Done Posted May 16, 2022 Report Share Posted May 16, 2022 This is not a complaint. It is a mystery to me how taxes are calculated. In December last year we were able to get a substantial reduction in the cost of our B2B cruises booked for August, 2022 via the price guarantee associated with the Cruise With Confidence program. Looking at the first invoice when the cruises were first booked, and then the invoice after the reprice the taxes and port fees stayed the same. I fully understand the port fees being the same amount no matter the cost of the cruise. It is the tax portion of that line item I find curious. Most taxes I am familiar with are calculated as tax rate percentage times the some cost amount. The only thing I can deduce is the taxes paid are based on the full retail cost of the cruise before any and all discounts are applied which seems odd to me . I am happy with the reduction in price so I have never pursued the issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted May 16, 2022 Report Share Posted May 16, 2022 Taxes and port fees are never eligible for price adjustments. They go up too sometimes and the same policy applies when repricing if they have gone up. So it works both ways. Port fees have a number of fixed costs and many are related to the US home ports where union labor is substantially higher for the longshoreman. Pilot fees for example are fixed regardless of number of passengers. Do they divide that cost by 1,000 passengers or 4,000 passengers? As a result they estimate port fees and taxes based on historical knowledge and these get updated as time goes on and they begin to sell the ship. Dock fees are usually based on ship dimensions for example. Longshoreman driving the forklifts to reprovision the ship and load luggage are fixed costs regardless how many book the cruise. The nominal fees that Caribbean islands charge are relatively minor compared to US port fees. This is why Alaska or Hawaii cruises often have higher port fees - more US ports involved equates to higher port fees. Neesa and Psycho and Barb 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karl_nj Posted May 16, 2022 Report Share Posted May 16, 2022 6 hours ago, Toby said: This is not a complaint. It is a mystery to me how taxes are calculated. In December last year we were able to get a substantial reduction in the cost of our B2B cruises booked for August, 2022 via the price guarantee associated with the Cruise With Confidence program. Looking at the first invoice when the cruises were first booked, and then the invoice after the reprice the taxes and port fees stayed the same. I fully understand the port fees being the same amount no matter the cost of the cruise. It is the tax portion of that line item I find curious. Most taxes I am familiar with are calculated as tax rate percentage times the some cost amount. The only thing I can deduce is the taxes paid are based on the full retail cost of the cruise before any and all discounts are applied which seems odd to me . I am happy with the reduction in price so I have never pursued the issue. I don't think the "taxes" have anything to do with what you paid for the cruise. I just did a mock booking for a cruise in a inside cabin, and the taxes and fees were $387.44. Then I changed it to a balcony cabin, taxes and fees were $387.44. Biggest suite, $387.44. Perhaps they are based per passenger? WAAAYTOOO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted May 16, 2022 Report Share Posted May 16, 2022 54 minutes ago, karl_nj said: I don't think the "taxes" have anything to do with what you paid for the cruise. I just did a mock booking for a cruise in a inside cabin, and the taxes and fees were $387.44. Then I changed it to a balcony cabin, taxes and fees were $387.44. Biggest suite, $387.44. Perhaps they are based per passenger? They are charged per passenger regardless of age. While we are all used to paying sales tax in life that are typically a percentage of purchase price that is not how taxes and port fees work in cruising. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Done Posted May 17, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2022 IMHO they should drop the word "Taxes" and just call them Fees. WAAAYTOOO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted May 17, 2022 Report Share Posted May 17, 2022 15 minutes ago, Toby said: IMHO they should drop the word "Taxes" and just call them Fees. Same goes for gratuities, IMO Qeyton Dude and Jolly Ogre 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted May 17, 2022 Report Share Posted May 17, 2022 17 minutes ago, Toby said: IMHO they should drop the word "Taxes" and just call them Fees. Some of the charges are from government imposed taxes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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