charges

[jiggs]

go on the cruise and then dispute the charge with your credit card...they'll call you right away when they realize that they're not going to get paid. I'd wait until after the cruise or Carnival might cancel your reservation as it would look like you missed the payment. You can challenge the entire amount or, partial amount for just the overages.

[sixgun8]

All done through a debit card....no dispute insurance.

 

Still waiting for the TA to call us back after going on 2 hours now.

[jamon]

Ever think about getting a new travel agent? In one of your earlier messages you stated that you had been trying since September to get them to call you back and they finally did. Did you ask your TA why it took them so long to get back to you? Blame the agent, not Carnival until you have all the facts.

[sixgun8]

read the thread before you try to blast me. I am totally blaming the agent. I only post this in the carnival thread because it is a carnival cruise and people here can help me to understand the charges we are getting.

 

Yeah we definately wont use this agent ever again. We are first timers ever using an agent so lesson learned. This goes to the too good to be true situation. I think the agent suckered us here. My thoughts are that this was a group booking that failed to qualify for group prices and now we are getting hit with the rest of the cost??

[bubbles1209]

Maybe it goes like this-

345.00 pp X 2 = $690.00 (cruise rate)

$150.00pp X 2= $ 300.00 (port charges)

$ 35.00pp X 2= $ 70.00 (fuel surcharge)

$ 50.00pp X 2= $100.00 (govt. taxes & fees)

Grand Total For 2 People

 

$1160.00

 

Am I in the ballpark? Most of the 7 day cruises we've taken, the

port charges have been around $150 per person. The fuel surcharge

is added onto all bookings that sail after Feb.1st, whether they were

paid in full or not, lot of threads on that on this site a while back, it

goes on your balance due, not on your sail & sign.

I may have been a little off on the govt. taxes, but I think this is close,

if I understood your original post correctly. You said you had paid

$550, then was billed for $615, for a grand total of $1165.

The gratuity you pay can be done either way, either up front, or on your sail and sign. If you didn't tell the TA to go ahead and do the auto-tip,

it should not be on your balance due.

[UpstateCruizer]

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.

 

Someone else has already asked if this was a local TA or an internet TA. I haven't seen a reply other than it's a one person operation, and your wife set this all up. If it's a local person then you need to go to where ever they do business and get your answers. Until your TA gets back to you all you are going to get from this board is a bunch of speculation. Speaking of which a group cruise consists of only 8 cabins so it may have nothing to do with not getting enough cabins etc. Again speculation. Good luck on resolving this to your satisfaction. Please make sure you update us on what the outcome ends up being :)

[jetskier]

I believe Bubbles is correct, your figures are not showing the port charges. As far as the insurance, if it is through a third party agency, it will not show up on Carnival's website. This is another profit maker for the agency. On my last 5 day cruise, we were charged $14pp for the insurance while others through different agencies were charged as much as $75pp.

 

Dave

[sixgun8]

the $1160 would sound right and we hope that's the case. It's ok for us to pay it up front, but when it is being billed through a debit card and we didn't know they were hitting us for the large amount at once it kinda shocks you!! The TA is not local and all the problems getting ahold of her is a huge issue with us. Our friends that cancelled out had huge trouble getting ahold of her too. I am not sure if they ever did or if they just finally got it done through carnival. Gee Whiz. this put a damper on the day not knowing what we have paid for. LOL

[BigDfromTN]

I would check into transfering your booking to a travel agent that will return a call.

 

But then again, IF it is a group cruise that is not an option.

 

Good luck!

 

This type of thing really makes me appreciate my PVP. (Thanks K******)

[halos]

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.

 

What sailing?? I can look up the taxes and port fees for you...

 

ooops, never mind, I see that's been done ;)

[Kurbanfan]

Someone else has already asked if this was a local TA or an internet TA. I haven't seen a reply other than it's a one person operation, and your wife set this all up. If it's a local person then you need to go to where ever they do business and get your answers. Until your TA gets back to you all you are going to get from this board is a bunch of speculation. Speaking of which a group cruise consists of only 8 cabins so it may have nothing to do with not getting enough cabins etc. Again speculation. Good luck on resolving this to your satisfaction. Please make sure you update us on what the outcome ends up being :)

 

I agree....wait til you hear back from the TA. The op does not seem to know much about this booking. Even said he thought he already made final payment when he booked:confused:

No invoice:confused: We have always used a TA and have received a invoice showing our deposit and what our final payment will be and when it is due.

Another thing if the op has been trying since Sept. to contact TA to no avail:confused: And now it's Jan and when he calls because he gets a final bill he is able to get a hold of the TA:confused:

Sounds like miscommunication on both sides maybe;)

[jetskier]

the $1160 would sound right and we hope that's the case. It's ok for us to pay it up front, but when it is being billed through a debit card and we didn't know they were hitting us for the large amount at once it kinda shocks you!! The TA is not local and all the problems getting ahold of her is a huge issue with us. Our friends that cancelled out had huge trouble getting ahold of her too. I am not sure if they ever did or if they just finally got it done through carnival. Gee Whiz. this put a damper on the day not knowing what we have paid for. LOL

 

 

Also keep in mind is that if you use your debit card to secure your Sail & Sign account aboard the ship, a hold will be placed on part of the funds. The problem with this hold is that it is in addition to what is going to be charged to the card. The hold eventually expires after 5-10 days depending on your bank. But if you are not aware of it, it can cause a few checks to bounce or the card be declined for insufficient funds.

 

Your TA should have initially sent you a detailed billing showing the full amount of all charges plus the deduction for your initial deposit. Upon making final payment, a second detailed billing should have been sent out showing payment in full. Had that been done, the panic you are in now would never have occurred.

 

Dave

[bubbles1209]

the $1160 would sound right and we hope that's the case. It's ok for us to pay it up front, but when it is being billed through a debit card and we didn't know they were hitting us for the large amount at once it kinda shocks you!! The TA is not local and all the problems getting ahold of her is a huge issue with us. Our friends that cancelled out had huge trouble getting ahold of her too. I am not sure if they ever did or if they just finally got it done through carnival. Gee Whiz. this put a damper on the day not knowing what we have paid for. LOL

pevans12@hotmail.com I think I know how to help, drop me a line:)

[sixgun8]

What sailing?? I can look up the taxes and port fees for you...

 

ooops, never mind, I see that's been done ;)

 

Carnival COnquest 2-17-08 If someone already looked those up then I missed it??

[mjbearit]

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!

Could the $255 be your airfare and/or hotels? You said you are locked into those, but don't sy if you booked that yourself or not. If you got a package deal it might just be the transportation to and from the pier. The prices advertised never include airfare or hotels!

[sixgun8]

booked air and hotels seperate. didn't arrange transport from the airport yet. Have family that is supposed to take care of that for us.

[beccadoby]

First thing, when you considered booking, the TA should have sent you an invoice BEFORE you paid the deposit. This would have listed all charges, fees and TOTAL price.

 

Gratuities are never added in unless you request that they be prepaid.

 

To answer another one of your questions, if this is a "group booking", then if it falls below the 8 cabin min. then no you would not be "rerated", your price was locked in at time of booking. Now, you would loose any OBC or ammenities they were offering.

 

Hope this helps and you resolve this matter soon.

[parrotthead]

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

It is due with final payment. Added at booking for new resis

[sixgun8]

OKay......here's the final word from the TA who finally called us back.

 

$237. per person for fees and port charges.

 

237 x 2 = 474

 

474 + 690 = 1164

 

 

But she said that our fuel surcharge has been paid and we still have the gratuities and such..... And now her office is going to be on the hook for the money that my wife's bank charged us for fees because noone told us they were nailing us for this huge amount. Had we known We would have had the money in there. Guess this is another part of our issue.

[beccadoby]

I can tell you I am a little confused. How you get your final payment amount is:

rate amount (which would INCLUDE fuel)

plus tax and port chrages

I just looked up the tax and port charges for this cruise - $80.33 PP

 

So its a simple procedure -

Once again sorry you are having problems. Im sure they will get it worked out soon.

[Kempa]

OKay......here's the final word from the TA who finally called us back.

 

$237. per person for fees and port charges.

 

 

$237 PP fees and port charges seems to be way out of the ordinary. I have a 7-day Destiny cruise in March. Federal taxes and fees are 113.96 for 2 passengers in a balcony cabin. And we have seven ports in seven days.

 

Unless your cruise stops at some place that charges extremely high port fees, I don't know how they can come up with $237 PP. That is roughly four times what we are paying.

[stthomaslover]

I also think your extra fees are way off, I just took out my invoice and one week for the 2 of us including the extra gas tax it is $256.00, or $128.50 per person.

[beccadoby]

OK solve the whole problem-

 

ask the TA to email or fax you CARNIVAL's passenger confirmation. She has it -

It will list fare, non commission fare, taxes, fuel and much more

 

There you will have it in print from CARNIVAL - not from the Agency.

[Tapi]

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.

 

Do you know if you TA quoted the cruise rate INCLUDING all of the miscellaneous charges?

 

$345 per person sounds awfully low for a 7 day cruise. However, $345 + $159 (miscellaneous charges) = $504 + 80.33 (federal tax and fuel supplement) = $584.33 looks more like a realistic total per person (still cheap in my opinion)

 

Some places will quote a cruise without the miscellaneous charges, giving you the impression that you're getting a total deal over other places. However, when you add all of the real taxes you realize that your'e paying exactly the same as other places if not more.

 

My PVP quotes me prices including these miscellanoeous charges thus avoiding this confusion....

[parrotthead]

OKay......here's the final word from the TA who finally called us back.

 

$237. per person for fees and port charges.

 

237 x 2 = 474

 

474 + 690 = 1164

 

 

But she said that our fuel surcharge has been paid and we still have the gratuities and such..... And now her office is going to be on the hook for the money that my wife's bank charged us for fees because noone told us they were nailing us for this huge amount. Had we known We would have had the money in there. Guess this is another part of our issue.

ok, now wait a minute.

{ I was completley behind you until that sentence}

Did the TA say they would be liable for the overdraft/NSF charges? Really, everytime I have booked a cruise (including the very first one when I too was a newbie) they have told me, or it has been in the fine print, that the final payment was due 30-60 days (depending on the length of the cruise) prior to the sail date. And that if you did not call with a different creditcard # that the balance would be atomaticly charged to the card that was used to book the resveration.

Buyer beware? (and Aware)

**Im not flaming or slamming you, JMO>