Oh, law, I didn't think about that. Great point. How often does that happen and why?Just be careful. You might get a refund of the port fees before your trip for about that much and you'll be back where you started.
Do you know what triggered that? What ports were you refunded for?I've been on two cruises and both had it happen. We used Costco last time and it actually brought my cash back down by $40 for each room. This year, my third cruise, we just got back $13.97 for port fees. I believe my other two were in that range, too, but I'd have to look to be sure.
You can’t know what exact fees are being refunded, but in 11 cruises, I’ve had a refund around 8 or 9 times around PIF date. I think our two European cruises did not produce a refund. Since DCL books the port slots years in advance, they overestimate the costs to make sure not to lose money when it’s finally time to sail. They charge them to the guests then refund them once they know the real port fees. On one of their first cruise, they were charged more fees than anticipated and wrote to all the guests that they needed to shell out more money. That did not go over well and they reconsidered. I think they created the current process because of that incident.Do you know what triggered that? What ports were you refunded for?
Is you OBC based on the total cost of the cruise, including fees and taxes ? I know some agencies base it on only the actual cruise fare since their remuneration is based on price before taxes and fees.
Did you prepay your tips ? That could give you a cost bump for something you would pay later anyway. You could also roll in the cost of the cruise a pre-cruise hotel.Well the taxes and port fees do come into play with the OBC, but the possibility of some of the port fees getting refunded would bring me down to right below the 6,000 threshold and that will just suck. I am going to inquire about this more with the TA and see if there is anything really I could do to change something with any financial gain just reverting back because of a higher price. So glad you guys informed me of such.
Prepaid tips are not counted towards such. I will probably go ahead and do so regardless but it won't help with the OBC. But thanks anyway!Did you prepay your tips ? That could give you a cost bump for something you would pay later anyway. You could also roll in the cost of the cruise a pre-cruise hotel.