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Bahamas port fees and tax increase

Ourusualbeach
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Fouremco

Fouremco

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24 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

No they have not.  While they have changed over the life of when the sailing was open for booking Royal has never (at least in the past 5 years gone back and increased someones taxes.

Well, that's good to know. Thanks for the clarification.

 

Several years ago we missed a port and were given a credit. As I'd not experienced this previously, I asked Guest Services how it works and I was told that the port fees and taxes were based on the cruise date, and could be cancelled, as they were in our case, or adjusted. As I don't pay much attention to these fees when booking, have never received an email pre final payment telling us that the fees have gone up, and we've not missed another port, I wasn't aware that I'd been misadvised. Or possible I simple misunderstood. The funny thing is that in my years on CC, I've not read a previous thread that corrected my false impression of how things work. 

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Ourusualbeach

Ourusualbeach

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10 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

Well, that's good to know. Thanks for the clarification.

 

Several years ago we missed a port and were given a credit. As I'd not experienced this previously, I asked Guest Services how it works and I was told that the port fees and taxes were based on the cruise date, and could be cancelled, as they were in our case, or adjusted. As I don't pay much attention to these fees when booking, have never received an email pre final payment telling us that the fees have gone up, and we've not missed another port, I wasn't aware that I'd been misadvised. Or possible I simple misunderstood. The funny thing is that in my years on CC, I've not read a previous thread that corrected my false impression of how things work. 

Even getting the port fees for a missed port is hit or miss.  It is up to the ship to decide based on the actual taxes vs how much they collected in taxes.

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Ashland

Ashland

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52 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

I'm going off the actual increase that amounts that were sent to me for bookings

So our stop at Coco Cay (Icon) May 2024 is going to be an additional $30 pp x's 6 of us?

Oh my !!!

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nelblu

nelblu

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1 minute ago, Ashland said:

So our stop at Coco Cay (Icon) May 2024 is going to be an additional $30 pp x's 6 of us?

Oh my !!!

It's unfortunate that too many itineraries include the Bahamas.

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nelblu

nelblu

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Posted (edited)
3 minutes ago, Jussabitconfused said:

Mine also went down. It is now 25 dollars less.

However, my March 31 Anthem sail went from $176.69 to $184.24 ($7.55).  Not too bad of an increase.

 

PS.  I'm expecting a correction on my February 9 sail.😁

Edited by nelblu
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firefly333

firefly333

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Posted (edited)
3 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Just got a list from Royal...ouch, could be up to $30pp increase based on the amounts they shared with me by reservation.

 

 

The Bahamian government has implemented a change to their departure tax amounts for all cruise guests visiting the Bahamas on or after January 1, 2024. As a result, we will be updating your clients' reservation with the new amount.

The adjusted taxes and fees will be reflected on your clients' booking before the final payment due date. Bookings are being updated in phases, based on the sailing date. The original and new tax amounts are displayed below. There is nothing for you to do, we just wanted to keep you informed!

We realize this is an unexpected charge and apologize for any inconvenience. Thank you for your understanding and we appreciate your continued support.

Sincerely,

Aurora Yera-Rodriguez

AVP | Guest Experience

Royal Caribbean International

I have the email from mbayley saying since they dont bill if taxes and fees go up, I cant price match when they go down. I dont see how they can bill after you book when his office said they dont bill if taxes and fees go up. 

 

I was changed twice from grand Cayman and jamaica last year if you remember to costa maya and whatever which was at least $20 less and they said I cant get the lower amount because they changed the ports. Or anything because then we missed costa maya. 

 

Now they want it both ways. I still have the email saying they do not bill more if fees and taxes go up. They want it both ways? This is dishonest. I can find the email if you want it. 

Edited by firefly333
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Ourusualbeach

Ourusualbeach

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5 minutes ago, jwlane said:

How so?  The article @smokeybandit cites (https://ewnews.com/cruise-passenger-tax-increases-pushed-back-to-january-2024) says the amounts are increases .  Going from the existing $18 to $23 (or $25) plus a couple of extra fees ($7)---so a max of $14.

All I can tell you is thst I see the actual increases on hundreds of reservations.  It us obvious the article is wrong. 

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firefly333

firefly333

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Mbayley@rccl.com office saying I cant get the decrease in taxes and fees when they changed my ports and I missed a port.

 

So either he lied or doesnt know rcl policy. I dont see how they can deny matching if fees and taxes go down if now they can bill you after you book if fees and taxes go up. Having your cake and eat it too .. also imo lied.

 

See what I circled in red ... says they do not bill if fees and taxes go up. 

 

 

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