itf

I've been on about 15 cruises with various lines so I should be able to work this out! I booked on Arvia for 2023 this morning, and my confirmation says my grade is B6

But when I go to pay something off my cruise it shows the below - "mini-suite" - I'm pretty sure I booked a full suite, as I wouldn't have paid that much for a mini! It seems from googling that B6 is a full suite, but can someone confirm so I stop worrying!

1 hour ago, majortom10 said:

If it is anything like Cunard then no it is not the only suite available. P&O and Cunard both use the same computer programme and if you go into selecting room it usually gives you more availability and even then it is not always correct. We recently booked onboard Cunard and when checking online only showed staterooms available at the Aft of the ship when I went to Cruise Sales Voyage Specialist to confirm availability and price she said there was plenty of availability Midships.

I did go into selecting room and there was nothing at all on any deck I could change to if I was willing to pay the higher fare.

When I look at Select, there's only one cabin offered to me anyway - 15109 - is it therefore safe to assume this is the room we'd be allocated?

We're not new cruisers but have only been on P&O twice, on Britannia. First time we had a select fare, and the second time my mother booked very late and were allocated a terrible room above an entertainment venue which was very unhelpful with a 3 year old. P&O did actually come good and put us in an empty suite after our second sleepless night that time, but I would really rather not risk a repeat.

In the end this has worked in P&Os favour as I'd like to sail in a suite again now! I'm just wondering if there's any full suites on Arvia (given it's the sister ship of another in the fleet) that would be so undesirable as to be a similar disaster (I'm not at all concerned about location front/back/midship or even the size of the suite) if I booked an Early Saver? Three of us, 2x adults and a child.

Alex who was CD on the Sky late 2019 has opened a cafe so I guess he's not coming back.

Thanks for posting about this - we had two weeks on the Sky in Dec 2019 and it brought back great memories.

10 hours ago, cruiser147147 said:

itf --  THANKS for taking the time to update us.

 

Could you please post the name of the NCL department you dealt with.

Just the generic customer services email - they were perfectly good about it and responded in ~48 hours each time providing me the documents I needed for insurer.

Well, just to update this, Norwegian confirmed that the $15 refund was indeed port taxes, I forwarded it to the insurer and today I got confirmation that I'll receive the full £300 (£100 each x 3 people). Just to give anyone who cared closure!

19 hours ago, JennyB1977 said:

Wouldn't the cruise line have put a letter in your cabin or a notice in the daily about the refund? Something like this that you could send to the insurance company?

 

No - we got nothing and front desk didn't provide us anything when we asked onboard.

6 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

In that case, I don't think that I was going down a meaningless rabbit hole. I believe that the insurance companies terms are that they will pay up to £100, but they see the $15, even if it was return of port fees, as compensation, and I agree with them.

But if that's the case, it's impossible for any NCL cruiser (or any other line maybe?) to ever actually successfully claim on the insurance, right? Because all lines will refund you those taxes to your shipboard account.

So the product is useless - it can never be claimed. They have stated they will pay if I can provide

"Confirmation from the cruise company that the $15 per person credit was indeed a refund of port taxes, please note the letter from the cruise liner states that it is refund able onboard credit which we would consider a form of compensation."

I was not 100% confident that the $15 is just port taxes which is what I wanted to clarify here before chasing NCL for a letter.

1 minute ago, smplybcause said:

There is insurance that pays you a flat amount for a missed port in the US. It sounds like the OP has a UK version of it. And no, it's not "we'll pay for any costs of a missed port" as regular old travel insurance covers that instance, it's just payment for missing a port. Not every state has that - notably Florida does not allow that type of insurance (probably because the high portion of residents that cruise). 

 

I think to prove it insurance would want something saying it's a refund of port fees, but I'm not sure NCL will bother to provide that. 

Exactly this.

4 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

Can we just clarify please.

 

From what you were originally saying, my understanding was that the insurance company were not paying you anything because you got the $15 from NCL.

 

Now, it sounds like they are saying you can get the £100, but they want to deduct the $15.

 

If it is the latter, then I think they are probably correct to deduct the $15. If the former then that would suggest that my reading of the terms is correct.

The former - they won't pay anything at all because they deem the $15 to be "compensation" rather than a refund of port taxes. NCL provided a letter saying no compensation was offered nor would it be, but $15 refundable credit was added to my account. If this is simply a refund of port taxes, then the insurer will pay. Which is why I asked the question of what exactly the $15 on the shipboard account *IS* - is it a refund of the port taxes, in which case I should be paid. Or is it something else - in which case the insurance can literally never pay out because you will always hit the exclusion terms.

I would have been entirely happy with scenario 2.

1 minute ago, KeithJenner said:

There is a very big argument about the £100 figure, and the fact that the insurance company aren't paying you £100 suggests that they disagree with you on this.

I have in writing from the insurer as part of our correspondence that the £100 per person IS the figure to be paid. This is a meaningless rabbit hole that you are insisting on going down - it's not even a point of argument between myself and the insurer. The compensation is clear to both parties and neither is arguing!

Literally the only argument I have between the insurer paying or not is what the $15 on my statement is! 

Just now, JennyB1977 said:

@itf You should probably prepare yourself that it won't be $100. As others have pointed out "up to" begins at $0 and means no more than $100.

 

 

 

As I've clarified above there's no argument about the £100 figure. The only argument is what the $15 is. If it's "compensation" I get nothing at all. If it's a refund of port taxes, I get the £100.

2 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

This is a big problem with insurance. You are very often insured "up to" an amount, as in this case. Zero fits in with that definition.

No it's £100 per port *up to £1000* if we'd missed 10 ports. It isn't up to £100 per port, or there would be no reason to ever purchase the higher level of cover.

They've confirmed all this - the only argument we have is whether that $15 was a refund or compensation. If I can prove it's a refund of port tax, they pay. If I can't, they class it as "compensation" and don't.

21 minutes ago, roger001 said:

Missed ports are just a fact of life with cruising.  It's even in the contract.  The cruise line will refund any money you might have been charged to port there, but don't give extra just because you missed that port.  Again, in the contract.  However, looks like you insurance company might have been implying a small bonus if their minimum offered is more than what you were already refunded.  

100% and we've done 15 cruises and missed 2 ports, so my hit rate isn't bad. And last time we got an alternate port (and I wouldn't even bother claiming in that scenario) - the fact remains they explicitly sell missed port cover, I purchased it and paid a premium for it - but it's impossible to claim, as nobody on any NCL cruise can ever meet the requirements for the claim based on the small print if they consider the $15 port fee refund to be "compensation" -  which it isn't, it's a refund. 

That's all I need from this post - is the $15 explicitly a refund of the port taxes - I believe it is. If I can prove this, they'll pay out. If I can't, they deem it "compensation" even though NCL have confirmed to them in writing that no compensation is offered for a missed port.

1 minute ago, Dar & Bob said:

Again you were insured "up to" £100 per person,  but with insurance you are compensated for the amount you are out monetarily.  

 

No - as I've posted above in the screenshot - I am specifically and explicitly insured against missed ports and a monetary value is assigned to that by them - not me - and I paid a premium for that extended cover.

3 minutes ago, Dar & Bob said:

It says you will be compensated "up to" the amount in the schedule.  Insurance puts you in the same position monetarily - so what are you out of pocket for missing the port?  If you had an excursion that was non refundable I would agree they should reimburse you for that.  Otherwise, what are you out?

 

Well you're out the experience of visiting the port! I am specifically insured for £100 per person for each missed port. It was a feature of the cruise insurance.

If I'm covered for it - and paid the highest possible premium for that cover - then they should pay.

 

3 minutes ago, Dar & Bob said:

Not to mention any other cruise line  Refunding port charges is the standard and in your cruise contract but we don't read those do we?  🙂

 

I paid extra for cruise cover (allianz) which apparently wasn't worth the paper it was written on as they are excluding on Q1/2 . They are saying the $15 was "compensation". I disagree.

Section Q1 - Missed port What you are covered for under Section Q1 We will pay up to the amount shown in the table of benefits if your scheduled port visit is cancelled due to adverse weather or timetable restrictions. Please note: You must get written confirmation from your carrier or tour operator confirming your scheduled port visit was cancelled and the reason for the cancellation.

What you are not covered for under Section Q1

1. Any claim arising from your ship’s failure to put people ashore due to the mechanical or operational failure of the ships tender (or any other boat used to transport passengers to shore).

2. Any claim where a monetary amount, including but not limited to on board credit or other compensation, has been offered to you by the ship or tour operator.

3. Any claim where you do not have written confirmation from your carrier or tour operator confirming your scheduled port visit was cancelled.

I am in an argument with my travel insurance who are unwilling to pay out on my claim for a missed port on the Breakaway because I received "compensation" from the cruise line.

That compensation (significantly less than they would pay out) was $15 - which I believe was the port taxes, and therefore no kind of compensation, just a refund. Can someone clarify if this is the case?

Well I'm dealing with them right now for a cruise claim and I'll go with bad - we had a missed port, and they're refusing to pay out because of the $15 each we got back. The coverage was for £100 UK per person for a missed port. So my clam fails under clause 2 below. Now I've been on around 15 cruises and if we've ever missed a port either an alternative port has been offered, or the port taxes are refunded. In this case, it was the port taxes, and that means I can't claim the much higher amount. 

Here's the clause

Section Q1 - Missed port What you are covered for under Section Q1 We will pay up to the amount shown in the table of benefits if your scheduled port visit is cancelled due to adverse weather or timetable restrictions. Please note: You must get written confirmation from your carrier or tour operator confirming your scheduled port visit was cancelled and the reason for the cancellation.

What you are not covered for under Section Q1

1. Any claim arising from your ship’s failure to put people ashore due to the mechanical or operational failure of the ships tender (or any other boat used to transport passengers to shore).

2. Any claim where a monetary amount, including but not limited to on board credit or other compensation, has been offered to you by the ship or tour operator.

3. Any claim where you do not have written confirmation from your carrier or tour operator confirming your scheduled port visit was cancelled.

Breakaway was brutal in January - 1.5 hours a night and half the time it was cold when it came out.

The reviews for the Breakaway are giving me similar concerns, but we've been on the Jade and the Getaway and enjoyed them - how bad can it be?

24 minutes ago, debnjoe1438 said:

Congratulations. I'm glad some are getting the upgrades. I'm still waiting and hoping. Was your price 240 each (for first 2) or total? If you don't mind me asking

£240 UK total, £120 each.

We got our upgrade on the 22/1 Breakaway sailing - went from B2 Balcony to an M6 for £240 - as there's four of us I didn't think that was too bad. Looks like a large balcony so I'm happy enough with that.