6.5 Hour Delay & Missed Port= NOTHING

[Bibbidi_Boo]

1) It was a holiday weekend, so my kids did not have to miss school.
2) We wanted to go on the Wish.
3) The Wish currently only has 4 day sailings during the middle of the week.
4) We traditionally do 7 night sailings.

We are doing a 3 night wish in Dec and are only doing it because we want to see the Wish, it doesn't make sense for my DH to take 5 vacations for a 4 nights cruise when a 3 night only takes 2.

 

[dvcdisney]

I'm really surprised that you didn't receive the refund for the port fees for Nassau. We've had cruises where we couldn't dock/missed the port, and from my experience, the refund for the port fees were posted at the latest, by the end of the next day. Since it was a short cruise, it may be refunded directly through your credit card.

A delay that long for embarkation is really disappointing. I don't know what DCL could do, but I would hope they provided something for the guest - small onboard credit or treats sent to the staterooms or something. I don't think it should be expected, but I would hope even a little gesture would go a long way.

 

[magsnwonderland]

We missed Castaway on our cruise last week because of Nicole, and while we were sad to not get to experience it, we still had a great day onboard in beautiful weather with calm seas. We got our port fees refunded directly to our credit card on debarkation day.

 

[DCLCruiseFan09]

I'm really surprised that you didn't receive the refund for the port fees for Nassau. We've had cruises where we couldn't dock/missed the port, and from my experience, the refund for the port fees were posted at the latest, by the end of the next day. Since it was a short cruise, it may be refunded directly through your credit card.

A delay that long for embarkation is really disappointing. I don't know what DCL could do, but I would hope they provided something for the guest - small onboard credit or treats sent to the staterooms or something. I don't think it should be expected, but I would hope even a little gesture would go a long way.

We were on a Cruise in 2019 that didn't dock at Castaway because of weather and got port fees refunded. The way it was explained to us, if you dock in the Bahamas at all you pay the port fees. Doesn't matter. Nassau or Castaway or both. If you miss one or the other you still have to pay the port fees. If you miss both then you get the refund. That's why the taxes are usually so low from my understanding. It was something like 18 dollars a person we got back.

 

[Karin1984]

I think DCL doesn't consider it a big delay. They probably start counting delays from the moment it was supposed to leave. Not when it was supposed to embark.

And as others have said, you can probably expect your port fees refunded.

In the letters about the modification for cruises impacted by Nicole, they also did not offer a compensation.
https://disneycruiselineblog.com/20...acting-disney-wish-and-disney-dream-sailings/

 

[lanejudy]

I get your point, a 3-night cruise is short anyway and it must have been so very disappointing to get such a late start. I think possibly some posts are reacting more to perceived hyperbole than anything. As has already been established, you received incorrect information on the phone and should definitely receive refund of the Nassau port fees. Also 6.5 hours of a 3-night cruise is not a full 1/3 of the cruise; realistically it's more like 1/10th assuming roughly 56-60 hours from embarkation to debarkation for a typical 3-night cruise. It was the first afternoon/evening and likely wasn't anything like what you anticipated, but hopefully the rest of the cruise went well despite missing a port stop. Could DCL have offered something? Yes, but they are not obligated to do so. If you have 11 cruises behind you and this was the first with a missed port stop or delay boarding, I think you've been pretty lucky.

 

[CamColt]

I checked the one time I had a Grand Cayman port canceled (the water was too rough to safely tender). The port fee refund appeared as a credit on my card the week after the cruise. They weren't on my shipboard account charges.

We had a similar situation. Our refund when to our original form of payment, after the fact.

 

[dvcdisney]

We were on a Cruise in 2019 that didn't dock at Castaway because of weather and got port fees refunded. The way it was explained to us, if you dock in the Bahamas at all you pay the port fees. Doesn't matter. Nassau or Castaway or both. If you miss one or the other you still have to pay the port fees. If you miss both then you get the refund. That's why the taxes are usually so low from my understanding. It was something like 18 dollars a person we got back.

That's strange. We had a different experience. On one of our earlier cruises (during our B2B cruise during hurricane Irene), we were able to dock at Nassau but not CC (that was truly disappointing but understandable). We heard from other guests that we may go back to Nassau, but that didn't happen. We received a refund for the CC port fees that day.

 

[drstrange]

I get your point, a 3-night cruise is short anyway and it must have been so very disappointing to get such a late start. I think possibly some posts are reacting more to perceived hyperbole than anything. As has already been established, you received incorrect information on the phone and should definitely receive refund of the Nassau port fees. Also 6.5 hours of a 3-night cruise is not a full 1/3 of the cruise; realistically it's more like 1/10th assuming roughly 56-60 hours from embarkation to debarkation for a typical 3-night cruise. It was the first afternoon/evening and likely wasn't anything like what you anticipated, but hopefully the rest of the cruise went well despite missing a port stop. Could DCL have offered something? Yes, but they are not obligated to do so. If you have 11 cruises behind you and this was the first with a missed port stop or delay boarding, I think you've been pretty lucky.

With all due respect, even within this thread there are contradicting accounts of what happens if you miss one of two scheduled stops in the Bahamas. Some people have said that they received the same information that I received, some have said they have gotten a refund for one of the stops. My sole purpose of this post was to see what other people have or have not gotten when in a similar situation as myself. As you said, I have been pretty lucky so far, so I am not sure historically what DCL has offered when people have been significantly delayed.

 

[Lisa Lisa]

Just chiming in to say that I totally understand where the OP is coming from. If we weren't able to board until evening on embarkation day, I too would feel that we had missed one "day" of the cruise. We typically get the earliest available PAT so we can board early in the day. For 3 and 4-night cruises, this is even more important. We did a 4-night on the Wish in September and were onboard by 12pm (non concierge). We felt that we had pretty much a full day to explore the ship and get oriented, take care of a couple of items on our "to do" list, have a nice lunch, and visit a couple of new venues... all before dinner and the show. If we weren't able to board until 6.5 hours later, I certainly would have considered that the loss of a day onboard.

Now missing the stop at Nassau is another story. I would actually *pay* the equivalent of the port fees to have a sea day instead.

 

[luvavacation]

I had friends on this cruise. I was surprised how this was all handled from even before boarding.

It’s been a few years, but we were once delayed boarding for a Disney cruise. Something going on at the port, I don’t remember what.

I DO remember the unexpected goodwill gesture from DCL of an OBC.

There was another time we missed a port and received OBC and a free drink that evening (maybe it was a couple free drinks? Again, years ago, but I do remember the feeling of goodwill from DCL).

We have had many wonderful DCL experiences over the last 20+ years, but we also cruise other lines, especially since the kids have grown up and left the home. We enjoy other lines, but DCL was always what we used as the top standard.

Recently my family was on MSC and passengers had a 5-7 hour delay at boarding due to various issues stemming from a return from a transatlantic cruise. MSC gave each cabin a $50 OBC for the “inconvenience”. When I heard of what was happening with this Disney cruise, I was certain DCL would at least do the same. I can’t believe MSC was more focused on customer relations than DCL!

Times change, companies change direction, and sometimes the changes take away from what was once a top tier experience. DCL’s powers-that-be seem to be forgetting that great customer service experience was one of the things that set it apart from other lines. I hope something changes soon.

 

[Tama-chan]

I’m sorry to hear that you missed one of the port as well as delay on the embarkation day. I would be so disappointed too as one thing I love to do on embarkation day is to beat the crowd and hit Aquaduck!

In terms of compensation, I think it’s like airlines. If the flight get cancelled or delayed due to weather or something like that, they don’t give us compensation. I don’t think they even give out hotel vouchers.
Did DCL give you an option to rebook or cancel without penalty? I understand that most of the people already travelled to board on original scheduled PAT, but some people probably choose to cancel or rebook for later dates.

 

[SleepyDeb]

On our first Disney cruise we missed a port because of a medical emergency. We received a check for the port fees months later. We'd paid by gift card. I'd been watching all the gift cards, but check was fine.

 

[Karin1984]

With all due respect, even within this thread there are contradicting accounts of what happens if you miss one of two scheduled stops in the Bahamas. Some people have said that they received the same information that I received, some have said they have gotten a refund for one of the stops. My sole purpose of this post was to see what other people have or have not gotten when in a similar situation as myself. As you said, I have been pretty lucky so far, so I am not sure historically what DCL has offered when people have been significantly delayed.

I think for Disney this is part of their decision. For you it is a significant delay, apparently it is not to Disney's standards.

I have read Scott's update about this event. He says first communication about the delay was send the evening before the cruise left.

I got the impression you were already in the terminal. That the decision about delaying the departure happened short before departure.
That makes a big difference in how you act as a company. Like with plane delays, if they can notify you on forehand, they wont give you vouchers for snacks and drinks at the airport. They might only do that for people who are in transit.

So, that makes it less surprising that Disney doesn't compensate you for the delay itself.

Email communication about this sailing can be found here, in case others have missed it as well.

https://disneycruiselineblog.com/20...d-4-hours-nassau-call-dropped-for-day-at-sea/

 

[drstrange]

I’m sorry to hear that you missed one of the port as well as delay on the embarkation day. I would be so disappointed too as one thing I love to do on embarkation day is to beat the crowd and hit Aquaduck!

In terms of compensation, I think it’s like airlines. If the flight get cancelled or delayed due to weather or something like that, they don’t give us compensation. I don’t think they even give out hotel vouchers.
Did DCL give you an option to rebook or cancel without penalty? I understand that most of the people already travelled to board on original scheduled PAT, but some people probably choose to cancel or rebook for later dates.

In none of the email communication received was there anything about cancelling or rebooking. I forgot to put that in my original post. I am honestly not sure if we would have done that anyway because my kids were so excited. My main issue with this whole situation is just the lack of customer service that I have grown accustomed to with DCL.

 

[Karin1984]

In none of the email communication received was there anything about cancelling or rebooking. I forgot to put that in my original post. I am honestly not sure if we would have done that anyway because my kids were so excited. My main issue with this whole situation is just the lack of customer service that I have grown accustomed to with DCL.

What would you have liked Disney to say or do?

 

[drstrange]

What would you have liked Disney to say or do?

This is from my original post: "it seems like it would have been good faith to offer some type of on-board credit or future cruise credit for missing one full day of a three day sailing."

 

[Top_S]

Did you still have dinner, show and sail away party?

No. Can't speak for OP, but by the time I was able to get aboard, the dining rooms were closed and the sail away party was cancelled.

 

[dcassetta]

This is from my original post: "it seems like it would have been good faith to offer some type of on-board credit or future cruise credit for missing one full day of a three day sailing."

Have you tried contacting DCL Guest Services? guest.communications@disneycruise.com

 

[Karin1984]

This is from my original post: "it seems like it would have been good faith to offer some type of on-board credit or future cruise credit for missing one full day of a three day sailing."

The costs probably aren't worth it for DCL. Their fanbase is loyal enough to keep coming back and for the rest they are aiming, especially for the Wish, on first time users.

As you are not entitled to compensation, they informed you well ahead of time and there is probably little benefit to DCL to compensate, I think the only thing you can do is to adjust your expectations for the future.

One thing that does surprise me is to call it a 'lack of customer service'. As an outsider, how the US is portrayed here in Europe when it comes to customer service it sometimes seems to equal 'say yes to everything the guest wants and throw in freebies'. While here the opinion is more about 'no is also an answer and sometimes the answer is no'.