Port Fee Refund?

[vwlmember]

We sailed on the Serenade Oct 1-8 cruise and our stop in Bar Harbor was cancelled due to weather. Am I right in thinking that our port fees should have been refunded to our on-board account?  I see nothing on my final statement or any refund to my CC on file.  

[cruiseguy1016]

Unfortunately, port fees are not always refunded if you miss the port. I can't recall the reasoning behind it.

[Husky1987]

Fun fact:  My wife and I each got a $2.72 refundable OBC "Port/Air Tax Credit" on our accounts on our Adventure sailing a couple weeks ago, and we didn't miss any ports.

[firefly333]

8 minutes ago, vwlmember said:

We sailed on the Serenade Oct 1-8 cruise and our stop in Bar Harbor was cancelled due to weather. Am I right in thinking that our port fees should have been refunded to our on-board account?  I see nothing on my final statement or any refund to my CC on file.  

Rcl says they dont charge you extra if port fees go up, they dont have a obligation to refund if prices drop or you miss a port per a email I got when I wrote and asked.

 

Carnival always refunds port fees or some small amount if a port is missed. Rcl has no such policy. They wrote it's up to the ship to refund or not.

[Grankm21]

As others have said, getting port fees refunded is not guaranteed.  And if you do get a refund, the amount is minimal.  Last time we missed a port I believe we got a refund of $8 per person.

[vwlmember]

Thank you for all of the replies. At least I can now put this one to bed and move on to planning my next cruise.

[nelblu]

16 minutes ago, Husky1987 said:

Fun fact:  My wife and I each got a $2.72 refundable OBC "Port/Air Tax Credit" on our accounts on our Adventure sailing a couple weeks ago, and we didn't miss any ports.

Adjustment for taxes & fees.  Sometimes I get minor credits on my account and no explanations.

 

Also, when I do a mock booking on my TA website, they show an amount for Port Fees excluding the taxes & fees.  For instance, on Symphony October sail from Bayonne it states "includes Port Fees of $450 and excludes taxes and fees of $181. 

 

For those in the know, is the $450 for the docking in Bayonne only or does it include the other ports visited.  This amount is a good chunk of the price for the cruise.

[Ourusualbeach]

17 minutes ago, nelblu said:

Adjustment for taxes & fees.  Sometimes I get minor credits on my account and no explanations.

 

Also, when I do a mock booking on my TA website, they show an amount for Port Fees excluding the taxes & fees.  For instance, on Symphony October sail from Bayonne it states "includes Port Fees of $450 and excludes taxes and fees of $181. 

 

For those in the know, is the $450 for the docking in Bayonne only or does it include the other ports visited.  This amount is a good chunk of the price for the cruise.

They are misrepresenting what that really is.

 

The taxes and fees are $181.  The $450 is what is called Non commissionable cruise fare or NCCF.  It is a portion of the cruise fare that TA's do not get commission on.  On the guest copy of the invoice this is included in the cruise fare.  On the agent copy it is a separate line item.  Many agencies that create their own invoices lump this amount in under taxes

Edited November 3, 2023 by Ourusualbeach

[OCSC Mike]

1 hour ago, Husky1987 said:

Fun fact:  My wife and I each got a $2.72 refundable OBC "Port/Air Tax Credit" on our accounts on our Adventure sailing a couple weeks ago, and we didn't miss any ports.

 

This is fairly common. My wife and I just got about $12 each back on Allure last week.

[nelblu]

17 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

They are misrepresenting what that really is.

 

The taxes and fees are $181.  The $450 is what is called Non commissionable cruise fare or NCCF.  It is a portion of the cruise fare that TA's do not get commission on.  On the guest copy of the invoice this is included in the cruise fare.  On the agent copy it is a separate line item.  Many agencies that create their own invoices lump this amount in under taxes

Not to belabor the point, why even show it.  When I get an invoice from them this amount is not shown and included in the total fare line.

Edited November 3, 2023 by nelblu

[Liljo22]

The way I like to explain the reasoning is that these are not fees that the ports are charging to the passengers.  They are fees that the ports are charging to the cruise line for docking there.  The cruise lines are just adding additional revenue on top of the cruise fare to try to cover these expenses. 

 

The amount they add is just an estimate based on their expected occupancy for the cruise.  If the cruise does not sell as well as expected, these fees might come out to more than they collected.  They don't go back and charge the passengers for the difference.  It also means that if they miss a port, the amount collected might still be less than the actual overall expenses they are charged.  If the cruise sells better than expected, the cruise lines might add OBC to your account.  

 

Since these are not fees that are charged directly to the passengers, the cruise lines have no obligation to refund/credit passengers.  

[Ourusualbeach]

20 minutes ago, nelblu said:

Not to belabor the point, why even show it.  When I get an invoice from them this amount is not shown and included in the total fare line.

It depends on how the agency's invoices are set up.  If it is included all in the cruise fare then their invoicing system will try to record commission due on the total amount.  Most agencies invoices are tied to their entire record keeping system so commissionable and non commissionable amounts must be kept separate

[firefly333]

49 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

This is fairly common. My wife and I just got about $12 each back on Allure last week.

Lol sorry but on what evidence do you assume it's common to get a refund. A link please.

 

I've had ports cancelled before we left to lower cost ports .. nothing .. missed ports nothing. A few got something ... a lot did not. I got nothing for either. I was on liberty and maybe the ship wasnt breaking even then idk .. but went to guest services before I wrote to mbayley and was told it was weather related we missed so nothing back. OP got nothing is why he asked.

 

Since I've been unlucky I'm saying if they say oh weather related, waves too high is reason for not refunding . .. I'm not going to assume something I dont know. Link please. 

 

Two cruises in a row last year grand Cayman and jamaica was changed to much cheaper costa maya and roatan. Port fees for new fees my TA said they dont refund ahead ... up to the ship. So twice in a row and then 2nd time with the lower fees and taxes we also didnt dock. 

 

Seems illegal to keep money collected as port fees to me if not used as port fees ..  but it's one more small ding. To me common means it would be common to happen when it's not common in my experience. It's a point to me against rcl they keep overpaid port fees. 

Edited November 3, 2023 by firefly333

[TYMAN]

1 hour ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

This is fairly common. My wife and I just got about $12 each back on Allure last week.

Haven't missed a Port in the last few years, but I remember always getting a refund and it put into OBC. Always seemed to be around $7pp. I do not remember missing a Port and not getting a few bucks back, always in OBC. 

[OCSC Mike]

11 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Lol sorry but on what evidence do you assume it's common to get a refund. A link please.

 

I've only been on 16-17 cruises and I've gotten a random refund like this at least 4-5 times. 🤷‍♀️ Before last week, I know my extended family got one on Harmony in 2022 because I tried to explain to my MIL that she did not HAVE to go spend it in the gift shop, lol, it was refundable. She bought stuff anyway of course.

 

If I wasn't clear, my apologies, but this was NOT due to missing a port. My uneducated understanding is that when port fees decrease between the time you paid and the time you visit those ports, this small refund is generated. I could easily be wrong on that part though.

[SplashOfWater]

We received the Port/Air Tax Credit (about $12 each) on our Mariner cruise last month. We didn't miss any ports.

[nelblu]

7 minutes ago, TYMAN said:

Haven't missed a Port in the last few years, but I remember always getting a refund and it put into OBC. Always seemed to be around $7pp. I do not remember missing a Port and not getting a few bucks back, always in OBC. 

Don't know if changes between the date booked and the actual sailing date is a reason.

 

Recently, Bahamas/Nassau announced that effective January 1, 2024, their taxes on cruising would go up.  Got a revised amounts from Royal and it's a mishmash.  My Anthem February 9 is lower by $12+, while my Mach 31 is up by $20.  My Symphony October 13 sail went up by $11.  These sails are from Bayonne and have basically the same itinerary.  A hint as to why the February 9 sail got a reduction is that the original Anthem March 31 T&F totaled $176.69, while my Symphony October 13 was $169.36.

[firefly333]

31 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

I've only been on 16-17 cruises and I've gotten a random refund like this at least 4-5 times. 🤷‍♀️ Before last week, I know my extended family got one on Harmony in 2022 because I tried to explain to my MIL that she did not HAVE to go spend it in the gift shop, lol, it was refundable. She bought stuff anyway of course.

 

If I wasn't clear, my apologies, but this was NOT due to missing a port. My uneducated understanding is that when port fees decrease between the time you paid and the time you visit those ports, this small refund is generated. I could easily be wrong on that part though.

Ok we will have to disagree this kno time. To me if something is common then I should expect it more often than not. Which hasnt been my experience. My port fees for sure were down before we cruised and right up to sail date. They changed ports on me twice to obviously lower fee ports but didnt get a dime back. Small theft in my book as these were port fees not cruisefare they should have kept. 

 

I tracked the prices often and had to add back in to figure out matching that my port fees when I booked were higher. Mbayley office said they dont reimburse lower port fees except as a ship decision. Common to me would be .. expected. More often than not. Etc.

 

Maybe we just disagree what common means. We usually agree ... just not on this. If it was common then I should have gotten the lower fees from the new ports. I have the letter if you want to read. Agree to disagree. It's totally random, not common. 

[OCSC Mike]

1 minute ago, firefly333 said:

Maybe we just disagree what common means.

 

That's fair. Change "fairly common" to "something I have seen on maybe 25% of my cruises" or "something I have seen a few times in my 16 cruises" or anything along those lines.

 

I was just trying to convey it's not some insanely rare thing no one has ever seen before and likely worded it poorly.

[Ourusualbeach]

13 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

That's fair. Change "fairly common" to "something I have seen on maybe 25% of my cruises" or "something I have seen a few times in my 16 cruises" or anything along those lines.

 

I was just trying to convey it's not some insanely rare thing no one has ever seen before and likely worded it poorly.

30 cruises and only seen it a couple times and that was a long time ago.  I doubt Jason is much into giving money back when he doesn't have to these days.

[ONECRUISER]

1 hour ago, TYMAN said:

Haven't missed a Port in the last few years, but I remember always getting a refund and it put into OBC. Always seemed to be around $7pp. I do not remember missing a Port and not getting a few bucks back, always in OBC. 

Back in the 90s bunch of Passengers inc many of us here on Cruise Critic were part of a Class Action Lawsuit against Royal. Missed Ports never getting this back. Royal settled(just to make it go away never admitting fault) setting a side max $7 Million, $7 for each missed Port, Wife/Me received $49 total, all paid in FCC. Think this is why the $7 was common amount in past and in your Memory. Recent history, amount varies and not common to recieve

Edited November 3, 2023 by ONECRUISER

[OCSC Mike]

25 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

30 cruises and only seen it a couple times and that was a long time ago.  I doubt Jason is much into giving money back when he doesn't have to these days.

 

Then I've been unusually lucky. I know it has happened twice in my last 5 cruises (spanning June 2022 through last week).

 

My wife also won $80 using her $8 free play playing a Press Your Luck slot... that's far rarer for us, lol.

[Ourusualbeach]

1 hour ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

Then I've been unusually lucky. I know it has happened twice in my last 5 cruises (spanning June 2022 through last week).

 

My wife also won $80 using her $8 free play playing a Press Your Luck slot... that's far rarer for us, lol.

or I'm unlucky...could go either way

[Tree_skier]

2 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

Then I've been unusually lucky. I know it has happened twice in my last 5 cruises (spanning June 2022 through last week).

 

My wife also won $80 using her $8 free play playing a Press Your Luck slot... that's far rarer for us, lol.

How come I only ever get $2 in free play? 🤯

[OCSC Mike]

9 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

How come I only ever get $2 in free play? 🤯

 

It was a very lucky cruise, lol. I think we usually get $6. I don't know how it works tbh. I just know how to burn through our free play and leave with nothing (except this time).