port fees and taxes

Does anyone know why Carnival charges a different amount for port charges and taxed than travel agents do?

Does anyone know why Carnival charges a different amount for port charges and taxed than travel agents do?

It's not just Carnival. Royal Caribbean appears to do the same - however, my bottom line price still comes out the same.

Thank you for the quick reply, I guess I thought taxes and port fees were all a set fee that no one has control over, but is this not the case?

Thank you for the quick reply, I guess I thought taxes and port fees were all a set fee that no one has control over, but is this not the case?

Port fees and taxes change all the time. The cruiselines or the TA is actually doing an "estimated" port fees and taxes quote based on their experience. Typically, they will estimate high, so there are no surprises and the end of the cruise with "more money due".

Usually, if the port fees and taxes are lower than what you've already paid once a cruise starts, you'll get a credit back on your account.

Port fees and taxes can vary between cruise lines due to a variety of things. Simple things like size of ship, in number of berths, or tonnage, to more complex things like reductions for other purchases of water, fuel or similar.

Fees can be a negotiated sum, so one cruise line might be in the middle of a contract for lower fees, while another might have just started a contract at a higher rate.

TA's may list the port fees & taxes differently than the cruise line but the bottom line is usually the same

Does anyone know why Carnival charges a different amount for port charges and taxed than travel agents do?

It's not port charges and taxes, it's non commisionable part of the fare.

It's not port charges and taxes, it's non commisionable part of the fare.

Exactly. "Port fees and taxes" collected by the cruise line and "port charges" as enumerated by a travel agent are two completely different things. What the TAs do is break out the non-commissionable portion of the fare to mislead you into thinking it is a quasi-tax--and to make you think you are getting a discount over booking direct. When you book direct the cruise lines are required by law to not break down the cruise fare, beyond what actually are taxes. But TAs can and do exactly that.

We have always gotten a refund of $11 to maybe $14 for port charges on Carnival. Have thought it was for an overpayment. Each port charges their port tax for the number of passengers on the ship. So, maybe Carnival pays for a full ship that isn't full when we get to the port? And we are about to go on our 65th Carnival cruise, Can't remember if this happens on other lines we've been on.

Why to they vary so much? Here's one explanation:

Port charges and fees are all the extra things that a cruise line has to pay for to get a ship into and out of a port.

These charges vary considerably by ship, country, and port. They are also affected by the flag on the stern, the actual pier used in a particular port, the size, length, and capacity of the ship, the number of passengers onboard, tendering, luggage handling, loading provisions, the number of immigration and customs officers used, number of linesmen required, port security staff used, arrival and departure times, fuel and water bunkering, garbage and other waste offloading, tugboats required and/or used, pilots required and/or used, canal transits, and which local agency is representing the ship.

 

Some major elements of port charges:

Wharfage Fee: the basic fee to park at the pier can be anywhere from free to $100,000 for the day. In many ports it is closer to the $100,000. If we stay one minute past midnight, the fee doubles.

 

 

Head Tax: Nearly every port charges us by the number of passengers and often the number of crew onboard. At St Thomas if we go to the Havensight Pier, we pay around $30 per head. If we go to the Sub Base Pier, we pay $18 per head. If we tender we pay far less.

 

Luggage Handling: If we are turning around in a US Port, we are required to pay the union stevedores around $50,000 to handle the bags. If it is a weekend, early morning, or late in the day, the fee doubles.

 

Provision loading: Depending on the amount of goods, we are required to pay the union stevedores anywhere from $20,000 to $50,000.

 

Tugboats: We rarely use them, but many ports require us to hire them. In San Francisco, we are required to hire 2 tugs going in and 2 tugs going out. Cost: $175,000.

 

Pilots: We do not need or use them, but are required to hire them anyway. In a US Port, we pay the local pilot between $1,200 and $2,000 to stand on the bridge and drink coffee for one hour. That's $1200 to $2000 going into port and another $1200 to $2000 going out.

 

Canal Transits: One way (daytime) through the Panama Canal for a 90,000 ton cruise ship (2,500 pax) is around $500,000. That fee will double when the new locks are finished in 2016.

 

Port Security: When my ship arrives in Alaska, the local agent visits us to collect $50,000 to pay for port security for 2 months. Two months later he visits again to collect another $50,000 for the remainder of the season.

 

Waste Offload: Even though we are required to purchase most of our food items from US Companies and then ship them to us overseas, we are not flagged US. Legally any waste we need to offload in North America is considered Foreign Waste, and is classified "hazardous". We are required to pay an obscene amount of money to a local hazardous waste handler, who fills in the paperwork, collects our "hazardous" garbage, and then dumps it in the local landfill next to all of the local garbage. When in North America, we pay around $50,000 per week for this service.

 

The complete list is far longer, but you get the idea.................

A couple of years ago we booked a multiple port Caribbean cruise on another line. I asked our TA what the breakdown was of the "port taxes and gov't fees". She didn't know so I called the line directly and asked "Of the port taxes and gov't fees, what's the breakdown and who gets how much?". They asked me my name, booking # and TA's name. I was put on hold for a short while and when the rep came back on the line I was told "That is not public information".........Go figure!