What Compensation Will I Get for Missed Cruise Ports

Cruising has become an increasingly popular vacation option, for people looking for the perfect get away. It combines beautiful locations, top quality food and incredible entertainment, all in what can only be described as a moving hotel. The fact you visit different places on one trip, is a big reason why so many people want to cruise.

Add in that there are more cruise lines available, lots of different itineraries, the ships are more family friendly, and prices are more competitive than they used to be. If you have never been on a cruise before, then maybe it’s time to add it to your bucket list.

Because cruising is such a big bucket list option, we want to bring you as much information as we can to make your experience an enjoyable one. We have written many guides on cruising including.

• What You Need to Think About When Planning Your First Cruise – Tips for First Time Cruisers.
• Cruise Ship Bucket List – The Ultimate List for Cruisers.
• How to Prevent Seasickness on a Cruise: Effective Remedies to Banish that Nausea.
• What to Pack for a Cruise – List of Cruise Essentials.

So, if you book your cruise vacation make sure you check them out. But we’re specifically going to look in this guide at what happens if you cannot stop at a port on your scheduled itinerary.

We’ve had this a few times as we have cruised, and it has mainly been due to weather conditions. But there have been circumstances within the area or country we were due to dock, which have prevented us from being allowed to leave the ship. Depending on the amount of notice given to the ship, you will either be directed to another port, or sadly completely miss one stop and continue to the next one (basically it will be treated as an additional sea day).

Itinerary changes are not unusual and can happen during or even before you arrive for your vacation. So, what are the implications for you and are you able to claim compensation if you miss a port.

Will I Receive Compensation for Any Missed Cruise Ports or Itinerary Changes?

Should you not be able to dock in the pre-scheduled port, then the cruise line will attempt to find another location instead. To give you an example, during our Panama Canal Cruise with Carnival we were due to dock in Grand Cayman, but instead ended up in Costa Maya, Mexico. Because the cruise line had found an alternate location, we did not receive any financial compensation. Yes, changes such as this can be disappointing, but most cruise lines will state in their terms and conditions that they ‘reserve the right to change the itinerary at any time’.

We’ve also had the experience of the itinerary being changed before we even boarded the ship. P&O changed our Mediterranean cruise weeks before our departure, because there was a marathon scheduled in Valencia, Spain. Instead, we ported in Cartagena, which was a much smaller location and in all honesty not as exciting as Valencia. But again because of the terms and conditions, we were not entitled to any financial compensation.

There are some situations where you may receive onboard credit, and that tends to be when you are due to dock in a port, but something happens, and you cannot. Again, predominantly this tends to revolve around the weather and it being unsafe for the ship.

The cruise line will take into consideration the reason for cancellation, when the decision was made to cancel the port and how much of the cruise was amended.

On those occasions you may notice funds added to your onboard credit account. Although this may look like the cruise line has compensated you, it is in fact the fees you paid for that specific port, or part of the fees if the new port is cheaper to dock in.

Part of the costs when you book a cruise is the fee to dock in each port and it will be divided by the number of passengers on the ship. We have received onboard credit the moment we embarked on our cruise, purely because the number of passengers on the ship was more than expected, thus reducing our port fees. This means that although you will receive something back, it generally won’t be compensation from the cruise line. Although we have been given free drinks on our account as a thank you for being understanding.

We had a situation where we were docked much further away from the port than expected and it was difficult to travel into the main town. Even the local tour operators didn’t expect it, so we complained to customer service and was told that within their terms and conditions they did not need to compensate us as we had docked, even if it wasn’t where the original itinerary had stated.

If you have booked an excursion at the cancelled port, then you should receive the cost back into your onboard account. On the occasions where you are docked elsewhere and the ship has adequate notice, you will be provided with available excursions for the alternate port.

For those who have booked independent excursions then these will not be compensated by the cruise line. Instead, you will need to contact the individual provider and explain the situation.

Cruise Travel Insurance – Compensation If Your Itinerary Changes

For anyone booking a cruise, our advice would be to make sure you take out travel insurance. But more importantly you should ensure that it provides cruise coverage. Many cruise insurance policies will include ‘Missed Port Cover’, and this means that if you cannot dock at any port during your itinerary, then you can claim on your insurance. One of our friends recently had this situation and could claim three hundred pounds (around 384 dollars) for missing the one port, which is quite a decent amount. It was actually more than the cost of their original insurance policy.

Just to note here if you already have travel insurance, then don’t assume that you are covered for cruises. Most insurers charge more for worldwide travel and cruise cover, so ensure you look through your policy.

Again, we strongly recommend travel insurance, especially because we have had two situations where we have needed to claim. Once because one member of our group was too unwell to travel and secondly someone fell during a cruise, and we ended up with a hospital bill from France. But your insurance may also cover items such as lost or damaged luggage.

Just because you have cruise cover doesn’t mean you will have missed port cover, so double check your policy or ask your provider. If it does have missed port cover then check with your provider what this would include.

Related Guide – French Hospital Bill – How to Pay Using PayFip

To claim compensation from the insurer, you will need to provide them something in writing from the cruise line explaining which port was cancelled and the reasons why. Our advice would be to ask at the customer service or reception desk on the ship for a letter and explain it is for your insurance company. It maybe that you don’t need to do this, because many cruise lines will provide a letter to every cabin informing them in advance of the change in itinerary. As long as you have something in writing on letter headed paper then you should be covered.

Why Bother Cruising if They Can Change the Itinerary?

All cruise lines will try their best to ensure the original itinerary is adhered to. Changes happen on occasion, but completely cancelling a port will truly be a last resort. Sadly, no cruise line or captain can predict strong winds, which tends to be the main reason a ship cannot dock. During our Bahamas cruise we sailed through a Nor’easter and the ocean was so rough we couldn’t dock. Instead, we sailed on to the next port and returned to the first scheduled stop at the end of the cruise. It really didn’t bother us too much, we know we’re going to enjoy lots of incredible experiences during our cruise vacation, so we tend to just go with the flow. Of course, this isn’t easy if there’s a place you have dreamt of visiting and it ends up being the one port you don’t dock at.

Another unpredictable event could be something happening with the ship, in those cases where it cannot be fixed by a member of the maintenance crew, you will be taken to the closest port. This happened to us during a cruise on the Carnival Pride, because there was an issue with the propulsion system. We ended up docking in Kiel, Germany and missed the last port of the cruise in Sweden and our arrival back in Dover was delayed. The cruise line kindly gave every passenger cruise credit to enjoy onboard and we treated the missed port as another sea day. For the passengers who needed to reach flights home, Carnival paid and arranged for them to be flown back to London. These passengers were also compensated with future cruise credit, due to their trip being cut short.

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Hopefully we have provided you with enough information on what will happen should your cruise itinerary change or if a port is cancelled. Sadly, the reality of cruising is that this can happen, even though it a last resort for all cruise lines, their priority is the safety of their passengers. But most of the time you will either stop at another port which can be a fun surprise, or you will add another sea day.

If we have received any port fees back, they haven’t been substantial amounts, more akin to a couple of drinks onboard. The reality is you’ll only really see any compensation with more extreme situations such as the ship needing to dock because of a malfunction, and this again will be in the form of onboard credit.

As we have stated above, our advice will always be to get the correct travel insurance for your trip. So, make sure you have taken out cruise cover and that it includes missed ports. It’s wiser to prepare for the worst, then regret it later, and we say that from experience.

It’s important to note that we are not experts in travel insurance or cruise line policy and as such we would always recommend you take guidance from the relevant companies. This is an article of general advice to help you should you need it.

Make sure you tag us on Instagram if you end up taking a cruise, we love to see what you’re up to as you tick off your bucket lists.