Carnival to include taxes and port fees in advertised prices as of July 1

[ontheweb]

27 minutes ago, mrpayroll said:

When you buy a car, they advertise the price before the tax is added on. I don't see what the big deal is. Grocery stores advertise the price for an item. They don't say PLUS tax. Much to do about nothing.

Big difference, everyone should know their state + local sales tax percentage while no one really knows what the port taxes will be. Up to this law, all you would see is in small print port taxes up to and then a certain amount listed.

[BlerkOne]

1 hour ago, mrpayroll said:

When you buy a car, they advertise the price before the tax is added on. I don't see what the big deal is. Grocery stores advertise the price for an item. They don't say PLUS tax. Much to do about nothing.

The law exempts government taxes. No change there.

[Old Fart Cruisers]

14 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

Big difference, everyone should know their state + local sales tax percentage while no one really knows what the port taxes will be. Up to this law, all you would see is in small print port taxes up to and then a certain amount listed.

It take one click to see the total.  Everyone that is smart enough to "know their state + local sales tax percentage" should also know how to click one time to see the total taxes and port charges.

[ray98]

LOL....there are a few members on here that would argue with their own shadow.

 

This is good news....any pricing transparency always benefits the consumer.  I applaud it.

[StephPS79]

Literally the only change is where the taxes and port fees are displayed.  Now they will be on the first advertised price screen instead of the last final booking price screen.  The process of paying port fees and taxes isn't changing.

[BlerkOne]

48 minutes ago, StephPS79 said:

Literally the only change is where the taxes and port fees are displayed.  Now they will be on the first advertised price screen instead of the last final booking price screen.  The process of paying port fees and taxes isn't changing.

The total price is shown before you get to the checkout page.

[n6uqqq]

24 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

The total price is shown before you get to the checkout page.

It is shown right where you select room type. I have always felt Carnival was honest in their pricing. No fine print, it is plain as day right now. 

Edited May 16 by n6uqqq

[staceyglow]

4 hours ago, mrpayroll said:

When you buy a car, they advertise the price before the tax is added on. I don't see what the big deal is. Grocery stores advertise the price for an item. They don't say PLUS tax. Much to do about nothing.

But the add things like "dealer prep" and "doc fees" that aren't part of the advertised price. I am guessing that is going to change in California as well. 

[VentureMan_2000]

I'm not so sure that Carnival is that transparent with their pricing.  It was only months ago that they would show you the starting price of each category, and separately next to that pricing they would list the port fees and taxes of each person.

They no longer show you the port fees and taxes of each person until you drill down.

I wouldn't call that transparent.  Why did they remove this information ?

[BlerkOne]

What Carnival advertises is the cabin price IS the cabin price. Carnival has no control over port taxes and fess and makes no money off of them. Carnival is completely transparent. The price the consumer pays won't change, the commission to travel agents won't change. The consumer will likely pay more to avoid a couple of keystrokes. Well done!

[Joebucks]

8 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

Bingo!  We have a winner.  It does not change a thing.  I have never met a person who did not know what they paid for a cruise.  If they do not, the answer lies in the mirror.

 

I've always said that people would rather pay more in a "single price," than god forbid having a clear, mandatory, or even optional "fee." This story only reinforces that point. I can't remember too many announcements that have seen so much universal praise, especially on something with such little substance. Just "feels" that everything is even more "single price."

 

There's always a trade-off, no matter how many unicorns you've seen. I'm guessing some people will be scared off by the "higher price" when comparing. Many people lack the capacity to look at the bottom line or big picture. It's all about those initial feels. In lighter news, I'm hoping this will deter the price-sensitive cruisers that bring down the experience for everyone, before it encourages them to book more. 

[BlerkOne]

People have suggested that cruise lines estimate port taxes and fees on the high side to avoid having to charge cruisers more on the back end. This is exactly what cruise lines were sued for last century - overcharging for port taxes and fees. The cruise lines can't win and the consumer will pay more. No win-win there.

 

 

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, Joebucks said:

 

I've always said that people would rather pay more in a "single price," than god forbid having a clear, mandatory, or even optional "fee." This story only reinforces that point. I can't remember too many announcements that have seen so much universal praise, especially on something with such little substance. Just "feels" that everything is even more "single price."

 

There's always a trade-off, no matter how many unicorns you've seen. I'm guessing some people will be scared off by the "higher price" when comparing. Many people lack the capacity to look at the bottom line or big picture. It's all about those initial feels. In lighter news, I'm hoping this will deter the price-sensitive cruisers that bring down the experience for everyone, before it encourages them to book more. 

Meh, I said it before and I will say it again.  With the possible exception of first time cruisers, anybody with a brain knows soon enough what the costs are.  Just another attempt to step in and add controls (in this case by a state that leads the free world in doing just this) to something that is not broken.  No unicorns seen here, just over zealous legislators.  

[firefly333]

3 hours ago, StephPS79 said:

Literally the only change is where the taxes and port fees are displayed.  Now they will be on the first advertised price screen instead of the last final booking price screen.  The process of paying port fees and taxes isn't changing.

That's what royal is doing on every cabin. Used to show taxes and fees on the main page. Now they do the math for you, and show the price and then add in the fees and taxes. This is a solo price and how they are handling it. As you said now they just show rhe math on mock bookings when before it was at the bottom of the page and you had to do the math.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 17 by firefly333

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, BlerkOne said:

People have suggested that cruise lines estimate port taxes and fees on the high side to avoid having to charge cruisers more on the back end. This is exactly what cruise lines were sued for last century - overcharging for port taxes and fees. The cruise lines can't win and the consumer will pay more. No win-win there.

 

 

nope

[jimbo5544]

Just now, firefly333 said:

That's what royal is doing on every cabin. Used to show taxes and fees on the main page. Now they do the math for you, and show the price and then add in the fees and taxes. This is a solo price and how they are handling it. As you said now they just show rhe math on mock bookings when before it was at the bottom of the page and you had to do the math.

 

 

 

 

I am confused, what is the advantage to doing this?

 

[firefly333]

1 minute ago, jimbo5544 said:

I am confused, what is the advantage to doing this?

 

They claim it's to obey the new calif transparency law. Now they add it up for you. Each cabin at the bottom says total with fees and taxes. This is solo so 1 set of fees and taxes or it would be  more.

 

They been working on rolling it out, now they do the math and call it transparency. 

[Old Fart Cruisers]

8 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

That's what royal is doing on every cabin. Used to show taxes and fees on the main page. Now they do the math for you, and show the price and then add in the fees and taxes. This is a solo price and how they are handling it. As you said now they just show rhe math on mock bookings when before it was at the bottom of the page and you had to do the math.

 

 

 

 

 

 

But this says Avg/person.  So if I have two people in the room does each person have to pay the average price?  So is the total two times as much?  This is all so confusing.  There should be a law that will force the cruise lines to give me the total price for two people.  That's how they stick it to us.  They make us do our own addition, or would that be multiplication. . .now I have to multiply by two.

[tidecat]

On 5/15/2024 at 8:22 PM, BlerkOne said:

But the numbers can change. If you reprice a cruise, the port taxes and fees often change and not always lower. That would be a violation as I read it.

Why would the port taxes change? As long as you are not changing ships or changing the size of your party, the taxes based on the size of the ship and taxes based on number of passengers do not change.

[Old Fart Cruisers]

13 minutes ago, tidecat said:

Why would the port taxes change? As long as you are not changing ships or changing the size of your party, the taxes based on the size of the ship and taxes based on number of passengers do not change.

Not all ports calculate fees the same way.  While some may charge a flat fee per passenger, others charge by the size of the ship.  The cruise lines estimate fee per passenger based on sailing at a certain number of guests.  If they end up sailing with more guests than originally estimated, the cost per person goes DOWN, (which has usually been the case in the past) and a credit is issued to all guests on board, and is reflected in the final onboard bill.  

 

 

 

Edited May 17 by Old Fart Cruisers

[tidecat]

31 minutes ago, Old Fart Cruisers said:

Not all ports calculate fees the same way.  While some may charge a flat fee per passenger, others charge by the size of the ship.  The cruise lines estimate fee per passenger based on sailing at a certain number of guests.  If they end up sailing with more guests than originally estimated, the cost per person goes DOWN, (which has usually been the case in the past) and a credit is issued to all guests on board, and is reflected in the final onboard bill.  

I understand the fee based on the size of the ship fee being divvied up based on an estimated number of passengers, but that doesn't explain the comment from @BlerkOne about port taxes increasing when a fare is being repriced ahead of the actual sailing date.

[royal3]

While looking at a NCL cruise today (Hawaii ship), you only saw the grand total (with taxes and port fees) after typing in your passenger data. When browsing cruises, this change will help knowing the total cost without having to put you data in. Some places (ie Alaska) the port fees add a lot to the total. 

[BlerkOne]

1 hour ago, tidecat said:

Why would the port taxes change? As long as you are not changing ships or changing the size of your party, the taxes based on the size of the ship and taxes based on number of passengers do not change.

Because the port itself can raise taxes and fees. There are a number of components that could and sometimes do change. Then the cost per passenger gets recalculated. 

 

 

[Old Fart Cruisers]

57 minutes ago, tidecat said:

I understand the fee based on the size of the ship fee being divvied up based on an estimated number of passengers, but that doesn't explain the comment from @BlerkOne about port taxes increasing when a fare is being repriced ahead of the actual sailing date.

 

It could be a few reasons.  There may be more rooms being booked as singles, reducing the maximum possible.  It could be based on just not selling out enough rooms by a certain date, so using the cruise line's metrics the ship most likely will be sailing at a lower passenger count.  But as soon as the ship sails and the final count is in, everyone will have an onboard adjustment reflecting the difference (up or down) between the amount paid and the actual fees.

[BlerkOne]

8. CARNIVAL’S RIGHT TO INCREASE FARES, INCREASE OR ESTABLISH CHARGES FOR GOODS AND SERVICES, CANCEL OR CHANGE VOYAGE, AND CHANGE STATEROOM ASSIGNMENTS AND TO PERFORM CONSTRUCTION OR REPAIRS, LIMITATIONS ON VACATION PROTECTION PRODUCTS

(a) Subject to applicable laws, Carnival reserves the right to increase published fares and air fare supplements without prior notice. However, fully paid or deposited Guests will be protected, except for fares listed, quoted, advertised or booked in error, fuel supplements, taxes, fees and port expenses, other surcharges and changes to deposit, payment and cancellation terms/conditions, which are subject to change without notice.