charges

[sixgun8]

Guys, need a little help here. We booked our cruise at $345 pp for interior. We had paid $550.00 on our card and then we just get charged on our account $615. Since we booked through a travel agent that will not call us back Carnival will not give us much if any information on what we are paying for. Our flyer says taxes and fee would be $17 to $74 pp

 

Questions are this,

 

what are the customary port charges.

 

Do they usually charge those up front

 

The gratuity that you pay, is it charged up front or sign and sail?

 

In a bit of a panic here so please get back with me if possible.

[truecruiser]

ccl has added a fuel service charge. subject of much debate. $5 pp, per day. look to see if this is the difference.

[Cruise, J.D.]

Did you not get a written invoice from the agent showing your total charges and amount due shortly after you booked the cruise?

[Treens]

what are the customary port charges.

 

Do they usually charge those up front

 

The gratuity that you pay, is it charged up front or sign and sail?

 

In a bit of a panic here so please get back with me if possible.

 

I'm sorry to hear about your situation. Hopefully that TA will get back to you soon.

 

My $649 Cabin had $45 of taxes/fees per person: $90

 

There is a new fuel charge for cruises departing on or after February 1, 2008. It is $5 per day per person.

 

My 7 day cruise gratuities are $10 per day per person. You can pay this up front with the cruise payment(s) or you can put it on your S&S card when you sail. At this point an extra $65 seems valid, but that TA still needs to explain it all.

 

I hope this helps.

[sixgun8]

TA has not returned phone calls since September.

 

Way I see it is $690 for the two of us. Even if they charged the Surcharge and the Gratuities that's only another $210.

 

That's $900. Still $255.00 floating around?? If we are prepaying the gratities and such then fine. but Carnival will not discuss it since it was done through an agent.

 

YIKES!

[MamaParrotHead]

Port charges and taxes have come to right around $100 per person. Plus the fuel charge of $5 per day. Plus the autotips which are $10 per person, per day. Carnival isn't being difficult to be obnoxious, it's their policy that they cannot access your booking if you made it through a TA.

[parrotthead]

Was it an internet agent or someone local?

If its local, Id go right up there and ask and I wouldnt leave till I found out.

If its internet or out of state, Id just be on the phone all the time. Id leave so many messages that they would call me back just to get me to quit calling. (keep a record of each time you call, who you spoke with if you left a message ect. )

Good luck hope you get to the bottom of this.

[old sole]

TA has not returned phone calls since September.

 

Way I see it is $690 for the two of us. Even if they charged the Surcharge and the Gratuities that's only another $210.

 

That's $900. Still $255.00 floating around?? If we are prepaying the gratities and such then fine. but Carnival will not discuss it since it was done through an agent.

 

YIKES!

 

Cruise Insurance? You need the invoice from your TA to figure it out.

[sixgun8]

Yes, we totally understand Carnivals stance on this issue.

 

Another weird situation is after we thoguht we had made our final payment...the first time... we went to the website to view our booking and it had a message saying the booking was on hold??? we called Carnival and they said things were fine and not to worry about it. Well, now we don't have that message... This is weird. We have never cruised before and thought this was too good of a deal to pass up. Now we think we got suckered.

 

I did just get ahold of the TA and she is callign Carnival to figure it out. Hopefully it is a clerical mistake and we can get back to the warm and fuzzy feeling about our vacation. Either that or I just kinda accidentally got through and she fed me a line. AHHH

 

 

With the port fees if we are set then there is a missing $155. As long as this charge is all those fees I'll be okay with it, but we should have been notified that the charges were coming out before they hit us for $615 in one whack.

[-ClevelandRocks-]

I seriously doubt any of that would be prepaid gratuities, but if they were, they'd be billed to your card by Carnival, not the TA. The gratuities will be added to your sail-n-sign the moment you board. There is the matter of cruise insurance. The TA I've used includes cruise insurance in their bill. Have you contacted the CC company? I think I'd look into the possibilities of transferring this booking.

[Treens]

I just realized that you are going on the same cruise as me.

 

Cabin: 345 x 2 = 690

 

Taxes: 45 x 2 = 90

 

Tips: 70 x 2 = 140

 

Fuel: 35 x 2 = 70

 

Total: $990

 

Hmmm... You will have to let us know how it works out. :confused:

[BSQ]

is it a one person outfit? If not, call the main number and ask to speak with a supervisor. Perhaps your "TA" has quit.

[parrotthead]

Your cruise has gone way up since you booked if you got it for $345 pp IS.. Its up to $579pp just now when I looked. I'd check to make sure you got that rate(345) locked in when you booked.

[sixgun8]

TA seems to be an individual. My wife set this whole thing up.

 

My only thoughts are that this was supposed to be a fundraiser for cancer. Maybe they booked a group rate and then didn't get enough to book so we got charged like we booked direct?

 

Heck now we are locked into airfare, hotels(can be cancelled) this little cruise is costing us a heck of a lot more than we expected.

[cmdknw]

I'm booking thru Carnival directly, here is the breakdown they gave me yesterday....4 day cruise...

$239. p/p with port fees

$20 fuel charge p/p

$49.48 per person in govt. fees

$4 in extra tax p/p

$40 p/p for prepaid gratuities

 

Came out to just above $100 per person above what the stated per person price on the website was...(The stated price not including all taxes and such was $239...the total per person comes out to $356.44 per person)

 

Hope that helps a little!

K

[NCTribeFan]

And every time we have a thread asking "TA, online, PVP, or other" there are many that insist that we all should use a TA.

 

I know there are many wonderful TAs out there. I've been lucky enough to use some of them in the past.

 

But then we get these threads about people who book some group cruise through a TA they don't know because someone else is organizing it and things get totally messed up.

 

Or they aren't messed up at all, but the passenger doesn't get all the info upfront.

 

Lesson: Get your booking number and detailed invoice WHEN YOU PUT DOWN THE DEPOSIT!

 

No one here or at Carnival can help the OP. We can "guess" at the figures all we want, but the TA must provide the info.

 

Suckered? Probably not. But you cannot look at the "price" of the cruise as the cost of the cruise. I don't know of any website that includes taxes/port fees and fuel surcharges in those nice, low rates we see. You must look further to find out the actual cost.

 

So having those extras added on may be a shock, but it need not be.

[parrotthead]

NCTribeFan is wise.

;)

[tward]

ccl has added a fuel service charge. subject of much debate. $5 pp, per day. look to see if this is the difference.

Does anyone know if the fuel surcharge is added when you book or is it added to your sail & sign? Just curious!

[Kurbanfan]

NCTribeFan is wise.

;)

 

Pretty much common sense to me....

[sixgun8]

we knew all that, but twice the price in fees and charges??

[sixgun8]

we knew all that, but twice the price in fees and charges??

[sixgun8]

when we booked they hadn't announced the fuel surcharge yet. We knew the gratuity charges but expected them on the sail and sign. Taxes, well, didnt know how much, but the flyer said 17-74.

 

we were aware of other charges. Just no where near that much.

[Boatdrill]

Also helps to read the brochure. It explains all charges (tips, insurance, cruise airfare, etc.) From the cruiselines, there are no hidden costs.

 

But what the travel agent added on may be a different story.

 

If you feel there's been an overcharge, call your credit card company and tell them you may be disputing the charge.

[wwakla]

I just realized that you are going on the same cruise as me.

 

Cabin: 345 x 2 = 690

 

Taxes: 45 x 2 = 90

 

Tips: 70 x 2 = 140

 

Fuel: 35 x 2 = 70

 

Total: $990

 

Hmmm... You will have to let us know how it works out. :confused:

 

Your totals do not sound right:

 

Where are your port charges? Granted I am not on the same cruise but we are traveling to three different ports and my port and taxes are $434.

 

Also did the OP get insurance....that would be $118.....and how about transfers? $14 pp per trip....that could be $56 for round trip.

 

I hope you don't get to upset and have a rotten time. Remember where can you go and be catered to for 8 days at that price? And that doesn't mean at home! lol

[sixgun8]

The ONLY fees that really were not dislosed to us is the port charges. That was basically my original question on this thread.

 

We did not get the insurance...at least the carnival website doesn't show we have it.

 

The only reference to additional fees on the flyer we have is government taxes and fees of $!7 to $74. Carnival did tell us it was more like the $74. Per person is only 150.

 

My breakdown is this.

 

2 x $345= $690

2 x $74= $148

Total $838

 

Possible charges we would have expected but thought we'd pay at the end

 

Fuel Surcharge 2 x 5 x 7 = $70

Gratuities 2 x 10 x 7 =$140

total $210.

 

$838 + $210 = $1048

 

Still looking for the $107 I still think that we are paying the gratuities and fuel at the end. If the port charges are around $400 then it pretty much fits.