Port fees and taxes

Hi, I purchased through an agency that offers rebates based on your price paid. Well, I found that the port taxes and fees don't count, nor do they match the online amount. This makes a difference in your rebate because they are taking it from the price paid and adding it in the port charges which do not qualify for rebate credit. Does anyone know how to check it? I am thinking of calling the cruise line directly.

The cruise line would know.

These charges are not included when the cruise lines calculate the commission they pay to a TA. So it makes sense that they would be excluded from the rebate.

Calling the cruise line will not help as (mentioned) port fees and taxes are not included in or considered part of the cruise price and are a separate add on. Any rebate offered by your individual TA is based on the commissionable base stateroom rate charged and not a total that would include taxes and port fees. That amount should be on your invoice and can be confirmed by your TA if you ask.

BTW this is not a standard practice sponsored by the cruise line and would be an individual TA program with its policies determined by them.

TA can't rebate comm. on port & tax to you since they don't earn comm. on port & tax to begin with .

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If you do a mock booking for the cruise on the cruise line site, the port fees should be clearly stated.

When I did the booking online, it was different than the final fees. That's why I am suspicious. It is not what is stated on their website. I am given no real answer as to why. They just apologize. Next time I will know to ask before I book. The final price is the same; it's the port taxes and fees. I find it interesting because when we couldn't make it to port one time, guess what our rebate was? $9. Yep. St. Maartin was $9. Even if you multiplied that by 10, it would not equal what I was charged for 4 ports (Bahamas, Tortola, St. Maartin and St. Thomas).

I find it interesting because when we couldn't make it to port one time, guess what our rebate was? $9. Yep. St. Maartin was $9. Even if you multiplied that by 10, it would not equal what I was charged for 4 ports (Bahamas, Tortola, St. Maartin and St. Thomas).

The Port Charges affecting your rebate are also known as NCFs to travel agencies. Port Charges and NCFs are the same thing. They are Non Commisionable Fees. The TA gets commission on your booking with the NCFs backed out.

The $9 you got for missing St Maartin was a refund of a Port Fee that is part of the Government Fees and Taxes.

When I did the booking online, it was different than the final fees. That's why I am suspicious. It is not what is stated on their website. I am given no real answer as to why. They just apologize. Next time I will know to ask before I book. The final price is the same; it's the port taxes and fees. I find it interesting because when we couldn't make it to port one time, guess what our rebate was? $9. Yep. St. Maartin was $9. Even if you multiplied that by 10, it would not equal what I was charged for 4 ports (Bahamas, Tortola, St. Maartin and St. Thomas).

Also as mentioned, the amount you were refunded relates just to the port fee portion of the total of port charges, taxes, and fees. And that varies by port. All charges - commissionable stateroom rate, taxes, port charges, additional fees, etc., - can be all broken out separately on an invoice if requested. You are not being misled. And as previously mentioned any rebate will only come out of the commissionable portion of the total fare.

If I am not being misled, then the fees would be the same as shown on the website. If it says port charges & taxes equal "this amount" on the website, then it should also on my bill, especially when you are making a decision based on final price... which is affected by the rebate (we're talking a two hundred dollar difference). Interestingly, all previous bookings on this site always matched. When I call the cruise line direct, they won't give me any information because I booked with a travel agent. They will only give the breakdown to new bookings. I will definitely be more direct when I book - making my decision based on what the agent charges rather than their website figures. It's just another chore and seems unethical - like a bait and switch.

Thanks for all the feedback.

The Port Charges affecting your rebate are also known as NCFs to travel agencies. Port Charges and NCFs are the same thing. They are Non Commisionable Fees. The TA gets commission on your booking with the NCFs backed out.

 

 

The $9 you got for missing St Maartin was a refund of a Port Fee that is part of the Government Fees and Taxes.

right. I was only making this comparison as a previous experience, not this current complaint. Thanks for replying.

So, since it's tax time, are the taxes deductable and the fees paid to the foreign ports? I own a Canadian stock and the Canadian taxes taken out of the dividends are deductible on my US income tax form.

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If I am not being misled, then the fees would be the same as shown on the website.

So you may see something like this:

Fare (on cruiseline website) $1000 + $128 taxes and fees

On TA invoice: $800 Fare + $200 NCF + $128 taxes.

The discount/rebate you were offered was calculated on the $800 in the above example. Not the $1000 and not $1128. Taxes and fees (the $128) will be shown on the cruiseline website, NCF is not. (There are a few online TA's that list them.)

thanks Cheryl

I ran into the same thing recently. Cruise fare was $1,500 pp but the TA calculated it as much less which lowered the OBC they were offering. Was a bit surprised at the time, but now I understand why. So, yes, this is a real thing; you just don't see it unless the TA calculates OBC this way.

I ran into the same thing recently. Cruise fare was $1,500 pp but the TA calculated it as much less which lowered the OBC they were offering. Was a bit surprised at the time, but now I understand why. So, yes, this is a real thing; you just don't see it unless the TA calculates OBC this way.

Right as the consumer, we actually only care about the bottom line, how much our fare will be, not how it is broken out. But, there is also one other thing to consider. When figuring out how much to insure, port fees do not count since if you end up not going they will be refunded to you. (I learned this from my TA.)

Right as the consumer, we actually only care about the bottom line, how much our fare will be, not how it is broken out. But, there is also one other thing to consider. When figuring out how much to insure, port fees do not count since if you end up not going they will be refunded to you. (I learned this from my TA.)

They are generally the 'taxes and fees' portion that you pay in addition to the cruise fare; they are assessed per person and thus are not actually assessed if the person does not travel. The 'port charges' (AKA NCF) that is built into the quoted fare is generally assessed per ship and is an approximation of an average passenger's share of the charges. This item is not just the expected docking charges from all of the ports, it can include any sort of overhead item the cruiseline chooses to include in that portion of the fare.

Here is the kicker; even the cruiselines can mix up the per passenger and per ship fees into those different items (hence the use of the word generally) above. Only some of the per passenger fees will be refunded, and thus can be excluded from insurance, but it is a bit of head scratcher knowing how much.

And if you've read this far, you rightfully could be exasperated with the whole thing by now. But it is just something to keep in mind when choosing how much to insure, especially if one needs PEC waivers (where the entire cost must be insured) or you are close to the top of the $500 premium bracket.