Price Drop on Taxes and Fees Not Covered?

[LovindaBoat]

I've been checking every so often to see if a price drop came up for our July 31st cruise from Baltimore on Pride. There was today and it's a difference of $135.14 from when I booked in September.

 

The rep I got on the phone said that Carnival does not refund/credit changes in fees/taxes, only the fare and our fare was still lower, so we were out of luck (she didn't say it like that, she was nice) and it wouldn't make sense to cancel and rebook $ wise.

 

Is that common? When I asked why taxes/fees would change she didn't answer. I'm not sure if she didn't understand my question or what.

 

ANYWAY- can anybody help me out here? It's not a deal breaker, just curious.

[Schoifmom]

I've been checking every so often to see if a price drop came up for our July 31st cruise from Baltimore on Pride. There was today and it's a difference of $135.14 from when I booked in September.

 

The rep I got on the phone said that Carnival does not refund/credit changes in fees/taxes, only the fare and our fare was still lower, so we were out of luck (she didn't say it like that, she was nice) and it wouldn't make sense to cancel and rebook $ wise.

 

Is that common? When I asked why taxes/fees would change she didn't answer. I'm not sure if she didn't understand my question or what.

 

ANYWAY- can anybody help me out here? It's not a deal breaker, just curious.

 

Occasionally, port fees will fluctuate. Normally, if they are lower when you sail, you will get that as an OBC.

[cmukid87]

You will typically get a refund in the form of OBC. My last two cruises I had $13.xx and $16.xx per person automatically on my S&S account. Guest services told me they were changes in port fees/taxes.

[firemanbobswife]

Did you include prepaid gratuities in your original booking? If so then when you are checking for price drops, they will not be reflected in the fare hence the large difference.

 

When checking for price drops the only number that should be considered is the base fare before any taxes/fees/gratuities. Don't forget to consider any OBC from promotions.

[bigdog1958]

I've been checking every so often to see if a price drop came up for our July 31st cruise from Baltimore on Pride. There was today and it's a difference of $135.14 from when I booked in September.

 

The rep I got on the phone said that Carnival does not refund/credit changes in fees/taxes, only the fare and our fare was still lower, so we were out of luck (she didn't say it like that, she was nice) and it wouldn't make sense to cancel and rebook $ wise.

 

Is that common? When I asked why taxes/fees would change she didn't answer. I'm not sure if she didn't understand my question or what.

 

ANYWAY- can anybody help me out here? It's not a deal breaker, just curious.

 

There is something missing here, I have never seen port taxes change by over 100.00 for a cruise. Once in awhile they may change by 10.00 or so, and if they go down, you are given a credit for that amount. However, over 100.00 does not seem right either up or down

[stargate fan]

I've been checking every so often to see if a price drop came up for our July 31st cruise from Baltimore on Pride. There was today and it's a difference of $135.14 from when I booked in September.

 

The rep I got on the phone said that Carnival does not refund/credit changes in fees/taxes, only the fare and our fare was still lower, so we were out of luck (she didn't say it like that, she was nice) and it wouldn't make sense to cancel and rebook $ wise.

 

Is that common? When I asked why taxes/fees would change she didn't answer. I'm not sure if she didn't understand my question or what.

 

ANYWAY- can anybody help me out here? It's not a deal breaker, just curious.

 

We've had instances where the cruise fare went down but the port fees and taxes went up. We've also had times when we discovered extra obc once we embarked because port fees and taxes went down.

To my knowledge, the port fees and taxes are set up by the ports, not by the cruise lines.

Edited February 5, 2016 by stargate fan

[katiel53]

I also think something is wrong because I have never seen a difference of $100 or more/less in port charges and fees. As mentioned if the fees are lower when you sail, you will get an OBC for the amount, but seriously, I wouldn't look for $100 unless you have 10 people or something.

[mistycruiser]

Like firemanbob mentioned, check to see if you prepaid the gratuities. They lump them together in certain places on the booking. To check the correct amount of taxes you paid log into Manage Your Booking, and check the cruise docs like you were going to print them, and then look at the invoice. Taxes and gratuities will be listed as separate items there.

[elainmir]

One of the best pieces of advice I can give you is call back and hopefully you get someone more knowledgeable. I had a half off my next cruise fare situation and I did mock bookings online and found our fare for two should've been around 625 but the lady I spoke with kept telling me 810, I knew clearly she was wrong and I thanked her, hung up and called back and turns out I was right. I booked finally.

 

Call back and see what happens. Good luck!

[zqvol]

There is something missing here, I have never seen port taxes change by over 100.00 for a cruise. Once in awhile they may change by 10.00 or so, and if they go down, you are given a credit for that amount. However, over 100.00 does not seem right either up or down

 

 

I wonder how many people the OP is talking about. If it is 4 the change is only about $30 which is still a little high, but entirely possible.

[Cruisesfun65]

Port fees CAN and will go up substantially. For the January 2017 Journeys cruise on the Pride the taxes were $177.98 per person.

Carnival then added a partial Panama Canal stop to the itinerary and port fees are now $357 per person.

People will new bookings (or those having their reservations repriced after a price drop) will get hit with these new charges.