Non-Refundable Private Shorex.

There has been a few postings on the May 1st Caribbean Princess "Round Britain" cruise Roll Call.

It seems that there were providers of shore excursions in Kirkwall (Orkneys) who requested pre-payment for shore excursions BUT who would not provide a refund when the ship did not get in to the port. They informed the poster that he would have to claim against his insurance.

I wondered if this was becoming more common?

Are there other ports where this is a problem?

It is certainly a case of Caveat Emptor.

Mike

I would NOT book with a company that had that policy.

Nor would I but I was wondering just how widespread it was. We are due to visit Kirkwall in a month as was hoping to inform the people in the Roll Call for that trip of how widespread the problem was. i have already informed them of the problem in Kirkwall.

Pre-payment is far more common in Europe than in the Caribbean or south Pacific, together with .the loss of all or a significant part of that payment in the case of a no-show - even if the no-show is due to the ship failing to port.

Hence the need to check both the reliability of the port (sadly due to sea-state Kirkwall is one of the more unreliable ports) and the vendor's cancellation terms.

I don't know whether this is covered by travel insurance, probably it depends on different insurers' policies.

It's not difficult to understand that when a port-of-call is aborted someone has to lose - and the tour vendor will have committed his vehicles and his staff, with little chance of re-assigning at short/nil notice.

I'm not usually keen on tour agencles / intermediaries / brokers / callthemwhatyouwill, but perhaps for this port it's worth considering

https://www.cruisingexcursions.com/ports/kirkwall

who claim to provide a full refund if the ship fails to port.

Or of course ship's tours, which have their downsides but no charge if the excursion is cancelled.

With unreliable ports I prefer to avoid commitment and DIY (trains, local buses, shanks's), but I don't know if that's possible in Kirkwall, a place I've never visited

JB :)

Pre-payment is far more common in Europe than in the Caribbean or south Pacific, together with .the loss of all or a significant part of that payment in the case of a no-show - even if the no-show is due to the ship failing to port.

Hence the need to check both the reliability of the port (sadly due to sea-state Kirkwall is one of the more unreliable ports) and the vendor's cancellation terms.

 

I don't know whether this is covered by travel insurance, probably it depends on different insurers' policies.

 

It's not difficult to understand that when a port-of-call is aborted someone has to lose - and the tour vendor will have committed his vehicles and his staff, with little chance of re-assigning at short/nil notice.

 

I'm not usually keen on tour agencles / intermediaries / brokers / callthemwhatyouwill, but perhaps for this port it's worth considering

https://www.cruisingexcursions.com/ports/kirkwall

who claim to provide a full refund if the ship fails to port.

 

Or of course ship's tours, which have their downsides but no charge if the excursion is cancelled.

 

With unreliable ports I prefer to avoid commitment and DIY (trains, local buses, shanks's), but I don't know if that's possible in Kirkwall, a place I've never visited

 

JB :)

We have booked with several private tour companies in Europe over the last several years and none ever required payment in advance. All were highly rated companies. All were recommended on the related ports of call forums. They are out there. You may need to do more research to find them.

Most tour guides in Holyhead require full payment in advance with a 50% refund if the ship does not make port

I guess if you want a private tour you take a chance you make port

You just need to check the tour company's policy and then make an informed decision.

For example: toursbylocals policy for a shore excursion is a full refund if your ship skips the port. They offer tours that are labeled shore excursions and others that are not so labeled. However, when I was interested in a Kyoto tour that was not labeled as a shore excursion, I contacted their home office. I let them know that I would be arriving by ship in Kobe, taking the train from Kobe to Kyoto and would like to have my tour in Kyoto treated as a shore excursion with the associated refund if the ship missed the Kobe port; they agreed to treat it so.

If you run into a problem, I do have one suggestion -- post a critical posting on the CC Ports of Call board for that port. We had a problem with a prepaid agency in Italy. We cancelled a long time before, and they refunded most of the money, but not the money for a ticket to a museum in the city we were to visit. I told them that they should therefore send the ticket to me, which they refused to do. That indicated to me that they never even bought the ticket, but they were adamant no matter how easy I tried to make it for them. That got my ire up, and I posted a "question" on the Ports of Call board whether other people thought it was fair, and whether they agreed with me that the company had withheld the money and never bought the ticket. Suddenly I got the rest of the refund. If the worst happens, you can always try this gambit.

There has been a few postings on the May 1st Caribbean Princess "Round Britain" cruise Roll Call.

 

It seems that there were providers of shore excursions in Kirkwall (Orkneys) who requested pre-payment for shore excursions BUT who would not provide a refund when the ship did not get in to the port. They informed the poster that he would have to claim against his insurance.

 

I wondered if this was becoming more common?

Are there other ports where this is a problem?

 

It is certainly a case of Caveat Emptor.

 

Mike

You need to read the company policy on refunds or ask if there is no written policy in their literature. Many companies do not require a deposit but some do. I have just booked several tours in Europe and I would guess that 25% have asked for a deposit. I have no problem with this as no-shows cost them a lot of money. In every case however, I can cancel the tour w/o loss up to a clearly stated time before the tour and I will get a complete refund if the ship does not make port.

I have a great difficulty feeling sorry for the people who make and pay for arrangement without checking out all the relevant details. In fact, I do not feel sorry for them at all.

DON

Another possibility is paying by credit card. Sometimes it is possible to get a charge back and be refunded where you do not get the goods or services. Places like Kirkwall probably experience quite a proportion of ships failing to get people ashore.

Regards John

Another possibility is paying by credit card. Sometimes it is possible to get a charge back and be refunded where you do not get the goods or services. Places like Kirkwall probably experience quite a proportion of ships failing to get people ashore.

 

Regards John

Hi, John,

I don't see the credit card issuer refunding in the event of a no-show.

If you buy things like concert tickets & cinema tickets and don't turn up, that's not a breach by the vendor.

And the same applies if your ship fails to port - you've failed to show. Not your fault but not the vendor's fault either, so the vendor and the card issuer aren't liable - unless of course the vendor's stated policy is to refund (in part or in full) if the ship fails to port.

Nice try, John, but methinks no cigar ;)

JB :)

Always a good option to use a credit card