From: Dillon Pyron on
[Default] Thus spake Ohioguy <none(a)none.net>:

>> I don't think you're seeing price jumps but simply the addition of
>> taxes and fees.
>
> Ah, ok. Maybe due to the differences in the way the various websites
>were set up, I didn't understand the jump in prices. Some websites made
>it clear that the increase per person was taxes, and other websites
>simply came up with a new number, and didn't say anything at all about
>taxes and fees. Another website I checked out had the alarming
>statement "additional taxes and fees may come to $400 or more per
>person", which was sort of scary for me.
>
>
>> CRUISE RATE $1,138.00
>> Gov't Fees & Taxes $141.44
>> Total Amount $1,279.44
>
> Is a 13% tax about what I should expect to be added on?
>
> Thanks!

No. It's not "taxes", most of it is related to fees imposed by the
different ports, which can sometimes vary by the day the ship visits.
Then comes Uncle Sugar's taxes.

Think of it the same way as all of the wonderful taxes and fees that
you get hammered on when trying to buy that $99 ticket. You know, the
$11 "9/11 Security fee", the $7.50 per segement fee for something or
another, the fee per landing imposed by the airport ("takeoffs are
optional, landings are mandatory")
--

- dillon I am not invalid

Warick: "Who brings a gun to a knife fight?"
Gil: "The winner?"
From: Dillon Pyron on
[Default] Thus spake Ohioguy <none(a)none.net>:

>> example, ships are capacity controlled. As the sailing date nears and
>> more people book, the price will go up.
>
> Is this always the case? I've hears that some of the best deals are
>last minute things when the cruise wants to avoid having empty rooms.

Sure. Assuming there are empty cabins. And that you're willing to
take what's empty. Most of the "deals" I've seen for last minute
cruises were actually higher than the same category months earlier,
but less than a month ago. What some cruiselines will do is upgrade
lower category passengers to a higher category and then sell the lower
("cheaper") category cabin.

But, you want to take the June 17 sailing of the Ecstasy out of
Galveston? Yeah, we did, too. That's the weekend of our anniversary
and after Toby we just couldn't get into having a party. Nor, it
seems, a cruise. Rooms were slim to none.

>
> If that is true, I guess that is mostly because the cost of labor on
>the ships is subsidized by the guests?

CoL is ALWAYS paid for by the customer, regardless of what you're
buying. If it wasn't, that $500 ticket you're buying would really be
$482.
--

- dillon I am not invalid

Warick: "Who brings a gun to a knife fight?"
Gil: "The winner?"
From: Dillon Pyron on
[Default] Thus spake Charles <fort(a)his.com.remove.invalid>:

>In article <VbvPn.28252$yx.10801(a)newsfe13.iad>, Ohioguy <none(a)none.net>
>wrote:
>
>> Is this always the case? I've hears that some of the best deals are
>> last minute things when the cruise wants to avoid having empty rooms.
>
>If they can't sell the cabins then there can be some great last minute
>deals. Done that a bunch of times. Many times though if you have to fly
>there the savings may be offset by higher airfare.

VERY good point. I have a great fare on the Liberty otS in two weeks.
Sadly, the best air I can find is around $800 a pop.

> Also you are getting
>the cabins that are left over so you could get that cabin under the
>galley or something like that.

Galley vs bow. hmm. wake up to the smell of bacon and coffee. And
profanity in six different languages. Wake up to an anchor and 600
feet of chan running out.
--

- dillon I am not invalid

Warick: "Who brings a gun to a knife fight?"
Gil: "The winner?"
From: Dillon Pyron on
[Default] Thus spake peter <peters25(a)stockton.com>:

>X-no-archive: yes On 6/8/10 3:45 PM, in article
>pQrPn.124272$gv4.15087(a)newsfe09.iad, "Ohioguy" <none(a)none.net> wrote:
>
>>> I don't think you're seeing price jumps but simply the addition of
>>> taxes and fees.
>>
>> Ah, ok. Maybe due to the differences in the way the various websites
>> were set up, I didn't understand the jump in prices. Some websites made
>> it clear that the increase per person was taxes, and other websites
>> simply came up with a new number, and didn't say anything at all about
>> taxes and fees. Another website I checked out had the alarming
>> statement "additional taxes and fees may come to $400 or more per
>> person", which was sort of scary for me.
>>
>>
>>> CRUISE RATE $1,138.00
>>> Gov't Fees & Taxes $141.44
>>> Total Amount $1,279.44
>>
>> Is a 13% tax about what I should expect to be added on?
>
>No. Taxes include (semi-)governmental port charges and (undefined) other
>fees and depend on individual ports visited, time spent there and other
>things that none of the travel agents posting here could explain to you
>(except that they know they're not commissionable). If you really want to
>know the exact amount: call the cruise line. BTW: the cruise contract will
>tell you the amounts may be adjusted later on. I've had adjustments both
>ways.

Right now everybody is saying that they reserve the right to impose a
fuel surcharge if the price of WTXI goes above $70/bbl. Which, at
1205 CDT is at 73.46, down 2.02. And the DJIA is down 26 something.

And no surcharges.

>>
>> Thanks!
--

- dillon I am not invalid

Warick: "Who brings a gun to a knife fight?"
Gil: "The winner?"
From: Dillon Pyron on
[Default] Thus spake Tom K <tkanitra(a)optonline.net>:

>On 6/8/10 9:45 AM, Ohioguy wrote:
>>> I don't think you're seeing price jumps but simply the addition of
>>> taxes and fees.
>>
>> Ah, ok. Maybe due to the differences in the way the various websites
>> were set up, I didn't understand the jump in prices. Some websites made
>> it clear that the increase per person was taxes, and other websites
>> simply came up with a new number, and didn't say anything at all about
>> taxes and fees. Another website I checked out had the alarming statement
>> "additional taxes and fees may come to $400 or more per person", which
>> was sort of scary for me.
>>
>>
>>> CRUISE RATE $1,138.00
>>> Gov't Fees & Taxes $141.44
>>> Total Amount $1,279.44
>>
>> Is a 13% tax about what I should expect to be added on?
>>
>> Thanks!
>
>It's really just a number that the cruise lines have calculated to avoid
>paying commission on. Of the total fare, the higher the taxes and other
>fees, the less the commissionable other part.
>
>--Tom

Tom, sadly even that $1138 has a noncommissionable amount in it.
Called, for some unknown reason, non-commissionable fees (NCFs). Or,
as I refer to them when I'm feeling bitter (like after a client goes
to some on-line engine and then thinks they've been screwed and comes
to me for help), MPM. Mandatory Profit Margin.
--

- dillon I am not invalid

Warick: "Who brings a gun to a knife fight?"
Gil: "The winner?"