Princess cruise policy on reimbursement of port charges for missed port

[vermonter16]

My friend just got off the Princess Emerald in Alaska. She said that the boat didn't dock in Victoria due to winds while 2 other ships did dock. I said she should have had her port fees refunded to her but she never got them on her statement. I'm not sure of Princess' policy but thought others might know. Thank you.

[fishywood]

Scheduled arrival time at Victoria is barely twelve hours before disembarkation starts the next morning. Your friend could still see the final charge to their credit card amended from the amount that showed on the final copy of their folio. Ask them if they kept track of their onboard charges with Princess@Sea, which updates in real time and is thus more accurate than the paper invoice.

 

And please remember Port Charges and Government Taxes and Fees are two totally different items. The former is the non-commissionable portion of the cruise fare as broken out by your Travel Agent; the latter are supposed to represent the per-head charges from the local authorities. But as defined in the Passage Contract all cruise lines, not just Princess, have wide latitude in determining what goes there--pretty much any fixed operational charges associated with port calls that break out better as a flat rate per person rather than as a portion of the cruise fare which varies considerably from cabin to cabin.

[jagsfan]

She’ll probably get a small check. It will not have Princess as a return address on the envelope, she she’ll need to open any mail that might be the check.

 

 

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[vermonter16]

Thanks for the answers guys! I certainly appreciate it.

[beg3yrs]

Was the next stop Vancouver or Seattle? IIRC, if it's Seattle, missing the stop in Victoria becomes a violation of the PVSA (if there were no other foreign stops). We once missed Vancouver because of winds and were told officially, we did stop there as there was some kind of exchange between the ship and the shore to make it technically a stop. In this manner, the PVSA would not be violated. I would think that in this case, port charges would still be paid and then there would be no refund to passengers.

 

 

I'm not sure if this is all correct but would love to hear from those in the know.

[moki'smommy]

I can't address the legal issues. Our port charges were refunded to our folio when appropriate.

[nini]

We missed St. John today due to stormy weather and the Captain said we will get a credit on our account for Port fees.

[caribill]

We have received refunds of port fees for missed ports"

a) During the voyage the port was missed

b) with a check* several weeks after the cruise

c) with a check* almost a year after the cruise

 

 

* It has been a while and I am not sure if it was a check or a credit to the credit card used to pay for the cruise.

[RDC1]

My friend just got off the Princess Emerald in Alaska. She said that the boat didn't dock in Victoria due to winds while 2 other ships did dock. I said she should have had her port fees refunded to her but she never got them on her statement. I'm not sure of Princess' policy but thought others might know. Thank you.

Keep in mind that not docking, and not allowing passengers ashore might not be the same as missing Victoria. Sometimes in bad weather the ship will stop off shore, send a small boat in and back so they can still meet the requirement of stopping at a foreign port.

[foodsvcmgr]

I have always received a refund or credit for port taxes on missed ports for the 40 years I have been cruising.

Don’t have the impression that this is optional for cruise lines to do so.

When and by what means of course will vary.

[geoherb]

We missed three scheduled ports on our trans-Atlantic crossing on the Royal this month. We picked up two new ports. We had a credit on our onboard accounts of around $27 each. It's part of the refundable credits that I'll be getting a check for in the next few weeks.