From bad weather to invasive beetles – are cruise port cancellations too frequent?

• Port cancellations have become just another day for Aussie cruisers in recent months.
• Now questions are being raised about whether itineraries need to be reconsidered so cruisers aren’t so frequently missing their ports.
• There is little clarity in the rules around compensation for missed ports, and it tends to be extremely inconsistent between different lines.

Aussie cruisers have become all too familiar with having a port visit cancelled of late.  Many cruises out of Australia head to tropical North Queensland and the South Pacific during the Aussie summer, which also happens to be the cyclone season for both of these regions.

Due to this, it’s an inevitability of Aussie cruising that weather cancellations are part and parcel of the journey, and most cruisers accept this. No cruiser wants to sail into an area that’s unsafe.

It’s also common for a cruise line to offer modest compensation, generally in the form of onboard credit, as an apology for not being able to make the port. 

However, lately some cruisers have been raising their eyebrows at the frequency, with cruise lines seemingly announcing new cancellations every week, particularly in the South Pacific. 

Many cruisers of lines such as Royal Caribbean and Carnival report sailing to the South Pacific multiple times without visiting particular ports, such as Mystery Island.

Weather cancellations can be tough enough to swallow, but a series of extra cancellations has compounded the problem recently. Thousands of Carnival passengers were unable to visit Mystery Island due an invasive beetle, and another Carnival cruise skipped Moreton Island because there was no marine pilot available. 

There are even cases of cruisers being told their entire cruise will happen in a different region due to weather issues, and not being offered a refund.

While weather can’t be changed, the constant cancellations call into question whether Aussie cruise lines should consider planning their itineraries differently.

For example, offering more localised Aussie sailings during the tropical cyclone season, prioritising different South Pacific ports, offering longer itineraries with more port stops or other potential solutions. 

Unclear compensation rules

Another problem is that there are no clearly defined rules, in Australian Consumer Law, or by cruise lines themselves, of what compensation passengers should receive for missed ports. 

Depending on the nature of why the port was missed, what port it is and what cruise line is sailing, guests will receive different levels of compensation. 

Furthermore, sometimes cruise lines refund the port fees for missed ports, which are built into the main fare, and sometimes they don’t. 

Cruise passengers would be able to book with more confidence and clarity if there was pre-set rules on how they will be compensated in case of missed ports. 

Missed ports are generally not the fault of the cruise line, but they can greatly affect a cruiser’s holiday, particularly if the cruise was booked to visit a particular destination or region.

Given the frequency of cancellations, it’s perhaps time for a rethink on how these port cancellations are treated.  

What do you think? Should cruise lines change itineraries to beat cancellations? Tell us in the comments below.