Tax Drop After Final Payment

[Newbcruiser1]

Any experiences with this? Did you get a refund?

 

The cost of taxes, fees, and port expenses on our cruise has dropped since our final payment by about $13pp. I called Celebrity to see if they would adjust this. Their response was no, as the taxes and port charges "fluctuate" so you pay whatever it costs at the time of booking.

 

Somehow this doesn't sound right to me. I assume Celebrity pays those taxes and port fees at the time of sailing? As such, is Celebrity pocketing this difference?

[Orator]

Any experiences with this? Did you get a refund?

 

The cost of taxes, fees, and port expenses on our cruise has dropped since our final payment by about $13pp. I called Celebrity to see if they would adjust this. Their response was no, as the taxes and port charges "fluctuate" so you pay whatever it costs at the time of booking.

 

Somehow this doesn't sound right to me. I assume Celebrity pays those taxes and port fees at the time of sailing? As such, is Celebrity pocketing this difference?

 

I've often experienced a return of reduced charges on my shipboard statement while on board the ship. Usually a small amount.

Now, should they charge you more , which they don't, if the charges increase?

Edited May 26, 2015 by Orator

[CHEZMARYLOU]

Delete

Edited May 26, 2015 by CHEZMARYLOU

[Beanb41]

Any experiences with this? Did you get a refund?

 

The cost of taxes, fees, and port expenses on our cruise has dropped since our final payment by about $13pp. I called Celebrity to see if they would adjust this. Their response was no, as the taxes and port charges "fluctuate" so you pay whatever it costs at the time of booking.

 

Somehow this doesn't sound right to me. I assume Celebrity pays those taxes and port fees at the time of sailing? As such, is Celebrity pocketing this difference?

 

Once you have hit "final payment" forget about costs. You have paid the agreed charges now get on and look forward to your holiday. You will only do your head in when you see the deals offered to fill up empty cabins sometimes half what you may have paid with extra perks thrown in. If costs went up would you also be as keen to pay the extra.

[Phxazzcruisers]

We have never expected a refund of port fees and taxes once we made final payment. However, as above poster as stated, on a few occasions we did get small credits to our on board account for a refund of these fees.

[Newbcruiser1]

Thanks all!

[Iamcruzin]

It is also possible for port fees and taxes to go up after final payment in which case they would charge your on board account the difference. I have been in both situations.

[Phxazzcruisers]

In all of our cruises with Celebrity and Azamara, we have NEVER been charged extra for port fees or taxes after final payment has been made and we were on board the ship.

[Orator]

In all of our cruises with Celebrity and Azamara, we have NEVER been charged extra for port fees or taxes after final payment has been made and we were on board the ship.

 

Same here. Your total price is "locked in" when final payment is made unless Celebrity decides to give a refund. The only exception is the possible addition of a fuel surcharge as noted in their contract. This has not been done since the clause was added to the cruise contract. Was done prior, but ruled illegal without notice and the charge was refunded as an OBC if you booked within a year.

[Bery]

Just off Summit. We were credited with $10.20 each due to a reduction in taxes, etc.

[Iamcruzin]

Same here. Your total price is "locked in" when final payment is made unless Celebrity decides to give a refund. The only exception is the possible addition of a fuel surcharge as noted in their contract. This has not been done since the clause was added to the cruise contract. Was done prior, but ruled illegal without notice and the charge was refunded as an OBC if you booked within a year.

 

 

Celebrity does not charge tax or port fees. They collect it for the government or port as they are the actual establishments that receive payment. If the tax or port charges increase or decrease before you arrive to port Celebrity as well as any other cruise line will make the adjustment to your OB account. On my first Celebrity cruise I received a $35 credit. On one of my Princess cruises I was charged $6. Also keep in mind if you miss a port the fees will be returned and if you are redirected to a different port due to unforeseeable circumstances your account will be adjusted accordingly. As for the the fuel surcharge, that goes directly into the cruise lines pocket. So they can refund or charge as they see fit.

[Orator]

Celebrity does not charge tax or port fees. They collect it for the government or port as they are the actual establishments that receive payment. If the tax or port charges increase or decrease before you arrive to port Celebrity as well as any other cruise line will make the adjustment to your OB account. On my first Celebrity cruise I received a $35 credit. On one of my Princess cruises I was charged $6. Also keep in mind if you miss a port the fees will be returned and if you are redirected to a different port due to unforeseeable circumstances your account will be adjusted accordingly. As for the the fuel surcharge, that goes directly into the cruise lines pocket. So they can refund or charge as they see fit.

 

I haven't been on Princess for many years so I don't know their policy. Celebrity has never placed an extra charge on my account for changes in ports or fees and I've had lots of experience with Celebrity and changes. They have not placed a surcharge for fuel even when the cost exceeded the $65 per barrel stated in their policy. My guess is that padding for fuel has been embedded into the cruise price.

[Iamcruzin]

I haven't been on Princess for many years so I don't know their policy. Celebrity has never placed an extra charge on my account for changes in ports or fees and I've had lots of experience with Celebrity and changes. They have not placed a surcharge for fuel even when the cost exceeded the $65 per barrel stated in their policy. My guess is that padding for fuel has been embedded into the cruise price.

 

 

Princess never charged for fuel either.

[Newbcruiser1]

Sounds like we can hopefully look forward to a small onboard credit for the change in taxes based on everyone's experiences! Maybe it'll buy us one drink each with the new pricing! [emoji15]

[cruisestitch]

I got a refund of $1.11 on my SeaPass account on Millennium last week for a port tax reduction. Hard to decide how to spend it;)

Edited May 27, 2015 by cruisestitch

[villauk]

I got a refund of $1.11 on my SeaPass account on Millennium last week for a port tax reduction. Hard to decide how to spend it;)

 

Ours always looks more because it's times by 4 :D.

[thebutlerdidit]

We received a credit of $7.44 each on the Summit a month ago. It was a nice surprise.

[robcruz]

We were told by our TA that Celebrity will not adjust the taxes once the booking has been made (even if it's before final payment). Is this true or can I plan on having an extra $18- to spend once on board.

[carads]

We received an OBC for lower port fees on the day we docked in Bermuda on the Summit last week even though we were originally told by Celebrity that we had to pay the higher fee in place at the time we booked the cruise. I think it totaled about $25 for the 2 of us.

[Fogfog]

I hope we get ours refunded as well..For one cabin its close to $75 in taxes/fees, and the other was about $60.

Our TA contacted X and a request has gone in to have it refunded to us. We'd be fine with more OBC.

Our TA contract with X requires X to refund prices drops tot he client Fingers crossed.

[MisterBill99]

I just noticed today that the taxes/fees for my August Summit cruise to Bermuda are now $199.44 as opposed to the $205.14 I have on my invoice (and which I just paid last week). Like others, I've often seen random credits on my stateroom charges and never understood them. Now I'm going to be expecting to see at least $11.40 for the two of us

 

I don't really understand why the charges fluctuate as much as they seem to.

[mdcelebrity]

I was wondering if docking fees would be refunded in the case of skipped ports that were NOT due to unforeseen circumstances ... such as the forty-three itineraries in the Caribbean that were changed AFTER bookings were accepted.

 

This would seem fair (fare?) since it had nothing to do with fluctuations in the actual price paid to governments, et al, for the original itinerary.

 

Could be an interesting decision to rebate $$$ to the over 100,000 cruisers affected by recent actions by X. Note that taxes and fees are listed separately, so they are not part of the cruise fare, per se.

[Wine-O]

On our 31 May 2015 cruise on Summit to Bermuda, we received $23pp credit to our seapass as a refund of port taxes. Got it credited back to our credit card about a week after the cruise.

[MisterBill99]

On our 31 May 2015 cruise on Summit to Bermuda, we received $23pp credit to our seapass as a refund of port taxes. Got it credited back to our credit card about a week after the cruise.

Thanks for the info. Do you recall what you were charged for taxes on your invoice?

 

Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk

[stpointer]

Just off the Summit and we each received a credit of a little over $25 each.