fees and port charges

[timesurfer7]

Hello cruisers,

My question is this. We are going on a 29 day cruise from Australia back to the US in April of next year. My TA charged us each $294.71 for government taxes and $725 each for port charges. But when I price it now at Princess the total for the BOTH of us for taxes, fees and port charges is only $589.42. Why the difference? I have contacted my TA to have her apply the new sale price "Sun Drenched Sale" which is the reason why I looked at Princess for the prices right now. But why they huge difference?

[CineGraphic]

It's a mistake, or an attempt at padding your bill with additional/optional fees.

[timesurfer7]

So you think that it is a mistake from the TA? I never paid attention to the invoice until I saw what Princess would charge me with the new Sale being offered. Guess I will wait to hear back from my TA and see what the new invoice looks like with the sale price. Thanks for your quick reply.

[timesurfer7]

Hopefully my TA will be able to fix this.

Edited August 22, 2016 by timesurfer7
posted twice

[yummysbakery]

If you got a lower price from your ta than princess direct they sometimes will have higher port charges and taxes listed on their invoice. You have to compare net amount due and not worry about how they charged you. My upcoming cruise is priced almost 1500 net less than princess even tho the ta is showing on their invoice port charges and taxes double of what princess would have charged me.

 

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[Pam in CA]

The government fees and taxes are exactly the same amount whether you book directly, with a TA, etc. and have nothing to do with your cabin type. It's a fixed amount. Any discrepancy is the TA's responsibility. Do not use any TA that charges a fee to manage any part of your booking.

[fishywood]

Hello cruisers,

My question is this. We are going on a 29 day cruise from Australia back to the US in April of next year. My TA charged us each $294.71 for government taxes and $725 each for port charges. But when I price it now at Princess the total for the BOTH of us for taxes, fees and port charges is only $589.42. Why the difference? I have contacted my TA to have her apply the new sale price "Sun Drenched Sale" which is the reason why I looked at Princess for the prices right now. But why they huge difference?

 

"Port Charges" and "Government Taxes and Fees" are two entirely different items.

 

Travel Agents use the term "Port Charges" as a euphemism for the non-commissionalbe portion of the cruise fare. When you add together Port Charges and Cruise Fare on your TA's invoice it should equal what Princess lists as the entire cruise fare.

 

Adding together Port Charges and Government Taxes and Fees is meaningless. As long as the Government Taxes and Fees are the same as from Princess they have not overcharged you. (Don't let the TA term "port charges" and the Princess term "port expenses" confuse you, again they are two entirely different items).

 

TAs do this as a little sleight-of-hand to be able to advertise fake "discount" prices when all they are doing is moving a portion of the Cruise Fare to the "add on" section of the invoice. It has been made illegal for the cruise lines to advertise their fares that way but some TAs still pick up on this old-school gimmick.

[Musky Ike]

TA's and Princess put charges into different categories. Just look at the bottom line to see if you got a deal.

[cherylandtk]

Fishywood explained it very well; here is another explanation of how fares break down and how/what they may be labeled as.

http://outdestinations.com/news.php?controller=pjLoad&action=pjActionView&id=56

 

Eta-forgot to add that I often see the NCF (Port Fees) broken out separately on my invoice as my TA cannot discount on that portion of the fare (because she receives no commission on it). She can discount on what remains, though, and that is why you may see the 'fare' broken into those two components.

Edited August 22, 2016 by cherylandtk

[RocketMan275]

"Port Charges" and "Government Taxes and Fees" are two entirely different items.

 

Travel Agents use the term "Port Charges" as a euphemism for the non-commissionalbe portion of the cruise fare. When you add together Port Charges and Cruise Fare on your TA's invoice it should equal what Princess lists as the entire cruise fare.

 

The invoice I receive from my TA never equals "what Princess lists as the entire cruise fare". The bottom line on the invoice (including NCR) from the TA is at least 10% less than the bottom line from Princess.

[timesurfer7]

Was able to get our cruise down by $1200 per person with the Exotic special as it drops the price by 20% but it is capacity controlled. So bottom line is, new invoice shows same amount as before for the taxes, fees and port charges but they dropped the price of the cruise by $2300 for the two of us.

[IECalCruiser]

Hello cruisers,

 

My question is this. We are going on a 29 day cruise from Australia back to the US in April of next year. My TA charged us each $294.71 for government taxes and $725 each for port charges. But when I price it now at Princess the total for the BOTH of us for taxes, fees and port charges is only $589.42. Why the difference? I have contacted my TA to have her apply the new sale price "Sun Drenched Sale" which is the reason why I looked at Princess for the prices right now. But why they huge difference?

As others have posted, the $725 is not part of the taxes, fees and port charges listed by Princess but the non-commissionable portion of your fare. Your TA charged you $294.71/person or $589.42 for government taxes which exactly matches the Princess total for taxes, fees and port charges.

 

 

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Edited August 22, 2016 by IECalCruiser

[Lucky TGO]

Hopefully my TA will be able to fix this.

 

Good luck!!!

Tony

[caribill]

Was able to get our cruise down by $1200 per person with the Exotic special as it drops the price by 20% but it is capacity controlled. So bottom line is, new invoice shows same amount as before for the taxes, fees and port charges but they dropped the price of the cruise by $2300 for the two of us.

 

Congrats

[easyboy]

Was able to get our cruise down by $1200 per person with the Exotic special as it drops the price by 20% but it is capacity controlled. So bottom line is, new invoice shows same amount as before for the taxes, fees and port charges but they dropped the price of the cruise by $2300 for the two of us.

Nice to know!

[RHONDA L]

My TA said that princess puts the port charges in their prices and only have the taxes shown separate. I seen the same thing for my trip and called my TA and she explained it to me. Just to make sure, I then called Princess and it turned out to be the same price. They just broke it up differently.

[SoCal Cruiser78]

My TA said that princess puts the port charges in their prices and only have the taxes shown separate...

 

If you book directly with Princess, there is a separate line item for "taxes, fees and port expenses" as a single charge that is separate from the fare.

 

I'm not sure if TAs are being intentionally deceptive when they list NCFs as port charges (it makes any discount they offer look larger if the fare looks smaller), or they think clients won't understand what NCF means.

Edited August 23, 2016 by SoCal Cruiser78

[ceilidh1]

On a similar note, why are taxes/port charges/expenses so different among different cruise lines? I (naively?) thought these charges would be standard, but just looked at booking a one nighter from Seattle to Vancouver on NCL and the fees are around $150 per person (way more than cruise fare). I have the EXACT same trip booked on Princess the week before and the fees are around $40 per person! Anyone have any insight????

[IECalCruiser]

On a similar note, why are taxes/port charges/expenses so different among different cruise lines? I (naively?) thought these charges would be standard, but just looked at booking a one nighter from Seattle to Vancouver on NCL and the fees are around $150 per person (way more than cruise fare). I have the EXACT same trip booked on Princess the week before and the fees are around $40 per person! Anyone have any insight????

The NCL fees may include the non commissionable fees while the Princess prices may only include the variable port fees. Each cruise line breaks down their charges separately.

 

 

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[ceilidh1]

The NCL fees may include the non commissionable fees while the Princess prices may only include the variable port fees. Each cruise line breaks down their charges separately.

 

 

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Thanks, that makes sense (I think). It's a little misleading...I thought I was getting a decent price until I got to the very end and, what I thought would be a $150 getaway came out to almost $500!!!! No thanks!!! Princess came out less than half the cost of NCL for the one nighter!

[easyboy]

Thanks, that makes sense (I think). It's a little misleading...I thought I was getting a decent price until I got to the very end and, what I thought would be a $150 getaway came out to almost $500!!!! No thanks!!! Princess came out less than half the cost of NCL for the one nighter!

I also think $500 for a one night cruise on NCL is too much.

[RHONDA L]

Sorry but what is NFC stand for?

[SoCal Cruiser78]

Sorry but what is NFC stand for?

 

Non-commissionable fare. It is the portion of a fare that TAs don't earn a commission on. The balance, or commissionable fare, they do earn on. I can't recall the exact reason the two different types of fares exist, but perhaps another CCer will :).

Edited August 24, 2016 by SoCal Cruiser78

[RHONDA L]

Thank you. 😊

[caribill]

Non-commissionable fare. It is the portion of a fare that TAs don't earn a commission on. The balance, or commissionable fare, they do earn on. I can't recall the exact reason the two different types of fares exist, but perhaps another CCer will :).

 

The non-commissionable part is for port charges and other government fees that Princess keeps none of and thus pays no commission on them.

 

A quote from Princess will combine the commission-able and non-commission-able into one total. Some TAs will show you the components and some will just show you the total.