Port Fraud

Large cruise lines have been over charging people for port fees but illegally calling them port taxes. Since there are no port taxes suits were filed against almost every major cruise line. The cruise lines offered discount coupons or voucher compensation instead of monetary compensation while renaming their illegal fees to port service fees. One cruise line, Royal Caribbean/Celebrity separates the fees as non-commissionable cruise fares on the invoice to travel agents and had sent a letter to travel agents instructing them to avoid using the term port charges if speaking with customers.

Many people believe that the mysterious charges are simply a way for cruise lines to create a profit center. Port charges have continued to rise over the last several years, and cruise lines have countered criticism by claiming they have simply been responding to increasing rates. The truth is, when trying to receive information from cruise lines about the breakdown of the port charges and fees, the cruise lines would rather lose business than to disclose this information.

Passengers that have to pay port charges around $1,000 are still unable to get a refund when their ship misses ports of call. Many people are wondering why when getting charges $125-$150 per person when in reality the actual taxes are only $25-$30 per person why they are unable to receive refunds if their ship completely misses a port of call. In addition, when passengers cancel their cruise reservation with short notice they still cannot receive a refund in the port taxes and fees despite the fact that port charges and taxes are not earned unless the passengers land when the ship is docked.

There are many incentives that have been made available to cruise lines because ports and port authorities want to attract cruise ships to ports. The ports will either offer discounts for making an increased amount of port calls or having multiple ships, or in some instances the fees for port charges will be completely waived. Passengers and travel agents should be able to receive a breakdown of the taxes, fees, and other charges that other industries already require providing. The only way to know for sure if passengers are being defrauded by cruise lines is to allow them the right to see what their money is going towards.

Breaking News!!
MAY 19, 2003 - Fraud Lawsuit Filed Against Cruise Lines

A lawsuit has been filed against Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruise Lines. The lawsuit claims at least $150 million in fraudulent taxes were charged to passengers and that the deceptive trade practices have been occurring since the spring of 2001.

Lawsuits made against Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, and four other cruise lines in 1997 ended in a settlement that barred the companies from charging customers any additional fees beyond what was advertised as the initial ticket price, excluding the fees passed on to the cruise lines from a government agency. Whether or not the cruise lines complied with the 1997 settlement agreement or not has still not been established.

The current cruise line fraud lawsuit claims passengers were charged from $22 to $35 in taxes that were never broken down for the passengers, which the suit claims were fraudulent. Lawyers representing the firm that filed the fraud lawsuit stated that instead of increasing cruise prices the cruise lines simply buried the fees in phony tax charges.

As the fraud lawsuit plays out it will be determined if the two cruise lines did in fact violate the 1997 agreement with Florida by charging taxes not owed to the federal government. For more information on fraud lawsuits contact us to confer with a fraud lawyer.