When I was on my most recent Virgin Voyages cruise, our itinerary got switched around. It was originally supposed to be a sea day, followed by the Dominican Republic, another sea day, Bimini, and then home. But because of the weather forecast and expected high seas, our cruise was Bimini, sea day, Dominican Republic, sea day, home. It’s not really a big deal; we did everything we were supposed to… just in a different order
That change just meant going to places on different days, but there are times when a cruise itinerary will undergo a major change.
When Itinerary Changes Are Major
Going back to Virgin Voyages as an example, there have been several times when their cruises in the Caribbean skipped the Dominican Republic entirely, and changed the itinerary to stop at Turks & Caicos (Grand Turk has the facilities to work on the ship’s engine, when needed).
Other ships have had to skip ports entirely. As Cruise Hive reported:
In mid-2022, for example, both Carnival Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean cancelled visits to Ensenada, Mexico due to escalating cartel violence.
Similarly, Royal Caribbean paused all visits to its private destination of Labadee, Haiti for several months following a dramatic increase in violence in that country.
And let’s not even get into the itinerary changes required when it’s hurricane season.
What Cruise Lines Owe You
So what does the cruise line owe you when these changes are made to your itinerary? Not much.
Cruise companies have been doing this for a long time, and the contract you sign gives them a lot of flexibility. That contract (which is VERY similar to the Terms & Conditions you agree to when you buy an airline ticket) essentially says that they reserve the right to change the itinerary at any time and passengers aren’t owed anything for them doing so. Most are similar to this example from Disney Cruise Line:
RIGHT TO CHANGE ITINERARY/DETENTION
Disney Cruise Line may in its sole discretion and without prior notice change, substitute, postpone, cancel or deviate from any scheduled sailing, itinerary or call at any port, and may substitute another vessel for the ship, and shall not be liable for any loss or damage incurred by a Guest as a result of any such change, substitution, postponement, cancellation or deviation.
- Carnival also spells it out in its Cruise Cancellation and Itinerary Change Policy.
- Royal Caribbean also has a FAQ about itinerary updates and travel alerts.
Of course, all ports charge cruise ships a per-passenger fee, which the cruise line forwards to each passenger; it’s included in the billing. If a port is skipped entirely, the cruise line will reimburse each passenger, but these fees are usually minimal—often less than $50 per person.
Case Study: Carnival Valor
All that being said, although the cruise doesn’t HAVE to offer compensation for significant changes (like skipping a port entirely), some cruise lines may offer some compensation. Case in point, this past September, Carnival Valor canceled its only port and turned the cruise into a “cruise to nowhere” after its previous voyage was delayed returning to New Orleans due to then-post tropical cyclone Francine. Carnival did offer some compensation to passengers, including:
- A portion of their fare refunded for the day
- Refunds for costs like Wi-Fi and drink packages purchased for that day
- A $100 onboard credit
- A 50% future cruise credit
- Compensation for associated expenses such as flight change fees
They didn’t have to offer all that (and some companies don’t offer that – or nearly that – giving you side eye, Disney and Virgin), but they did.
Other situations & “What ifs”
Of course, there are plenty of other situations that come down the pike for cruisers:
- Your entire cruise is canceled because the cruise line sold the sailing as a charter (read: sell out).
- Your entire cruise is canceled because of a big time mechanical issue, unsafe conditions (bunches of Australian cruises were canceled because of issues in the Red Sea), a worldwide pandemic (that one happened to us twice, July 2020 and July 2021).
- Your cruise is forced to end somewhere else, due to weather conditions at your originally planned port (this doesn’t happen often, but it happens. Miami vs. Fort Lauderdale, for example).
When it’s one of the above (or any other) “what if?” different cruise lines will offer different compensations (including the option to cancel) based on who knows what kind of criteria. Going back to the original topic of this piece, when it comes to a simple itinerary change, save for refunding taxes and fees, their contract says they reserve the right to make these changes. So don’t expect any sort of compensation. Should you get any, consider yourself lucky.
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
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