Port Tax refund - Missed port

[nyckfocus]

Just returned from the Fjords on the Iona and had to miss our last port of call.

On previous cruises we automatically got a missed port refund added to our on-board credit . I enquired as reception and was told it would be taken of my final bill .I checked the itemised statement and it wasn't listed so we visited reception before we disembarked and was told some story which didn't make sense and would have to write to PO for the refund .  After a few minutes of being fobbed off she eventually gave us a very small piece of paper with the address on .

Has anyone managed to get a refund , did you write to PO , how did it work

 

thanks nick

 

[david63]

Never heard of this happening before.

 

I normally just get a letter from reception stating that we have missed one, or more, ports of call and send it to my insurance company who then pay whatever the amount x2 is for a missed port

[sandancer]

For the first time this year we upgraded our insurance to include extra cruise cover. It cost £20 each. We took a Cunard cruise this year and we missed a port. No refund of taxes as they replaced the missed port (Bermuda) with another port. 
Claimed successfully on the cruise insurance. Definitely worth the small extra premium. 

[Fionboard]

You do not get compensation for missed ports from P&O. That is what cruise insurance is for. Need to get letter from reception before getting home though.

[galeforce9]

We have received missed port tax refund on to our on board account automatically on another carnival line (Seabourn).  Never on P&O.  Missed port cruise insurance is something else altogether which we also have.  That is in effect a payout bonus and nothing to do with tax.  

[AlanCruise]

I think refunds for port taxes tend to come from USA based cruise lines as these tend to be added as an extra to the basic fare in the first place. For P&O the prices quoted are inclusive and don't separately identify charges like these.

 

[majortom10]

It is not about missed ports it is about the port fees/taxes that you pay as part of your cruise fare. This is charge of the port authorities for docking there. If you don't dock then P&O do not have to pay the taxes/fees to the port authority so as they have already charged you they should reimburse you but they never do. It is very naughty of P&O to keep the charge as pure profit. Whenever I have missed a port of call on Princess they reimburse port fees/taxes within 24 hrs to your onboard account.

[majortom10]

44 minutes ago, AlanCruise said:

I think refunds for port taxes tend to come from USA based cruise lines as these tend to be added as an extra to the basic fare in the first place. For P&O the prices quoted are inclusive and don't separately identify charges like these.

 

True but you still pay them in your cruise fare and if P&O don't pay port authority they should reimburse you but never do and keep it as pure profit. Port fees/taxes for a ship full of cruiser's is many thousands of pounds which P&O keep for doing nothing.

[wowzz]

We missed a port on Princess.  The taxes were credited to our account the next day.

P&O just profiteering. 

[majortom10]

7 minutes ago, wowzz said:

We missed a port on Princess.  The taxes were credited to our account the next day.

P&O just profiteering. 

 

3 hours ago, Fionboard said:

You do not get compensation for missed ports from P&O. That is what cruise insurance is for. Need to get letter from reception before getting home though.

We are not talking about compensation but as part of your cruise fare P&O charge port fees/taxes to pay port authority when you dock. If you don't dock you should be given that fees back but they don't they keep it and rip the cruiser's off.

 

[molecrochip]

In the UK, P&O sells a bundled package. It does not sell transport then add on taxes in the way that CCL or Princess do.

 

Therefore under the terms that P&O and every guest have jointly agreed to, P&O don't have to offer a refund unless costs vary by more than 2%.  This works both ways, P&O have to absorb taxes rising unless they are significant.

 

CCL and Princess, where they add on taxes seperately, can charge any variance if taxes increase - and they do. I've seen a taxes surcharge on my bill before.

[Trevor Fountain]

15 hours ago, majortom10 said:

True but you still pay them in your cruise fare and if P&O don't pay port authority they should reimburse you but never do and keep it as pure profit. Port fees/taxes for a ship full of cruiser's is many thousands of pounds which P&O keep for doing nothing.

As I have never seen Port fees/taxes itemised in my fare, I have always considered it to be part and parcel of the overall package, and would never even give it a second thought when ports are missed.

I mean if you go to Tesco for your weekly shop, you know that in the cost of your food Tesco will obviously have considered the running costs involved. If you walk down a food aisle and the lighting has failed, would you expect something knocked off your bill, because obviously less electricity, more profit for Tesco?

You say P&O keep many thousands of pounds in fees and taxes if a port is missed. Can you say how much per fare this equates to?

Presumably, if the ship is not in port, then it is moving, should they then charge the extra fuel cost to our bills? More staff required to work as no passengers will be ashore. The list goes on.

I am happy with my fare and if I am worried about missing ports then I will buy insurance to cover that, though everybody is entitled to their opinion. 

[Thejuggler]

15 hours ago, majortom10 said:

 

We are not talking about compensation but as part of your cruise fare P&O charge port fees/taxes to pay port authority when you dock. If you don't dock you should be given that fees back but they don't they keep it and rip the cruiser's off.

 

No different to airlines and taxes.  If you apply for a refund they apply an admin charge so you get nothing.

[david63]

28 minutes ago, Trevor Fountain said:

Can you say how much per fare this equates to?

As a possible answer.

 

I have just booked a cruise with another Carnival brand where the port taxes are shown as a separate item. There are seven ports of call (excluding Southampton) and the port fees are £145 which is roughly an average of £21 per port. So with say a 2,500 passenger ship that would equate to £50k per port.

Edited September 25, 2022 by david63

[Son of Anarchy]

Over 95% of our cruises have been with P&O, never really paid attention to port taxes been itemised separately on the few other lines we have been one.

 

Makes me wonder though, on those lines where port taxes are itemised separately, and refunded separately, do those lines charge you extra if the ship has to call into an additional port, or stay longer in port than originally planned?

 

Twice with P&O we've made additional calls or overstayed due to technical issues.  Nothing extra charged, in fact extra OBC given on board, and on one occasion a substantial refund of the fare paid.

[Mr Sea Gull]

18 hours ago, majortom10 said:

It is not about missed ports it is about the port fees/taxes that you pay as part of your cruise fare. This is charge of the port authorities for docking there. If you don't dock then P&O do not have to pay the taxes/fees to the port authority so as they have already charged you they should reimburse you but they never do. It is very naughty of P&O to keep the charge as pure profit. Whenever I have missed a port of call on Princess they reimburse port fees/taxes within 24 hrs to your onboard account.

 

We have recently returned from a Princess cruise which removed a port for a sea day, we never received anything back for the port taxes. I queried this with Princess and was told you have to claim on your insurance for which they provide a letter. This is not what cruise insurance is for, the missed ports element is for the disappointment in missing the port not for the cruise line to just make extra money and not all insurers cover it. It should be reimbursed like airlines do when you cancel, you are paying for something they are not delivering I'm sure you would not go to a shop to purchase something and leave without the the goods and them saying claim on your insurance.  Our port taxes equated to approximately £12 per port so with 3000 passengers it's a lot of money.  

 

[nyckfocus]

14 hours ago, Trevor Fountain said:

As I have never seen Port fees/taxes itemised in my fare, I have always considered it to be part and parcel of the overall package, and would never even give it a second thought when ports are missed.

I mean if you go to Tesco for your weekly shop, you know that in the cost of your food Tesco will obviously have considered the running costs involved. If you walk down a food aisle and the lighting has failed, would you expect something knocked off your bill, because obviously less electricity, more profit for Tesco?

You say P&O keep many thousands of pounds in fees and taxes if a port is missed. Can you say how much per fare this equates to?

Presumably, if the ship is not in port, then it is moving, should they then charge the extra fuel cost to our bills? More staff required to work as no passengers will be ashore. The list goes on.

I am happy with my fare and if I am worried about missing ports then I will buy insurance to cover that, though everybody is entitled to their opinion. 

So I presume if you went to the same Tesco with the failed lighting and bought a 4 pack of Fillet Steaks and one steak was missing you'll be happy to pay full price with that also ?? I paid to got to 4 ports and only went to 3 .

As it was our final port they took a slow sail back or even stopped during the night for all i know so minimal  extra fuel cost , the Port Tax they saved and not refunded, along all the on-board shops being rammed where they were empty before not to mention all the drinks/alcohol they sold, against the extra staff cost i think they made a very healthy profit.

This was my first PO cruise , and probably my last as they've been a little bit Sneaky from the day we booked to the day we got off 

[Trevor Fountain]

6 hours ago, nyckfocus said:

So I presume if you went to the same Tesco with the failed lighting and bought a 4 pack of Fillet Steaks and one steak was missing you'll be happy to pay full price with that also ?? I paid to got to 4 ports and only went to 3 .

As it was our final port they took a slow sail back or even stopped during the night for all i know so minimal  extra fuel cost , the Port Tax they saved and not refunded, along all the on-board shops being rammed where they were empty before not to mention all the drinks/alcohol they sold, against the extra staff cost i think they made a very healthy profit.

This was my first PO cruise , and probably my last as they've been a little bit Sneaky from the day we booked to the day we got off 

I can fully understand you're being unhappy about missing a port. Experienced cruisers understand that when you book a cruise there is an element of risk that means you might not get to every port. If logistics allow, then the port will be substituted for another.

Whilst it is upsetting to miss a port, what you have paid for is a 7,14 or whatever day cruise, and ultimately that is what you got. You can insure for missed ports, and I suggest you do so if you cruise again.

I have missed a few ports in my forty odd years of cruising, but never has it ruined my holiday.

You don't mention what sneakiness P&O have been up to, though I agree there are a number of issues that they have not handled well. However these are unprecidented times and reading other boards it's obvious that this isn't unique to P&O trying to manage evolving situations with things like covid, supply issues. staff shortages and many other things besides. If it was so bad that you don't want to sail with P&O again, that is your choice, but try and take all the positives from your cruise, and think what it may have been like if everything was normal.

Whichever Line you may choose, I'm sure all will be better judged in more normal times.

[Bazrat]

10 hours ago, nyckfocus said:

So I presume if you went to the same Tesco with the failed lighting and bought a 4 pack of Fillet Steaks and one steak was missing you'll be happy to pay full price with that also ?? I paid to got to 4 ports and only went to 3 .

As it was our final port they took a slow sail back or even stopped during the night for all i know so minimal  extra fuel cost , the Port Tax they saved and not refunded, along all the on-board shops being rammed where they were empty before not to mention all the drinks/alcohol they sold, against the extra staff cost i think they made a very healthy profit.

This was my first PO cruise , and probably my last as they've been a little bit Sneaky from the day we booked to the day we got off 

Your last sentence said it all your first cruise with pando and probably last, your making the right decision your obviously unhappy so every time you cruise with them you tolerance level would be nonexistent