Puerta Plata removed from itinerary

[caribbeanfever]

We scheduled a family cruise on the Icon for June 21, 2025. We specifically picked this itinerary for the 4 stops, with Puerta Plata being included. They have removed this stop “Due to our Icon Class of ship not being approved yet”. Instead they are giving us 4 more hours at St Thomas, which is by no means a valid trade off in my opinion. None of us have ever been there, and it was the most expensive itinerary for the month of June. I would have hoped that they would add a different port. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what would be a fair compensation?  Thanks in advance. 

[firefly333]

Doesnt matter what we think is fair. Royal wouldnt give you compensation for them changing the route. They changed me to 2 ports with lower port fees and said nothing due. 

 

Adventure goes there but its sure not as good as icon. I'm going there in December.. sorry

[pcur]

You will be reimbursed the port fees you pay for Puerto Plata. Personal preferences are just that, and since you are before final payment date, I suggest you look for an alternative cruise, and transfer what you've paid to a new cruise. RCCL may or may not charge a change fee since they initiated the port cancellation.

 

I did this myself last year when the cruise I had booked cancelled Key West from the itinerary.

[firefly333]

8 minutes ago, pcur said:

You will be reimbursed the port fees you pay for Puerto Plata. Personal preferences are just that, and since you are before final payment date, I suggest you look for an alternative cruise, and transfer what you've paid to a new cruise. RCCL may or may not charge a change fee since they initiated the port cancellation.

 

I did this myself last year when the cruise I had booked cancelled Key West from the itinerary.

I was not reimbursed for missed ports. I wrote to mbayley office and was told it's not their policy, it's up to each ship. Just because you got them back doesnt mean everyone does. Sorry. But it's not the policy. I can post the email if you dont believe me.

 

They have the right to change or miss ports. It is then up to the ship what they do.

[caribbeanfever]

36 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Doesnt matter what we think is fair. Royal wouldnt give you compensation for them changing the route. They changed me to 2 ports with lower port fees and said nothing due. 

 

Adventure goes there but its sure not as good as icon. I'm going there in December.. sorry

Thanks for your prompt response. I guess I was hoping in light of having 10 more months to get creative they would add a port. I’m glad you are going there! Have a great time!!

[caribbeanfever]

34 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

I was not reimbursed for missed ports. I wrote to mbayley office and was told it's not their policy, it's up to each ship. Just because you got them back doesnt mean everyone does. Sorry. But it's not the policy. I can post the email if you dont believe me.

 

They have the right to change or miss ports. It is then up to the ship what 

Edited August 22 by caribbeanfever
Responded to wrong post

[Biker19]

5 hours ago, caribbeanfever said:

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what would be a fair compensation?

Don't sail RCI if you are looking for anything "fair".

[firefly333]

4 hours ago, caribbeanfever said:

Thanks for your prompt response. I guess I was hoping in light of having 10 more months to get creative they would add a port. I’m glad you are going there! Have a great time!!

If you pushed it they might allow you to change to another cruise with no charge. Do you want to change. You could say because they changed ports. I think several of the smaller ships go there. I admit I booked adventure to go there and would be disappointed to miss it as I booked it becaus it was a new port for me.

 

If you call tell us what they said. 

[bajathree]

Switch to Wonder for basically the same itinerary and save yourself thousands of $'s. Icon pricing is ridiculous in comparison. That would be fair compensation to yourself.

[twangster]

June is hurricane season in the Caribbean.  If you must have the ports of call on a cruise book outside of hurricane season.  This past June Icon had her complete itinerary changed due to a tropical storm.  The change was made a few days before departure.  

 

We sailed, had a great time, we were safe, but it was Western Caribbean instead of Eastern Caribbean.

 

I was perfectly fine with that but if you must visit certain ports of call or you will be disappointed cruising is not the way to accomplish that, especially in hurricane season.

[leaveitallbehind]

44 minutes ago, twangster said:

June is hurricane season in the Caribbean.  If you must have the ports of call on a cruise book outside of hurricane season.  This past June Icon had her complete itinerary changed due to a tropical storm.  The change was made a few days before departure.  

 

We sailed, had a great time, we were safe, but it was Western Caribbean instead of Eastern Caribbean.

 

I was perfectly fine with that but if you must visit certain ports of call or you will be disappointed cruising is not the way to accomplish that, especially in hurricane season.

June 1 to November 30 is the full hurricane season.  That would basically be half the year that you would have to avoid.  And that only means that conditions are best for storms to develop during that period, not a certainty that at any given time they will.  With all of the ships sailing on all of the different Caribbean itineraries during that period the odds of a storm impacting any of them is relatively low IMO. 

Edited August 22 by leaveitallbehind

[Arzeena]

6 hours ago, firefly333 said:

I was not reimbursed for missed ports. I wrote to mbayley office and was told it's not their policy, it's up to each ship. Just because you got them back doesnt mean everyone does. Sorry. But it's not the policy. I can post the email if you dont believe me.

 

They have the right to change or miss ports. It is then up to the ship what they do.

We got port fees and taxes back on some sailings. I think we missed St Kitts. On one, we did not get port fees /tax back when we missed the port. GS said it is based on your cruise fare and gave an explanation that I do not remember. It was very little amount to warrant a letter to Mr Bailey. Everyone on that sailing in my group of friends got a different amount back. This was on the Anthem.
I think your TA could give a much better explanation on why you didn't get port fees/tax back than anyone at Royal Caribbean!😉

[firefly333]

5 minutes ago, Arzeena said:

We got port fees and taxes back on some sailings. I think we missed St Kitts. On one, we did not get port fees /tax back when we missed the port. GS said it is based on your cruise fare and gave an explanation that I do not remember. It was very little amount to warrant a letter to Mr Bailey. Everyone on that sailing in my group of friends got a different amount back. This was on the Anthem.
I think your TA could give a much better explanation on why you didn't get port fees/tax back than anyone at Royal Caribbean!😉

Again I wrote to mbayley and said if anyone wanted a copy of their reply I would post it. I understand their letter why would I ask my TA for clarification? It clearly says it's up to the ship.

 

I had 2 ports switched to lower port fee ports and then we missed a port due to weather is why I asked when customer service onboard said nothing, its weather related. I wanted to know the policy and got a reply. Maybe it's you wanting the policy, since I understand the email. Idk. But here it is since you seem to want to know, not me. 

 

Let me pull it out for you ... this seems perfectly clear to me. 

 

"

Also,

compensation or refunds for missed ports while inboard are at the

discretion of the ship crew and staff."

 

____

 

Dear XXXXX

 

Thank you for writing into the Royal Caribbean Executive office. I am happy

to address your concerns and requests on behalf of Mr. Bayley today.

 

We’re sorry to hear of the disappointment and trouble you have had with

requesting refunds of Taxes & Fees. Since you are still onboard the

Liberty, we ask that you please bring these issues to the attention of our

dedicated Guest Services staff onboard, so they can address them promptly.

 

Generally, Taxes & Fees costs fluctuate daily, sometimes hours, before a

sailing. When you make your vacation plans, we lock in those costs for your

specific reservation. As we do not charge guests if those prices go up, we

also typically do not refund if they should go down prior to sailing. Also,

compensation or refunds for missed ports while inboard are at the

discretion of the ship crew and staff. We apologize again for the

inconvenience and frustration.

 

Thank you again for contacting us. We look forward to welcoming you onboard

soon.

 

 

 

Sincerely,

 

[Mapleleafforever]

1 hour ago, bajathree said:

Switch to Wonder for basically the same itinerary and save yourself thousands of $'s. Icon pricing is ridiculous in comparison. That would be fair compensation to yourself.

This 100%!!!!

[firefly333]

6 hours ago, firefly333 said:

I was not reimbursed for missed ports. I wrote to mbayley office and was told it's not their policy, it's up to each ship. Just because you got them back doesnt mean everyone does. Sorry. But it's not the policy. I can post the email if you dont believe me.

 

They have the right to change or miss ports. It is then up to the ship what they do.

 

15 minutes ago, Arzeena said:

We got port fees and taxes back on some sailings. I think we missed St Kitts. On one, we did not get port fees /tax back when we missed the port. GS said it is based on your cruise fare and gave an explanation that I do not remember. It was very little amount to warrant a letter to Mr Bailey. Everyone on that sailing in my group of friends got a different amount back. This was on the Anthem.
I think your TA could give a much better explanation on why you didn't get port fees/tax back than anyone at Royal Caribbean!😉

As I said above I wrote to mbayley office and they clearly said their policy is up to the ship. It is you not me confused when I said mbayley office said it's up to the ship. And said I could produce their words for those like you confused on the policy. The policy they said .. each ship crew decides. .. why would you reply after I posted mbayley explanation to ask my TA?  It is clearly written and I wrote it clearly in my post. 

 

If their email confuses you by all means ask your TA. 

[1025cruise]

Per your cruise contract, ports are not guaranteed. Therefore, RCI owes you nothing.

[smokeybandit]

I'm going to guess this is a flub with the DR port authority, not RC.

Icon really isn't any bigger than Oasis ships when it comes to docking. Only 6 feet longer and 3 feet wider.

[Starry Eyes]

If one has a certain “must visit” place, do not book a cruise.  Book a flight and hotel instead.  I love cruising, though so have experienced many itinerary changes and missed many ports.   Sometimes one hears of changes in  advance, like the OP; cruise contracts allow such changes.  Other times, the change is made while on the ship…weather, strikes, political unrest, damaged piers, mechanical issues…we have missed ports for so many reasons.  You may or may not get a token amount as a refund of port fees; if you do get a small port fee refund it will likely happen on the ship, not now. 

[Newcruiser215]

I’m on the same sailing and was also disappointed when I got that email. I read on a roll call for a September 25’ sailing, that Labadee was added in lieu of Puerto Plata. I am curious why the same wasn’t done here. 

[PhillyFan33579]

2 hours ago, bajathree said:

Switch to Wonder for basically the same itinerary and save yourself thousands of $'s. Icon pricing is ridiculous in comparison. That would be fair compensation to yourself.

This is terrible advice. I want people to keep booking Icon and Star at inflated prices so I can continue booking non-Icon class ships at much lower rates. 🙂

[leaveitallbehind]

13 minutes ago, Starry Eyes said:

If one has a certain “must visit” place, do not book a cruise.  Book a flight and hotel instead.  I love cruising, though so have experienced many itinerary changes and missed many ports.....Other times, the change is made while on the ship…weather, strikes, political unrest, damaged piers, mechanical issues…

While I don't disagree with your comments as a viable option to visit a destination, you do realize that many of the same factors that could affect a cruise - weather, strikes, political unrest, flight interruptions, etc.- can also affect a land visit.

[smokeybandit]

58 minutes ago, Starry Eyes said:

If one has a certain “must visit” place, do not book a cruise.  Book a flight and hotel instead.  I love cruising, though so have experienced many itinerary changes and missed many ports.   Sometimes one hears of changes in  advance, like the OP; cruise contracts allow such changes.  Other times, the change is made while on the ship…weather, strikes, political unrest, damaged piers, mechanical issues…we have missed ports for so many reasons.  You may or may not get a token amount as a refund of port fees; if you do get a small port fee refund it will likely happen on the ship, not now. 

Pretty solid advice, actually.

 

[Ashland]

We've been to Puerto Plata onboard Explorer and will be there again on Explorer in March 2025. It was one of our least favorite ports and wish they would substitute something else.

However enjoy Icon we were on her in May 2024 and loved this ship.

[Baron Barracuda]

3 hours ago, Newcruiser215 said:

I’m on the same sailing and was also disappointed when I got that email. I read on a roll call for a September 25’ sailing, that Labadee was added in lieu of Puerto Plata. I am curious why the same wasn’t done here. 

Sadly, due to the unrest in Haiti have no idea if or when Labadee will return as a port of call.  International peacekeepers were promised but most haven't arrived.  Situation could persist for months or years

[Hoopster95]

11 hours ago, caribbeanfever said:

We scheduled a family cruise on the Icon for June 21, 2025. We specifically picked this itinerary for the 4 stops, with Puerta Plata being included.

 

So you chose a 7 day, 168 hour vacation, for obviously and specifically the Icon, but now you're complaining about 6-7 hours of that vacation and the rest or the 160 hours is ruined? Ya, right 👎