extra Panama Canal "port" tax

[sailsalot]

Question to Panama Canal cruisers about this added fee to our invoice, even after we had paid in full. Our travel agent told me it was a "Panama Canal Port Tax" even though we don't actually stop anywhere, but just go through the canal and turn around to come back. It's a little annoying to get hit with this "tax" after paying in full. Does anyone else know anything about this? FYI, we're on the March 18 Queen Victoria Panama Canal Cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale.

 

Thanks!

[ocngypz]

Taxes went up after you booked.

 

It's just that simple.

 

Happened to all my canal bookings.

[Wasasalad]

That is why trips that include the Panama Canal are so expensive, the tax. Sometimes it does go up and you must pay the increase. Someone from the ship must pay on cash for the trip as you enter. Passage is not allowed until the ship pays the fee in cash.

The cost for the ship is incredible!

 

Transit fees vary according to weight and priority. The lowest toll collected had been the 36 cents paid by Richard Haliburton in 1928 when he had swam the length of the canal during a ten-day period, while the highest had been the $313,000 paid by a ship in 2007.

 

Link to read more

 

Read more: http://www.bukisa.com/articles/237806_through-the-panama-canal-by-cruise-ship#ixzz1DEsSmESP

[sailsalot]

Thank you, both, for your replies. It's good to know that this isn't the only time it's happened.