Port Fees?

[newbiecruiser-texas]

hi - i just saw on another post something about port fees being charged on your S&S card - is this something else i need to budget for? i hate surprises....unless it's my birthday

[Underwatr]

In my experience port fees are part of the cruise fare that's paid in advance. You should have an itemized receipt somewhere that includes them.

[98Charlie]

Your port fees are added to the cost of the cruise when you purchase it. They are not added to your shipboard account.

 

Charlie

[paul929207]

The only time port charges hit your onboard account is if there is a change to them after final payment. The few times we have had it, it has been a small amount $5 or $10)

[cruisin'tex]

hi - i just saw on another post something about port fees being charged on your S&S card - is this something else i need to budget for? i hate surprises....unless it's my birthday

 

Never heard that. Taxes and port fees are included in total price that you pay before cruise.

 

Maybe post you saw was for gratuities that are charged to your onboard account.

[firefly333]

Your port fees are added to the cost of the cruise when you purchase it. They are not added to your shipboard account.

 

Charlie

 

Absolutely NOT. Bad info here. Port fees have been included in your cruisefare since the mid 1990s.

 

Only taxes and fees are added which do NOT include port fees.

 

port fees are also called NCFs or noncommissonal fare portion of your cruisefare.

 

So many people are confused on this and continue to post bad info.

[Underwatr]

Still, the answer that the OP is looking for is that port fees will not be added to a passenger's sign & sail card.

 

If pressed, I can provide an example of a cruise fare itemization that includes port fees as part of the cruise fare. Not added on, as you say, but separately itemized nonetheless.

[firefly333]

I have been told if add on taxes and fees go up from when you booked, the difference can be added to your s&s account.. the cruiselines do have that right. I have never had it happen, but let one TA talk me into paying the difference when I had a price drop, they incorrectly insisted on taking out the difference in add on taxes and fees.

 

If they go down, you do get OBC for the difference added to your S&S account.

[paul929207]

On Princess, I have had increased fees charged to my Onboard Account and reduced fees credited to it. They do that when there is a change in the fees after final payment.

[98Charlie]

Your port fees are added to the cost of the cruise when you purchase it. They are not added to your shipboard account.

 

Charlie

 

Absolutely NOT. Bad info here. Port fees have been included in your cruisefare since the mid 1990s.

 

Only taxes and fees are added which do NOT include port fees.

 

port fees are also called NCFs or noncommissonal fare portion of your cruisefare.

 

So many people are confused on this and continue to post bad info.

Well....excuuuuse me.

 

Port fees are included in the cost of the fare paid. Yes, I maybe I should have said "included" instead of added. Bad English but not bad info.

 

The OP was inquiring if they would have to budget for port fees. They won't (with the possible exceptions noted by other posters).

 

Have a nice day,

 

Charlie

[Bonnie J.]

Our last few Carnibval cruises we have had a credit of $5-11 on our final bill. Was just told, at purser's desk, this is given when the port taxes go down!

[BOSN]

hi - i just saw on another post something about port fees being charged on your S&S card - is this something else i need to budget for? i hate surprises....unless it's my birthday

 

As FIRE and others mentioned, the taxes and port fees are INCLUDED in the price/ fare of the cruise. :)

Though, if you are a bad cruiser :( and get put off the ship, the line and or you may be fined and also extra port or local entry taxes lavied against you.:(. Don't worry though, this is very, very rare. I don't know where you got your information, but there was a thread on the Carnival site refering to the new smoking, or better the non-smoking policy, especially refering to the cabins will be non-smoking areas. Conversation by a cruiser said they didn't care, and would pay the $250.00 cleaning fee if got caught. Another poster refered to mention in the cruise contract where the cruise line (Carnival) mat put you off at the next port. You are then on your own to get back home. If the cruise line incures (sp) and port fees, fine or taxes due to you being put off the ship, Carnival will pay these to keep on the good side of the port, but these port fees, fines, taxes, etc will be added to your S & S account. Might be what you were reading.

So don't worry. Welcome to Cruise Critic, enjoy your cruise and vacation, but mostly HAVE FUN! :D

[smeyer418]

Port fees/taxes are included in the fare you have already paid. However the port fees/taxes are an estimate of what the amount will be. Occassionally and pretty rarely actually the port fees/taxes do go up and the cruise lines do reserve the right to charge any additional to you at any time.

 

Just to be sure you understand port fee/charges included all the costs of docking there including pilot-age/wharf-age/tie-ing up fees and any thing else including per capita charges(taxes) to use the dock or the harbor-the list of what they can charge goes on for pages and how the cruise line charges is almost a trade secret. some charges the ship pays are based on the tonnage of the ship, some of them are based upon the length. some are per person charges. Some are based on the number of hours in port some are based on having a minimum number of tugs available. Since some of these are not per person based cruise lines can and do base how they are going to pass these on differently. Some base the number of passengers to be charged on the lower 2 per room(if there are more than that and on most ships there are the cruise lines make a "profit"). Some adjust for the actual number of passengers aboard.

 

When Alaska added a $50 pp tax for entering Alaskan waters some people who paid in advanced were surcharged for it.

 

The taxes paid on your fare separately are supposed to be government taxes only- in the US there is a quarter of 1% tax on cruise fares but there are also 9-11 fees that are now charged.

 

Finally the way the cruise lines break this up are sometimes different than TA's do(the TA's tend to break out NCF-non commission-able fare differently than the cruise lines do.)

 

sorry to confuse you but its basically that if you are charged additionally on board for charges in the port fees/charges/taxes its a result of a change and the cruise line is entitled to do so but only occasionally actually does. On the 15 or so cruises I have taken, they were only adjusted once because of a major change in the itinerary and that resulted in a $65 credit....

[STARFISH*4]

port fees did go up last year a few dollars before our final bill so that was added but i suppose that they add them if the final bill is paid to your ship account, never had that happen tho.