5 hours ago, breadandbutter said:

The issue is that we have been charged port fees, and are not going into port on some days. Celebrity has made money off of this unless they refund us. 

Was not commenting on the refund of port fees which they should and usually do refund.

 

It is the expectation that they should pay OBC for the missed ports that I was commenting on.

 

Port fees are relatively small usually around $30 per person per port, depending upon the port.

Edited November 10, 2021 by nocl

[MisterBill99]

1 hour ago, zwallace said:

My point is that if we're not docking at 2 ports that was included in our cruise fee, that Celebrity should refund the money to its customers. That's all. 

 

But you have an extra day in Curacao, so they have to pay extra port charges there. You should receive an onboard refund of the difference in port charges between what they had to pay vs. what you paid. That will show up in your account and will be refundable if you don't spend it.

 

And unless you just didn't word it clearly, it seemed like you were looking for compensation for the itinerary having changed, not getting your port fees back. That's not happening.

[MisterBill99]

39 minutes ago, RGEDad said:

In short: No Key Lime Pie for me this year in Key West...

 

Clearly, the chef needs to put Key Lime Pie on the menu the day the ship was supposed to be in Key West! Sadly, it wouldn't be as good as Kermit's, nor would you be able to get it chocolate-coated.

[esther e]

I make a decent Key Lime pie and now that this thread is so active, I'm needing to make one very soon.  My mouth is watering for some.

 

[zwallace]

1 hour ago, MisterBill99 said:

 

But you have an extra day in Curacao, so they have to pay extra port charges there. You should receive an onboard refund of the difference in port charges between what they had to pay vs. what you paid. That will show up in your account and will be refundable if you don't spend it.

 

And unless you just didn't word it clearly, it seemed like you were looking for compensation for the itinerary having changed, not getting your port fees back. That's not happening.

I was merely stating that they should refund port charges for ports not visited. I'm not trying to make a buck. But I don't like paying for services I didn't receive. 

[travellerin1984]

I must say I am a bit disappointed… We are traveling all the way from the Northern Europe to Tampa. We do enjoy sea days but 6 days onboard seem a bit much. We would definitely prefer one more port, Nassau would be fine. I don’t think we can cancel our flights so we will enjoy our cruise holiday anyway but it is an expensive trip sailing mostly in the Caribbean (we could do the same for half price in the Med…) Oh well, there are worse things in life… 🙂 

Edited November 10, 2021 by travellerin1984

[breadandbutter]

2 hours ago, MisterBill99 said:

 

But you have an extra day in Curacao, so they have to pay extra port charges there. You should receive an onboard refund of the difference in port charges between what they had to pay vs. what you paid. That will show up in your account and will be refundable if you don't spend it.

 

And unless you just didn't word it clearly, it seemed like you were looking for compensation for the itinerary having changed, not getting your port fees back. That's not happening.

Not all itineraries have an extra day in curacao 

[MisterBill99]

1 hour ago, zwallace said:

I was merely stating that they should refund port charges for ports not visited. I'm not trying to make a buck. But I don't like paying for services I didn't receive. 

 

Then you should have just said that you wanted the port charges refunded, not that you wanted OBC. Like I said, I certainly thought you felt that you were owed something for the itinerary change, and I'm pretty sure that others did as well.

 

And I'm fairly sure they will refund those when you are on the ship.