taxes and fees

[sept10dsm]

We are booked on the Caribbean Princess this October for a 7 day Canada/NE. The taxes and fees are 97 pp. We did this cruise in 2007 and the fees were around 50 pp. I just thought some of the ports raised their fees. I just received an email from Cunard, same ports exactly, same month, this Oct. The fees and taxes for that cruise are 54. I can't imagine that they should be different. They are even owned by the same co.!

[travelntreats]

We are booked on the Caribbean Princess this October for a 7 day Canada/NE. The taxes and fees are 97 pp. We did this cruise in 2007 and the fees were around 50 pp. I just thought some of the ports raised their fees. I just received an email from Cunard, same ports exactly, same month, this Oct. The fees and taxes for that cruise are 54. I can't imagine that they should be different. They are even owned by the same co.!

Ahhhhhhh taxes and fee's.... no rhyme or reason and no transparency as to where and who they exactly go thru.....Best to just pay it like the rest of the passengers paying the same base prices as you if for cruise only and will vary all over the board if including an air package !

[sept10dsm]

Ahhhhhhh taxes and fee's.... no rhyme or reason and no transparency as to where and who they exactly go thru.....Best to just pay it like the rest of the passengers paying the same base prices as you if for cruise only and will vary all over the board if including an air package !

Both cruise only.

[firefly333]

We are booked on the Caribbean Princess this October for a 7 day Canada/NE. The taxes and fees are 97 pp. We did this cruise in 2007 and the fees were around 50 pp. I just thought some of the ports raised their fees. I just received an email from Cunard, same ports exactly, same month, this Oct. The fees and taxes for that cruise are 54. I can't imagine that they should be different. They are even owned by the same co.!

 

Since the port taxes are included in the cruise fare part of what you pay, not part of the "taxes and fees" that are added on ...Iv never known what other "fees" this could emcompass.

 

Port charges run over $50 per port....and the cruiselines dont break them out any more. (they used to over 10 years ago).

 

Beats me why they "taxes and fees" vary or what they are exactly.

[sept10dsm]

Since the port taxes are included in the cruise fare part of what you pay, not part of the "taxes and fees" that are added on ...Iv never known what other "fees" this could emcompass.

 

Port charges run over $50 per port....and the cruiselines dont break them out any more. (they used to over 10 years ago).

 

Beats me why they "taxes and fees" vary or what they are exactly.

When you go directly to the Princess and Cunard website and book a cruise they are listed as the fees and taxes. Both lines are owned by the same company and both priced out the cruise exactly the same-except for the these fees on a seperate line item. This is a cruise only, no insurance no transfers. It has nothing to do with the way past pricing was done. I looked today.

 

It seems that 50/port is quite high, don't know but we have 5 ports and the price for the cruise is 499 plus the $97 in taxes and fees.

[G'ma]

We are booked on the Caribbean Princess this October for a 7 day Canada/NE. The taxes and fees are 97 pp. We did this cruise in 2007 and the fees were around 50 pp. I just thought some of the ports raised their fees. I just received an email from Cunard, same ports exactly, same month, this Oct. The fees and taxes for that cruise are 54. I can't imagine that they should be different. They are even owned by the same co.!

 

Many things affect port taxes and fees...not just itinerary. Ship size, number of dock personell needed to secure docking, contractual agreements between the cruise line and the local harbor, etc.

 

If you use a travel agency, they may be tacking on their own "fees" also.

 

Ask for a breakdown.

[sept10dsm]

Many things affect port taxes and fees...not just itinerary. Ship size' date=' number of dock personell needed to secure docking, contractual agreements between the cruise line and the local harbor, etc.

 

If you use a travel agency, they may be tacking on their own "fees" also.

 

Ask for a breakdown.[/quote']

Thanks. That makes sense. I looked at a Panama Canal partial transit and Princess' 10 day is $200 and Cunards 13 or 14 day partial is under 100. I just couldn't figure it out - why the differences.

[cherylandtk]

Usually the taxes and fees are somewhat similar, or at least that is what I had found in the past. But you are right, exact same itinerary, same time frame, and one set of fees/taxes is twice the other. Not that it helps much, but Carnival for the same time, going to Boston, Portland, St. John and Halifax out of NYC (one less port, Portland instead of Newport and Bar Harbor) has fees/taxes of $81.90 pp. Go figure. I guess Cunard has the better deal there.

 

What firefly was referring to ($50 per port) was the port charges, which are not the same as the fees/taxes. Port charges, by law, must be incorporated into any fare quote, but they are not commissionable to TA's. In simplistic form, the port charges are an entire ship charge amortized per passenger and the taxes/fees are imposed per passenger. So if a ship is charged by the port $1000 to dock, plus $3.50 per person, that works out to $13.50 each on a 100 passenger ship and $1003.50 on your private yacht.

 

Cruiselines guestimate the cost of port charges per passenger based on the average passenger load, some weeks they come out ahead, some weeks they don't. Fees/taxes however, are different each week depending on exactly how many passengers sail.