Alaska Port tax

[KittyCruiser]

I went with AAA travel agency and going to Alaska and stopping at Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway. My port total was $272.77 per person. Is this high? Should I question my TA? How is this port tax calculated? Is it a set fee for all? or is it a percent of the price of the cruise? or percent of total price paid? (I have air and transfers). I put in my cruise date on Travelocity and in Smartcruiser and based on the same date, category etc, they both quoted the port tax at only $48.77.

 

Any comments is appreciated.

[Host Caroline]

There is a difference between port charges and taxes but some sites bundle them, othes separate them out, i.e., to use a "basic" example - you may see a cruise advertised for $600 per person and down below the little asterisk it will say that it does not include port charges and taxes -- so cost is $600 plus that. You may go to another agency site and see the same cruise for $729 per person and it WILL include port charges but not taxes. There has been much written and debated in the industry about this practice and I don't want to get into a debate about it here, but that's the difference. The site with the $48 taxes is including the port charges in the cost of hte cruise, the other is not. And, no, the $270 or so is not that high for Alaska. It covers docking fees, harbor pilots and a myriad of other things. I agree they are way high but it's not going to change any time soon

 

Host Caroline

<font SIZE="1">Join me on the beautiful Diamond Princess in July 2005 for Cruise Critic's Awesome Alaskan Adventure --You'll have a whale of a good time!

 

Sept 04-Royal Hounds Mariner of the Seas

Feb 05-Partae Pirates Carnival Miracle

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[Urban trekker]

It is also a way to screw TA's out of a higher commission - they get paid for the cruise part not the port part so some of the lines are lowering the cruise price and raising the port taxes as a way of avoiding paying higher commission - at least that is how a TA friend of mine explained it to me.

 

Dennis

 

Sun Princess to Alaska May 2000

Norwegian Sun Panama Canal 4/11/04

Norwegian Sun - Pacific Coastal 4/27/04