What Happens When the Port You Booked the Cruise For Disappears?

A cruise ship leaving Seattle a day late normally wouldn’t catch my attention for very long. Delays happen, and cruise itineraries change.

But what happened this week aboard Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth was a little different.

The ship was scheduled to leave Seattle on September 17 for a seven-night Alaska cruise. Essential maintenance delayed the departure by roughly 24 hours, and something had to give. In this case, that something was Juneau, along with the planned scenic cruising through Endicott Fjord. Ketchikan and Victoria remained on the revised itinerary.

For some passengers, that probably meant an unexpected extra day aboard a beautiful ship, and for others, it may have meant missing one of the primary reasons they booked the cruise. And that’s where this gets interesting.

Cruise lines sell us ships, but they also sell us maps. Sometimes the map is the reason we clicked “Book.”

So what actually happens when one of those places suddenly disappears?

Missing a Port Happens More Than We Like to Think

There are all kinds of reasons a cruise ship might skip a port.

Weather is probably the most familiar, as high winds can make docking unsafe, rough seas can make tender operations impossible, and hurricanes can rearrange an entire Caribbean itinerary.

There can also be mechanical problems, medical emergencies, unavailable berths, labor issues, government restrictions and security concerns. Sometimes a ship arrives somewhere completely unexpected because a passenger needs medical care.

Earlier this year we saw another example when several cruise lines temporarily stopped calling at Puerto Vallarta following security concerns in Mexico. Carnival, Holland America and Princess were among the lines that rerouted ships after violence in the region prompted heightened concerns.

I think most of us would agree on the most important part of that decision. If the cruise line or captain believes taking several thousand passengers into a destination isn’t safe, don’t take us there. I can be disappointed that my ship isn’t taking me to the place I wanted to visit while simultaneously being grateful that somebody else is making the safety decision. Those two things don’t have to contradict each other.

The same applies to weather. I don’t want a captain attempting to squeeze a cruise ship into port because I had a snorkeling excursion scheduled at 10:00am, but I’m still going to be disappointed about missing the snorkeling excursion.

Missing a Port Is Different From Missing the Port

This may be the biggest distinction.

Susan and I have taken cruises where the destination was almost secondary. We wanted to get away, relax, enjoy the ship and spend some time someplace warm. If one Caribbean island gets replaced by another, or even by a sea day, we’re probably going to survive. I may even find a lounge chair and decide things worked out pretty well.

But most of our cruises aren’t like that. We’re generally destination-first cruisers where the itinerary is often one of the biggest reasons we selected that particular sailing, and there are certain destinations where losing the port would fundamentally change the trip.

Imagine booking your first Mediterranean cruise largely because you’ve always dreamed of seeing Santorini. You’ve studied the photos, planned your day and perhaps already booked a private tour. Then the captain comes over the speaker and announces that conditions won’t allow the ship to call there.

Or perhaps you’ve always wanted to see Alaska’s glaciers and the scenic cruising day you were most excited about disappears. Technically, you’re still on the cruise you purchased.

Emotionally? That may be another story.

That’s why I think there is an enormous difference between missing a port and missing the port.

So What Did We Actually Buy?

Here’s the part most of us probably don’t think much about when we’re looking at those beautiful itinerary maps on a cruise line’s website. The ports aren’t necessarily guaranteed.

Passenger contracts generally give cruise lines broad authority to change itineraries, omit ports, substitute destinations and alter schedules. Princess, for example, states in its current U.S. passage contract that it can deviate from scheduled ports, routes and timetables and omit ports when necessary. The contract also specifically mentions safety and security concerns that could require changing or canceling port visits.

And Princess isn’t unusual. Similar provisions are common throughout the industry.

It makes sense when you think about it. A cruise line can’t guarantee that a hurricane won’t be sitting between the ship and Cozumel six months from now. It can’t guarantee political conditions in another country, calm seas at a tender port or that a mechanical problem won’t affect the ship’s schedule. The cruise line needs flexibility.

The passenger, however, may have looked at the itinerary and thought something quite different: That’s where I’m going. Both can be true at the same time.

So Do You Get Your Money Back?

This is where expectations and cruise contracts sometimes collide.

There isn’t a universal rule that says missing one port automatically entitles every passenger to a certain amount of compensation. If a port is missed because of weather, security concerns or another situation outside the cruise line’s control, passengers generally shouldn’t assume they’ll receive a partial refund or onboard credit simply because that destination disappeared. Cruise contracts typically provide considerable flexibility for itinerary changes.

That doesn’t mean cruise lines never compensate passengers.

Depending upon the circumstances and the extent of the change, a line may provide onboard credit, a future cruise credit, a partial refund or another goodwill gesture. If a major itinerary change is announced far enough in advance, passengers may sometimes be given options to rebook or cancel. But those aren’t things I’d automatically count on when booking.

Port taxes and fees are another interesting wrinkle. Cruise Critic recently surveyed several major lines and found different approaches. Carnival, MSC and Norwegian said applicable port taxes and fees are refunded when a port is canceled without a replacement, while Celebrity and Royal Caribbean said they evaluate those situations individually. Princess and Holland America take a different approach under their current all-in pricing structure, where those charges are incorporated into the advertised price rather than separately allocated to the passenger.

In other words, even the answer to “Do I at least get my port fees back?” can depend on which cruise line you’re sailing.

And this is probably the right place for my standard cruise advice: Read the fine print.

I realize that’s right up there with “schedule a colonoscopy” on most people’s vacation-planning lists, but occasionally the boring stuff matters.

When we were cruising out of Amsterdam last Spring, we received notice 3 days before departure that the cruise would be delayed one day. The ship was coming out of dry-dock, and wasn’t going to get to Amsterdam on time to turn around the ship for sailing. We were already in Amsterdam when we got the news.

Knowing of course that these things happen from time to time, Celebrity Cruises were on top of it from the get-go.  In the notification email, they advised that they would provide everyone a refund (not a shipboard credit) for the one day, would pick up any additional expenses, such as another hotel night in Amsterdam, as well as other incidental expenses.  Sure, the trip was cut a day short – but their proactive communication made it a much easier pill to swallow.

Your Shore Excursion Is a Different Story

This is one area where booking through the cruise line can provide a meaningful advantage.

If you’ve purchased a ship-sponsored excursion and the ship doesn’t visit that port, the cost of the canceled excursion is generally refunded. Princess’s contract, for example, provides for a refund of amounts paid to the cruise line for a shore excursion or activity that it cancels, subject to the contract’s terms.

Independent excursions though are different. Suppose you’ve found an incredible private tour in Santorini for $400. It has better reviews, fewer people and costs less than something similar offered by the ship. Sounds great.

But before handing over the credit card, there’s one question I’d want answered: What happens if my ship never gets there?

Some independent tour companies are excellent about refunding cruise passengers when a ship misses the port while others have more restrictive cancellation policies. Generally speaking though, the cruise line isn’t responsible for the money you paid directly to an independent operator.

That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t book independent excursions, as we often do. But the cancellation policy becomes much more important when we’re putting substantial money down months before the cruise.

Saving $75 on an excursion doesn’t look quite as impressive if you lose $400 when the ship sails past the port.

Can Travel Insurance Help?

Possibly, but this is another area where reading the actual policy matters.

Travel insurance isn’t one giant “something went wrong on vacation” policy. Different plans cover different events, have different triggers and provide different benefits.

Some policies may include missed-port or itinerary-change benefits under specific circumstances. Others may provide little or no coverage simply because a scheduled cruise port was eliminated.

If one particular destination is a major reason I’m spending thousands of dollars on a cruise, I’d want to understand that coverage before the trip rather than after the captain makes the announcement.

That’s especially true when there are expensive independent tours or other nonrefundable arrangements involved.

Read our related article on Cruise Travel Insurance.

What If You Absolutely Have to See That Destination?

This may sound strange coming from someone who writes a cruise blog, but there are situations where a cruise may not be the best way to see someplace.

If visiting one particular destination is absolutely non-negotiable, and you’ll consider the entire vacation ruined if you don’t get there, building your trip around an eight-hour cruise call carries some risk.

Maybe that destination deserves a land trip, or perhaps it makes sense to spend several days there before or after the cruise.

Cruising is one of our favorite ways to experience the world precisely because it lets us sample so many different places on one vacation. We unpack once and suddenly Rome, Santorini, Mykonos and Naples can all come to us, so to speak.

But that convenience comes with a tradeoff. The ship is always going to prioritize safety, weather, operational realities and getting several thousand passengers safely through an itinerary.

Sometimes the map has to change.

How Much Would It Matter to You?

I think this is something worth considering before we book, rather than after a port disappears.

When Susan and I look at an itinerary, there are usually destinations we’re excited about and then there are destinations we’re really excited about, and those aren’t necessarily equal.

If the cruise we’re considering has seven ports and we’d be happy visiting six of them, we’re probably in pretty good shape. If we’re spending thousands of dollars primarily because of one name printed halfway down the itinerary, perhaps we should recognize that before putting down the deposit.

It doesn’t necessarily mean we shouldn’t book the cruise, but it simply means we need to understand what we’re buying, or more accurately, what we’re not guaranteed to be buying.

Final Thoughts

I don’t think cruise lines should be criticized simply because itineraries sometimes change.

If weather makes a port unsafe, skip it. If there’s a legitimate security concern, go somewhere else. If someone onboard needs emergency medical care, change course. If the ship has a mechanical issue that needs attention, fix it.

I’d much rather miss a port than have a captain or cruise line make a questionable decision because several thousand passengers might be disappointed.

But that doesn’t mean losing a destination can’t dramatically change someone’s vacation.

For the passengers aboard Queen Elizabeth this week, missing Juneau and Endicott Fjord may have been a relatively minor disappointment for some. For someone taking their first and perhaps only Alaska cruise, it may have felt considerably bigger. And trolling online about that this week confirms far more posts about the latter.

Both reactions are reasonable. It’s simply one of the realities of cruising that we don’t talk about very often. We’re booking a ship, a cabin and a certain number of nights. We’re also booking an itinerary.

The difference is that one of those comes with a map that can change, and maybe the question to ask before booking isn’t simply, “Do I like these ports?”, but more so, “How would I feel if the port disappears from the itinerary?”