Curiosity about port charges

Just thinking on a lazy Sunday about port charges. :eek: Does anyone have a clue how they are calculated? Just for discussion, on our recent 11 days on Queen Victoria in the Caribbean with all stops alongside docks, our port charges were roughly half (!) that shown for SeaDream 7 day caribbean charges with most stops using tenders.:eek: Any thoughts??:D

Assuming that at least some of the charges are not dependant on the size of the ship, the higher passenger count of a large ship divides into a smaller port charge . Just guessing....

Assuming that at least some of the charges are not dependant on the size of the ship, the higher passenger count of a large ship divides into a smaller port charge . Just guessing....

I thought that might be part too but then, like you, I am just guessing too.:eek: You would think it would be more to dock than tender and many places SD goes (Jost VanDyke, etc.) are not even ports. If tonnage has to do with the charges, SD could almost fit on Queen Vickie's Pool Deck.:eek: Just curious as all lines seem to be charging more and more for "Port Charges".

I suspect even if you tender, you have to pay for landing the tender, having an SD guy there with his tent, etc. Additionally, it includes government fees, which include clearing the ship at each port, right? And since SD goes to such small ports, the costs might be higher. I really don't have a clue, but these ideas seem logical to me. :)

Vandrefalk

Just thinking on a lazy Sunday about port charges. :eek: Does anyone have a clue how they are calculated? Just for discussion, on our recent 11 days on Queen Victoria in the Caribbean with all stops alongside docks, our port charges were roughly half (!) that shown for SeaDream 7 day caribbean charges with most stops using tenders.:eek: Any thoughts??:D

Jim

I think it is better to think of them as non commission fees, so they include the port charges, but also the amount allocated for what would be gratuities, any other taxes that might charged, etc. In other words anything that SD does not want to have to pay a commission to a TA on.

Jim

 

I think it is better to think of them as non commission fees, so they include the port charges, but also the amount allocated for what would be gratuities, any other taxes that might charged, etc. In other words anything that SD does not want to have to pay a commission to a TA on.

Could be. I was mainly curious why they are so much more than Cunard.:eek:

Could be. I was mainly curious why they are so much more than Cunard.:eek:

I've wondered the same thing. Thanks for asking this most excellent question!

I've sailed on Cunard & other lines & I haven't seen port charges above $50. The significantly higher port charges on SD are a mystery to me. If it's a guest to port ratio, I would have thought that Silversea would have higher than average port charges too, but I don't recall theirs being very high, and we sailed into many of the same ports as SD.

I do have a hard time explaining to wanna-be SD'ers that they just need to get over the high port charges & that SD is well worth it. It also drives my DH crazy seeing the port charges added on. He thinks "all inclusive" should include the port charges and I don't entirely disagree...:)