Nikkoo2

43 minutes ago, Florz said:

I find it difficult to believe you could hardly feel 21-foot waves.

Going across the bay of biscay on explorer with 21’ waves we could feel. On Quantum alongside Vancouver Island not so much. 
 

believe what you will. 

4 minutes ago, Xaa said:

When you are the captain of a ship responsible for thousands of lives, that will be your decision to make. 

I don't believe thar some on the ship were compensated and others not.  Can you explain that?

Everybody we asked said they had got their port fees back. Even people we met on the plane on the way back home. 
 

Safety does trump all else but I’m in an industry that follows the weather very closely and making a major impactful decision is NEVER made 5 days out. 

1 hour ago, twangster said:

In the case of Port Canaveral there have been some changes due to propulsion issues which are within the responsibility of the cruise line.  Weather related changes are beyond the control of the cruise lines. 

The cruise contract has enough verbiage to cover them in both situations but sometimes they do offer something when the change is not at the fault of an act of nature. 

Port fees and taxes are estimated based on historical booking data.  Sometimes they estimate high and sometimes they estimate low.  Sometimes there is excess money available to reimburse and sometimes, despite the change of plans, there is not.  Some ports don't waive all fees when a ship doesn't make the port, it depends.  Some fees are related to manpower on shore to handle the lines and gangways while other fees are related to port pilot charges and dock fees.  They can all have different terms and conditions.  A bargaining until for a group of longshoreman may still impose a fee or partial fee when a ship cancels at the last minute while a port pilot may not.  It's not so simple to say a port has one fee that covers everything.  Each situation is unique so what occurred for another ship on a different day or another cruise line with different contracts can't always be used to set expectations.

I get that and I also know what we signed up for… but some people on our ship got a refund. That can’t be right!

3 hours ago, tonyfsu21 said:

No basis for a complaint. Avoiding a port due to the potential for horrendous weather is great situational awareness on the part of the company and the ships captain. As for compensation, I wish you good luck because it’s going to be an uphill battle. 

Bit of a kick in the teeth when the email that tells you of the issue says “don’t worry we are faster than the storm and can go around it to keep you safe” then you sit anchored off of a perfectly good city for 60 hours…

3 hours ago, BrianB said:

I’ve had a port cancelled even though the weather was beautiful! There were some swells, but not enough to really feel it aboard ship.
However, the port was shallow enough that the swell effect coming into the harbor made the risk of hitting bottom too high. Either the port authorities, or the ship, or both decided to not make the attempt.

I don’t recall ever having port fees not refunded after a port was cancelled…but, I think there were two cruises where we had to stay overnight in a port to let a storm pass and that caused us to miss the next port. We didn’t get the missed port refunded because we had to pay fees for the extra day at the overnight port. So it balanced out.

The only times I’ve seen weather cancellations five days out is if there was a massive storm on a very predictable track. Not just hurricanes or tropical storms. Sometimes the port itself issues cancellations in expectation of a weather event.

Any pre-purchased excursions that are cancelled should result in a refund back to the original form of purchase…credit card. I agree that a percentage off a much more expensive excursion seems unfair, but it’s something.

Glad the rest of the cruise was brilliant! Hope you continue cruising and have wonderful experiences.

Well… I don’t believe that such decisions should be made 5 days out as things change. We dropped anchor 300 meters from Seattle dock so could not even enjoy Seattle…

Something else to add… NCL docked 2 smaller ships in our cancelled port that day. 
 

I just feel their new weather man is overly cautious. 

This is Alaska not the Caribbean. 

They just said a rain storm. When we did move we had 21’ waves and you could hardly feel it. Weather forecasting for such a reaction can’t be that good 5 days out can it?

Quantum. And honestly it was brilliant, just these few things stopped it being perfect 

We have just had a brilliant back to back cruise and really enjoyed it. Crew were outstanding, food was great… but a couple of bits have annoyed me and it’s more Royal than the ship or the cruise!

We had a port cancelled due to “weather” 5 days before we were due there… is this normal?

No compensation was offered for this, even though ships missing Canaveral port got a whole days cruising refunded…

We did not get the port fees back while others did…

One excursion was also cancelled at another port and they offered 15% off another but they were all DOUBLE the price at least from when we booked a year ago

Is it worth complaining to RCCL?

Like I said we had a wonderful cruise but I feel Royal should be better than this.

I’ve got to say that since my last cruise, just pre covid, the level of attire has plummeted. I dress smart for evenings, super smart for formal night. This cruise and my last saw pj’s on formal night. Won’t be long and the tuxedo onesie above will be the norm. I think it’s sad people have so little self respect, let alone respect for others. Maybe it’s because I’m English…

6 hours ago, skings8 said:

I leave May 5th on Ovation of the Seas( for 8 day Alaska) sister of Quantum. Since I am solo I have cabin 12631 which is a virtual balcony. Will post after cruise. 

First trip to Alaska, First time Ovation, first time inside with virtual balcony. LOL!

It’ll be really interesting to see how you got on. As we are considering back to back 7 days the cost difference is £1000, or $1400… I just don’t know if that’s too much extra for a balcony! That would cover half our excursions… It’s a tough choice!

2 hours ago, Matt said:

This might help too in general for your Alaska cruise

 

Really good. Thanks a lot 

Thanks for the replies so far. What do you think of getting an internal with the virtual balcony? 

Ah man… now we just figured that all the interiors have a virtual balcony. Should we save $1000 and do an interior? If we see something we like we can go up on deck…

Hi guys,

About to take the plunge on back to back 7 days from Seattle to Alaska on Quantum. Want a balcony for the views, should be look for left hand or right hand side? I know it’s port or starboard but don’t know which is which  Thanks all x