Govt fee & Port Charges

[Pat]

I'm curious if anyone knows why it might be that the Gem (sailing out of NYC) for 6 days in November and stopping in Florida and Nassau would have fees and charges $56.68 MORE per person than the Breakaway sailing on the exact same day for 7 days and stopping at GSC in addition to the same places the Gem is stopping. Probably this has been discussed before but I couldn't find it anywhere. Do you think its because the Breakaway is bigger and gets to divide set fees amongst more passengers?

[nets33]

Not sure of the reason but I see two possible reasons why the cost could be highter:

 

- Breakaway does have one additional stop at GSC (as you mentioned). Yes, GSC is "owned" by NCL but there is a cost to have the ship stop there

- Breakaway is docking Sunday to Sunday - not sure if there would be additional charges for Sunday docking vs Saturday for the Gem

[Pat]

Sorry, I was probably unclear. But Gem's charges are MORE. Both ships will be leaving on the same day, but Gem will be returning a day early (Saturday vs Sunday), maybe that makes a difference?

[njhorseman]

The OP is asking why the Gem has higher taxes and fees per passenger, not the other way around.

 

The likely answer is, as the OP speculates, because the Breakaway carries many more passengers and therefore the taxes and fees are divided among more passengers. A significant percentage of the taxes/fees are charged per ship, although tonnage can be a factor too. There are certain fees that may be no more, or little more, for the BA than they are for the Gem,so each BA passenger pays less. Let's say it costs $40,000 (I have no idea what the real cost is) to dock in Nassau. That $40,000 is divided among fewer passengers on the Gem, hence a higher per passenger cost. Even if the BA had to pay $45,000 to dock because it's larger, the per passenger cost is still less than the Gem's. Let's say it costs $10,000 for the harbor pilot's services...again more passengers on the BA makes a lower cost per passenger.

Edited September 18, 2014 by njhorseman

[nets33]

The OP is asking why the Gem has higher taxes and fees per passenger, not the other way around.

 

Oops! Read that backwards. My bad.:p