gibsontrio Posted December 8, 2016 #1 Share Posted December 8, 2016 I'm leaving on a Carnival cruise in 2 weeks and I was wondering ... did I pay my port charges already , or will I be charged that along with my tips ? I see govt fees and tax on my bill , but nothing that says port charge (4 day cruise if it matters ) Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiserBruce Posted December 8, 2016 #2 Share Posted December 8, 2016 (edited) You paid them with your cruise fare when you made final payment. That is what "Gov't fees and taxes" means. Edited December 8, 2016 by CruiserBruce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishywood Posted December 8, 2016 #3 Share Posted December 8, 2016 "Port Charges" and "Government Taxes and Fees" are two different items. The term "Port Charges" is travel agent-speak for the non-commissionable portion of the cruise fare. Now if you booked directly with the cruise line they are invisible to you. But if you booked through a travel agent many of them back out the Port Charges from the quoted cruise fare and add them back to the bottom line somewhere near the bottom of the invoice. But it really doesn't matter in your case. Had you not paid the entire fare--including "port charges"--and the government taxes and fees you would not have been able to check in and print your boarding passes. So just go and enjoy your cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiserBruce Posted December 8, 2016 #4 Share Posted December 8, 2016 (edited) "Port Charges" and "Government Taxes and Fees" are two different items. The term "Port Charges" is travel agent-speak for the non-commissionable portion of the cruise fare. Now if you booked directly with the cruise line they are invisible to you. But if you booked through a travel agent many of them back out the Port Charges from the quoted cruise fare and add them back to the bottom line somewhere near the bottom of the invoice. But it really doesn't matter in your case. Had you not paid the entire fare--including "port charges"--and the government taxes and fees you would not have been able to check in and print your boarding passes. So just go and enjoy your cruise. Just looked at our upcoming booking because final payment is due in a couple of days. It only has "Government taxes and fees". No "port charges". We didn't book with the cruise line direct. Are you saying a travel agent gets a commission on government taxes and fees, but not port charges? Or vice versa? Doesn't sound right to me. Edited December 8, 2016 by CruiserBruce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCC retired Posted December 8, 2016 #5 Share Posted December 8, 2016 Just looked at our upcoming booking because final payment is due in a couple of days. It only has "Government taxes and fees". No "port charges". We didn't book with the cruise line direct. Are you saying a travel agent gets a commission on government taxes and fees, but not port charges? Or vice versa? Doesn't sound right to me. The TA only gets comm. on the cruise fare , minus the port charges . No comm. on the gov't taxes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiserBruce Posted December 8, 2016 #6 Share Posted December 8, 2016 The TA only gets comm. on the cruise fare , minus the port charges . No comm. on the gov't taxes. That is my understanding as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terri-eddie Posted December 14, 2016 #7 Share Posted December 14, 2016 I'm leaving on a Carnival cruise in 2 weeks and I was wondering ... did I pay my port charges already , or will I be charged that along with my tips ? I see govt fees and tax on my bill , but nothing that says port charge (4 day cruise if it matters ) Sent from my iPhone using Forums When I access carnival.com, and click on Manage My Booking, I can see my cruise details, including my billing. It shows Cruise Charges, which are broken down into "Cruise Rate" and "Taxes, Fees and Port Expenses". This would seem to indicate port charges are included in the lump sum of taxes etc. All of these are charged at the same time, and your payments would be made on the total. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krazy Kruizers Posted December 14, 2016 #8 Share Posted December 14, 2016 Whenever I am looking at prices for various cruises, I can see all the various port charges and other fees. Once I have booked a cruise, our TA also sends us a breakdown of ALL the charges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chengkp75 Posted December 14, 2016 #9 Share Posted December 14, 2016 "Port Charges" and "Government Taxes and Fees" are two different items. The term "Port Charges" is travel agent-speak for the non-commissionable portion of the cruise fare. Now if you booked directly with the cruise line they are invisible to you. But if you booked through a travel agent many of them back out the Port Charges from the quoted cruise fare and add them back to the bottom line somewhere near the bottom of the invoice. But it really doesn't matter in your case. Had you not paid the entire fare--including "port charges"--and the government taxes and fees you would not have been able to check in and print your boarding passes. So just go and enjoy your cruise. Just looked at our upcoming booking because final payment is due in a couple of days. It only has "Government taxes and fees". No "port charges". We didn't book with the cruise line direct. Are you saying a travel agent gets a commission on government taxes and fees, but not port charges? Or vice versa? Doesn't sound right to me. Okay, here's my take on this, and fishywood is correct. If you book with the cruise line, you see the fare, and the "taxes and fees". When a TA gets a fare from the cruise line, they see: commissionable fare, non-commissionable fare (NCF), and "taxes and fees". What they tell the consumer is: fare (the commissionable part, which allows them to advertise a much lower fare), "port charges" (the NCF), and "taxes and fees". The TA's don't like the NCF structure, since it is basically that the cruise line says; "out of the total fare, we will only pay you a commission on the following percentage", and there is no legal, moral, or ethical foundation for whatever percentage the cruise line decides on. Many TA's do not break out the NCF as "port charges", they just put it back in as their advertised fare. Those TA's that have the bargain prices, look closely at the "port charges", and if you add those back to their advertised fares, you typically come in very close to the cruise line's advertised fare. Calling them "port charges" implies that it is something outside the TA's control, and "everyone pays it". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCC retired Posted December 14, 2016 #10 Share Posted December 14, 2016 I'm leaving on a Carnival cruise in 2 weeks and I was wondering ... did I pay my port charges already , or will I be charged that along with my tips ? I see govt fees and tax on my bill , but nothing that says port charge (4 day cruise if it matters ) Sent from my iPhone using Forums Stop the worry . Your final payment included both the port charge and the tax's as it does for all cruise bookings . Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsrdsrdsr Posted December 14, 2016 #11 Share Posted December 14, 2016 They are if you booked from the UK. They aren't allowed hidden extras. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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