& you thought car parking was expensive?

[Nisha at Sea]

How much did you get charged the last time you arranged parking in a cruise terminal car park? I bet it wasn't as much as the cruise line did!

I was thinking about it the other day and wondered if there was a way to, (roughly), work out how much the cruise lines had to pay to dock at different berths. I suppose I could have contacted the different cruise lines or the port authorities direct but then I hit on an easier way of getting to an approximate figure. This is the formula I came up with...

Total port taxes for the cruise divided by the number of ports on the cruise x the number of passengers on the ship = an approximate figure per port.

So for example:
On an eight night sailing on Quantum of the Seas from New Jersey, (I based it on the 23rd November 14) the port taxes per passenger are £77.50. There are four ports of call so 77.5 ÷ 4 = £19.37. Quantum of the Seas can hold 4180 passengers at maximum capacity so £19.37 x 4180 = £80,966.60. So by a rough calculation Royal Caribbean are paying just over £80,000 per stop in port charges.

or:
On a 14 night western Mediterranean on board the Celebrity Eclipse, (I’ve based this on the 08th September 2013), there are 8 ports of call. The port charges per passenger are £88 so - £88 ÷ 8 = £11. The Celebrity Eclipse can carry 2,850 passengers so 2850 x £11 = £31,350 per port. So Celebrity are roughly paying £31,350 in charges per port for a Western Mediterranean cruise.

I bet your car parking looks a lot more reasonable now doesn't it!

[Cooke, Ashby]

Shows where the money goes doesn't Nisha. Our town car park has a charge of 80p for two hours and the machines don't give change. How many people have 80p in change I wonder? I'll bet most pay £1. Judith

[JOHN B SLOOP, Newcastle-upon-Tyne]

Hi I would be interested to know whether the cruise add a "supplement" to the amount the cruise line adds to the port charges. I know I am a cynic but I don't always believe these figures, like most companies they will distribute costs throughout their various departments to maximise profits and minimise tax,

[tuggy, warminster]

Venice charges £60,000 for visiting ships for a 12 hrs.' berth, But that is cheap compared to making a one way transverse of the Panama canal that for the Queen Elizabeth is £238,000.

[trevor432990, East Sussex]

I wonder if there is any port charges for those locations where tenders are used? I would have thought not but maybe there is some kind of anchorage charge instead. Anyone know?

[Happy, Wolverhampton]

If port taxes are per passenger and they are included in the price you pay for the cruise, what happens to the money passengers have paid if the ship is unable to dock in port?

[Malcolm, Essex]

I bet your car parking looks a lot more reasonable now doesn't it!

Not at all!

I normally pay for my parking and I definitely pay for the port charges.

In fact US cruises used to list them as a compulsory addition to the cruise fare. Now they often get hidden within the fare, but we still pay it.

Irrespective of the port charges imagine what a ship like Oasis (6,000 passengers) makes from excursions in a port and passengers shopping at their 'recommend' (sometime they own them) shops. In fact sometime the cruise lines shares in the excursion companies.

(PS: Does anyone recall when every flight had fuel surcharges - but a bright spark worked out that they were 50-100% over the top of the actual fuel increase, when based on a passenger jets fuel consumption).

[ROSEBASKETS, Yorkshire]

On an eight night sailing on Quantum of the Seas from New Jersey, (I based it on the 23rd November 14) the port taxes per passenger are £77.50. There are four ports of call so 77.5 ÷ 4 = £19.37. Quantum of the Seas can hold 4180 passengers at maximum capacity so £19.37 x 4180 = £80,966.60. So by a rough calculation Royal Caribbean are paying just over £80,000 per stop in port charges.

Ooooh I love statistics!

Lets say 4180 passengers pay on average £1000 each for their 8 night cruise. That's a little over £4m for 8 nights
£80k x 4 ports = £320k in port fees

Lets say
£320k port fees
2k staff get £100 each for the cruise = 200k
100k in supplies
500k in fuel
1m in sundries and operations per 8 days

Lets call that £2m in costs per cruise

THAT'S £2m PROFIT every 8 days

THATS £90 MILLION PER YEAR PER SHIP

Then lets not forget all the franchises, drinks charges and casino takings.

THAT'S ONE HELL OF A PROFIT!!!

Total

[Malcolm, Essex]

"2k staff get £100 each for the cruise = 200k"

Wages are probably a much smaller overhead than that. The cruise lines barely pay the non-skilled crew, we do!

Carnival used to Pay $1 per day so they could claim that they were actually employed. It may even be $2-3 by now? The crew even pay for uniforms, vaccinations and sometimes travel and agency fees!

The food is of course purchased in bulk and the alcohol is probably purchased completely tax free.

The cashless account allows you to forget that you are even spending money!

The ships of course have a captive audience. You can hardly shop around for lower prices on-board!

[Rustynails, Wimborne]

I am only guessing, but Is it not possible that cruise lines negotiate a deal with Port Authorities in the same way that Airlines do with Airports, we bring in X thousand passengers & you give us a cut price mooring/landing charge..

[ROSEBASKETS, Yorkshire]

Wages are probably a much smaller overhead than that. The cruise lines barely pay the non-skilled crew, we do!

Carnival used to Pay $1 per day so they could claim that they were actually employed. It may even be $2-3 by now? The crew even pay for uniforms, vaccinations and sometimes travel and agency fees!

I worked it out on the basis that "everyone being equal" as the Captain and senior staff will be on at least £1k a week. The Ents staff get £250 per week. The DJ's on Carnival get $250 a week!!! (for playing records! a few hours a day)

Then there's the laundry staff on 50 cents a day

[andyn, Bucks]

Records???? bringing back memories of my vinyl collection.
They now have a computer, ask for a track and they just do a search. It even mixes them for you.

[ROSEBASKETS, Yorkshire]

Records???? bringing back memories of my vinyl collection.
They now have a computer, ask for a track and they just do a search. It even mixes them for you.

Smart arse! If I'd have said tracks most would have thought I was talking about trains

[BluSteve, Hemel Hempstead]

I assume that the port charges for Gibraltar are one of the most expensive? On our recent visit on Queen Victoria, we were scheduled to have 4 1/2 hours in port, by the time we were cleared to disembark this was down to 4 hours. Now I know Gibraltar is small, but it is still hard to do it justice in a mere 4 hours.

[Rustynails, Wimborne]

I assume that the port charges for Gibraltar are one of the most expensive? On our recent visit on Queen Victoria, we were scheduled to have 4 1/2 hours in port, by the time we were cleared to disembark this was down to 4 hours. Now I know Gibraltar is small, but it is still hard to do it justice in a mere 4 hours.

According to Port Of Gibraltar web site, the charge for a vessel of 100,000 tons for upto 48 hrs is £2,275 & that charge is irrespective of whether you stay for 4 hours or 48.. As I commented earlier in this post, I suspect cruise lines have done "Deals" with Port Authorities, you bring in x thousand px & we discount your Berthing Fee... Does anyone know if this happens, as I am just speculating...