6.5 Hour Delay & Missed Port= NOTHING

[drstrange]

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'.

Well ahead of time? We did not receive any update until after 8:30pm the night before the cruise. Then we were told to arrive 4 hours after our PAT, so we left to drive to the port, and when we arrived at the port we had apparently got an email during the drive (1:30pm) which said to arrive 6.5 hours later. As a result we were forced to be parked on the side of the road for hours waiting for the parking lot to open.

 

[auntlynne]

And, unfortunately, this seems to be the current business model we are receiving from Disney.

As a side note, US airlines still have $10 billion to pay out to consumers for missed / cancelled flights .

I would have expected port fees to be refunded, not knowing anything about Bahamas fees being bundled or charged per stop (Nassau, CC). What I could find in the internet, the per-head tax is about $16. Then there is the cost based on ship’s gross tonnage - to which I assume the cruiser contributes. A previous poster’s $18 would seem to cover these.

So, yes, I have received compensation on previous cruises for the inconvenience. Back in the days when they weren’t recovering from an industry shutdown. And there would have been a letter in the cabin with notification of the compensation.

Sad to hear the communication and good will wasn’t what you were used to. And sorry to think this is what we may be experiencing in the future.

 

[MomOTwins]

Nobody likes to hear from a lawyer in these situations because we are debbie downers, but the DCL contract specifically states that they can delay departure without compensation. It’s no different than all the people at Disney World who payed for a full theme park day and had an early closure due to weather, or folks whose flights were delayed and missed half a day of vacation.

Now, I would think you’d have a valid insurance claim for trip delay. For example, the Disney website says their insurance covers “up to $500 if your cruise is delayed for 6+ hours due to carrier-caused delays—including weather.” If you don’t have insurance, well then that’s a choice you made to bear the risk of loss from weather delays. No different than someone who gets norovirus on a cruise and is quarantined and misses the whole cruise (has happened to us). Is it disappointing? Sure. Does DCL owe us money? No, it’s in the contract we signed onto and the base price we paid to DCL does not include insurance, so we got what we paid for from DCL and they owe us nothing more. Is that why we pay extra to get insurance so we do get compensated if an insured risk materializes? You betcha.

 

[TestingH2O]

I was surprised not to hear about a small OBC due to delayed boarding. When ships have been delayed out of Galveston for fog, they have given every stateroom a small credit (maybe $50) for the lost lunch. Since these passengers missed lunch and, in many cases, dinner, I would have thought that DCL would at least have added a small credit for those meals since they were not provided. While DCL didn't HAVE to do it, it does speak to a changing culture at the company.

 

[stkgator]

Question to OP: with the much-delayed departure, how were the evening meals and shows scheduled (or not)?

 

[DCLCruiseFan09]

I was surprised not to hear about a small OBC due to delayed boarding. When ships have been delayed out of Galveston for fog, they have given every stateroom a small credit (maybe $50) for the lost lunch. Since these passengers missed lunch and, in many cases, dinner, I would have thought that DCL would at least have added a small credit for those meals since they were not provided. While DCL didn't HAVE to do it, it does speak to a changing culture at the company.

I feel like they are much more generous with OBC on the Magic/Wonder than on the other ships? This one was definitely done under the "Hurricane just came through" logic although I would think they should at least buy everyone a drink for all the hassle.

The Wish has definitely been in "too bad. so sad. you get what you get." mode since they started.

 

[nancipants]

Question to OP: with the much-delayed departure, how were the evening meals and shows scheduled (or not)?

The Tim Tracker was on this cruise and so far they have put up the Day 1 video. They were in the terminal around 5:50 and their dining time got changed to 6 pm. They made dinner but were late. Afterward, Tim was back in the lobby and the CMs were still announcing people to board. So if you had main seating but a late PAT, you probably would have missed dinner.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

missing one full day of a three day sailing."

To be clear - cruises are sold as 3 NIGHT cruises. Most likely due to original cruises not really starting until late afternoon.

You still got 3 nights on the cruise, right?

 

[drstrange]

Nobody likes to hear from a lawyer in these situations because we are debbie downers, but the DCL contract specifically states that they can delay departure without compensation. It’s no different than all the people at Disney World who payed for a full theme park day and had an early closure due to weather, or folks whose flights were delayed and missed half a day of vacation.

Now, I would think you’d have a valid insurance claim for trip delay. For example, the Disney website says their insurance covers “up to $500 if your cruise is delayed for 6+ hours due to carrier-caused delays—including weather.” If you don’t have insurance, well then that’s a choice you made to bear the risk of loss from weather delays. No different than someone who gets norovirus on a cruise and is quarantined and misses the whole cruise (has happened to us). Is it disappointing? Sure. Does DCL owe us money? No, it’s in the contract we signed onto and the base price we paid to DCL does not include insurance, so we got what we paid for from DCL and they owe us nothing more. Is that why we pay extra to get insurance so we do get compensated if an insured risk materializes? You betcha.

I totally hear ya and appreciate the perspective. My point behind this thread was to see anecdotally what DCL has done in the past for similar situations.

 

[drstrange]

To be clear - cruises are sold as 3 NIGHT cruises. Most likely due to original cruises not really starting until late afternoon.

You still got 3 nights on the cruise, right?

I mean the purpose of this message was to be mean spirited right? No where did I say I missed a night. I said I was 6.5 hours delayed.

 

[DCLMP]

I mean the purpose of this message was to be mean spirited right? No where did I say I missed a night. I said I was 6.5 hours delayed.

We did a b2b out of Miami this Summer. We waited 3.5{most of it standing in line at customs} hours between cruises to reboard because their system crashed. The start of boarding didn't begin to 1pm. Not even so much as an apology. Don't expect anything from DCL.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I mean the purpose of this message was to be mean spirited right? No where did I say I missed a night. I said I was 6.5 hours delayed.

Certainly not mean spirited. I was just addressing your "missing one full day of a 3 days cruise" comment.

 

[Sleepyluke]

I was surprised not to hear about a small OBC due to delayed boarding. When ships have been delayed out of Galveston for fog, they have given every stateroom a small credit (maybe $50) for the lost lunch. Since these passengers missed lunch and, in many cases, dinner, I would have thought that DCL would at least have added a small credit for those meals since they were not provided. While DCL didn't HAVE to do it, it does speak to a changing culture at the company.

I am not sure when or how often this was, but not our experience. Honestly I never thought about asking for any compensation. DCL did not invent the fog.

Also, should everyone be compensated that could not get a general boarding PAT/boarding group before 2PM? Yes I know I am stretching, but wrecks, delays, or someone just doing something in the morning can lead to a missed opportunity to eat lunch on embarkation day. If they give you $50 for not eating lunch, dang skippy I'll start showing up late every cruise and still gain 10 pounds.

Sorry it was late, but they provided information the day before. They did not decide when to open the port, the officials did. If anything they are on the hook. DCL cant give out $125,000 in stateroom credits every time something is out of their control happens. Yes insurance is an extra cost, but in this case would have paid out.

 

[CamColt]

The OP asked for opinions and got quite a few. Since replies are starting to take a turn, I think this thread has run it's course and I'm going to close it.