Taxes going UP!!!

[Cruisin Suzin]

I received this email from my PVP this morning. What brochures, are they talking about.. they have stopped all brochures...anyone else receive anything like this..Is this the "norm" to raise taxes after the fact...I agreed to them adding the cost of oil/barrel etc...but not taxes to cover their brochures...:( Any info regarding this increase would be appreciated...what next my cruise is still 5 months away..

Actual taxes for this voyage now exceed the estimates used by Holland America
Line for purposes of releasing brochures and this product for sale. As a
result, an increase of $17.81 USD per person has been applied to your booking.

[maxout]

I received this email from my PVP this morning. What brochures, are they talking about.. they have stopped all brochures...anyone else receive anything like this..Is this the "norm" to raise taxes after the fact...I agreed to them adding the cost of oil/barrel etc...but not taxes to cover their brochures...:( Any info regarding this increase would be appreciated...what next my cruise is still 5 months away..

Actual taxes for this voyage now exceed the estimates used by Holland America
Line for purposes of releasing brochures and this product for sale. As a
result, an increase of $17.81 USD per person has been applied to your booking.






It's not FOR the Brochures, it's the difference in pricing as listed in the Brochures and actual costs due to changes to tax rates or port charges relative to the cruise(s) affected.

[Cruisin Suzin]

Thanks for the reply, is this common...I did read it as being FOR the brochures, how many times would one expect to get this notice...

[Krazy Kruizers]

For the last couple of years we have received notices from our TA who has gotten notices about taes and port charges that have gone up for our cruises -- which we have to pay.

There was never anything about paying for brochures.

[CowPrincess]

I guess "how many times" will depend on how often port taxes change. And how well the US $ is doing compared to the local currency. We have had them go up and go down. I think it was on our last cruise we each got $2.10 or similar credit to our onboard account because of a port tax change.

...what next my cruise is still 5 months away..


Well there could be another outbreak of H1N1, a huge storm that keeps you from flying, a repeat of SARS, a fuel surcharge implemented, the Canadian dollar could tank compared to the US dollar..... or more increases in port charges. I'm a worrier, too. Don't borrow trouble, as a dear friend says to me. If things happen, they happen. You'll deal with them as they occur.

[maxout]

It does happen fairly often and sometimes it actually goes down :D It can even happen after you are already aboard!

[jtl513]

Thanks for the reply, is this common...I did read it as being FOR the brochures, how many times would one expect to get this notice...It's quite common for taxes and port fees to go up or down (usually up), but we've never been told a specific adjustment amount 156 days before a cruise. Usually we've gotten the "final" price at final payment time, 75 days out.

This time we got a reduction because the value of the Euro is down about $0.25 from when we booked in December.

[Mary Ellen]

is this common...I did read it as being FOR the brochures, how many times would one expect to get this notice...Yes, this is quite common. I can't even remember a cruise when our taxes haven't changed. As others have mentioned, taxes can change while you are on your cruise.

What HAL said was that the taxes were estimated at the time brochures were printed. They can't wait to print brochures as taxes can change even while you are on our cruise. They wouldn't be able to print brochures otherwise.

[RetiredMustang]

I was notified yesterday of port taxes going up on our Ryndam cruise in Feb., 5+ months from now. Only a few dollars.

Taxes actually went down on our last cruise. Again, only a few dollars.

Dave

[Berk987]

I paid my balance yesterday for our 12/5/10 cruise on the Niew Amsterdam. They charged me an extra $7.32 total for the four of us. Said government tax went up. I'm not going to argue over $7.

[Randyk47]

Our Maasdam cruise just went up something like $9 per person....so I'll have two less drinks.....yeah right. :rolleyes::D

[Lesinindy]

Our Noordam cruise is still at the same tax level. No increase yet at least that I can see.

[serendipity1499]

I received this email from my PVP this morning. What brochures, are they talking about.. they have stopped all brochures...anyone else receive anything like this..Is this the "norm" to raise taxes after the fact...I agreed to them adding the cost of oil/barrel etc...but not taxes to cover their brochures...:( Any info regarding this increase would be appreciated...what next my cruise is still 5 months away..

Actual taxes for this voyage now exceed the estimates used by Holland America
Line for purposes of releasing brochures and this product for sale. As a
result, an increase of $17.81 USD per person has been applied to your booking.




Last year our Panama Canal B2B Taxes & Port charges went up several months before departure & we paid them by CC..

We disembarked the Veendam two weeks ago...We were notified when we boarded that our Port taxes of $15.89 p/p had increased & we were billed for it on our on-board account..

This is normal procedure & happens quite often on all Cruise Lines..If port charges &/or taxes increase you will be charged either before your cruise, or while you are on-board..

Understand, why you were confused, but it actually means the Port Charges which is in the cruise price &/or Taxes quoted in the brochure are no longer valid.. They could have worded it better..

Cheers.....:)Betty

[serendipity1499]

Our Noordam cruise is still at the same tax level. No increase yet at least that I can see.

I believe that HAL normally quotes Port taxes as part of the cruise fare, & the Govt. taxes are listed separately, so we can't count on either of them staying the same..So far we haven't been advised of an increase on our Nov. Noordam cruise either, but it could very well change & we won't be surprised if it does..:)

Cheers....:)Betty

[Cruisin Suzin]

Thanks for all the great replies...this is only my second cruise, and my first was with a group and I never saw all these details...I won't sweat the small stuff then..just came as a surprise..

[taxmantoo]

We got the same identical message this week for our cruise next April...

Actual taxes for this voyage now exceed the estimates used by Holland America Line for purposes of releasing brochures and this product for sale. As a result, an increase of $30.35 USD per person has been applied to your booking

We must share the same online TA. I always deal with them by phone and have never had any issues with them.

[savannahgirl1]

Just got the email an hour ago. Our taxes has went up about $9 pp for our next March cruise.

[NSWP]

Just got the email an hour ago. Our taxes has went up about $9 pp for our next March cruise.
Same here, our Westerdam cruise tax went up, yesterday our agent, HAL Australia's agent adjusted the balance due, I think it is increased Port Everglades charges. I have fully paid the Star Princess one which comes into Port Evergades the day before we leave on Westerdam, but I hear Princess will put that extra tax on our shipboard account.

A drop in the ocean compared to what we pay in airfrares to get to and from the Americas, plus cruise costs. Such is life.

[OVgirl]

I received this email

Actual taxes for this voyage now exceed the estimates used by Holland America
Line for purposes of releasing brochures and this product for sale. As a
result, an increase of $17.81 USD per person has been applied to your booking.


We just got this email today as well, directly from HAL (we booked with them).
Guess there's nothing we can do except pay the fees. I still want to cruise even though it's going to cost us ~$35 more.:)

[NSWP]

Have sympathy for us Aussies having to pay $2000 each to fly to and from the Americas to pick up a cruse, I no complain about this minute increase in tax.

[kjw869]

Our taxes and fees went up $48.01 each for our 10-day S. Caribbean-Panama Canal cruise for January 2011 on the Zuiderdam.

[savannahgirl1]

Our taxes and fees went up $48.01 each for our 10-day S. Caribbean-Panama Canal cruise for January 2011 on the Zuiderdam.

Ours did that on our Panama cruise in 2008. The only difference was we didn't find out until we were onboard and found the note left in our room telling us the extra $100 had been added to our ship board account. Of course everyone on the ship was in the same boat with that surprise. :rolleyes: I think I would have rather knew ahead of time, but the Panamanian Authority had went up on the Canal tax to late for HAL to let everyone know before the cruise.

[Mary Ryan]

We are booked on the Volendam 14 night cruise from Auckland New Zealand on 3 December 2010 to Sydney and have been amazed with the additional 'taxes' of Aus$73.38 per person (US$67.29 per person on today's rates).

We had expected a small adjustment up or down but not this amount which looks like a price increase. We are not happy :( but what can any of us do as 'taxes' can be adjusted any time by HAL?

[Randyk47]

Not sure it's totally fair to say HAL can adjust the taxes anytime since they're not the ones charging the tax but I understand the feeling that we have no control. HAL is going to pass on any tax increase, apparently no matter how small and certainly the larger ones. We've been fortunate and the increase of $8.09 per person we got last week for our Maasdam cruise this coming March was maybe only the second and certainly didn't raise the cost of the cruise much. As I recall we got some kind of notice on one of our previous cruises that a tax increase had been added to our on-board account though I'm not sure. Other than that if there were tax increases either HAL or the TA "ate" them as I don't remember any. Seems interesting that there's this surge of increases all of a sudden.

[m steve]

and the taxes increased on Ryndam were $25 pp for 14 day cruise above the original contract with TA.

[jtl513]

We are not happy :( but what can any of us do as 'taxes' can be adjusted any time by HAL?"Tax increases" are never the fault of HAL, and sometimes they're not the fault of the ports or countries you'l be visiting either:
Port taxes are charged in the local currency so if there is big change in the exchange rate between when your trip was booked and when you will actually be sailing you can expect that there will be a change in the port taxes you pay when converted to your local currency.

This year many of my clients sailing Australia/New Zealand itineraries had their port taxes almost double because of the devaluation of the USD since they booked their cruises last year. This is probably what happened in your case.

This year clients who booked last year to sail in Europe this year have had their port taxes reduced because of the devaluation of the EUR. In both of these cases none of the changes were port specific, but currency specific.

Whenever an increase was due to an itinerary change or a new tax at a specific port HAL has always made the specific port clear in their notices.

Aunty Pat


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[Krazy Kruizers]

Ours did that on our Panama cruise in 2008. The only difference was we didn't find out until we were onboard and found the note left in our room telling us the extra $100 had been added to our ship board account. Of course everyone on the ship was in the same boat with that surprise. :rolleyes: I think I would have rather knew ahead of time, but the Panamanian Authority had went up on the Canal tax to late for HAL to let everyone know before the cruise.

We have also had that happen on 3 of our Panama Canal cruises -- got on the ship -- letter on the bed about higher fees for the Canal. The first time that happened to us was in 2002 for a repositioning cruise.

[m steve]

port charges and taxes separately. Since the $ is stronger the fees should go down. Same as the cost of land tours where the Euro is weaker.

[Crazy Gramps]

We're on the same cruise as Savannahgirl and just got the notice.
$9.47 PP

Not a biggie


Gramps

[cruizelvr]

Ours went up over $40 per person on the Zuiderdam in January too! First time this has ever happened to us.

[Krazy Kruizers]

It appears that HAL underestimated the future port taxes and various fees -- thus it appears that everyone is getting these notices. Of course it will vary dpending on your itinerary and how long ago you booked your cruise.

[Mary Ryan]

Whenever an increase was due to an itinerary change or a new tax at a specific port HAL has always made the specific port clear in their notices.

Aunty Pat


Aunty Pat has hit on the knub of the issue for us. We have been charged an additional Aus$73.38 (or about US$67) per person for a 14 night cruise without any detail on the specific port/s where the additional costs have arisen. (Our travel agent forwarded the advice from HAL.)

As our Australian travel agent sees it as the end of the issue, I'd appreciate any suggestions on how I could find out more about this additional charge.

[Krazy Kruizers]

The only time we have been told what port the increase was for the Panama Canal -- otherwise we have not a clue.

[jtl513]

port charges and taxes separately. Since the $ is stronger the fees should go down. Same as the cost of land tours where the Euro is weaker.Our taxes went down for our E. Med cruise.

I'd appreciate any suggestions on how I could find out more about this additional charge.Start by comparing the exchange rates at the time you booked versus today.

[Mary Ellen]

:confused: Do you have any idea what the taxes were for each port before you were notified of the increase? If you were to get a breakdown as to what they are now, how would you know which went up from the estimate - if any? As jtl513 pointed out, it could easily be a difference in exchange rates.

We once received a onboard refund of 17 cents/pp in port taxes. We didn't get an explanation and we didn't care. It was amazing that HAL was so meticulous that an insignificant amount like that.

Quite frankly, if I for one moment thought that if we couldn't trust any cruise line in a matter like this, I wouldn't trust them with my safety once on board.

[Himself]

Along time ago there was an institution called the Bank of the United States. The state of Maryland tried to tax it out of existence. The case went before the Supreme Court and Chief Justice John Marshall ruled the law Unconstituional because a state cannot tax a federal institution. Chief Justice Marshall went on to say "The Power to Tax is the Power to Destroy." Need I say more?

[taxmantoo]

Along time ago there was an institution called the Bank of the United States. The state of Maryland tried to tax it out of existence. The case went before the Supreme Court and Chief Justice John Marshall ruled the law Unconstituional because a state cannot tax a federal institution. Chief Justice Marshall went on to say "The Power to Tax is the Power to Destroy." Need I say more?

Please do!