Do you think

[PAPERBKWRITER]

cruise lines and vacation sites should include taxes and port fees in advertised prices?

[YubaSutter]

Of course they should.

Edited February 28, 2014 by YubaSutter

[StaceySteveDMB]

No. Nothing else that you buy that has an advertised price includes taxes or fees. Why should the cruise/vacation industry be any different?

[Shmoo here]

In theory, that would be nice. However, taxes and port fees can change at any time, possibly more than once between booking and sail dates. As well as one port may change while another doesn't then vice versa the next cruise. Or all ports could change on any given cruise and revert back for the next one. It would be difficult to keep up with that.

Edited February 28, 2014 by Shmoo here

[frayedend]

Sure they should but they won't. Every company wants to generate people to their site. Therefore, even if one company does it, another won't so they look cheaper. As long as you are comparing apples to apples, those fees should be about the same so it won't change where you buy.

[Colonel Angus]

Colonel Angus says no for taxes and port fees. Those amounts are always changing and he always ends up with on-board credits due to a reduction in the amount or a cancelled port of call.

 

Colonel Angus would like to see the $11.50 daily gratuity either charged as a non-refundable fee or calculated into the cost of the total fare. Colonel Angus has seen too many cruisers abuse the system and remove auto-tips to cover their ship purchases (bar, photos, spa, giftshops, etc.).

Edited February 28, 2014 by Colonel Angus

[PAPERBKWRITER]

Colonel Angus says no for taxes and port fees. Those amounts are always changing and he always ends up with on-board credits due to a reduction in the amount or a cancelled port of call.

 

Colonel Angus would like to see the $11.50 daily gratuity either charged as a non-refundable fee or calculated into the cost of the total fare. Colonel Angus has seen too many cruisers abuse the system and remove auto-tips to cover their ship purchases (bar, photos, spa, giftshops, etc.).

 

Welcome to the boards, Colonel. Question; you refer to yourself in the third person, may I ask why. And what kind of Colonel are you? I've heard of Captain Crunch, Major Ass Tired, and General Motors.

[notalandlover]

Princess did it for a while :D then went back to not doing it. :mad: Since its a charge you must pay I think it should be included.

[dkjretired]

I seem to remember there might have been a lawsuit against a number of cruise lines and that is why they do it the way they do.

[LHT28]

Oceania does it

[CaroleSS]

All the airlines now do it

[Lerin]

It doesn't bother me one way or the other.

To see an exact price you can just do a mock booking.

[cb at sea]

Hell, I think gas prices should drop that idiotic .9....round it up to the REAL price. Jeez.

[Bonnie J.]

we are always told what the taxes are before we book so we know what they'll be. Often we have gotten a credit on our final bill for overpayment of port taxes as they were lowered after we had paid them. Ships can't say exactly what they'll be on the sailing date.

[Sherlock43031]

Kentucky Colonels

[navybankerteacher]

All the airlines now do it

 

They really do not. After you book a flight on United and go to select seats on line you are advised that no "complimentary" selectable seats are available, and you can select seats upon checking in - which means a guarantee of undesirable seats. You are, of course, given the option of paying an additional charge to select a "preferred" seat.

[navybankerteacher]

Princess did it for a while :D then went back to not doing it. :mad: Since its a charge you must pay I think it should be included.

 

As long as it can be removed, it should not be referred to as a charge "you must pay".

[rvsullivan]

As long as it can be removed, it should not be referred to as a charge "you must pay".

 

 

I've never know anyone to be able to removed taxes and port fees. You can remove/adjust DSC, but not the fee's.:confused:

[Nebr.cruiser]

I'm okay with it the way it is. Really, only brand new cruisers might be surprised with the additional taxes and fees, and even then they will be included in the final price before booking.

 

Princess did try listing the price including taxes and fees for a while. Even though they had a notice, in smaller letters, stating that the price included xxx$ in taxes and fees, this apparently didn't work out well for them. They have now stopped that practice.

 

I think it's psychological: people focus on the lower price, even though most of us know it's not the total price. $799 just looks more appealing than $929(including taxes and fees), for example.

 

Also, most of the things we buy on an everyday basis have taxes, if not fees, listed later, not on the sticker price. I don't hear anyone objecting that that $25.99 item doesn't have the additional tax included in the price.

 

My family from Montana, which doesn't have sales tax, is really always put off by the taxes we have on items--even the grandkids notice.

 

It's the same reason we have the ridiculous $8.99, for instance, rather than the much easier to deal with $9.00, in terms of change, etc. I have heard more than one person say, 'that's only $8 (example) when it's actually $8.99.

Edited March 1, 2014 by Nebr.cruiser

[luddite]

I learned how to read and interpret advertising hype a long time ago. It doesn't affect me at all.

[mtwingcpa]

They really do not. After you book a flight on United and go to select seats on line you are advised that no "complimentary" selectable seats are available, and you can select seats upon checking in - which means a guarantee of undesirable seats. You are, of course, given the option of paying an additional charge to select a "preferred" seat.

 

As I understand it, the airline rule requires them to include all MANDATORY fees or taxes in the advertised price. They are not required to include (for example) checked luggage fees, seat upgrades, etc.

 

I see no reason why a similar approach couldn't be applied to cruise lines. If a "service charge" is truly optional, then it could be excluded.

 

I would also like to see cruise lines do away with "PPDO" pricing. Instead they should state the minimum price for the cabin, as hotels generally do in the US.

[marco]

I think they should. As it is now, a lot of printed adds include "between $XXXX and $XXXX additional in port taxes and fees, depending on itinerary. those fees don't change that frequently, and they can always include a caveat: "port taxes and fess subject to change". If it is not a cost that is discretionary, and those taxes and fees are the same whether you book a minimum inside cabin or the deluxe penthouse suite, and everyone HAS TO pay them, they should be included.

[Nebr.cruiser]

It would only work if all cruise lines did it. Otherwise, people being people, the prices without the taxes and fees would 'look' cheaper, even though they would end up being exactly the same.

 

But, it's not a big deal to me because I already know they will be included in the final price--just like I know 7.5% sales tax will be added on in our local stores.

[CaroleSS]

They really do not. After you book a flight on United and go to select seats on line you are advised that no "complimentary" selectable seats are available, and you can select seats upon checking in - which means a guarantee of undesirable seats. You are, of course, given the option of paying an additional charge to select a "preferred" seat.

 

We booked with Delta for our upcoming trip and had no problems getting the seats we wanted.....and they weren't premium.

[dsrdsrdsr]

Yes, to the original question. But then, under advertising laws in Britain, they do anyway.