June 19, 2006
Cruise vacations & port fee refunds
I was just reading this interesting article about cruise lines and port fees. In turns out that cruise lines will put these fees in the fine print somewhere so to calculate the true cost of your cruise you'll need to check on the port fees.
The focus of the article was on what happens when a cruise ship misses a port of call. Passengers are not entitled to a refund although some cruise lines might offer onboard credit.
The thrust of the article was that cruise lines need to be a bit more ethical when it comes to port fees. They should be included in the price of the cruise instead of listed in the fine print as "governmental taxes and fees". Also, when a ship misses a port they don't pay port fees so neither should we customers.
Posted by James Trotta at June 19, 2006 1:07 PM
Took a vacation cruise on Celebrity Cruise Ship Zenith. Both my wife and I plus 78 other individuals were infected with Norvirus. Center for cotrol desease stated that the Zenith had reported a high incidence of the virus. We were quarentined for 90% of the cruise. Celebrity denies responsability.Is time that consumer rights are protected.Beware of the sick ships. Check with Center for Desease Control!!!!!
Posted by: agonzalez at June 20, 2006 1:52 AMmy dad and i are planning on taking a vacation cruise sometime september or october. which cruise line would you recommend? thanks
Posted by: josie at June 20, 2006 10:13 AMJust FYI I worked on cruise ships as a Port Lecturer and Internet Cafe Manager for close to 5 years on Norwegian Cruise Lines, Holland America, etc. And while yes sometimes ships do miss ports, the article mentioned suggests it is
"at the discretion of the captain." Believe me from my experiences it is not a "goal" to miss a port. They try everything they can to go in. BUT, if the weather is bad, the ship is having mechanical issues or someone is ill they just can't go into port. As one of the few American's having worked on ships I assure you that our best interests are at heart and yes, sometimes it happens and yes sometimes they probably make an extra buck or two but it is truly not a goal.
We have been on cruises when you couldn't go to the port due to bad weather and the cruise lines
really are looking out for the best of the passengers and the crew. But we have always been
given credit on our bill for the amount for port charges due to a cancellation.
6/20/06