Govt Taxes and Fees

[garrett619]

I book my 05/03/09 Valor cruise back in late Aug. of 08. Final payment is finally rolling around and I've been noticing my taxes and fees seem exorbitant. On a $1700 room my taxes and fees are $585.84. I booked the trip through and reputable online TA and when I look at their listed taxes and fees for the same room they have them listed as $139.74 (same as carnival's website). I've sent the TA company a couple e-mails about it and they did take of $75 due to fuel surcharges (which I thought were $126) to get me down to $585.84, but it still seems high and is much higher then what Carnival or the site I booked through has listed. There's more things that have frustrated me with their fine print and govt taxes and fees but before I turn this over to my attorney what are you guys/gals thoughts? Are taxes, fees, port charges etc. typically 1/3 of the cost of a trip?

[OhioJeff]

Im confused, so it might help to give a breakdown.Is the final price higher or the same price as what Carnival is charging? Do you have cruise air?

 

It should just be $69.87pp

 

Some agencies break the price down between cruise fare/port charges and Taxes. While they shouldnt some do. I can make it confusing to clients.

[firefly333]

They may be listing the port charges in with taxes, many ta's do. Carnival adds the port fees in with the price of the cruise. Either way, check the Carnival site and the bottom line instead of focusing on one item, see if the end result comes out the same.

[firefly333]

Are taxes, fees, port charges etc. typically 1/3 of the cost of a trip?

 

I just noticed this part, so Im guessing that it DOES say port charges on the break out that you are upset about??

 

Port charges run between $50 and $59 per port, so a 7 day cruise, typically port charges run up to $160 per person. You say per cabin, so lets assume 2 in the cabin... that would be over $300 of the fees listed. the taxes and fees you see added on on the Carnival site dont include port charges.

 

I wouldnt bother turning this over to a attorney, I think its just a matter of understanding the break down.

[garrett619]

I just noticed this part, so Im guessing that it DOES say port charges on the break out that you are upset about??

 

Port charges run between $50 and $59 per port, so a 7 day cruise, typically port charges run up to $160 per person. You say per cabin, so lets assume 2 in the cabin... that would be over $300 of the fees listed. the taxes and fees you see added on on the Carnival site dont include port charges.

 

I wouldnt bother turning this over to a attorney, I think its just a matter of understanding the break down.

 

 

I'm mainly interested in turning this over to my attorney because on the site I booked it through it specifically says "*Price is in U.S. Dollars, is based on two people staying in the same stateroom, and includes port charges, airport and/or government taxes, as well as fuel supplements." Meaning my total taxes, port fees, etc would be what they have listed ~$140. However, on the page previous to picking the specific room and just after them charging your credit card their fine print says "*Price is in U.S. Dollars, is based on two people staying in the same stateroom, and do not includes port charges, airport and/or government taxes, or fuel supplements." Clearly that's deceptive IMO, if not false advertising. Furthermore I asked for a break down of the fees and have yet to receive anything from them. It's mainly the fact that they have conflicting fine print that they apparently refuse to change that makes me want to sick the attorney on them, not to mention I'm sick of dealing with it and I might as well have my attorney earn his keep :). However it sounds like the taxes and port fees etc. may be correct. I've got the West. Carib. itinerary with 4 stops, add it all up and that gets me to $500 plus pretty quickly. I think I'm still going to have the attorney request a break down and look into why they feel it's "ok" to have deceptive and conflicting fine print.

 

I'll keep anyone that's interested posted. Thanks so much for all your help.

[garrett619]

Im confused, so it might help to give a breakdown.Is the final price higher or the same price as what Carnival is charging? Do you have cruise air?

 

It should just be $69.87pp

 

Some agencies break the price down between cruise fare/port charges and Taxes. While they shouldnt some do. I can make it confusing to clients.

 

My final taxes and fees price is higher than what they have listed. I do not have cruise air. I'll try and get a breakdown of the charges (although I've tried this once already). Learning about the average price of port charges though it sounds like they've just false advertised their rates and while the fine print say the price includes port charges it doesn't. Sometimes I wonder how the world ended up so immoral.

[UpstateCruizer]

My final taxes and fees price is higher than what they have listed. I do not have cruise air. I'll try and get a breakdown of the charges (although I've tried this once already). Learning about the average price of port charges though it sounds like they've just false advertised their rates and while the fine print say the price includes port charges it doesn't. Sometimes I wonder how the world ended up so immoral.

 

 

Is the final price the same as what you were originally quoted? If so they aren't deceptive. They quoted you a price that included the port charges/taxes/fees but in the final breakdown (which is what it sounds like you already have) they have it listed differently. You will be wasting your time and your lawyer's time along with the travel agent if the bottom line figures are both the same. Your request for the charges to be broken down may be ignored as they have already sent you the breakdown of fees. You won't get an invoice that says Day One- Sea Day cabin cost xyz, Day Two Cozumel- Port charge fees and cabin cost etc.

 

Your final cruise cost is the bottom line figure that you need to focus on. If it's not the same as your original invoice then you have an issue.

[dan40]

I book my 05/03/09 Valor cruise back in late Aug. of 08. Final payment is finally rolling around and I've been noticing my taxes and fees seem exorbitant. On a $1700 room my taxes and fees are $585.84. I booked the trip through and reputable online TA and when I look at their listed taxes and fees for the same room they have them listed as $139.74 (same as carnival's website). I've sent the TA company a couple e-mails about it and they did take of $75 due to fuel surcharges (which I thought were $126) to get me down to $585.84, but it still seems high and is much higher then what Carnival or the site I booked through has listed. There's more things that have frustrated me with their fine print and govt taxes and fees but before I turn this over to my attorney what are you guys/gals thoughts? Are taxes, fees, port charges etc. typically 1/3 of the cost of a trip?

 

Taxes and fees are NOT a percentage of the fare. There is no relationship between the fare and the taxes and fees. On some short cruises, taxes and fees are more than half the total cost.

 

You have the total prices you are being charged. Go on Carnival's site, dummy book your exact cruise, same ship, date, cabin cat. and see how the total compares. At the end just don't enter payment info. Then click off.

 

Dan

[zqvol]

I just noticed this part, so Im guessing that it DOES say port charges on the break out that you are upset about??

 

Port charges run between $50 and $59 per port, so a 7 day cruise, typically port charges run up to $160 per person. You say per cabin, so lets assume 2 in the cabin... that would be over $300 of the fees listed. the taxes and fees you see added on on the Carnival site dont include port charges.

 

I wouldnt bother turning this over to a attorney, I think its just a matter of understanding the break down.

 

This is simply not true. The port charges and taxes on his trip are $139.74 for 2 people, total.

 

Carnival always breaks out the port charges and taxes on the website when you do a mock booking.

[zqvol]

I'm mainly interested in turning this over to my attorney because on the site I booked it through it specifically says "*Price is in U.S. Dollars, is based on two people staying in the same stateroom, and includes port charges, airport and/or government taxes, as well as fuel supplements." Meaning my total taxes, port fees, etc would be what they have listed ~$140. However, on the page previous to picking the specific room and just after them charging your credit card their fine print says "*Price is in U.S. Dollars, is based on two people staying in the same stateroom, and do not includes port charges, airport and/or government taxes, or fuel supplements." Clearly that's deceptive IMO, if not false advertising. Furthermore I asked for a break down of the fees and have yet to receive anything from them. It's mainly the fact that they have conflicting fine print that they apparently refuse to change that makes me want to sick the attorney on them, not to mention I'm sick of dealing with it and I might as well have my attorney earn his keep :). However it sounds like the taxes and port fees etc. may be correct. I've got the West. Carib. itinerary with 4 stops, add it all up and that gets me to $500 plus pretty quickly. I think I'm still going to have the attorney request a break down and look into why they feel it's "ok" to have deceptive and conflicting fine print.

 

I'll keep anyone that's interested posted. Thanks so much for all your help.

 

Get the attorney involved. Your port fess and taxes total $139 and some change. There is no explanation for the rest of the fees. I think they are adding in some TA service charges.

[trock]

This is when I wish we could post company names.. would love to know which online TA...

Good Luck

[UpstateCruizer]

This is when I wish we could post company names.. would love to know which online TA...

Good Luck

 

 

This is how my online compete agency breaks the prices down too! The final total is the same though! On my Oct 2009 cruise before I changed it to the new Early Saver pricing this is how they broke the charges down (per passenger and there's 2 of us):

 

Cruise~ $537.20

Airfare~ $0

Fuel Surcharge~ $72.00

Insurance~ $50.84

Tax/fees $210.85

 

Passenger total~ $870.89

 

The amounts when totalled equaled exactly what I was quoted for pricing. It wasn't until I got the breakdown that they were broken down differently. I just assumed this was how all invoices were broken down until I booked a group cruise where it showed one price only.

 

This is a reputable agency and while the numbers are broken down differently the bottom line is they were exactly as quoted so there is no fraud or deceptive practices going on. It sounds like the OP has the same agency or one that breaks down it's invoices the same way as my Ta.

[OhioJeff]

This is simply not true. The port charges and taxes on his trip are $139.74 for 2 people, total.

 

Carnival always breaks out the port charges and taxes on the website when you do a mock booking.

Thats a common misconception about Port charges.Carnival doesnt even use the term. Its NCF-- non commissionables

 

This is an article that should explain it in detail.

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/columnist/burbank/2006-04-04-burbank_x.htm