Are port charges and taxes out of control?

[Joekool]

Are port charges and taxes out of control?

 

Just got the bill for my 18 day transatlantic NYC to Lisbon Canary Islands NCL Sun cruise.  $500 taxes plus $180 port charges.  

Does anyone know how you can see the itemization of the taxes and port charges?  Seems to be a big secret.

[LHT28]

many factors are involved in port fees 

 

[wowzz]

When we book cruises in the UK, the fares quoted are inclusive of all taxes, port charges etc.

Makes life so much easier, and it makes comparing costs for different itineraries very simple.

Any reason why the same pricing policy is not used in the US ?

[chengkp75]

3 minutes ago, wowzz said:

When we book cruises in the UK, the fares quoted are inclusive of all taxes, port charges etc.

Makes life so much easier, and it makes comparing costs for different itineraries very simple.

Any reason why the same pricing policy is not used in the US ?

Because the law allows it, and it allows the cruise line to advertise the lowest possible fare.

[wowzz]

16 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

Because the law allows it, and it allows the cruise line to advertise the lowest possible fare.

I thought that might be the case. Just seems a bit pointless,  as everyone must know that all the extra costs have to be factored in.

[CruiserBruce]

9 hours ago, Joekool said:

Are port charges and taxes out of control?

 

Just got the bill for my 18 day transatlantic NYC to Lisbon Canary Islands NCL Sun cruise.  $500 taxes plus $180 port charges.  

Does anyone know how you can see the itemization of the taxes and port charges?  Seems to be a big secret.

Please tell us what they fees should be. What the various items the ships receive, like water, tug service/standby, etc, should cost.

[chengkp75]

12 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Please tell us what they fees should be. What the various items the ships receive, like water, tug service/standby, etc, should cost.

Just so you know, things that are not required of the ship to make a port call, like water, garbage collection, delivery of stores, etc, are not allowed to be included in port fees.  Tugs, if required by the port, are allowed.

[2wheelin]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

When we book cruises in the UK, the fares quoted are inclusive of all taxes, port charges etc.

Makes life so much easier, and it makes comparing costs for different itineraries very simple.

Any reason why the same pricing policy is not used in the US ?

That’s true if you only do double occupancy. Single only pays once for taxes and port fees but double fare so those fees need to be know and factored. Similar with more than double sometimes.

[LHT28]

2 hours ago, wowzz said:

When we book cruises in the UK, the fares quoted are inclusive of all taxes, port charges etc.

Makes life so much easier, and it makes comparing costs for different itineraries very simple.

Any reason why the same pricing policy is not used in the US ?

Our  cruise line of choice  also show  all in pricing

Much better for us to see the bottom line

JMO

[ontheweb]

We always get a bottom line price from our TA, though on the invoice he does break out charges like taxes and port fees.

 

And I agree with those who say it is the bottom line that counts.

[ldubs]

4 hours ago, wowzz said:

When we book cruises in the UK, the fares quoted are inclusive of all taxes, port charges etc.

Makes life so much easier, and it makes comparing costs for different itineraries very simple.

Any reason why the same pricing policy is not used in the US ?

 

I wish we followed your model.  And not just for cruise fares but across the board.   Here, while the price shown for a cruise does not include taxes & port fees, I thought those were typically shown in the small print.  So they are available to us.    

 

4 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

Because the law allows it, and it allows the cruise line to advertise the lowest possible fare.

 

The worst  abuse is the "resort fees" used by many hotels.  Just a scam as far as I'm concerned.   

[pris993]

4 hours ago, wowzz said:

When we book cruises in the UK, the fares quoted are inclusive of all taxes, port charges etc.

Makes life so much easier, and it makes comparing costs for different itineraries very simple.

Any reason why the same pricing policy is not used in the US ?

In the US, when you book a cruise, fare and taxes/port charges are shown, total fare includes both, which is paid as part of final payment.  Sometimes taxes/port charges go up or down.  Cruise either add new charges to on board account or give passengers a credit.   I think this works out well.

[ldubs]

7 minutes ago, pris993 said:

In the US, when you book a cruise, fare and taxes/port charges are shown, total fare includes both, which is paid as part of final payment.  Sometimes taxes/port charges go up or down.  Cruise either add new charges to on board account or give passengers a credit.   I think this works out well.

 

When booked, yes. But it is not uncommon for the initial fare shown to not include the taxes and port fees.    Of course we all know to look at the small footnote about the added costs.  

 

[wowzz]

19 minutes ago, pris993 said:

In the US, when you book a cruise, fare and taxes/port charges are shown, total fare includes both, which is paid as part of final payment.  Sometimes taxes/port charges go up or down.  Cruise either add new charges to on board account or give passengers a credit.   I think this works out well.

Personally I just like to have an all in price, which will not alter.

[mom says]

18 hours ago, Joekool said:

Are port charges and taxes out of control

I've never seen a line item breakdown for any of our cruises; only that they are listed before the total amount for the cruise at the time of payment.

 

Cruiselines have no say in these amounts, anyway. They are levied according to the different ports, and can differ from day to day and ship to ship for various reasons. They are what they are. You always have a choice of not taking  cruise if you feel those charges are too expensive for you.

[rkacruiser]

What I have never understood was why, sometimes, some "port fees and taxes" would be refunded to one's shipboard account during a cruise.  If a port is missed?  Yes, I understand why that would be.  But, if a port is not missed?  Then, why?  Overcharged at the beginning?  
 

[chengkp75]

5 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

What I have never understood was why, sometimes, some "port fees and taxes" would be refunded to one's shipboard account during a cruise.  If a port is missed?  Yes, I understand why that would be.  But, if a port is not missed?  Then, why?  Overcharged at the beginning?  
 

higher than expected occupancy, hence the per capita charge is less.

[rkacruiser]

31 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

higher than expected occupancy, hence the per capita charge is less.

 

Very interesting.  So, there is a set charge for MS Whatever to dock at wherever and the Port Taxes and Fees are based on that?  Whatever those charges are will be divided among  the number of guests on that sailing?  

[chengkp75]

6 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Very interesting.  So, there is a set charge for MS Whatever to dock at wherever and the Port Taxes and Fees are based on that?  Whatever those charges are will be divided among  the number of guests on that sailing?  

Yes, the charges are either per port call, or per Gross Tonnage, or per capacity (not occupancy).  Taxes and fees are known long in advance, and they divide it by historical occupancy to get the original charge per pax, and it is refunded if the occupancy goes up, but is swallowed by the line if occupancy goes down.

[Aquahound]

On 10/15/2022 at 8:03 PM, Joekool said:

Are port charges and taxes out of control?

 

 

Of all the things that are out of control right now, port charges and taxes would not rank high on that list.

[Mary229]

Tourism taxes have always been popular with politicians because the people paying them are not their constituents.  

[Mary229]

17 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

What I have never understood was why, sometimes, some "port fees and taxes" would be refunded to one's shipboard account during a cruise.  If a port is missed?  Yes, I understand why that would be.  But, if a port is not missed?  Then, why?  Overcharged at the beginning?  
 

Some lines do not refund even for a missed port 

[Joebucks]

On 10/16/2022 at 8:03 AM, wowzz said:

When we book cruises in the UK, the fares quoted are inclusive of all taxes, port charges etc.

Makes life so much easier, and it makes comparing costs for different itineraries very simple.

Any reason why the same pricing policy is not used in the US ?

 

Pretty standard for "inclusive" thinking. $1100 is hands-down better than $1000+$100.

 

"Fees" are one of the most annoying parts of vacation discussion. Things have costs. Just because you paid "one price" doesn't mean you saved money. It could, it could also mean you overpaid, as many do. 

[sparks1093]

On 10/16/2022 at 8:03 AM, wowzz said:

When we book cruises in the UK, the fares quoted are inclusive of all taxes, port charges etc.

Makes life so much easier, and it makes comparing costs for different itineraries very simple.

Any reason why the same pricing policy is not used in the US ?

I don't look too much at advertising. I typically use the "find a cruise" function on the cruise line's website and do a faux booking to determine what the final cost will be for that particular cabin type on that sailing and at that point the taxes and fees are factored in. Since I do the same thing on the next cruise line's site I am always comparing apples to apples.

[sanger727]

It sounds as though OP received this information after they booked, which isn't right. I've never seen a cruise website or TA that didn't give you the information on the port fees and taxes upfront in the quote.