The Tolls They Are A-Changing

[BillB48]

Come gather 'round cruisers
Wherever you roam
And admit that the tolls
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be skinned to the bone...

 

With apologies to Bob Zimmerman, I mean Bob Dylan, his song of The Times They Are A-Changing seems to be appropriate for this post.  The Canal has issued proposals for calculating tolls for ships transiting the Canal.  The primary purpose is to simplify the number of categories that are used in the calculations as the current toll structure has over 400 toll rates based on the size of the ship, type cargo, the capacity level of the ship as well as 144 toll rates for the loyalty program.    There are even 90 different rates for ships in ballast.  The Canal states, "the current toll structure has become overly complex and may lead to confusion and misinterpretations..."  They maybe on to something here!😉

 

Starting in January 2024 they will still be using the Panama Canal Ton measurement for toll calculation, but it will be combined with a flat fee for the size of the ship.  Passenger ships will be broken into three main categories.  They are...

Neopanamax- Beam greater than 107' (New locks)

Super Vessel- Beam greater than 91' (up to 106')

Regular Vessel- Beam under 91' (for passenger ships there will be a different flat fee for ships under 10,000 PC Tons and a higher flat fee for ships over 10,000PC Tons)

 

Tried to snip the passenger vessel rates but could not take it from the original document, so I'll just list them here.

Neopanamax:  Fixed fee $300,000 plus $3.75/PC Ton

Super:                    "       "   $100,000   "        4.75/  "    "

Regular:                "        "   $60,000                2.60  "    "  Vessels over 10,000 PC Tons

Regular:                "        "    $25,000                2.15  "    "  Vessels under 10,000 PC Tons

 

The following example is for a large passenger ship with the dimensions around 965x106 carrying somewhere between 2000 to 2500 passengers.  Example of ships in this size category  would be Island and Coral Princess, Radiance of the Seas, HAL Zuiderdam, Carnival Spirit

A Super Fixed Tariff per PC/UMS                       $100,000
B Capacity Tariff per PC/UMS 79,580x $4.75= $378,005

A + B =                                                                      $478,005

 

Also included in the proposal are yearly increases in 2024 and '25.  Easier to ask for the money all at once!!  I haven't figured out how this is easier than just counting the number of passenger berths and putting a price on each one.  Beyond the tolls you will still have to add in things like reservation fee, daylight transit guarantee, tugs and some lesser charges.  These on the larger ships could easily add another $100K

 

 

 

 

 

[iluvthe-c]

Not knowing what the fees were before, I assume these costs will result in an increased expense and will be added to cruise fare.  We are booked for a January 2024 PC cruise on the NCL Joy.  

Not sure how the cruise industry handles situations like this, but I hope our fare is locked in.  Maybe I shouldn't waste my time checking for price drops in the next 659 days. 🥺

 

[chengkp75]

42 minutes ago, iluvthe-c said:

Not knowing what the fees were before, I assume these costs will result in an increased expense and will be added to cruise fare.  We are booked for a January 2024 PC cruise on the NCL Joy.  

Not sure how the cruise industry handles situations like this, but I hope our fare is locked in.  Maybe I shouldn't waste my time checking for price drops in the next 659 days. 🥺

 

While the cruise fare will be locked in, the "port taxes and fees" will increase, as they frequently do for Panama Canal cruises.

[BillB48]

As the Chief points out the money for tolls was separated from the actual fare in "port taxes and fees'.  This of course is the portion of the total you will pay in total for your cruise, in other words your cruise fare + port taxes/fees=cruise total.  I still think it is a good idea to check for price drops since your cruise fare will normally be the largest single dollar figure of your cruise total.   Before any of the proposed increases go into effect at the Canal I had roughly calculated what the cruise lines were charging passengers for the Canal transit.  Depending on the cruise line, the portion of the port fees/taxes that was allotted for the Canal transit ran anywhere from $160 to $190.  Even with the new proposed toll structure, I think the cruise lines should be able to cover the tolls with another $30 or $40 added to the port taxes/fees portion of the cruise total.

[njhorseman]

2 hours ago, BillB48 said:

As the Chief points out the money for tolls was separated from the actual fare in "port taxes and fees'.  This of course is the portion of the total you will pay in total for your cruise, in other words your cruise fare + port taxes/fees=cruise total.  I still think it is a good idea to check for price drops since your cruise fare will normally be the largest single dollar figure of your cruise total.   Before any of the proposed increases go into effect at the Canal I had roughly calculated what the cruise lines were charging passengers for the Canal transit.  Depending on the cruise line, the portion of the port fees/taxes that was allotted for the Canal transit ran anywhere from $160 to $190.  Even with the new proposed toll structure, I think the cruise lines should be able to cover the tolls with another $30 or $40 added to the port taxes/fees portion of the cruise total.

Absolutely good advice. We have four full transits booked for early 2023 and thanks to fare drops we just saved hundreds of dollars off our original booking price on each cruise. As the cruises are not heavily booked I'm hoping for more price decreases between now and when final payments are due and even with an increase in tolls I fully expect to be able to lower our cost even further.

[BillB48]

Four full transits!!  Now that is proof positive that once is just not enough😄!!!  A perfect way to enjoy Panama's Dry Season.

[iluvthe-c]

This conversation prompted an email to my TA.  He said my fare, taxes & fees are locked in; they will not hit me with increased fees as I am already booked.

[njhorseman]

2 hours ago, BillB48 said:

Four full transits!!  Now that is proof positive that once is just not enough😄!!!  A perfect way to enjoy Panama's Dry Season.

I've already done six full transits, but they were in the process of going to or from other places. The four upcoming cruises are two NY - Fuerte Amador roundtrips.