Port fees and Taxes to be included in advertised pricing now?

[Mark_K]

40 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

I know of at least one example of Oceania not refunding port fees when a port was missed. That’s because it’s all “baked in” when it’s one price. I can totally see Princess doing the same thing when this happens in the future if they go to that pricing scheme. 

Silversea’s cancellation penalties are also calculated on the total cruise price since their is no delineation. Of course, their T&C still allow them to raise their price if taxes, fees, etc. go up.

[Astro Flyer]

On 5/16/2024 at 3:21 AM, Cruise Raider said:

I seem to recall Princess did try that pricing method in the past but if I’m remembering this correctly, other cruise lines didn’t follow suit and so the found it made Princess look more expensive.  It was quickly discontinued.  Now, if it’s a new law, then every line would have to follow the same display of pricing, just as they do with airline tickets.  Maybe this time it would work.  
I know one of my cruises, the taxes and fees are $500 each and Panama Canal cruises are over $700 pp.  The actual cruise fare is a bargain .. it’s all the extras that really add up.  

I also recall that situation & why PCL reverted to showing the cruise fare again like other cruise lines. I’ve seen taxes & fees as much as half the amount of the lower priced cruise fares.

 

Wonder if the CA consumer’s law will apply to CA residents only or if it’s based on HQ location? We probably won’t know until 7/1 whether taxes & fees will be included in the price shown or if the current cruise fare with t&f listed meets the requirements of this new law.

 

Edited May 17 by Astro Flyer

[Tranquility Base]

2 hours ago, azbirdmom said:

I know of at least one example of Oceania not refunding port fees when a port was missed. That’s because it’s all “baked in” when it’s one price. I can totally see Princess doing the same thing when this happens in the future if they go to that pricing scheme. 

I don't think so.

On an Oceania invoice to the passenger, the fees are not itemised as a separate line item.

 

On Princess, when booking from countries which have been including the fees in the initial advertised price for many years (eg Australia), those fees are still shown as an itemised separate line item on the invoice.

If a port is missed on such a cruise then the port fees have normally been refunded onboard.

[Astro Flyer]

Searched for the effects of this new CA law (CLRA) and found this statement from CCL about their response to this new law. Royal Caribbean has also stated that RCL & X will also use this procedure throughout the USA to have a unified nationwide pricing policy.

 

"Our total advertised price will now include all government-mandated taxes, fees, and port expenses that we previously itemized separately for consumer awareness," a spokesperson for Carnival Corp. confirmed to T+L. “While this is a California state law, we are making this change nationwide to ensure our advertised pricing is consistent no matter where guests shop for our cruises.”

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/these-cruise-lines-will-be-more-transparent-about-pricing-soon-here-s-why/ar-BB1mwu4V?ocid=BingNewsSerp
 

[Iamcruzin]

The issue I have with this is the port charges that they will quote when booking the cruise can either go up or down by the time you actually get to the port of call. We have received refunds to out folio in the past as well as up charges in the past.

[Cruise Raider]

On 5/17/2024 at 6:47 PM, Iamcruzin said:

The issue I have with this is the port charges that they will quote when booking the cruise can either go up or down by the time you actually get to the port of call. We have received refunds to out folio in the past as well as up charges in the past.

While this is true, they now appear to overestimate the port charges and we’ve seen them refunded on our folio quite often.  We’ve not had them go up over the last couple of years.   That’s just our experience.  

[Rick&Jeannie]

On 5/17/2024 at 9:47 PM, Iamcruzin said:

The issue I have with this is the port charges that they will quote when booking the cruise can either go up or down by the time you actually get to the port of call. We have received refunds to out folio in the past as well as up charges in the past.

No good way to avoid this scenario...

[Happiest when cruising]

On 5/21/2024 at 6:05 AM, Cruise Raider said:

While this is true, they now appear to overestimate the port charges and we’ve seen them refunded on our folio quite often.  We’ve not had them go up over the last couple of years.   That’s just our experience.  

I booked 3 cabins for 11 people and the taxes and fees were 216 CAD pp. Today I wanted to rebook the cabins to take advantage of the weekend sale for OBC. The taxes are 243 pp with no change to the base rate. So, that’s about a 300.00 increase, for all of us.

The OBC offer on this sailing of 7 days was to be 200.00 per cabin…I have no idea how those fees changed so fast. 

It is not really worth me rebooking for 300 dollars and cancelling the bookings and getting credit card refunds of the deposits I paid, etc. For 600, I would have made the call. 
 

Do you think they are going to charge that difference to the folios? I’m paying for all the cabins, so I want to be prepared. 

[Cruise Raider]

7 minutes ago, Happiest when cruising said:

I booked 3 cabins for 11 people and the taxes and fees were 216 CAD pp. Today I wanted to rebook the cabins to take advantage of the weekend sale for OBC. The taxes are 243 pp with no change to the base rate. So, that’s about a 300.00 increase, for all of us.

The OBC offer on this sailing of 7 days was to be 200.00 per cabin…I have no idea how those fees changed so fast. 

It is not really worth me rebooking for 300 dollars and cancelling the bookings and getting credit card refunds of the deposits I paid, etc. For 600, I would have made the call. 
 

Do you think they are going to charge that difference to the folios? I’m paying for all the cabins, so I want to be prepared. 

Ouch .. that’s a lot.  Now, if the taxes really did go up, everybody would be charged the same.  They have claimed that they can’t charge more for those but I’ve seen other cruise lines that have gotten away with no refunds on those charges.  
I can only go from what we’ve seen and on our last several cruises, we’ve gotten the money back via refundable OBCs on our folio.  
Still, I’d probably opt to save $300 .. my motto is if it saves me $100, I call in for the refare.  
That may increase in time as $100 just doesn’t buy as much as it used to anymore.  

[Happiest when cruising]

55 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

Ouch .. that’s a lot.  Now, if the taxes really did go up, everybody would be charged the same.  They have claimed that they can’t charge more for those but I’ve seen other cruise lines that have gotten away with no refunds on those charges.  
I can only go from what we’ve seen and on our last several cruises, we’ve gotten the money back via refundable OBCs on our folio.  
Still, I’d probably opt to save $300 .. my motto is if it saves me $100, I call in for the refare.  
That may increase in time as $100 just doesn’t buy as much as it used to anymore.  

Thanks for your input. 
If it was easy, and one cabin, I would do it.
I would have to start over with new bookings and it took me over 2 hours to list all the 11 names and DOB with the agent on the phone to make sure we had connecting mini suites. 
I still don’t understand how the taxes and fees could change so quickly.  As a matter of fact…they changed on July 1. Coincidence? 

[Cruise Raider]

20 minutes ago, Happiest when cruising said:

Thanks for your input. 
If it was easy, and one cabin, I would do it.
I would have to start over with new bookings and it took me over 2 hours to list all the 11 names and DOB with the agent on the phone to make sure we had connecting mini suites. 
I still don’t understand how the taxes and fees could change so quickly.  As a matter of fact…they changed on July 1. Coincidence? 

I get it!  That’s a lot!  
Interesting that all changed on July 1st.  🤦‍♀️