guest fees and taxes on breakaway

[hellotoyou222]

Hi,

My friend and I are going to bermuda on the norwegian breakaway aug. 24 for 7 nights. It is a free cruise I got from them. I went on a cruise in oct. and gambled. Anyway, they are giving us a free inside stateroom. Last week, when I was inquiring, the woman told me I could have an upgrade to a porthole view (the promotions says upgrade if available). This woman said that was no longer available. They only had 3 rooms available on that sailing. Also, last week I was quoted a price for guest fees and taxes of $304 plus the $12 a day. Today, the woman said it was a mistake and it's $403 each. This seems to be a pretty steep price for taxes and fees. Can anyone tell me if these are reasonable fees? Thanks.

[LHT28]

I would ask on the NCL forum

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=107

 

Or look up the cruise on their website it should give you the fees

[SuiteTraveler]

Our taxes and port fees for our upcoming cruise came to $229.02 for 2 people - but we are sailing from Port of Miami. Different ports have different fees.

 

You mention the $12 per day, I'm assuming that is for tips? Each of you pays tips, so that comes to $168. If the tips are included in the number you were quoted, then the fees you mention make more sense.

 

$229.02+$168 = $397.02

[taglovestocruise]

The week you are cruising is one of the more expensive weeks with insides going for 950.00. But even at that you are being charged almost 50% in taxes, maybe you won a free cruise for one. happy cruising

[Alliezona09]

Hi,

My friend and I are going to bermuda on the norwegian breakaway aug. 24 for 7 nights. It is a free cruise I got from them. I went on a cruise in oct. and gambled. Anyway, they are giving us a free inside stateroom. Last week, when I was inquiring, the woman told me I could have an upgrade to a porthole view (the promotions says upgrade if available). This woman said that was no longer available. They only had 3 rooms available on that sailing. Also, last week I was quoted a price for guest fees and taxes of $304 plus the $12 a day. Today, the woman said it was a mistake and it's $403 each. This seems to be a pretty steep price for taxes and fees. Can anyone tell me if these are reasonable fees? Thanks.

 

The gov't fees and taxed are higher leaving from NY if you do a mock booking you'll see that they are $379.82 and these can change as you can see in my example below. Also there is a portion of the cruise fare that can not be comped~ its a non commissioned fare (NCF) that's embedded in the online price~ so that will also have to be added so that's where they are getting the price of $403 most likely~

 

For example we had a comped interior on the Breakaway for June~ this was our cost:

 

$185 guest fare per person

$189.91 taxes/fees per person

Total cost per person $374.91

Total cost of cruise for 2 $749.82

Edited March 8, 2014 by Alliezona09

[sail7seas]

Will the cruise line be giving you a Form 1099 to report the'winning' on your taxes next year? I've read of some people who were surprised when they were told they had to pay taxes on the 'prize'. Did anyone mention that to you? Maybe it is below the limit of what has to be reported?

[Alliezona09]

Will the cruise line be giving you a Form 1099 to report the'winning' on your taxes next year? I've read of some people who were surprised when they were told they had to pay taxes on the 'prize'. Did anyone mention that to you? Maybe it is below the limit of what has to be reported?

 

I'm pretty sure the OP is talking about a cruise comped by Casinos at Sea through NCL~ it's not a prize so no 1099~

[hellotoyou222]

Thanks for answering. I will post this on the NCL board as well. The cruise is definitely for 2 and the $12 a day is not included. It feels like it is a lot and I'm wondering if I should have asked to speak to a manager or something. It is through the NCL casinowave promotion. Compared to the 202 out of Miami, this seems like a lot. I would assume that Miami would be a busy and expensive port as well.

[njhorseman]

Thanks for answering. I will post this on the NCL board as well. The cruise is definitely for 2 and the $12 a day is not included. It feels like it is a lot and I'm wondering if I should have asked to speak to a manager or something. It is through the NCL casinowave promotion. Compared to the 202 out of Miami, this seems like a lot. I would assume that Miami would be a busy and expensive port as well.

 

Not only are taxes and fees in NY very high, but you're also going to be in Bermuda for three days, which is one of the most expensive ports of call. The combination of NY and Bermuda is what makes the taxes and fees much higher than the cruise you took from Miami.

 

As another poster said, another part of the charge is the NCF...something you don't normally see because it's built into the base fare, but charged to all comped passengers.

 

The $12 per day is the service charge (similar to tips on other cruise lines), and is charged to all passengers age 3 and up.

Edited March 8, 2014 by njhorseman

[hellotoyou222]

Thanks for the explanation about the high fees in NYC and higher in Bermuda esp. b/c we will be there 3 days. It helps to understand it. I am going to pick up another free cruise tomorrow (this time from a casino). Maybe this time I will book a cruise out of the south with a number of stops. Thanks.