Port fees and taxes question - Costco booking

[FigmentSpark]

When I look on the DCL site, it appears the taxes for my cruise are:



When I look on my account with Costco, it shows that the taxes were USD 555.86. The final price came out the same, but the taxes are different. While I know the cost of the port fees has fallen (I got 2 rebates around $12), so I can't imagine why my taxes and fees would be listed so high.

Has anyone else found that?

 

[wanderlust7]

Same here! It's very weird! The final price is the same, so I didn't bother asking about it.

 

[FigmentSpark]

I'm going to call tomorrow. If you're an executive member, your 2% cashback will be affected, as there's no cashback on port fees/taxes to my knowledge.

 

[wanderlust7]

Right, I didn't think of that! Please let me know what you find out.

 

[JW9DVC]

All the prices are the same. The taxes and such will be also. Not to worry.

 

[wanderlust7]

All the prices are the same. The taxes and such will be also. Not to worry.

The taxes are not the same on the Costco invoice compared to DCL website. I suspect it's a Costco glitch. The final total cost works out the same.

On my invoice the 2 adults have taxes of $97, while the 2 kids have taxes of $184.50 for a total of $563. The taxes on DCL is $478 total. For a difference of $85 that would presumably be excluded from cashback that shouldn't be (works out to $1.70). Not a lot, so it's more of a curiosity to me then anything else. OP's difference is a tad more.

This was a booking with a placeholder. Maybe the glitch is related to that. @FigmentSpark was yours a placeholder too?

 

[FigmentSpark]

I called Costco. Apparently, DCL wraps a "Non-commissional Fee" into their price, but Costco puts it in the taxes, as they aren't receiving a commission on this fee. In turn, the 2% cashback is not on that fee. So, in my case, DCL says my port fees and taxes are 177.86 for 2 people. Costco quotes those fees and taxes as 555.86 or 189 per person for the non-commissional fee and 88.93 per person for the port taxes. DCL only tells us about the second part and the 189 is hidden in the cost of the cruise.

Makes sense, but it's less cashback. Still some cashback is better than no cashback.

 

[wanderlust7]

I called Costco. Apparently, DCL wraps a "Non-commissional Fee" into their price, but Costco puts it in the taxes, as they aren't receiving a commission on this fee. In turn, the 2% cashback is not on that fee. So, in my case, DCL says my port fees and taxes are 177.86 for 2 people. Costco quotes those fees and taxes as 555.86 or 189 per person for the non-commissional fee and 88.93 per person for the port taxes. DCL only tells us about the second part and the 189 is hidden in the cost of the cruise.

Makes sense, but it's less cashback. Still some cashback is better than no cashback.

Interesting, thanks for reporting back!

I noticed that on my invoice it's labelled "Taxes, Fees And Misc.", but on a past cruise it's just labelled "Taxes And Fees". I wonder if this "Non-commissional Fee" is a new thing or if we just couldn't see it before because it wasn't broken out.

 

[Billinaz]

I called Costco. Apparently, DCL wraps a "Non-commissional Fee" into their price, but Costco puts it in the taxes, as they aren't receiving a commission on this fee. In turn, the 2% cashback is not on that fee. So, in my case, DCL says my port fees and taxes are 177.86 for 2 people. Costco quotes those fees and taxes as 555.86 or 189 per person for the non-commissional fee and 88.93 per person for the port taxes. DCL only tells us about the second part and the 189 is hidden in the cost of the cruise.

Makes sense, but it's less cashback. Still some cashback is better than no cashback.

Its been that way for a long time, but when you get to the last page it is the same price as DCL.

Still, that cash card they give you worth 8.5% of the cruise cost.... and the 2% back for the executive membership is really nice! Im getting a card worth $1045 on my next 2 cruises.

 

[FigmentSpark]

Interesting, thanks for reporting back!

I noticed that on my invoice it's labelled "Taxes, Fees And Misc.", but on a past cruise it's just labelled "Taxes And Fees". I wonder if this "Non-commissional Fee" is a new thing or if we just couldn't see it before because it wasn't broken out.

I got the impression that it's not new, but that DCL just doesn't break it out. I expect it impacts TAs, but not customers, as the price is the same either way. In the case of Costco, who passes on a percentage to Executive members, however, it does make a (small) difference.

 

[Ravenne]

I called Costco. Apparently, DCL wraps a "Non-commissional Fee" into their price, but Costco puts it in the taxes, as they aren't receiving a commission on this fee. In turn, the 2% cashback is not on that fee. So, in my case, DCL says my port fees and taxes are 177.86 for 2 people. Costco quotes those fees and taxes as 555.86 or 189 per person for the non-commissional fee and 88.93 per person for the port taxes. DCL only tells us about the second part and the 189 is hidden in the cost of the cruise.

Makes sense, but it's less cashback. Still some cashback is better than no cashback.

We're a party of 4 and passengers 1 & 2's taxes & port fees are different from those of passengers 3 & 4, with 3 & 4's being higher. I've tried questioning them on at least 3 different occasions to try to get an explanation, and I've gotten 3 "that's just how it works out, but your final cost is the same either way" answers. I had one Costco rep explain that fees are not part of the 2% cash back, which makes sense, but it doesn't make sense that out of the 4 of us, there are 2 different taxes and fees. I've even had one Costco rep tell me that's how it looks on DCL's end too, and that's how they transfer into Costco's system, but I don't buy it. I booked our cruise before they started doing the 2% Exec cash back on cruises, and initially, everyone's taxes and fees were the same amount, as it should be and is on DCL's end. My original email confirmation reflects that, even with the OBB discount. Then, in July, two months before they changed it to 2% cash back on cruises, my cost break down all changed to the weirdness that it is now. I assume it was in prep for the 2% back? I don't know. It's all very confusing to me, and I'm thinking to the Costco reps too since it's a new policy. It doesn't affect the cruise amount I pay, but it does affect the cash back amount. Like you said, it's less cash back with the funky math, but it's more than it was before, which was 0, so I'll take it. I'm curious how new bookings look under the new policy though.

 

[FigmentSpark]

You're right! I just checked my original booking in June and the amounts were different. Now, the taxes and fees have this non-commissional fee broken out whereas it was hidden before.

Interesting that it's higher for passengers 3 and 4.

 

[kshabare]

Haven't cruised in years! How did the price compare against DCL? Is it that the cruise was about the same price but you got a Costco cash back? Looking for the bottom line here.
Kim

 

[Billinaz]

.

Haven't cruised in years! How did the price compare against DCL? Is it that the cruise was about the same price but you got a Costco cash back? Looking for the bottom line here.
Kim

The Costco price, like all TAs, are exactly the same as DCL.

What you get back is the difference.

With Costco you get a Costco cash card worth about 8.5% of your cruise cost. If you are an executive member you get an additional 2% back at the end of the year. In my case, the 2% is more than the executive member fee.

If the cruise cost $5000 the card would be about $425. The higher to cost, the higher the cash card is.

 

[kshabare]

Thank you for the response!