California Port Taxes

[mcrcruiser]

 On any cruise line doing California ports west coastal the port taxes exceed $600  now . does any one have any ideas why they are so expensive this year ? Seems to me Alaska & the Panama Canal cruises were the most expensive port  taxes  but now California ports are very  high as well  .

[mcrcruiser]

Please don't just say Ca taxes are high to begin  with .We know that already . Just that we are steering clear of the coast cruises because Mexico & Hawaii are so   much lower doe port taxes 

[Honolulu Blue]

4 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

 On any cruise line doing California ports west coastal the port taxes exceed $600  now . does any one have any ideas why they are so expensive this year ? Seems to me Alaska & the Panama Canal cruises were the most expensive port  taxes  but now California ports are very  high as well  .

I did a California Coastal cruise on Princess last April.  We embarked in LA and visited San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and San Diego.  We also stopped in Ensenada for a few hours.  The taxes and port fees on that cruise were $220 - a little high but not extraordinarily so, IMHO.  I don't know why they would have tripled in the past year.

[BOB999]

The highest port fee I see for a West Coast cruise is $257 pp, which is still high.  No cruise line I saw breaks it out by port of call.  My opinion is that there is some port or a couple of ports of call that charge an arm and a leg.

[RTShaker]

I suspect it may be extra when it is an overnight, and /or if shore power is mandated.

[mcrcruiser]

5 minutes ago, RTShaker said:

I suspect it may be extra when it is an overnight, and /or if shore power is mandated.

  Yes shire power is possible .Then the cruise lines would  be saving fuel costs & yet they are not sharing that with the pax .As long as these port dees are so much   higher  we will stay away from Calif Coastal cruises

Edited February 6, 2023 by mcrcruiser

[NutsAboutGolf]

10 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

 On any cruise line doing California ports west coastal the port taxes exceed $600  now . does any one have any ideas why they are so expensive this year ? Seems to me Alaska & the Panama Canal cruises were the most expensive port  taxes  but now California ports are very  high as well  .

Which sail date?  I was recently searching some sailings and didn’t see this pricing but I don’t believe any had overnights anywhere 

[jelayne]

I would think the overnight in San Francisco would cost more than just a 8-10 hour stop.

[Cruising89143]

We’re on an upcoming cruise with an overnight in SF and the taxes, fees, etc. are not over $600.00. I would expect the taxes to be more due to having to use shoreside power.

[jelayne]

12 minutes ago, cruisingator2 said:

We’re on an upcoming cruise with an overnight in SF and the taxes, fees, etc. are not over $600.00. I would expect the taxes to be more due to having to use shoreside power.

the ones I have looked at the p/t are around $245pp, so $490.  We did the PC in 2019 with a overnight in SF and the port fees and taxes were $228 pp.

[NutsAboutGolf]

Was on the Sept 30th 2022 Millie repo/PC, San Diego to Puerto Rico, 15 nights...$398.88/person

[Arizona Wildcat]

4 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

Was on the Sept 30th 2022 Millie repo/PC, San Diego to Puerto Rico, 15 nights...$398.88/person

Panama Canal is expensive.  In the area of $200pp.

[DaKahuna]

5 minutes ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Panama Canal is expensive.  In the area of $200pp.

 

 We are doing the East to West Panama Canal Transit in April on Millennium and our "taxes, fees, and port expenses" are $379.06 per passenger. 

 

[chengkp75]

4 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

Yes shire power is possible .Then the cruise lines would  be saving fuel costs & yet they are not sharing that with the pax .

As I noted on your other thread, shore power ends up costing the cruise lines more than running their own generators.  And, that charge, for the actual electricity used, is not in the "port taxes and fees", though the "hook up" and "delivery" fees are a required fee, and therefore are included in the "port taxes and fees".

[Arizona Wildcat]

14 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 We are doing the East to West Panama Canal Transit in April on Millennium and our "taxes, fees, and port expenses" are $379.06 per passenger. 

 

Very similar to what we had in December from San Pedro to FLL for 7 ports plus the canal.  What is interesting is the Panama Canal company charges cruise ships by the bed capacity for their priority transit.  The fees in the canal go up each year by some sort of inflation index.  I thought the fees except for the canal reasonable.

[hcat]

Some Ca ports are ridiculous.

We "re-booked" a Specialty Dining res WHILE IN PORT  at the restaurant so we could get our E + discount..and were then assessed a local tax. No one explained that would happen.

 

   Eventually X gave us a credit back via Guest Rel but we cancelled ALL specialty dining on our Pacific Coastal Cruise!

 

Buyer Beware!

 

[jelayne]

1 hour ago, hcat said:

Some Ca ports are ridiculous.

We "re-booked" a Specialty Dining res WHILE IN PORT  at the restaurant so we could get our E + discount..and were then assessed a local tax. No one explained that would happen.

 

   Eventually X gave us a credit back via Guest Rel but we cancelled ALL specialty dining on our Pacific Coastal Cruise!

 

Buyer Beware!

 

Same as purchasing anything on a ship in Spain or Spanish waters the VAT is very high.

[Rtowncruiser]

Many of the Coastal Cruises are port intensive. We are going in March and are visiting Monterey, Santa Barbara, San Francisco, San Diego and Ensenada, Mexico. 5 ports in 7 days only $219.15 pp. 

[Cruising89143]

6 hours ago, jelayne said:

the ones I have looked at the p/t are around $245pp, so $490.  We did the PC in 2019 with an overnight in SF and the port fees and taxes were $228 pp.

About the cost of our cruise. 

[greenbeanie]

California requires cruise ships, and other ship-types, to use shore power.    I'd think this infrastructure would mean higher port taxes, and required cruise companies to outfit their ships with compatible infrastructures.  Below is from August, 2020.

 

The US California Air Resources Board (CARB) has expanded a regulation on the use of shore power by ships while at berth to include more types of vessels. 

The updated regulation has added auto carriers and tankers, two categories that produce 56% of all fine particulate pollution from ocean-going vessels at berth in California ports.

At present, the vessel types covered under the existing regulation include containerships, reefers and cruise ships.

Shore power, or cold ironing, allows ships to get their power from electricity and stop burning bunker fuels while at berth, helping to reduce harmful emissions such as particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides, and greenhouse gases.

Edited February 7, 2023 by greenbeanie
verbiage

[kguerriero]

Leaving LA for Catalina, Overnighting in SF and continuing on to Victoria and Vancouver on a 6-day repo and our taxes/fees come to....$247 a head. 

 

Depending on the itinerary in question, maybe it's Seattle or Oregon? Could also be San Diego/Santa Barbara.