Price falls...fees rise?

[Gailerina]

First things first, NOT COMPLAINING!!!

 

Ok, so the other day I noticed that under the See the View my price dropped by $60 and I was like YAY. So on Sunday I put in the request and today they responded. Said we had OBC of $95 and some odd change. I was like huh? Seems after I put in my request it dropped another $60 (yes I am lucky!!!!).

 

So it came to $120. Then I was like wait, what? I pulled up an old email from when I added my OBC and was like O, Federal Taxes/fees went up by almost $25

 

I was trying to read the email to see if they included some footnote, but did not see anything.

 

Any suggests? I think it might be port fees, but who knows. We don't sale until January, so I was just wondering if it would rise again and what would happen since we are paid in full.

[Ken076]

First things first, NOT COMPLAINING!!!

 

Ok, so the other day I noticed that under the See the View my price dropped by $60 and I was like YAY. So on Sunday I put in the request and today they responded. Said we had OBC of $95 and some odd change. I was like huh? Seems after I put in my request it dropped another $60 (yes I am lucky!!!!).

 

So it came to $120. Then I was like wait, what? I pulled up an old email from when I added my OBC and was like O, Federal Taxes/fees went up by almost $25

 

I was trying to read the email to see if they included some footnote, but did not see anything.

 

Any suggests? I think it might be port fees, but who knows. We don't sale until January, so I was just wondering if it would rise again and what would happen since we are paid in full.

 

The Govt Fees/Taxes that are added to the Cruisefare are various fees and such that Carnival is charged and is allowed to pass on to cruisers. The Fees are not percentage taxes and occasionally vary.

 

If you do not change your booking from booking to sailing, Carnival doesn't charge you any increases; if you change your booking (as for a fare drop for a ES pricematch) then you are charged the higer Fees at that time. If the Fees drop, you will be refunded the difference in your S&S account once aboard ship.

 

ken

[tracy515]

I've read that people have only seen the fees rise when they do a price protection claim. I applied for the price protection and the fees rose, however, the taxes and fees on my friend's bookings have increased too, and they have not applied for the lower rate. We're all booked early saver. Could the taxes/fees gone up because of the oil prices? But even the math there doesn't add up. Any ideas?

[firefly333]

I've read that people have only seen the fees rise when they do a price protection claim. I applied for the price protection and the fees rose, however, the taxes and fees on my friend's bookings have increased too, and they have not applied for the lower rate. We're all booked early saver. Could the taxes/fees gone up because of the oil prices? But even the math there doesn't add up. Any ideas?

 

See Ken's post above yours. He explained it.

 

No, it would have nothing to do with oil.

 

Its a set price pp, as ken explained.. no matter what cabin you have, its the same. You are only charged the increase if they go up, when the add on fees and taxes increase if you put in for a price drop.

[CanWeGoYet?]

It's happened to me pretty often when I've found a price drop. On the Alaska cruise I did not book ES but watched the prices like a hawk before final payment. I got some great price drops, often accompanied by an increase in fees. You don't have to pay the higher fees if you stick with the old cruise rate (would make sense if the rate drop worked out to less than the bump up in fees). Since I still came out ahead I gladly went with the price drop.

 

Same with the small price drop I found on my 4 day Catalina / Ensenada cruise. Instead of $20 OBC I got $11 and change due to increased tax or fee or whatever.

[Swampbaby]

On the price drop I just submitted the total bill, including the fees and taxes was $40 and the price drop showed $40 ($20 pp). I checked that since I had read how many times the fees and taxes could wipe out any savings.

[bunchesofun]

After a year and a half, finally saw a price drop of $50 per person. When I called my PVP she said the taxes had gone up by $60 per person, so no OBC.

[fergusonvt]

We have seen 4 price drops since booking with no increase in fees.

 

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[terryinal]

I have put in 5 or 6 ES clams over the last two yrs and my fee's stay the same. But I hear of it happening all the time. Everytime I cruise on my SS card I always have a few dollars OBC from a refund of tax and fee's

[hawaiibound24]

We recently got an ES price adjustment and noticed the fees went up about $4pp. I am not sure if they ever pass the change onto already book passengers but we have noticed a small onboard credit our last two cruises which looked to be a refund for some fees.

[tracy515]

The fees on my friend's bookings have also increased. They did not apply for price drops.

[Almost Packed]

doesn't anyone find it strange however, when the price goes down, miraculously the fees go up? i'd like to know what these fees are and what/who determines them.

 

it's aggravating to be paying fees that you have no idea what fees/taxes you are paying. I'd personally like to see a breakdown, like my phone or cable does.

[hawaiibound24]

I had noticed the fee increase on our cruise a few weeks before our rates actually went down. I wonder if ports sometime increase their charges but they don't charge the increased amount for already booked passengers?

Not sure.

 

 

doesn't anyone find it strange however, when the price goes down, miraculously the fees go up? i'd like to know what these fees are and what/who determines them.

 

it's aggravating to be paying fees that you have no idea what fees/taxes you are paying. I'd personally like to see a breakdown, like my phone or cable does.

[gusandgidgetsmom]

Fees are different on each cruise date as well. We did a back to back in Oct and the first cruise the fees were over 100.00 more than the next week. I don't know how they are figured but they tend to fluctuate.

[martinchem]

We just saw a price drop for our december Miracle cruise for $40, but the fees were up $37, no reason to apply for a $3 OBC.

[Almost Packed]

I would really like to know what all goes in on these fees....surely someone on these boards can tell us a bit more and how they are calculated.

 

I have begun a spreadsheet. i went through doing mock bookings just checking out things. crazy as it is, even though one cruise might cost more the taxes/fees are less. of course it makes sense for different fees for docking in different ports. i don't think i ever really considered the difference.

 

so far in to my research, it seems puerto rico has the cheapest.