Compensation for missed ports

[lake5298]

Now, I don't want to start up another thread like the one that's been closed, but as I've experienced a few missed ports and a few medical emergencies, I'd just like to make a few observations.

 

First time I missed ports was on Ocean Village in the Mediterranean. We missed 2 ports on a 7 night / 5 port cruise. On both occasions the ports were missed due to bad weather. On the first occasion, we docked at an alternate port, arranged at short notice. The tour desk worked miracles, arranging a couple of excursions at incredibly short notice for the new port of call. On the second occasion, we got a day at sea. No compensation was offered.

 

Second time was on Sun Princess. Princess Cays had been damaged by storms, and Nassau was substituted. We were informed by letter a few weeks before departure, and, as we'd been to Princess Cays before, but never to Nassau, we were happy enough.

 

Third time was on Disney Magic. We missed one port on a 4 night / 2 port cruise. Worse still, the missed port was Castaway Cay... Disney's private island, which we really wanted to see. The other port, Nassau, we would have been happy to miss. The reason was weather... while the weather was not bad, the seas were not rough, the Captain was concerned that there was a risk of striking rocks when entering the mooring area. Having seen what happened to "Sea Diamond" in Santorini last year, I'm glad that he was not prepared to take the risk. However, we were pretty disappointed... with Disney cruise prices it's unlikely that we'll get another opportunity to see Castaway Cay. No compensation was offered.

 

Next time was another Princess cruise. We had just left St Marten when there was a medical emergency, so we returned to port. Even though our next port, St Thomas, was close by, we were a couple of hours late getting in to port. Trip times were re-arranged, communications were good. After leaving St Thomas, the Captain announced that we were to call at St Croix to bunker fuel. Passengers were allowed ashore for a couple of hours while this was going on. No compensation for the late arrival in St Thomas was offered... but we were not charged any extra for the extra call in St Croix!!!

 

Another Princess cruise, this time to the Atlantic coasts of Spain & Portugal, saw us meet a F11 storm in Biscay. The captain of Sea Princess took the decision to cut the planned call at La Coruna, and go slower to the next call, Bilbao. No compensation was offered. The same week, Legend of the Seas was in the same area, and I believe that they missed 3 out of their 4 ports, so our Captain obviously did a better job. A car ferry travelling from the UK to Spain was badly damaged in the storm and put into France for repairs... the passengers had no choice but to drive the rest of the way... now not reaching your destination's got to be far worse than just missing a port.

 

We've been unable to tender into Guernsey twice on P&O mini cruises due to heavy swells, again no compensation was offered.

 

Finally, back on Sea Princess again, we had a medical emergency en route back to Southampton, and the Captain put into port in France to disembark the ill passenger.

 

As the passenger was disembarked and carried towards the waiting ambulance, all the passengers watching events from the Promenade Deck spontaneously broke into applause and shouted good wishes to the parents of the sick child.

 

This medical emergency meant that we were several hours late back to the UK... arriving in Southampton at 2pm and disembarkation commenced at 4pm. A friend who had come to meet us off the ship had to wait a few hours, and far worse, many US passengers were to miss their early afternoon flights. Princess opened the internet cafe free, in order that people could rearrange travel arrangements, but they did not offer free phone calls for the less computer literate.

 

I imagine that those who missed their flights would have looked for compensation... but there was no petitions, no dissent. Every passenger was just happy that they still had their health.

 

On the contrary, a certain ship misses Jamaica, (my least favourite port in the whole world!), through nobody's fault, everyone gets a token $25... well... it's a couple of free drinks... (but to the ship it's $25 x 2000... $50,000) and there's mutiny!

 

I bet that guy would have got up a petition on the Titanic to complain about the ice making the deck slippery.....

[LADYBUG34113]

WOW!

Things happen and mother nature is unpredictable. The captain has alot to carry on his shoulders and make decisions for the best interest of his crew and passengers, thus not another Titanic. I don't think I would want their job. On the fascination last year, we hit the first tropical storm coming back from Cozumel and it was very, very windy. They closed the doors on the lido deck, near the deli line, with notes for everyone to stay away from that area. The sea was rough. Being the first time, I was a little nervous but we made it just fine.

 

Lookes like Carnival does compensate sometimes, even though it may seem quite small to some. Some cruise lines, don't.

 

I am just happy to be able to be on a ship and cruising and prefer to have sea days. The cruise I leave on tomorrow is 3 ports and 3 sea days.

 

When it comes to someone's health, that is more important than missing a port, such in the case of the cruise member who had an eptopic pregnancy. Those are very dangerous and life threatening if the tube were to burst. I read the CD's blog...kudo's

[H82seaUgo]

Never have understood it, as anything I would do on the island/port besides walking around would be an additional out of pocket expense.

 

I always thought that my fare went to all activies on the ship, as my only destination is where I started.

 

Now, if I were using the ship AS MY TRANSPORTATION, that would be a different story.

[jwlnroe]

we missed Half Moon Cay which alot of us were looking forward too but yes weather is unpredictable and we couldn't tender because of the high swells near shore. We were compensated $25 per person for the port taxes and what not and we had our excursion refunded as well. . we were bummed but what can you do.. safety first.

[flowerchild]

The cruiseline is completely within thier rights to change or drop a port of call. It is in your cruise contract. They do not have to compensate you in any way except for the return of port charges. If you are compensated in any way in addition to the port charges, consider yourself lucky.

[dulvemarquis]

Now, I don't want to start up another thread like the one that's been closed, but as I've experienced a few missed ports and a few medical emergencies, I'd just like to make a few observations.

 

First time I missed ports was on Ocean Village in the Mediterranean. We missed 2 ports on a 7 night / 5 port cruise. On both occasions the ports were missed due to bad weather. On the first occasion, we docked at an alternate port, arranged at short notice. The tour desk worked miracles, arranging a couple of excursions at incredibly short notice for the new port of call. On the second occasion, we got a day at sea. No compensation was offered.

 

Second time was on Sun Princess. Princess Cays had been damaged by storms, and Nassau was substituted. We were informed by letter a few weeks before departure, and, as we'd been to Princess Cays before, but never to Nassau, we were happy enough.

 

Third time was on Disney Magic. We missed one port on a 4 night / 2 port cruise. Worse still, the missed port was Castaway Cay... Disney's private island, which we really wanted to see. The other port, Nassau, we would have been happy to miss. The reason was weather... while the weather was not bad, the seas were not rough, the Captain was concerned that there was a risk of striking rocks when entering the mooring area. Having seen what happened to "Sea Diamond" in Santorini last year, I'm glad that he was not prepared to take the risk. However, we were pretty disappointed... with Disney cruise prices it's unlikely that we'll get another opportunity to see Castaway Cay. No compensation was offered.

 

Next time was another Princess cruise. We had just left St Marten when there was a medical emergency, so we returned to port. Even though our next port, St Thomas, was close by, we were a couple of hours late getting in to port. Trip times were re-arranged, communications were good. After leaving St Thomas, the Captain announced that we were to call at St Croix to bunker fuel. Passengers were allowed ashore for a couple of hours while this was going on. No compensation for the late arrival in St Thomas was offered... but we were not charged any extra for the extra call in St Croix!!!

 

Another Princess cruise, this time to the Atlantic coasts of Spain & Portugal, saw us meet a F11 storm in Biscay. The captain of Sea Princess took the decision to cut the planned call at La Coruna, and go slower to the next call, Bilbao. No compensation was offered. The same week, Legend of the Seas was in the same area, and I believe that they missed 3 out of their 4 ports, so our Captain obviously did a better job. A car ferry travelling from the UK to Spain was badly damaged in the storm and put into France for repairs... the passengers had no choice but to drive the rest of the way... now not reaching your destination's got to be far worse than just missing a port.

 

We've been unable to tender into Guernsey twice on P&O mini cruises due to heavy swells, again no compensation was offered.

 

Finally, back on Sea Princess again, we had a medical emergency en route back to Southampton, and the Captain put into port in France to disembark the ill passenger.

 

As the passenger was disembarked and carried towards the waiting ambulance, all the passengers watching events from the Promenade Deck spontaneously broke into applause and shouted good wishes to the parents of the sick child.

 

This medical emergency meant that we were several hours late back to the UK... arriving in Southampton at 2pm and disembarkation commenced at 4pm. A friend who had come to meet us off the ship had to wait a few hours, and far worse, many US passengers were to miss their early afternoon flights. Princess opened the internet cafe free, in order that people could rearrange travel arrangements, but they did not offer free phone calls for the less computer literate.

 

I imagine that those who missed their flights would have looked for compensation... but there was no petitions, no dissent. Every passenger was just happy that they still had their health.

 

On the contrary, a certain ship misses Jamaica, (my least favourite port in the whole world!), through nobody's fault, everyone gets a token $25... well... it's a couple of free drinks... (but to the ship it's $25 x 2000... $50,000) and there's mutiny!

 

I bet that guy would have got up a petition on the Titanic to complain about the ice making the deck slippery.....

We missed a port of call abaout a year ago on the Liberty. I can not even remember what port it was but we had booked a tour to the mayan ruins. It was something my husband had always wanted to see. It was a port that we had to be tendered in from (no dock) and because the seas were rough, they bypassed the prot. We were very dissapointed but were refunded. We booked a tour in Panama (another one of the stops on that cruise) that took us to the Gatun Locks in the canal and also a fort. Figured we would enjoy that as we had missed the ruins. The Panama canal tour had also been cancelled so everyone had rebooked on this one to at least see one of the locks. No one was interested in the thousands of years old fort so they talked the tour director into forgoing the fort part and just doing the lock. We were very dissapointed and informed carnival and of course they tell you that the tours are independent of them, so there is nothing they could do. It was a beautiful ship, but a nightmare cruise. We also spent a few hours floating at sea one night because there was no power on the ship (very eerie) and had a person die on board. We thought after that we would never go carnival again, but have gone 2 more times and just got back from southern caribbean on the miracle.

[earlethepearl]

See, these attitudes are what separate true cruisers from wannabe's.

[*Mach*]

Please... let's not beat this to death. I avoided that other thread because it was mainly counter productive. Yeah, they missed a port... happens all the time. They got compensated at $25/pp which is the standard Carnival policy... fine.

The bottom line is that Captain Marino was concerned for the LIFE of one of his crew. I'm positive that he would have rowed the ship that distance if it was necessary.

This is a fine and decent man doing what was necessary to preserve the life of one of his charges.

God bless him.

[grandmato4]

Found your post interesting to read op with so much experience with missed ports. I feel that any missed port is a disappointment but far from a disaster nor ever a reason to be angry or really upset. We've been extremely lucky so far but I'm sure our day will come. We almost missed Grand Cayman on our last cruise but the Capt did manage to take us to Spots Bay where we were able to tender to the island although almost all of the water related excursions were canceled because of high seas but we looked at that as simply a reason to go back again someday to enjoy what we missed this last time. Weather conditions effecting a cruise are simply a fact of life and no one plans or wishes to become seriously ill while on a cruiseship but it happens regularly. Now-a-days far too many people are way too wrapped up in themselves and the "me" attitude and can't see and enjoy the larger picture of life.

[RoxyD0823]

my personal opinion on that guy that caused all the commotion on the conquest, is that he really needs to think logically and take certain things into consideration. first of all, a medical emergency is something that cannot be avoided. he needs to see it as.. if you or your kids, are sick and need to be transported elsewhere and get the medical attention you require, would you like for our captain to do that for you, or would you like to our captain to have to deal with an idiot as yourself who is making a big deal about missing a measly port? eventhough there may have been enough time to still visit that missed port, alot of things go into play. and alot of the times, it has to do with port authority when they are unable to attend to a port because of other things going on.

[Cruisin thru life]

Not to prolong the discussion of the 100 or so people that were envoked into temp loss of their minds.... but I think that the cruise lines should banned devices such as personal GPS units. They give people enough info to be dangerous, but not enough to know what the h*ll is actually going on. If people had been out enjoying the cruise experience instead of playing "armchair" Captain with their GPS, they wouldn't have been as inclined to get wrapped up in the hoopla.

[NYCFOD]

I am pretty sure that those port charges (really taxes) that the cruise lines pay are paid in advance, and are non-refundable to the Line. It is yet another way governments gouge the shipping industry and the paying passenger.

[lake5298]

.... I think that the cruise lines should ban devices such as personal GPS units...........

 

 

I love taking mine... not to act "armchair captain" but so I can identify (from the chart on display on board) where the land is that I can see in the distance...

 

Of course, if the cruise lines would have clear, accurate "moving maps" displayed on the open decks, that would be great... but the cabin tv maps aren't exactly accurate or detailed enough.

 

Better to ban "rabble rousers"....

[halos]

I imagine that those who missed their flights would have looked for compensation... but there was no petitions, no dissent. Every passenger was just happy that they still had their health.

 

:)

I'd love to say that because you have such a terrific attitude that it would be a pleasure to sail with you.

BUT :eek:

You are one unlucky son-of-a-gun, so I'd rather not! :eek:

 

;) ;)

[VentureMan_2000]

We missed our Port on our Mexican Riviera Cruise... Puerta Vallarta... and instead of a $25 on board credit... they just stopped at a different port.

 

The Port was Ensenada... :eek:

 

 

I would have much rather have the $25 OBC...

[Kurbanfan]

BUT

You are one unlucky son-of-a-gun, so I'd rather not! :eek:

 

;) ;)

 

I agree. OP which cruise are you taking next:confused: :D Man if I missed that many ports I would rethink my vacation:p Knock on wood, we have never missed a port yet.......

[gazingm42]

We been on 8 or 9 cruises and have not missed a port yet! Now wish we

had missed Jamaica. But somethings just can not be helped, ie weather

medical issue, etc. Life too short to worry about it....

 

While I agree it must be disappointing to miss a port, however you are on

vacation!

[LornaT]

While I have not missed a port yet, in 2004 the night before Legend was to dock back in Fort Lauderdale for my sailing to board, they had a medical emergency and had to detour to Grand Cayman, I got the call from Carnival on my cell phone (I use this a my main contact number when I book) about the ship not docking until about 10:00 in the morning, so our boarding would be late ................. okay no problem. But here is what Carnival did which was IMHO above and beyond:

 

We were still able to proceed to the pier and check in at the normal time and drop our luggage but because there would be a delay boarding they contracted the local bus company to come out to the pier and transport anyone that wanted to a ride back into town to get lunch, shop, etc. at no cost to the passenger (for the bus) and then to bring passengers back to the pier later ...............plus because we were going to all miss our first lunch on the Lido deck, every passenger got a $15.00 OBC ...........wow!

 

In 2006 we had a sick passenger on Legend and we were close to Nassua but the Coast Guard made us go back towards San Juan to evacuate him by helicopter the next morning, this was going to make us really later getting back to Fort Lauderdale, the ship figured we'd dock at 8:00 pm, then was told by Long Shorman/Port Authority that no one would be there to off-load us and ICE said they wouldn't have anyone available for Immigration processing ............. so we got a slow ride back, full dinner service and shows, etc. Carnival said they would cover 1 phone call to change airline issues, etc. but the actually ended up covering all 4 of my calls (airline, hotel for that night, pet hotel and neighbors for ride home form the airport) and I heard that the folks that were supposed to board that afternoon had hotel rooms covered and even some costs for meals for the inconvience this caused. So I have nothing to complain about .......... except that I can't afford to cruise every week :eek:

[hillbillycruisers]

On our last cruise we were supposed to port in progresso and cozumel, but had to skip progresso due to rough seas.. of course we were dissapointed not to be able to see progresso as we'd never been there, but the ship went on to cozumel and we were able to spend the night there...and it turned out to be a REALLY fun time at carlos & charlies...maybe I should say REALLY, REALLY FUN TIME!!!...we were told we could even spend the night ashore if we wanted , we didnt...at least not all of it...we werent compensated for missing progresso, but then we were able to see cozumel nightlife..and looking back I dont think we'd have traded it for progresso!!! :)

[lake5298]

 

You are one unlucky son-of-a-gun

 

LOL :D :D As they say... "worse things happen at sea"...

 

.......OP which cruise are you taking next.......

 

Well, I'm just back today from a week in the Mediterranean on Thomson Destiny (the old Song Of America). We sailed from Palma, Mallorca, and visited Gibraltar, Casablanca, Ceuta, Almeria and Valencia. Decent weather, but not blistering sunshine. We left Palma today 16 deg C, returned to Liverpool UK where it was 24 deg C with clear blue skies!

 

Next cruises up are 7th June on Navigator of the Seas, (5 nights in the Med with my mother) 1st July on Golden Princess (12 nights around the UK... staying close to home but it will be a nice break) and 7th September on Star Princess (Alaska) if you want to avoid my bad luck!!!

 

As long as we make the ports in Alaska... I went with Mother last year, and it was sensational... my wife has yet to see it... I've booked loads of shore excursions so I really hope we make all the the ports on this one...

 

Still, A day at sea beats a day at home! (unless it's a day at sea in a F11 gale) :eek:

 

Today was the "dusting-off" day for my "toy car"... I have an old Mercedes 2-seater SLK (open top) which has just been jump-started this afternoon... it's the first time it's been out of the garage since last October... hence "dusting off"... and it's always nice to drive with the top down when it's summer... so the SUV will be parked up until it rains... or until I need to carry passengers or fill the boot... so I'm really enjoying the sunshine :)

 

Four weeks at work... 7 day weeks... (both my staff away for their holidays) then back to sea!

[cruzeluver]

I think every first-timer booking a cruise should be provided a copy of this thread by either the cruise line or their TA. Maybe this would bring more people into the loop.

 

When I talk to people who have never cruised, they always seemed surprised that not only do ships miss ports, but that no compensation is ever guaranteed. What I hear is " if I pay to go to Cozumel, I better d**n well go to Cozumel!" Then I have to explain, you are not paying to go to Cozumel. You are paying to get on a ship and make it back to where you first boarded. That's it.

[lake5298]

I've been reading John Heald's blog for ages. For anyone who doesn't know, John is Carnival's senior Cruise Director, and blogs daily at http://johnhealdsblog.com

 

Today, he put a link to http://www.avidcruiser.com/albert which is a very interesting blog by one of Holland America's captains.

 

At http://www.avidcruiser.com/albert/?paged=2 he blogs about having to miss a port due to weather making the tender operation potentially dangerous, and it is very interesting to hear the "missed port" story direct from the Captain.

 

One particular point he makes is (at least in US waters)

 

"A secondary problem is that with (today's) security, most ports demand 48 hours or more pre-clearance for the papers and manifests and thus the days of a quick deviation to another port are virtually over."

 

This may go some way to explaining why a cancelled port is replaced by a day at sea instead of an alternate port.

 

I recommend both blogs as interesting reading... far better than my own little blog...