Bahamas Tax and port fees

[gerelmx]

First time in my life that Celebrity will refund tax and port fee money. Several times in my reservations the taxes and port fees are higher than the current price. We have even skipped a port several times and they have not refunded us a penny

 

Dear Guest,

The Bahamian government has implemented a change to their departure tax amounts for all cruise guests visiting the Bahamas on or after January 1, 2024. As a result, we will be updating your reservation with the new amount.

Your adjusted taxes and fees will reflect on your booking before your final payment due date. Bookings are being updated in phases, based on the sailing date. Your original and new tax amounts are displayed below for your convenience. There is nothing for you to do, we just wanted to keep you informed!

We realize this is an unexpected charge and apologize for any inconvenience. Thank you for your understanding and we look forward to welcoming you onboard.

Sincerely,
Celebrity Cruises

Edited July 24, 2023 by gerelmx

[Altamar]

I too received this email.

[basenji56]

Return fees?  I think they are increasing the taxes and fees.  My price went up from $114 to $191 in taxes on a six day cruise with one port in the Bahamas.

 

[cruisestitch]

What were the old and new amounts, gerelmx?

Edited July 24, 2023 by cruisestitch

[RTShaker]

7 minutes ago, gerelmx said:

First time in my life that Celebrity will refund tax and port fee money. Several times in my reservations the taxes and port fees are higher than the current price. We have even skipped a port several times and they have not refunded us a penny

 

Dear Guest,

The Bahamian government has implemented a change to their departure tax amounts for all cruise guests visiting the Bahamas on or after January 1, 2024. As a result, we will be updating your reservation with the new amount.

Your adjusted taxes and fees will reflect on your booking before your final payment due date. Bookings are being updated in phases, based on the sailing date. Your original and new tax amounts are displayed below for your convenience. There is nothing for you to do, we just wanted to keep you informed!

We realize this is an unexpected charge and apologize for any inconvenience. Thank you for your understanding and we look forward to welcoming you onboard.

Sincerely,
Celebrity Cruises

Return?? My email for Mar 21 went from $156 to $191 CAD per person.

[gerelmx]

4 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

What were the old and new amounts, gerelmx?

 

old $270.38 new $256.32

[cruisestitch]

That’s very strange but perhaps has something to do with your home country?

 

everyone else is reporting increases.

[NorthStarStateCruiser]

The notice for my reservation reflected a decrease. Stops in Nassau and Bimini. Reduced from $149.06/pp to $145.90/pp.

 

At least one of those two ports must have implemented a decrease.

[Lena11033]

Mine went up, from $213 to $255 CA

[RTShaker]

2 minutes ago, NorthStarStateCruiser said:

The notice for my reservation reflected a decrease. Stops in Nassau and Bimini. Reduced from $149.06/pp to $145.90/pp.

 

At least one of those two ports must have implemented a decrease.

Not likely Nassau. That's my only stop there.

[Lena11033]

23 minutes ago, RTShaker said:

Not likely Nassau. That's my only stop there.

 

My cruise is only going to Bimini and it also increased

[wrk2cruise]

Another reason to avoid itineraries with stops in Bahamas.   I have not received refunds for port fees for missed ports since the restart.  Several sailings right after the restart had missed ports.

 

So are we just one step from getting the letter that cruise fare has increased, sorry for your inconvenience but you owe us $600?

[kenb]

My wife and I are on cruise in April with stops in Key West and Bimini. Our increase was 21 cents each.

[jelayne]

I just got a email from our TA advising that the taxes/fees had increased by $6.42.  
 

I don’t have a problem with this as long as the adjust when they go down as well which it seems they are doing.

[wrk2cruise]

It looks like they are recalculating the T/F for the entire sailing on the affected cruises.  Otherwise they would have all gone up a fixed amount based on the number of stops in the Bahamas.

[Xfedcruiser]

I think wrk2cruise is correct.  I don't think that Celebrity is applying the amount of the Bahamas increase to each individual booked amount. I have read that the total amount of increase would be $12 per person, and that is not what we are seeing.

 

Go to the Celebrity website and do a dummy booking for your affected cruise.  Click on  "review & pay" and look at the amount for taxes and fees. For me, it was the same as the new amount shown in the notification letter. I bet it will be the same for you.

 

Taxes and fees change regularly on the Celebrity website, and you get charged the going rate at the time you book. I have several cruises booked, and the taxes and fees shown on the website have changed since my initial booking for all but one cruise. Celebrity has not changed the amount I owe for taxes and fees for those bookings.

[BettyCruiser]

Our port taxes are increasing about $60 per person for a 6 night cruise.

[wrk2cruise]

2 hours ago, Xfedcruiser said:

Celebrity has not changed the amount I owe for taxes and fees for those bookings.

 

So why are they changing on this set of sailings?

[jelayne]

Ours were changed for our Jan 2024 Ascent sailing with a stop in Nassau.

[gerelmx]

Today Celebrity has deducted $17.02 from Taxes and port fees on my bill