port fees/taxes portion of cruise cost

[tarhoosier]

I have a Baltic cruise in September and there are ten days with ten ports: Stockholm, Helsinki, Tallinn, Riga, Klaipeda, Gdansk, Warnemunde, Copenhagen and two minor ports.

What do you think is the total port fees/tax/costs for such a cruise. It is a more expensive total than I expected though the ports and time of year are exactly what we want. Thus we go.

We have a longer cruise next year on Viking with more sea days and lower per day cost. 

Curious about this. It will not change our plans.

[Mary229]

Port fees are set by the local authorities.  They are in essence taxes 

[ORV]

As you might have noticed, Oceania doesn't break out taxes and port fees separately. 

 

That might change after July 1st when they no longer have a price with air. I think this has to with the California Honest Pricing Law that takes effect then. 

[1985rz1]

9 minutes ago, ORV said:

As you might have noticed, Oceania doesn't break out taxes and port fees separately. 

 

That might change after July 1st when they no longer have a price with air. I think this has to with the California Honest Pricing Law that takes effect then. 

I'm curious to see what happens after July.  I thought that the California Law said that the listed price had to include all fees, but I don't remember if it says they have to be broken out in addition.  If they don't have to be broken out, the law won't affect O.

[MEFIowa]

1 hour ago, tarhoosier said:

I have a Baltic cruise in September and there are ten days with ten ports: ... It is a more expensive total than I expected though the ports and time of year are exactly what we want. Thus we go....

We're on a Baltic cruise then, too. We're doing ours as a B2B. On Sirena. 12 nights London to Stockholm (8/29-9/9). Then 10 nights Stockholm to Copenhagen (9/9-19).

 

AS just for PRICES, do keep in mind that these were opened for sale around April/May 2022. We did the 2nd half as "cruise only" back when it first came out, and then upgraded from a G to a "big" C1 in October 2022. So we're $1000 under the current listed O price for this cabin and cruise (which is all waitlisted). We then added the new 1st half during the "Simply More" sale in the summer of 2023, when SM was introduced. Today our price is $900 under the current listed O price for our F cabin (very little of this cruise is waitlisted today).

[alcpa1]

tarhoosier,

O includes port fees and taxes.

The sea days for your Viking cruise will not be subject to those "hidden" fees thus a fair pricing difference.

You also don't say where the Viking cruise is sailing. Port fees and taxes differ from port to port.

Please consider the relative costs between the two itineraries.

This is really not an apples to apples comparison unless the itineraries are virtually the same.

Add to that the general costs of cities like Copenhagen, Helsinki, and Stockholm. These wonderful destinations are very pricy.

Enjoy both cruises!!!

[Woofa]

As far as I understand this should in no way affect O which already lists the final price in advertising that you actually pay.  I may be misunderstanding but I think this is meant to change companies that list a price in their advertising or on their website which has a small indication (or not) and then fine print that the price does not include additional xxx dollars in fees, taxes, etc.

When you go to pay, the price is often significantly higher than what you may have thought if you did not pay full attention.

I felt this was something O did particularly well already.

Please let me know if I have misunderstood the new law.

[tarhoosier]

Apparently no one knows the port fee structure or fees as a portion of fare. Just as the cruise line prefers, I assume. 

[ORV]

1 hour ago, tarhoosier said:

Apparently no one knows the port fee structure or fees as a portion of fare. Just as the cruise line prefers, I assume. 

Also be aware that Oceania does not refund port fees for missed ports. 

[Vallesan]

14 minutes ago, ORV said:

Also be aware that Oceania does not refund port fees for missed ports. 

But some insurance policies do pay for missed ports.

[tarhoosier]

35 minutes ago, ORV said:

Also be aware that Oceania does not refund port fees for missed ports. 

Also be aware no one knows the port fees. (apparently)

 

I am aware of all that everyone has mentioned yet no one has responded with an answer to the POINT of the original post.

19 hours ago, tarhoosier said:

 

What do you think is the total port fees/tax/costs for such a cruise.

 

Edited June 22 by tarhoosier

[tarhoosier]

13 hours ago, alcpa1 said:

You also don't say where the Viking cruise is sailing. Port fees and taxes differ from port to port.

I listed the ports in my original post.

 

Edited June 22 by tarhoosier

[ORV]

7 minutes ago, tarhoosier said:

Also be aware no one knows the port fees. (apparently)

 

I am aware of all that everyone has mentioned yet no one has responded with an answer to the POINT of the original post.

 

Just ask your TA what the commissionable fare is, the rest is port fees and taxes. 

 

I personally never worry about it. The total is what it is. But I guess it's important to you. 

[njhorseman]

3 hours ago, tarhoosier said:

Apparently no one knows the port fee structure or fees as a portion of fare. Just as the cruise line prefers, I assume. 

Not so. The travel agency I do business with actually states what they are on their website...as " Port charges, taxes and fees of $xxx included".

And every travel agency knows what they are because it affects their commission.

Edited June 22 by njhorseman

[njhorseman]

@tarhoosier, two cruise ships could be sailing the identical itinerary on the same day and legitimately have different port taxes and fees. These charges are not simply a flat fee such as $50 per passenger per port day imposed by the port. For example a larger ship will typically be charged a larger docking fee than a smaller ship. Anything like that then has to be divided by the anticipated number of passengers on the sailing to get the per passenger fee to load into the fare.

Every cruise line enters into a contract with its ports and one cruise line may get a more favorable port fee rate than another if it makes more frequent calls at the port or has some political pull.

Also, if the cruises are not taking place at the same time port charges can be seasonal, with higher fees being imposed in the height of the port's cruise season. And fees will change from year to year so even if they're during the same season, a cruise in year x might have lower port fees than a cruise in year x+1.

You also said the Viking cruise has more sea days and a lower cost per day. that makes perfect sense because there are no port fees on sea days. All other things being equal...same ports...same season... same underlying base fare per day excluding taxes and fees ...the cruise with more sea days obviously would have an overall  lower per diem including all taxes and fees.

 

What all this means is that there's no simple or meaningful way for a passenger to compare one cruise's fees to another.

Edited June 22 by njhorseman