What are port fees/charges?

[colesc15]

I've been on 4 cruises now and I've never heard of port charges.. Is this something new or is that just built in the cruise price or?

[wieslaw]

Hi,

 

I think the charges have always been there - the ports do charge the ship for using their port, the ship ( cruise line) passes that on the users ( passengers / guests).

The highest are the charges for going through the canals, like Panama Canal.

The same as paying the taxes / airport charges on your air lines tickets.

[colesc15]

Thanks!

[cruiseco]

I've been on 4 cruises now and I've never heard of port charges.. Is this something new or is that just built in the cruise price or?

 

It's actually something old, apparently before your time. Back then your cost was quoted as cruise fare + port charges + taxes/fees (often the last two would be lumped together).

 

The newer way of doing this (for almost all cruise lines) depends on who's receiving the quote from the cruise line:

 

The cruise line will tell a travel agent that the cost is commissionable fare + non-commissionable fare + gov't taxes and taxes

 

The cruise line will tell a passenger that the cost is cruise fare + gov't taxes/taxes. This is also the way most travel agents will quote the fare to a client.

[mikewrit]

Can someone suggest a site where the costs of a cruise are spelled out fully and accurately? We are given to understand that port charges, like canal fees, are based on ship capacity rather than actual load. We were informed that our really good deal on a Panama passage was based on the cruise line's determination to fill all of those cabins with passengers to help pay the Panama toll.

[smeyer418]

Can someone suggest a site where the costs of a cruise are spelled out fully and accurately? We are given to understand that port charges, like canal fees, are based on ship capacity rather than actual load. We were informed that our really good deal on a Panama passage was based on the cruise line's determination to fill all of those cabins with passengers to help pay the Panama toll.

 

I believe the panama canals tolls are based on measurements. Cruise ships tonnage is based on volume not weight actually but its also has an alternative calculation based on the maximum number of passengers(and I don't know if they mean "lower two" or legal maximum amount which is about 120-130% of the lower two).

 

http://www.pancanal.com/eng/maritime/tolls.html

 

BTW how a cruise line detrmines port fees is almost a trade secret and it includes a lot more than how much the port charges as a toll. There is wharfage, tying up fees, hourly rates, the cost of the tug boat(standby required at some ports), pilot fees and a lot more. Then how they calculate this whether its per passenger or based on the lower two passengers as an example may differ. Some fees are per passenger some per ship some based on length some based on tonnage...etc...

 

NCL for example pays per passenger in NY BUT if they hit a certain number of pasengers the amount is rebated...and I am pretty sure it not returned.

[cruiseco]

We were informed that our really good deal on a Panama passage was based on the cruise line's determination to fill all of those cabins with passengers to help pay the Panama toll.

 

That reasoning applies to just about every part of your cruise -- the orchestra gets paid the same whether there's 100 passengers or 2000. The Captain gets paid the same, the engines use the same amount of fuel, etc.

 

The Crown Princess once paid $141K for a full transit. Figure 3000 passengers. That's $47 per passenger. Now suppose only 2500 are booked. That's $56 per passenger. $11 difference? How much of a difference is that going to make to Princess' pricing strategies to sell those last 500 passengers? They're much more worried about losing the $200 - $500 those non-booked passengers won't be spending in the bars, casino, shops, etc.

[wieslaw]

Disney Magic paid $331,200 for Panama Canal crossing.

 

http://www.panama-guide.com/article.php/20080610162327637

 

It costs more to cross, when the ship wants to cross at a specific time than to cross when the authority of the canal assign the time.

Cruise ships want to cross when is most beneficial for its guests.

[SadieN]

As comparison here is the Tariff Schedule for the Port of Astoria, Oregon.

http://www.portofastoria.com/media/PDFFiles/Tariff/2011TARIFF.pdf

 

The things you find when researching a port.

[cb at sea]

I've never had those charges "broken down"....it's just part of the fare!

[Ashland]

Can someone suggest a site where the costs of a cruise are spelled out fully and accurately? We are given to understand that port charges, like canal fees, are based on ship capacity rather than actual load. We were informed that our really good deal on a Panama passage was based on the cruise line's determination to fill all of those cabins with passengers to help pay the Panama toll.

When you price out a cruise on RCI's website just below the total cruise price there is a "View Summary of Charges" that will give a breakdown of cruise fare & taxes/fees with a per person total..I think that's enough of a breakdown for most of us....

[hancock]

The port fees charges for cruise ship sailing through the PC are per passenger. The more passengers, the higher the fee.

[cruiseco]

The port fees charges for cruise ship sailing through the PC are per passenger. The more passengers, the higher the fee.

 

Apparently it could be either, depending on the size of the ship as measured by PC/UMS tonnage. Whatever the heck that is:

 

http://www.pancanal.com/eng/maritime/tolls.html

 

See note #1 under either chart

[boogs]

Disney Magic paid $331,200 for Panama Canal crossing.

 

http://www.panama-guide.com/article.php/20080610162327637

 

It costs more to cross, when the ship wants to cross at a specific time than to cross when the authority of the canal assign the time.

Cruise ships want to cross when is most beneficial for its guests.

 

During our transit three years ago on Celebrity's infinity, the captain did a talk on cruise ship operations and mentioned that our transit was going to cost approximately $330,000. This included: the fee based on how many bed positions the ship could sell, whether sold or not; the fee for a reservation for a specific date and time for the transit (typically a ship will arrive and be given a spot at the end of the line, which could take them up to three days for their turn); the fee for the pilot services (the captain must surrender control to the pilot while in the canal, one of the very few places he is required to surrender full control of his ship); the use of the eight "mules" (electric locomotives) that kept the ship centered in the locks as the ship slowly moves forward on it's own power; and the fee for a tugboat that stayed on duty to assist us in the case of a steering or power failure while we transiting the narrow channel through the Gatun Cut.

 

Ships waiting for their turn - we're jumping to the front of the line

 

 

 

 

"Mules" guiding container ship under it's own power

 

 

 

 

Tugboat escort in case of power failure

 

[jocap]

I sailed on NCL Jade round the UK in the months after she'd left Hawaii- she was then named Pride of Hawaii- and heard the captain's talk in which he said that she was then the largest and most expensive ship to pass through the canal. This was in 2008.

Jo.

[marco]

We've just gotten a price for a 12 day, 6 port Caribbean cruise sailing out of NYC. Taxes and "fees' come to $278. I asked our TA ," I'm just curious....is there some way I could find out exactly who gets how much, out of that $278?" She said she had no idea who get's what, but would ask her rep at the line, and I could inquire with the line, as well. I have not done that, and I have not heard back from her with any info. But, ya.........for almost $300, it would be nice to know exactly who/where gets how much. As for the OP.....I think (s)he has just not been aware of "taxes and fees", as I have NEVER not had them added to the cruise fare. Perhaps his/her agent has always just given them the "out the door" price.

[wieslaw]

Is the " $278 " per person ?

[smeyer418]

In fact when you price on the cruise lines websites they tell you the amount including 'fees' aka port charges. they only add the tax at the end but its generally not much. TA's show it differently because they are not paid commission on the 'fee's or port charges aka non-commissionable fare...

 

if you get a breakdown please let us know because I doubt they will...

[cruiseco]

In fact when you price on the cruise lines websites they tell you the amount including 'fees' aka port charges. they only add the tax at the end but its generally not much. TA's show it differently because they are not paid commission on the 'fee's or port charges aka non-commissionable fare...

 

if you get a breakdown please let us know because I doubt they will...

 

The sooner the term "port charges" disappears from the cruise vocabulary the better. The cruise lines don't use that term and neither should a TA and neither should cruisers. And "non-commissionable fare" is not a synonym for "port charges"

 

An item included in the NCF doesn't have to have anything to do with ports of call and what they charge to the cruise line, although that's where those charges generally end up. NCF can mean any random amount the cruise line just doesn't want to pay the TA a commission on. It can be anything or nothing. By no longer calling them "port charges" the cruise lines have been freed up to just pull any old amount they want out of their hat.

 

By using the term "port charge" TAs and cruisers are giving the impression that the NCF is directly related to the actual charges by the ports of call. They might be or they might not be, but the refusal by the cruise lines to divulge what's included in the NCF should give you some clue to how much of a fantasy they are.