Carnival Charging Double Port charges on Single Cabin

[DiveCruiser]

We just found out if you book a single cabin you pay two times the room rate but now two times the port charges. If you are only one person how can they charge you for being in port twice? Only on Charge for taxes and fuel suppliment. :eek: HOW CAN THEY DO THAT :confused: :mad:

[firefly333]

Its true, from other threads posted here. We booked 3 to 2 cabins before they changed it. I dont know, its only conjecture, but Carnival seems to be wanting to follow the lead of other cruiselines and discourage single pax from booking by themselves is all we can guess. what other reason? I guess they feel they get more money from multiple passengers so dont want single bookings right now.

 

Your guess is as good as mine.

[DiveCruiser]

Its true, from other threads posted here. We booked 3 to 2 cabins before they changed it. I dont know, its only conjecture, but Carnival seems to be wanting to follow the lead of other cruiselines and discourage single pax from booking by themselves is all we can guess. what other reason? I guess they feel they get more money from multiple passengers so dont want single bookings right now.

 

Your guess is as good as mine.

 

Other cruiselines do not charge double for port charges I Checked!!!

[lvtotrvl1]

Other cruiselines do not charge double for port charges I Checked!!!

 

Norwegian does.

[VentureMan_2000]

We just found out if you book a single cabin you pay two times the room rate but now two times the port charges. If you are only one person how can they charge you for being in port twice? Only on Charge for taxes and fuel suppliment. :eek: HOW CAN THEY DO THAT :confused: :mad:

 

 

No such thing as Port Charges... at least nothing the Passenger or Travel Agent will see.

 

You must mean non-commisionable fees and taxes.

 

You are paying for two passengers as a single passenger... so you have to pay the fees and taxes on the total amount for your cabin.

 

They have Cat 1A which is quite a bit cheaper for a single cruiser.

[Guest nhrich]

No such thing as Port Charges... at least nothing the Passenger or Travel Agent will see.

 

You must mean non-commisionable fees and taxes.

 

You are paying for two passengers as a single passenger... so you have to pay the fees and taxes on the total amount for your cabin.

 

They have Cat 1A which is quite a bit cheaper for a single cruiser.

 

Non-commissionable fare is charged double, but it's part of the cruise fare that is normally shown in prices. Taxes & fuel supplements are not charged double.

[VentureMan_2000]

Aren't taxes charged based on money spent as opposed to passenger head count? The cabin price is the same whether one or two people occupy it.

 

Fuel shipment I understand because Carnival spells that out... $5 pp/ per day.

[firefly333]

No such thing as Port Charges... at least nothing the Passenger or Travel Agent will see.

 

You must mean non-commisionable fees and taxes.

 

You are paying for two passengers as a single passenger... so you have to pay the fees and taxes on the total amount for your cabin.

 

They have Cat 1A which is quite a bit cheaper for a single cruiser.

 

Iv seen you post several times lately that there is no such thing as port charges?? Just because port charges are now added into the price of the cruise instead of being added later doesnt mean they dont exist. They exist and they are real, just included now in the price you see on the cruise. When a TA is paid the port charges are substracted out. I dont care if you want to call port charges the non commissionable part of the price or another name, they are port charges. Thats why no commission is paid on them, the money is not part of the profit as port fees are paid to the ports.

 

Saying no such thing as port charges only confuses people. They DO exist.

[firefly333]

Aren't taxes charged based on money spent as opposed to passenger head count? The cabin price is the same whether one or two people occupy it.

 

Fuel shipment I understand because Carnival spells that out... $5 pp/ per day.

 

Carnival used to subtract the port charges (maybe you call them non commisionable fare) out of the price and now they dont, they add in two fares so you are paying two port charges.

 

Sorry, I cant direct you to some of the threads when this was mentioned, but its true.

 

We have a fare on the Conquest of $449, back when they subtracted out the port charges of the second price, total price is $630, including taxes. Now its about $159 higher because the second port charges are not subtracted out. OP is correct. This is on a 1A, now price it out for the same fare and you will see that the price is higher than the old way Carnival had of pricing single cabins in the 1A category.

[big_duck]

:eek: HOW CAN THEY DO THAT :confused: :mad:

 

Cruising is a 100% voluntary activity.

[Kurbanfan]

Carnival used to subtract the port charges (maybe you call them non commisionable fare) out of the price and now they dont, they add in two fares so you are paying two port charges.

 

Sorry, I cant direct you to some of the threads when this was mentioned, but its true.

 

We have a fare on the Conquest of $449, back when they subtracted out the port charges of the second price, total price is $630, including taxes. Now its about $159 higher because the second port charges are not subtracted out. OP is correct. This is on a 1A, now price it out for the same fare and you will see that the price is higher than the old way Carnival had of pricing single cabins in the 1A category.

 

When did they start doing this? I know when one of our friends sailed with us in Dec. 2006 they paid double less one port charge and taxes.

[dan40]

Iv seen you post several times lately that there is no such thing as port charges?? Just because port charges are now added into the price of the cruise instead of being added later doesnt mean they dont exist. They exist and they are real, just included now in the price you see on the cruise. When a TA is paid the port charges are substracted out. I dont care if you want to call port charges the non commissionable part of the price or another name, they are port charges. Thats why no commission is paid on them, the money is not part of the profit as port fees are paid to the ports.

 

Saying no such thing as port charges only confuses people. They DO exist.

 

There is no such thing in the cruise pricing called "port charges", has not been since the late ninety's. Yes, the cruise line pays a variety of charges at various ports, pax head taxes, charges for water, food, booze, pilot fees , dockage fees, on and on and on. By law since the about 97 or 98 cruiselines cannot charge port charges in any amount except the amount actually charged by a government taxing body. Thats why they now have non-commish fees. They can lump in whatever they feel like. If it was port charges they could only charge the exact tax they paid at a port.

 

Dan

[VentureMan_2000]

 

... at least nothing the Passenger or Travel Agent will see.

 

 

 

Just because port charges are now added into the price of the cruise instead of being added later doesnt mean they dont exist. They exist and they are real, just included now in the price you see on the cruise.

 

 

Settle down there Virginia...

 

Didn't I just say that? :rolleyes:

 

No one can claim they see these port charges or the breakdown of non-commisionable fees because Carnival does not disclose them. Therefore, no one can correctly refer to being charged for Port fees if they can't show that they actually were.

[firefly333]

When did they start doing this? I know when one of our friends sailed with us in Dec. 2006 they paid double less one port charge and taxes.

 

We booked in April 2007 and they had not yet changed how they do 1As, so the treads were since last april and Iv since been on Carnival and yep, the rate is a LOT higher for that cabin. We booked for 9/7/08 on Conquest and so glad we booked before they changed how they figure single pax. My sister is bringing a friend and her rate as I said for the special 1A is $630, now plus fuel surcharge, but its a whole lot more for that same cabin now for 1 person.

 

I just remember seeing the threads about them changing it. Go check for yourself, the price is a lot higher than before. Its putting the screws to those single pax who used to book 1As.

[ParrotRob]

We just found out if you book a single cabin you pay two times the room rate but now two times the port charges. If you are only one person how can they charge you for being in port twice? Only on Charge for taxes and fuel suppliment. :eek: HOW CAN THEY DO THAT :confused: :mad:

 

"They" can charge "You" whatever "They" want. You can choose to pay it, or you can choose to stay home. No one is forcing anything on you.

[firefly333]

Settle down there Virginia...

 

Didn't I just say that? :rolleyes:

 

No one can claim they see these port charges or the breakdown of non-commisionable fees because Carnival does not disclose them. Therefore, no one can correctly refer to being charged for Port fees if they can't show that they actually were.

 

I use a site which breaks down the taxes with the port charges in one lump. Iv gotten billed from TAs who break them out as the non commissionable part. Iv seen the break out.

 

Im going on the Fantasy and the break out is $144 for taxes and fees, which include port charges. Some sites do and some dont, depends on who you use. Since that class action lawsuit where they sued the cruiselines for tacking them on later and they said it made the fare seem cheaper than it really was, the cruiselines dont break it out now, but some TAs do.

 

PS what you said twice now is "port charges do not exist", thats the wording I was taking exception to.

[Kurbanfan]

Its putting the screws to those single pax who used to book 1As.

 

That's what it sounds like to me. :rolleyes:

[keyguide]

We just found out if you book a single cabin you pay two times the room rate but now two times the port charges. If you are only one person how can they charge you for being in port twice? Only on Charge for taxes and fuel suppliment. :eek: HOW CAN THEY DO THAT :confused: :mad:

It's one thing to charge more for a single in a cabin, but this is a govt. tax believe it is illegal as they are probably pocketing the extra charge.

[VentureMan_2000]

the cruiselines dont break it out now, but some TAs do.

 

 

 

I don't understand how you think a TA can break out the charges other than the two categories that Carnival provides --commissionale and non-commisionable. These are the only two charges Carnival provides the TA.

 

TA's do not have access to the breakdown of non-commisionable fees. So how can they provide this breakdown?

[dan40]

I don't understand how you think a TA can break out the charges other than the two categories that Carnival provides --commissionale and non-commisionable. These are the only two charges Carnival provides the TA.

 

TA's do not have access to the breakdown of non-commisionable fees. So how can they provide this breakdown?

 

Most likely non-commish fee + Gov.t taxes. That's the breakdown I always see.

 

And I think the single cruiser would be charged 2 X non-commish and 1 X gov't. taxes

 

But its not port charges.

 

Dan

[cruiseco]

There are two components to your total cost:

 

1) Cruise fare (to the cruiser "commissionable" vs "non-commissionable" is irrelevant)

 

2) Taxes/fees/supplements

 

If you book a single occupancy cabin with CCL you will only pay once for anything falling under the taxes/fees/supplement category. These are per person items.

 

Yes, those expenses charged by the various ports were at one time broken out and charged as a per person item. But a lawsuit settlement pretty much forced the cruise lines to include them in the fare. It was left up to the cruise line to pay or not pay commission on these items.

 

Since CCL xharges double for a single occupancy cabin (with some exceptions) they expect to collect double on the full fare. They are not going to sit down and separate out specific items. So you will pay double for many things built into the fare that you probably should not. For example, a single passenger is not going to use as much shower water as would be used if the cabin was occupied by two. A single person is not going to generate twice the trash. A single user is not going to use twice the electricity. But the cost of water, trash handling, and electricity is built into the cruise fare. Just like the "port charges." And when you're charged double the fare you're paying twice the cost of all those included items, fair or not.

 

Is it fair? Doesn't matter if it's fair or not. This is what the court decided was best for the cruising public. The goal was to prevent the cruise lines from advertising (in large print) $699 for the cruise and in tiny print adding "plus $249 post charges." The fact that single oppucancy passengers are getting screwed is one of those unintended consequences of "winning" a class-action suit.

[cruiseco]

I don't understand how you think a TA can break out the charges other than the two categories that Carnival provides --commissionale and non-commisionable. These are the only two charges Carnival provides the TA.

 

TA's do not have access to the breakdown of non-commisionable fees. So how can they provide this breakdown?

 

A TA can present the cruise cost in any way they want to. In fact, some of them still use the outmoded term "port charges" on their paperwork adding much confusion to the situation.

 

Some TA's are still using old in-house accounting systems that were designed back in the old days when the cruise lines had a separate libne item of "port charges" but did not have a line item of "non-commissionable fare (NCF)". But the agency needs to keep track of what they're being paid commission on and what they are not being paid on. So some agencies, either unwilling or unable to upgrade their system, still show "port charges" on their statements to their clients. And the lazy ones still use the term "port charges" when speaking to clients even though that term as a part of the pricing of the cruise is not used by the cruise line.

 

What's in the "non-commissionable fare." No one but the cruise line knows. It's whatever the cruise line just doesn't feel like paying the TA for. For example, perhaps a ship that regularly stops at island X unloads trash there. Cruise line A says trash handling is just a part of the cost of doing business and decides to pay the travelagent on that part of the fare. Cruise line B decides that there's no way they're paying a TA 10% to 15% of the cost of trash handling. So that cost is stuck in the NCF. Which is right? The courts said they can do it any darn way they please as long as it's included in the fare (either commissionable or NCF) and not listed as a separate "port chatge" which it really is -- it's a charge made by a port of call for supplying a service.

[letscruisegd]

Maybe I'm missing something. I just priced a cruise I'm considering in a few months and the single price for a category 1A room was exactly 150% of the double occupancy rate. I've always paid between 135% and 150% of the double occupancy rate so I don't see this huge difference I've read about on these boards. The percentage varied from cruise to cruise so I have no idea what determined the difference in the percentage of the double occupancy rate.