Oceania does not refund port taxes for skipped ports

[Sdancer]

Oceania Sirena skipped the port of Cozumel and refused to refund port taxes to the passengers. It means that Oceania financially benefits by skipping ports since Oceania keeps port taxes for skipped ports paid by passengers for themselves. It is very wrong!

Princess and Carnival automatically refund port taxes for skipped ports to their passengers.

 

Oceania Ticket Contract pdf has 29 port tax mentions but nothing about keeping (not refunding) skipped ports taxes.

 

It might be a small number per passenger but multiplying by the number of passengers and number of Cruises it is a substantial amount.

 

P.S. I just got back from our 10th cruise on Oceania Sirena with no intention of coming back to Oceania for a few significant reasons.

[basor]

Oceania has never refunded port taxes because port taxes are not listed as a separate line item on your invoice unlike Princess, etc.  You are very lucky if you have taken 10 Oceania cruises and not missed a port due to weather, etc.!

If you believe that Oceania deliberately skipped Cozumel to put $$$ in their pockets than you will definitely be better off on a different cruise line.  Oceania is not the only cruise line that does not line item port taxes and thus does not refund.

[thebsinmiss]

I agree they should be refunded. I would bet O will say they immediately forwarded the funds to the appropriate government/authority/port when the cruise was paid in full so they don't "benefit".

 

As they canceled the port visit for valid/invalid/questionable reasons it would be effective customer service to refund the funds even if they don't have the money.

 

I realize forums/boards tend to get a large percentage of dissatisfied customers (silent majority are the happy/satisficed customers) but it seems like NCL's corporate culture is influencing O and it is not for the better.

[ORV]

Really? I don't think I've heard this before. Tell us more about why you're not cruising with them anymore, especially since you're hitting the sweet spot in the Oceania Club with 10 cruises. 

[cruiserchuck]

I recently cruised on NCL, and they did refund (via nonrefundable OBC) port taxes/fees for a missed port.  Oceania is one of the few cruise lines that does not breakout port taxes/fees in their advertised pricing.  

[Sdancer]

44 minutes ago, basor said:

Oceania has never refunded port taxes because port taxes are not listed as a separate line item on your invoice unlike Princess, etc.  You are very lucky if you have taken 10 Oceania cruises and not missed a port due to weather, etc.!

If you believe that Oceania deliberately skipped Cozumel to put $$$ in their pockets than you will definitely be better off on a different cruise line.  Oceania is not the only cruise line that does not line item port taxes and thus does not refund.

I have port charges as a one separate charge for all ports in my invoice, but is not the point.

The point is that Oceania knows how much they DID NOT pay Cozumel for missing this port.

It is alarming that Oceania just keeps the money - it tell you a lot about the company.

[Sdancer]

58 minutes ago, thebsinmiss said:

I agree they should be refunded. I would bet O will say they immediately forwarded the funds to the appropriate government/authority/port when the cruise was paid in full so they don't "benefit".

 

As they canceled the port visit for valid/invalid/questionable reasons it would be effective customer service to refund the funds even if they don't have the money.

 

I realize forums/boards tend to get a large percentage of dissatisfied customers (silent majority are the happy/satisficed customers) but it seems like NCL's corporate culture is influencing O and it is not for the better.

Oceania did not pay Cozumel but pocketed the money.

We will not support dishonest businesses like Oceania. 

 

I enjoyed Oceania before the pandemic but after the pandemic Oceania was not the same at the management level. The only thing that Oceania got right is food.

I do not have to take a cruise to have great restaurants 🙂 -. I am in LA!

 

Oceania tours were low grade and were included in fare as a non-refundable OBC. If I would know the tours would be that uninteresting in advance, I would book our own private tours via ToursByLocals as we did in Panama City.

 

Our Oceania cruise was a disappointment except a few hours going through the Panama Canal. We have learned this cruise not to book with Oceania which was a  valuable lesson.

 

Edited March 2 by Sdancer

[Flatbush Flyer]

48 minutes ago, thebsinmiss said:

….it seems like NCL's corporate culture is influencing O and it is not for the better.

O, for far longer than it’s consortium arrangement with NCLH, has not disaggregated its fares. 

And what many unfamiliar with the maritime world seem not to recognize, is that there can be substantial costs to a cruise line each time an originally scheduled port is cancelled by O (rather than by the port itself) or replaced for whatever reason. 

Not only may there still be charges for labor, tugs et al. at an O cancelled port, there are the new charges for a replacement port that O does not pass on to its passengers. Add to that the cost of time and effort in possible navigational and fuel charges as well as added food and beverage expenses during missed port events and it should quickly become apparent that no ship’s master ever wants to modify the original itinerary if it’s at all possible.

 

That said, if a narrow one-sided view of port charges is that important to some folks, they should definitely consider changing cruise lines or at least get travel insurance that covers reimbursement for missed port taxes.

[Flatbush Flyer]

18 minutes ago, Sdancer said:

I have port charges as a one separate charge for all ports in my invoice, but is not the point.

The point is that Oceania knows how much they DID NOT pay Cozumel for missing this port.

It is alarming that Oceania just keeps the money - it tell you a lot about the company.

Look at my post #3.

[Sdancer]

42 minutes ago, cruiserchuck said:

I recently cruised on NCL, and they did refund (via nonrefundable OBC) port taxes/fees for a missed port.  Oceania is one of the few cruise lines that does not breakout port taxes/fees in their advertised pricing.  

Please see my post #7, thanks!

[Redtravel]

Oceania claimed that they didn’t pay port charges.  Of course, we know that is false. We got refunds on port charges on other cruise lines. It was a small amount.  Not really enough to get excited about.  In January, we skipped St. Barts. Reason given was impending winds. Seas looked flat.  Instead we were told that we got an extra day at sea to relax.  I had intended to shop and eat at a French cafe.  Shopping is excellent. Saved $

[Sdancer]

Before I started this thread, I have contacted fdacs.gov, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, to confirm that the port taxes for skipped ports expected to be refunded. 

 

The agency advised me to submit a complaint and sent me a link to file a complaint.

Cozumel was not substituted for another port - Oceania made it another sea day.

 

I will leave this thread for now :).

[tigerfan75]

2 minutes ago, Sdancer said:

Before I started this thread, I have contacted fdacs.gov, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, to confirm that the port taxes for skipped ports expected to be refunded. 

 

The agency advised me to submit a complaint and sent me a link to file a complaint.

Cozumel was not substituted for another port - Oceania made it another sea day.

 

I will leave this thread for now :).

Please let us know how things turn out…

[clo]

1 hour ago, thebsinmiss said:

I agree they should be refunded. I would bet O will say they immediately forwarded the funds to the appropriate government/authority/port when the cruise was paid in full so they don't "benefit".

 

As they canceled the port visit for valid/invalid/questionable reasons it would be effective customer service to refund the funds even if they don't have the money.

 

I realize forums/boards tend to get a large percentage of dissatisfied customers (silent majority are the happy/satisficed customers) but it seems like NCL's corporate culture is influencing O and it is not for the better.

Unfortunately yes.

[ak1004]

2 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

O, for far longer than it’s consortium arrangement with NCLH, has not disaggregated its fares. 

And what many unfamiliar with the maritime world seem not to recognize, is that there can be substantial costs to a cruise line each time an originally scheduled port is cancelled by O (rather than by the port itself) or replaced for whatever reason. 

Not only may there still be charges for labor, tugs et al. at an O cancelled port, there are the new charges for a replacement port that O does not pass on to its passengers. Add to that the cost of time and effort in possible navigational and fuel charges as well as added food and beverage expenses during missed port events and it should quickly become apparent that no ship’s master ever wants to modify the original itinerary if it’s at all possible.

 

That said, if a narrow one-sided view of port charges is that important to some folks, they should definitely consider changing cruise lines or at least get travel insurance that covers reimbursement for missed port taxes.

 

All excellent points, and another thing that is often missed by the conspiracy theory advocates is all the revenue lost from shore excursions. This alone can account to tens of thousands of dollars per port.

 

Those repeated claims that O (or any other line) misses ports on purpose to save money really get old and tired. But if this is what some people believe, they should definitely look for another line. Good luck in finding the perfect line that never misses ports.

 

Never stops to amaze me how people pay thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars to cruise on a luxury line, but become so cheap when it comes to $10-20 in port charges. btw, SS also does not refund port charges, and I believe it's the same with SB. But if people prefer to sail with Princess, NCL or Carnival because those lines refund port charges, there is not much to discuss.

[Flatbush Flyer]

13 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

 

All excellent points, and another thing that is often missed by the conspiracy theory advocates is all the revenue lost from shore excursions. This alone can account to tens of thousands of dollars per port.

 

Those repeated claims that O (or any other line) misses ports on purpose to save money really get old and tired. But if this is what some people believe, they should definitely look for another line. Good luck in finding the perfect line that never misses ports.

 

Never stops to amaze me how people pay thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars to cruise on a luxury line, but become so cheap when it comes to $10-20 in port charges. btw, SS also does not refund port charges, and I believe it's the same with SB. But if people prefer to sail with Princess, NCL or Carnival because those lines refund port charges, there is not much to discuss.

Plus 1.

[alcpa1]

We knew this before our first O cruise and we are set to be on board again in a few short weeks.

BTW we missed a port on Celebrity and the port fee was never refunded. No OBC was offered nor was there any visible weather issue nor viable explanation.

[Vallesan]

3 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Plus 1.

Make that 2!

 

In fact we just had to cancel a cruise with Oceania. I don't have the full list of ports but it was 15 nights. There were two overnight ports and probably eight other ports plus the embarkation port so probably 13 lots of port taxes.   We had a refund of port taxes of approx. £450 for the two of us, which in the grand scheme of things was a ‘drop in the ocean’ (sorry!).

We do have insurance cover for missed ports which is far preferable to a refund of the actual ‘cost’ of port taxes.

P.S. I’ve never seen port charges listed separately on my invoices.

Edited March 2 by Vallesan

[pmatawan]

6 hours ago, Sdancer said:

Before I started this thread, I have contacted fdacs.gov, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, to confirm that the port taxes for skipped ports expected to be refunded. 

 

The agency advised me to submit a complaint and sent me a link to file a complaint.

Cozumel was not substituted for another port - Oceania made it another sea day.

 

I will leave this thread for now :).

Your complaint might force Oceania to revise this business practice. Too much false advertising by cruise lines and I, for one, applaud you for trying. Tired of seeing ads for 50% off when no one ever paid full price. Tired of false Simply More advertising saying "free shore excursions" and "free drinks". They can say "included, but saying free us just unconscionable. This industry needs to clean up some of its business practices and I would think some lawyers would jump at the chance to challenge this industry.

[roadmaster]

Missed ports.....compensation.....700 odd passengers....probably paid ??....$30k++ for the cruise...x2.....and you want a refund of how much.....$$.....only in USA....sorry but !!

[QuestionEverything]

4 hours ago, pmatawan said:

Your complaint might force Oceania to revise this business practice. Too much false advertising by cruise lines and I, for one, applaud you for trying. Tired of seeing ads for 50% off when no one ever paid full price. Tired of false Simply More advertising saying "free shore excursions" and "free drinks". They can say "included, but saying free us just unconscionable. This industry needs to clean up some of its business practices and I would think some lawyers would jump at the chance to challenge this industry.

100% definitely bull advertising in the cruise industry for sure, it does also happen in many other industries.

Consumers never have all the facts as it is in the companies interest to hide much.

You are a smart consumer and advocate for your purchasing power - continue on, like me, and push for transparency and value for the consumer.

[MEFIowa]

Things are what they are. I knew about this BEFORE we first sailed with O. Did my research here and elsewhere. Knew O didn't list separate port charge fees. One combined fee (though "cruise only" for us).

 

We've sailed 40 nights on Oceania since 12/2021. Missed 1 port each on our first two 10-night cruises (Riviera-W Caribbean and Sirena-E. Caribbean), one due to weather and the other due to passenger medical emergency. BUT we did NOT completely miss any ports on our recent 20-night B2B Riviera in the Med, though weather forced us to exchange Livorno for La Spezia. (That's a change, not a complete lost port.) So that's just one Caribbean island and one private beach resort island in the Bahamas over 40 nights. Not too bad. We've got 22 more nights on Sirena scheduled for the Baltic later this year.

 

AND you can buy travel insurance if this is your biggest issue.

[ak1004]

6 hours ago, pmatawan said:

Your complaint might force Oceania to revise this business practice. Too much false advertising by cruise lines and I, for one, applaud you for trying. Tired of seeing ads for 50% off when no one ever paid full price. Tired of false Simply More advertising saying "free shore excursions" and "free drinks". They can say "included, but saying free us just unconscionable. This industry needs to clean up some of its business practices and I would think some lawyers would jump at the chance to challenge this industry.

 

THIS I completely agree. But it has nothing to do with port charges.

[EJL2023]

1 minute ago, ak1004 said:

 

THIS I completely agree. But it has nothing to do with port charges.

But this type of advertising could come in handy for some.  I was chatting with a man in the neighborhood several months back and he knows we are cruisers. He told me they are finally going on a cruise because his wife had found this great 2 for 1 deal!!! I was like, uhh……well…maybe….so I just kept quiet and thought good for you Linda!!! 

[ak1004]

7 minutes ago, EJL2023 said:

But this type of advertising could come in handy for some.  I was chatting with a man in the neighborhood several months back and he knows we are cruisers. He told me they are finally going on a cruise because his wife had found this great 2 for 1 deal!!! I was like, uhh……well…maybe….so I just kept quiet and thought good for you Linda!!! 

 

Well, if people don't do their homework.. and believe they got half price.. it's a win/win.