We recently booked a long deserved cruise (have not cruised since '94) and agreed with the competative pricing the industry offers. However , we were shocked at the $400 in port charges! To our surprise we could not find any publication of these fees. The line is RCCL. Comments please.

Well Peter, here's one for you.

PJ, wow does seem high.Two questions....is that per person and where are you cruising? Port charges vary depending on where you are visiting the most expensive I've encountered were in Alaska.

Yes, PJ, we'll need ship and itinerary in order to respond. I know the Med cruises are port intensive and port charges are correspondingly high.

the most expensive port charges we had were to the Panama canal and it was not $400, we have also been to Alaska and they were not that high. $400 must be for two people, unless you on are on a 36 day voyage around Africa

Port charges are for two(double occupancy) cabin on a 5 night itinerary or $200ea. I still can't find any mention of this charge in RCCL literature. I expect to pay some amount, but how do I confirm this charge? Thanks for your imput.

STILL WAITING FOR THE SHIP AND PORTS--DO YOU KNOW?

The ship is Monarch of the Seas - western Caribbean - Key West, Cozomel,Costa Maya,Ft Lauerdale.Thanks

The port charges should be listed in the back of the RCCL brochure,most likely in fine print.

PJ, I too have looked very closely at your brochure and could't find any info re/ port taxes. I agree with you that $400.00 seems high. Did you book through an agent or on-line?<BR>Perhaps you could call RCCL direct and ask them for a breakdown of each ports charges--could this include insurance? <BR>Sorry I could not be of more help.

PJ I went to the Royal Caribbean web site and booked a fictional western Caribbean cruise for a week in Oct./02.The cruise was an inside cabin, no air for a total of $499 PP + $32.60PP port taxes & fees.Me thinks you should check the $200 charge,as someone said,it may include insurance.

Pj in reference to my last post I went back to the RCCL site and priced that same fictional cruise WITH air included and the taxes/fees jumped to $127.60PP.So either way the $200 is quite high.

I believe the port charges on our Alaska cruise is $200 per person.<BR><BR>Also, if you book air through cruiseline - expect to pay lots in "airline taxes" - this is very excessive.

I am looking at our invoice for our upcoming 14 night trans-canal cruise and the port charges are $279.00 per person for total of $558.00. Our air was done on our own.<BR><BR>Actually, it doesn't matter how the fees are arrived at, they are what they are and you won't change them.

If you recheck the RCCl website I believe tht you will find that they include port charges in the price of the cruise and that the smaller figure ($30-40) is the tax portion that is added on.