Early Saver Dupe?

[Cruzlover7]

First time I bought a carnival cruise early saver fare. First submission worked fine, I saved $40.00 per state room. Second submission was or was supposed to be $20.00. Today I checked to see if it went through, and to my surprise I only received $10.74 cents credit. I looked at the screen shots I took of my balance each time and noticed that the taxes went up $9.26 HMMM..... that is the difference in the fare reduction I did not receive. I called carnival and the rep told me that the taxes always fluctuate. This does not make sense to me, if you are paying less for your cruise fare, then why would the taxes go up? Although I do live in NY!!!:eek:

 

Has this happened to anyone else out there? I know it is not alot of money, so please do not reply if you do not have anything decent to contribute. Thanks

[swscruiser]

I do not understand the taxes fluctuating either but several peple have reported that it is the case,

Keith:confused:

[tximprov]

dont look at the taxes for the rate reduction. Look at total fare before taxes. Forget the conspiracy theory. It is illegal to charge a tax and keep it. If they collect a tax they have to pay. Often you will see an OBC when you first arrive onboard, that is usualy a tax rebate. compare fare to fare for same catagory room. Its not a scam.

 

on a side note, its not just taxes, it is also government fees included in that price...I dont know for sure but it would make sense that it is those fees increasing. but again those fees are gov imposed and must be paid to the gov. If it is a fee they get to keep, it must be detailed...just like the fuel supplement.

[DEL67]

I found out that our tax went up when I applied for an Early Saver reduction on our August Breeze cruise too. However, I think that it can go both ways because we all received a credit on out Sail and Sign bills for $10.53 per person which I can only assume was a refund of some of the tax.

[golfadj]

It does go both ways.

[Cruzlover7]

dont look at the taxes for the rate reduction. Look at total fare before taxes. Forget the conspiracy theory. It is illegal to charge a tax and keep it. If they collect a tax they have to pay. Often you will see an OBC when you first arrive onboard, that is usualy a tax rebate. compare fare to fare for same catagory room. Its not a scam.

 

on a side note, its not just taxes, it is also government fees included in that price...I dont know for sure but it would make sense that it is those fees increasing. but again those fees are gov imposed and must be paid to the gov. If it is a fee they get to keep, it must be detailed...just like the fuel supplement.

Hello tiximprov, The rate was reading correctly, but I was looking at the balance owed and the balance owed was not less the $20.00. so I did the numbers and saw that the taxes went up, the same amount I was shorted in the rate reduction. My son paid his balance in full last night and he is showing an onboard credit of the same $10.74 not $20.00. I have only cruised with carnival and never had any problems in the past, and really hope it is not a scam. Either way, I will always cruise Carnival, just thought I would run it on this board and see if anyone else ever noticed this.

[Ken076]

The Taxes are not a percentage of the cruisefare - they're fees (usually per passenger) that Carnival is charged and is allowed to pass on to the passengers. These fees do fluctuate. ken

[Cruzlover7]

Ken076, Thanks! I guess I was thinking of the % charges, not fees. Maybe there will be an onboard credit when we sail.

[DaytonCruiser]

http://www.carnival.com/Funville/blogs/faqs/archive/2012/09/10/what-do-government-taxes-and-fees-include.aspx

 

 

What do government taxes and fees include?

 

 

Cruise Fare does not include Government taxes and fees imposed or sanctioned by the U.S. Government or other Governments. “Government Fees and Taxes” may include any and all fees, charges, tolls and taxes imposed by U.S. and/or foreign governmental or quasi-governmental authorities including, but not limited to, U.S. Customs fees, head taxes, Panama Canal tolls, dockage fees, wharfage fees, inspection fees, pilotage, air taxes, hotel or VAT taxes incurred as part of a land tour, immigration and naturalization fees, and Internal Revenue Service fees, whether assessed on a per passenger, per berth, per ton or per vessel basis. In the case of per ton or per vessel assessments, those assessments will be spread over the passenger capacity of the ship. Government Fees and Taxes are subject to change and Carnival reserves the right to collect any increases in effect at the time of sailing even if the fare has already been paid in full.

[lcgvol]

This happened to me on my last cruise back in March. Price went down, taxes went up. The OBC I received(or price reduction,not sure which) was less than what I thought it would be. After that the price went down again and I received more OBC.

On another cruise, we had an unexpected OBC that was from a reduction in taxes or fees. Works both ways I guess.

On my next cruise, I noticed the taxes/fees have gone done a few dollars but not enough to fool with.

[Elmo31]

Yep that has happened to us before to. It also has a lot to do with port charges. Whatever carnival is charged gets passed down to passenger. I have also had a credit before to once we were on board that read port fee credit. So yes it can go both ways.

[ready2cruzagain]

The thing that gets me is that if you go to get a price reduction with ES anymore it almost always shows a tax increase and they charge you.

 

I cruised with a friend last year that did not book ES and she was never charged the tax increase. I asked and was told by Carnival that it is because I applied for the price reduction I had to pay the new tax...excuse me....why wouldn't everyone be charged the new tax?

 

So to me, those of us that book ES are penalized when we apply for a price drop.

 

[fergusonvt]

I submitted a form with ES the week before last and got the full amount taken off what I still owe so the fees don't always change.

[breenw]

I'm not entirely positive about this, but I think that if you have fully paid for your cruise, then the tax rate you already paid is not touched even with Early Savers OBC. We had a cruise earlier this year that the tax rate went up but we weren't charged the difference against the OBC we were requesting. The CS rep told us it was because we had already paid for our cruise prior to the request for the OBC.

[Arizona cruisers]

We just put in our ES claim and it came back yesterday as $42.86 instead of $50.00.

[katiel53]

The thing that gets me is that if you go to get a price reduction with ES anymore it almost always shows a tax increase and they charge you.

 

I cruised with a friend last year that did not book ES and she was never charged the tax increase. I asked and was told by Carnival that it is because I applied for the price reduction I had to pay the new tax...excuse me....why wouldn't everyone be charged the new tax?

 

So to me, those of us that book ES are penalized when we apply for a price drop.

 

 

You are charged the new taxes because in essence you are changing to a new booking, therefore, you pay the new taxes. Would you like it better if you had to pay the new higher taxes when they went up even if you didn't do anything at all? How about if the price goes up for the cruise itself, everyone, including you, has to pay the new higher rate? I don't think either of the last two things would make you or anyone else happy.

 

It all boils down to you are changing your contract (the original rate) so you need to pay the new taxes, lower or higher. I would rather pay the new taxes and still get a price reduction than keep the higher rate.

 

By the way, you don't have to book ESA or request a rate reduction. That way, your taxes won't be going up.

[Cruzlover7]

My son paid his trip in full the night before we received the price reduction, and he only received the partial amount as well. Therefore, that shows that even if you pay in full you do not always get the amount of the reduction you submitted for. BTW, it did show his tax & fee rate was also increased, even though he paid it off. I agree any reduction is nice, but when you get a full amount one time, then a partial amount the next time, it leaves one to wonder why.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

The thing that gets me is that if you go to get a price reduction with ES anymore it almost always shows a tax increase and they charge you.

 

I cruised with a friend last year that did not book ES and she was never charged the tax increase. I asked and was told by Carnival that it is because I applied for the price reduction I had to pay the new tax...excuse me....why wouldn't everyone be charged the new tax?

 

So to me, those of us that book ES are penalized when we apply for a price drop.

 

 

You refared your cruise so you get the new rates for the day you refared your cruise.

 

If you didn't put in for a price drop you wouldn't have had to pay the increased taxes either.

 

With most things in life you can't have your cake and eat it too.

 

You want the new rates, you have to pay the new taxes.:)

 

Bill

[bshow]

Here's how the taxes work:

 

[DaytonCruiser]

My son paid his trip in full the night before we received the price reduction, and he only received the partial amount as well. Therefore, that shows that even if you pay in full you do not always get the amount of the reduction you submitted for. BTW, it did show his tax & fee rate was also increased, even though he paid it off. I agree any reduction is nice, but when you get a full amount one time, then a partial amount the next time, it leaves one to wonder why.

 

Paying in full has offers no protection with taxes and fees

 

http://www.carnival.com/legal/ticket-contract.aspx?icid=CC_Footer_84

Ticket contract

 

7. CARNIVAL’S RIGHT TO INCREASE FARES, CANCEL OR CHANGE VOYAGE, CHANGE STATEROOM ASSIGNMENTS:

(a) Carnival reserves the right to increase published fares and air fare supplements without prior notice. However, fully paid or deposited guests will be protected, except for fares listed, quoted, advertised or booked in error, fuel supplements, government taxes, other surcharges and changes to deposit, payment and cancellation terms/conditions, which are subject to change without notice. In the event that a cruise fare listed, quoted or advertised through any website, Carnival sales person, travel agent or any other source is booked but is incorrect due to an electronic error, typographical error, human error or any other error causing the fare to be listed, quoted or advertised for an amount not intended by Carnival, Carnival reserves the right to correct the erroneous fare by requesting the Guest to pay the correct fare intended, or by canceling the cruise in exchange for a full refund, but in no event shall Carnival be obligated to honor any such booking resulting from the error or otherwise be liable in such circumstances.

[Cruzlover7]

Love it! The Popeye Video that is!

[ready2cruzagain]

You are charged the new taxes because in essence you are changing to a new booking, therefore, you pay the new taxes. Would you like it better if you had to pay the new higher taxes when they went up even if you didn't do anything at all? How about if the price goes up for the cruise itself, everyone, including you, has to pay the new higher rate? I don't think either of the last two things would make you or anyone else happy.

 

It all boils down to you are changing your contract (the original rate) so you need to pay the new taxes, lower or higher. I would rather pay the new taxes and still get a price reduction than keep the higher rate.

 

By the way, you don't have to book ESA or request a rate reduction. That way, your taxes won't be going up.

 

You refared your cruise so you get the new rates for the day you refared your cruise.

 

If you didn't put in for a price drop you wouldn't have had to pay the increased taxes either.

 

With most things in life you can't have your cake and eat it too.

 

You want the new rates, you have to pay the new taxes.:)

 

Bill

 

Oh I understand what you both mean. Carnival use to not charge the new taxes and fees and you were locked into the old tax and fee rate with ES.

 

When I wanted to upgrade last year and complained about the rate increase I asked for a supervisor and she told me last year on the tax and fee increase that I did not have to pay the increase in fees because I was locked into the old rate and she waived it.

 

I guess my point is that taxes and fees can be raised at anytime...why is it that it is not raised for everyone. Not saying I want it to be...just a question I guess since they are suppose to be a set rate for everyone and not according to what you paid.

[Wolfie48]

The thing that gets me is that if you go to get a price reduction with ES anymore it almost always shows a tax increase and they charge you.

 

I cruised with a friend last year that did not book ES and she was never charged the tax increase. I asked and was told by Carnival that it is because I applied for the price reduction I had to pay the new tax...excuse me....why wouldn't everyone be charged the new tax?

 

So to me, those of us that book ES are penalized when we apply for a price drop.

 

 

When you book at a certain price you are under contract for that price. When you apply for a reduction you are altering that contract so any fee increase will be added at that time.

[Mom2JJandJ]

Every cruise I've been on I had an unexplained OBC posted to my account. Always a very small amount, and I've ever asked, I just always assumed it was a rebate because of the fluctuation in fees.

 

Yesterday I submitted another Early Saver form and then saw on the Carnival site later that my fees had increased... it will be interesting to see what the response is from Carnival when it comes through.

[imluvncruzn]

Our family has several cabins booked for our upcoming cruise in January and all were booked under ES rate. I'm in a JS and won't receive any price drops because there are only two JS on the ship and they are both sold out...However, some of the other cabins have had price drops. I submitted two forms last week and they were both approved but came back with an increase in taxes/fees. So mine has stayed at the original $89pp tax while the other cabins are now @ $103pp for taxes and fees because they are getting price reductions.