Price adjustment but not taxes

[pchen0]

Saw my sailing had a price reduction (before final payment due) so called Celebrity to get my cruise repriced but the fare was still higher than a new booking. They explained that although they price adjust on the base fare, they do not adjust on the taxes/port fees. Taxes and port charges are based on your original booking.

It was too much hassle for me to cancel and rebook the entire cruise to save about $55 but I was told that I can get this refunded once on board the cruise. Is this true? If it is true, will it be automatic or do I need to go to Customer Service counter?

 

Thanks!

[Luvcrusn]

Saw my sailing had a price reduction (before final payment due) so called Celebrity to get my cruise repriced but the fare was still higher than a new booking. They explained that although they price adjust on the base fare, they do not adjust on the taxes/port fees. Taxes and port charges are based on your original booking.

It was too much hassle for me to cancel and rebook the entire cruise to save about $55 but I was told that I can get this refunded once on board the cruise. Is this true? If it is true, will it be automatic or do I need to go to Customer Service counter?

 

Thanks!

I'd advise calling Captain's Club. Sometimes the agents have incorrect info. If this is told to you again, I'd strongly recommend getting that in writing, otherwise I wouldn't count on seeing the refund. You could also try calling back and speaking with another agent. Celebrity is notorious for different people giving different answers. Whenever we've seen price reductions on our cruises the price was adjusted immediately, however we always book with a large, high volume, online TA and not directly with X. Good luck!

[wrk2cruise]

I don't ever really watch the changes in taxes/fees although I do know they can go up and down. I've only had price adjustments made on the base fare. I believe this is what the OP had happen, the Celebrity rep would adjust the base fare but not taxes/fees. I don't believe there will be any adjustment on the ship. Only adjustment I've seen is if we miss a port we tend to get a few $$ credit and yes that was done automatically.

[jelayne]

It is my understanding that Port fees and taxes are an estimation of what the cruise line believes they will actually be at the time of sailing. They can go up or down or remain unchanged between the time you book and the cruise based primarily on what the port is charging.

 

If they go up you aren't charged the extra. If the actual fees at sailing are less than expected Celebrity refunds the difference in the form of OBC on your account on the ship.

 

We have had a number of cruises 8 or 9 out of 43 where we have had a small refund to our On Board account. We have also had more where between booking and sailing the port fees & taxes have increased but we weren't charged the difference.

[Essiesmom]

Taxes charged are not like sales taxes, based on your fare. They are fees charges by the various ports. They can change up or down, even if your fare stays the same. EM

[Tomato53]

Port taxes are a fixed amount, not a percentage of your fare.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

We have had refunds of port taxes and fees applied to our OBC when they have been lower at the time of sailing vs the time of booking. Usually it is a small amount.

[dutchclogs]

^This has been our experience too. Conversely, I understand that if port fees have increased since booking that this is not charged.

[jkgourmet]

We've never had a price reduction in celebrity (that we were able to get without losing our perks).

 

but we have experienced this with other cruise lines. We were refunded for taxes, but not for port fees. I'm one cruise, there was a change in itinerary, dropping one port; we were refunded that money, too. In both cases, we received credit on our credit card, not OBC.

 

Last year, after the hurricane, we had port changes in our X Caribbean cruise. We were NOT issued anything for port changes that cost less in port fees. Not cool.