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Taxes and Port charges For Alaska --$$$$


roger b
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Just wanted to check is this correct I am contemplating taking an Alaskan Cruise out of Seattle in August , this would be my Milestone free cruise with Oceania there are 10 ports of call including the start and finish. They are asking for $3000 P.P this seems expensive ??

Edited by roger b
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We’ve booked a 14 day Regatta Alaska cruise for 2020. We don’t have included air and the port fees and taxes for both of us comes to $1,076. I believe the “free cruise” benefit doesn’t include port fees and taxes and air. If you are traveling with another person that isn’t eligible for the “free cruise” then their fare isn’t complimentary. 

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11 minutes ago, Classiccruiser777 said:

We’ve booked a 14 day Regatta Alaska cruise for 2020. We don’t have included air and the port fees and taxes for both of us comes to $1,076. I believe the “free cruise” benefit doesn’t include port fees and taxes and air. If you are traveling with another person that isn’t eligible for the “free cruise” then their fare isn’t complimentary. 

 

 I am travelling with my wife and we both are entitled to a free cruise  , Here is the extract from Oceania Email:  

 

However, in the meantime the approximate cost for the A3 grade would be in the region of £2175 per person cruise only to cover the port charges and taxes. Please be aware that this is only a guideline price and is subject to Oceania Club’s approval based upon their booking history, so may change. Hotel or transfer prices would normally be in addition to this. We will only be able to assess this once we have a confirmed booking.

 

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56 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

Roger;

 

As a question, what is the current list pice of an A3 on the cruise you are considering? It would be interesting to see what percentage of “ free” the cruise is! 

 From what  i can see  this cruise is around £ 5900  so they have asked me for about % 40 of the costs as port charges and taxes

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Very interesting.  I always assumed a "free cruise" meant just that!  I was aware that they will give you a cabin that corresponds to what you usually have paid for, but not that they charge you for port charges and taxes.

 

Mura

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Oceania doesn’t post port fees. On a cruise they don’t charge for them nor reimburse them. They are whatever Oceania says they are. No way to verify anything. Even the term free is whatever Oceania chooses to define it as!

 

Actually rather sad!

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18 hours ago, Mura said:

Very interesting.  I always assumed a "free cruise" meant just that!  I was aware that they will give you a cabin that corresponds to what you usually have paid for, but not that they charge you for port charges and taxes.

 

Mura

Really nice when a company has its' cake and eats it too.  Port charges and taxes are included in cruise fares so no refund for missed ports and when the cruise is a free perk, the port charges and taxes are not included and charged.

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Hi Roger, I don't know if Alaska is higher than others but for my free cruise, which was 14 days with 2 sea days, was $672 US dollars. This was for both of us on a cruise to Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark & Germany, cruised out of Amsterdam. 

 

Make sure that you requested the level of room that you have averaged on your other 19 cruises. If not they might be charging you extra for that. Yes, that amount seems really high. 

Edited by ORV
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2 hours ago, ORV said:

Yes, that amount seems really high.

Agree - does seem very high.

Can’t compare with ours as that was a 21 day cruise so we paid for 7 days but it seemed to be 1/3 of the fare.

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On 4/13/2019 at 10:30 AM, Classiccruiser777 said:

We’ve booked a 14 day Regatta Alaska cruise for 2020. We don’t have included air and the port fees and taxes for both of us comes to $1,076. I believe the “free cruise” benefit doesn’t include port fees and taxes and air. If you are traveling with another person that isn’t eligible for the “free cruise” then their fare isn’t complimentary. 

Is this your free cruise? How do you know the port fees and taxes? Does your TA break them down for you? Are you a TA? 

 

Air is included on the Free Cruise BTW. 

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1 hour ago, ORV said:

Is this your free cruise? How do you know the port fees and taxes? Does your TA break them down for you? Are you a TA? 

 

Air is included on the Free Cruise BTW. 

 

No, not our 'free' cruise. Our TA breaks down the total cost which is where the port fees and taxes are listed as a separate line item.

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9 minutes ago, Classiccruiser777 said:

 

No, not our 'free' cruise. Our TA breaks down the total cost which is where the port fees and taxes are listed as a separate line item.

Our TA does this as well. This is so she can calculate our rebate because the rebate is based on a percentage of our TA’s commission and air and port fees/ taxes don’t generate commissions even when they are included in the cruise fare. 

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Actual port fees are charged primarily based upon a ship’s size ( tonnage and length) and the length of time in port. Other factors such as whether tugs are required come into effect also. If the Marina docks at X port for 8 hours , it costs Y amount. It costs Y regardless of whether she’s carrying 800 passengers that cruise or is full at 1280+. If one is getting precharged port fees, what assumptions goes into what rate is charged? The charging of port fees, on an individual cruiser basis, is mostly a hoax and merely a revenue enhancement for the cruise line which may actually not reflect anything more than the line’s attempt to enhance revenue.

 

Our TA, when discussing commissions rates, has never mentioned port fees with Oceania. The Agency, thus her, percentage payout doesn’t change because one cruise may encounter higher port fees than the next cruise. 

Edited by pinotlover
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Oceania does not list port charges or taxes separately.  The fare is the total that it costs. Each port has a fee depending upon size of ship, length of stay, and number of possible guests.  Some ports are very expensive. Unfortunately, ports in the United States are very high. Alaska charges huge amounts. The fewer guests, the higher the tax per guest. We are taking an Alaskan cruise this summer on Azamara. 10 day cruise with 7 port days. Same size as Regatta. Our port charges were close to $500 pp.  if we had gone on a big ship with 2000+ guests, the port charges would be about $200 pp.  we also looked at Windstar. Their ship has 210 passengers. Port charges were about $1000 pp.  

on some cruise lines, not Oceania, if you skip a port, you get a refund for your share of the port charges. Oceania does not refund.  

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We are taking our "free cruise" in Sept on Marina 12 ports. Out total out of pocket was a little over $1000. Air is included. You do not get Olife but you still get your other amenities. This cruise is from Amsterdam to Lisbon. I think this is a great deal. We are in a B1. See you in Sept ORV.

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9 minutes ago, DOJO466 said:

We are taking our "free cruise" in Sept on Marina 12 ports. Out total out of pocket was a little over $1000. Air is included. You do not get Olife but you still get your other amenities. This cruise is from Amsterdam to Lisbon. I think this is a great deal. We are in a B1. See you in Sept ORV.

Enjoy Deb - you've earned it!

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On 4/14/2019 at 5:34 PM, ORV said:

Hi Roger, I don't know if Alaska is higher than others but for my free cruise, which was 14 days with 2 sea days, was $672 US dollars. This was for both of us on a cruise to Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark & Germany, cruised out of Amsterdam. 

 

Make sure that you requested the level of room that you have averaged on your other 19 cruises. If not they might be charging you extra for that. Yes, that amount seems really high. 

 Hi Orville, Further to the port taxes on the cruise I was enquireing about for my milestone free cruise , I afraid that Oceania have not given me an explanation as to why they asked for £2175 P.P for the port taxes.

 So I have decided not to take that Alaska cruise and will try again later  to book a cruise for November.

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