Sold our CCL stock, taking our last Carnival cruise in Feb. Very tired of all the cutbacks price increases and general BS. Thank goodness there are other choices. We been on 17 Carnival cruises
As a solo Carnival cruiser, I don't purchase any packages....drink, wifi, specialty restaurants, photos. So, I don't worry about these specific price hikes. I'm more concerned with cruise and gratuities hikes.. As far as the Mexico port increases, I'll have to weigh out the costs and decide if I really want to go to these ports! As long as I'm on a cruise, I'm flexible with cruise port changes ...although I may be disappointed in the change. Oy Vey!!
I’m a relatively new cruiser starting in 2019 just finished my 18th cruise with Carnival have seen it pre-Covid and post Covid. Carnival has definitely gone downhill with food casino with offers. We are platinum and starting to lose platinum perks. I have 200 shares of Carnival Cruise line stock. The reason we started cruising was to find a better source for three or four vacations a year now we’re thinking about inground pool horse ranches, something different really like cruising, but the cost is getting out of hand. By this time of the year, every year, I have already booked 3 to 4 cruises for the next year. I have not booked any for 2025 maybe a phone call from Carnival to talk about this would help.
I obviously love cruising, but yes, the value seems to be diminishing year over year. I sail on casino offers, so the value is still there for me, but I probably would be also exploring other options if I were paying full fare.
I had the drink package in my cart, ready to purchase, but was just waiting for word from my friend to see if she wanted to do it also or not. Then they raised the rate out of nowhere and booted it out of my cart. Really pisses me off there was no warning. I will NOT be purchasing a drink package now, because it won’t be worth it financially for me. Ridiculous. Likely won’t be booking on Carnival again in the future, because once everything is said and done, they’re really not a bargain anymore. Looking at Celebrity, Princess, and Royal now.
what about the private island there building in mexico will that be 42 per person for that stop the drink package i dont buy because my wife does not drink so i have to pay for 2 drink packages just not worth it to me so i pay per drink still cheaper for me
Yeah, I know Royal Caribbean is hot on this issue with their Perfect Day Mexico. That's a HUGE investment and if they threaten to pull back over this, that's going to put lots of pressure on the government.
I will continue to shop around for the best cruise for my family, cost is 100% a factor. I traditionally cruise western Caribbean because of my home port. I hope that the cruise lines consider other ports of call in response to these increases.
Unless something has changed, another cruise youtuber shared this doesn't go into effect until June or July, so you should be ok. I would do your research.
I noted in the description that the Mexican government has delayed implementation until July 2025 (they announced it after I filmed this). And it still remains to be seen if it's per port or per country.
Though I like cruising to Mexico, I could happily cruise other places in the Caribbean. I love Carnival. It’s the only kind I’ve been on. My husband and I already stopped getting the drink package. We can drink what we want for far less. We don’t get WiFi, but our jobs don’t depend on it.
At this point, you'd have to be a pretty heavy drinker to get your money's worth on the drink package, especially on itineraries with lots of port days when you're off the ship much of the day.
No matter where you go, there is outrageous pricing, it's no surprise that others follow. Go to Vegas, get hit with resort fees for things you get free at any other hotel and food prices are ridiculous, and now a lot of them charge outlandish amounts to park as well.. We went to a women's basketball game Sunday and the price for a bottle of water was $4.99, pop was $5.99, a glass of beer was $11.99, and Nachos were $7.99.. It only cost us $7.00 to get in the game. The drink package and the internet are optional, if you feel they aren't a good deal, then you don't buy them. .We are booked on our 9th cruise in Feb. and have never bought the drink package because we don't like the restrictions it has on it.. Not just the limit of 15 drinks, but the fact that they can only give you one at a time, meaning you both need to leave where you are to go to a bar and get a drink and lose your table ..
It's the sneaky way they did it that bugs me most. At least do it like you have in the past, where you give those of us with cruises already booked the chance to pre-buy at the "grandfathered" rate.
@@ProfMelissa Nope. I tip them over $30 a day ( 2 people in Cabin). And when they cut their service in half I still tipped the same. They make my bed, vacuum, and swap towels. Tell me how that justifies a $ 30-a-night tip? They are j just doing their normal job routine.
Trying my hardest to be loyal to Carnival. Always enjoyed previous cruises, but last on the Liberty was bad and left feeling that I wasn't valued as a customer. Will give them another try.
I have a VERY hard time these days sailing the older ships like Liberty. I still really enjoy the XL's, but with the cut backs, long lines from being understaffed, and jacked up prices, it's making it hard to be loyal.
Me and my wife are going in 10 days and I saw how much total we are going to pay and I think this will be our last cruise for a while. Next year we are just going to fly to a destination of choice and stay. It may cost a little more but we will have more freedom to do more things and not be worrying about if I buy this or drink the bottle water in the cabin if it's going to cost more.
And it's crazy b/c the allure of cruising has always been the "all-inclusive" nature of it! I'm seeing a shift, obviously, away from that, and that's going to make cruisers re-evaluate the value of cruising for sure.
Yes, I noted the delay of implementation. Where did you see the per country vs. port? I scoured dozens of articles but couldn't find a single one that specified that. I certainly hope it's not per port.
Maybe the BIGGER question is WHY is Mexico building/funding their army???? WHY ISN'T ANYONE TALKING ABOUT THIS???? There is something deeper here than our precious vacations being disrupted! Especially with them being so close to the US! Opening the door for other ports to possibly follow suit.
I have a longer carnival cruise (14 days) coming up and because of the price increase, I will NOT be getting the drink package. I get better drink package prices on Royal. I will still get the WiFi because I work from the ship.
Yeah, I'm not a drinker so I don't care about the drink package (and maybe it will have the positive impact of reducing the rowdy behavior), but I am VERY dependent on wifi b/c I also have to work on the ship, so that one hurts. :(
It depends you cruise from west coast or east coast, for east coast, Florida, you can cruise Caribbean, Honduras, Belize, … Panama Canal, instead of Mexico. If you cruise from west coast you have only 3 choices: Mexico, Hawaii, Alaska. This will impact a lot on west coast Mexico and Hawaii cruises. It will impact a lot on California cruise industry, oh well, the California like marijuana more than cruising. In California how many Hollywood celebrities addicted to drug ? Many. How many like to cruise ? None.
Carnival is a FOR PROFIT corporation - they are free to raise / lower prices as they see fit - if you don't like the cost / value, then do not use the service and/or go to a competitor - that is how the economy works - if you want fixed / regulated pricing, try Cuba or North Korea
Yes, I noted that in the description: (Note: Since I made this video, the Mexican government announced that they're postponing implementation of this new tax until July 2025).
Msc is the only way to go right now, especially with there yatch club. I'm blue diamond on msc free wifi one of there great perks plus many more. I dumped carnival with being diamond 400 days at sea with them. Later carnival cruise lines. Except we may try princess and yes i know they are under the carnival corporate umbrella.
I'd love to try yacht club sometime, but it's SO expensive! Holland is also owned by Carnival Corporation, but hasn't cut back like Carnival. It's also a great option to consider.
So how is this tax going to work if our 2025 cruise is already paid for? Are they going to try and add it after the fact? Totally not fair. We’re not doing Mexico anymore. Enough is enough. Not to go mainly to their military. Sorry Mexico. No thanks. All this greed is getting pretty old. Too many price hikes. Not worth it anymore. Sad that we just got into cruising, all for it to just start continuously sucking afterwards. What a bummer.
Yep. It's in the contract of carriage we all agree to when we book that fees and taxes are subject to change, and there's nothing we can do about it. Thankfully, they kicked implementation back to July 2025, because I have a few for spring that call on Mexico and I will probably avoid it now b/c of this and select alternate Caribbean itineraries.
We cruised Carnival for the 1st time last month with 20+ family members (not our choice of cruise line, nor itinerary). Even before these poorly rolled out price hikes, we felt that it would also be our last. I'd watched enough videos to know 1) what cruising would be like post-Covid, and 2) what a typical Carnival experience is for that itinerary, so taking the cost of the cruise into consideration, our expectations were quite reasonable. Despite that, there were so many disappointments here and there. Nothing serious enough to ruin our trip, but enough for us to decide that maybe budget cruising isn't for us. Now, with even more nickle-diming on the way....its a definite hard pass on future Carnival cruises.
Yeah, with the nickel and diming, it's making the higher priced lines more attractive. I love Carnival, so I worry that they're going to price themselves out of the market.
There's literally no other option. I live in California and Mexican riviera is the only place cruises from here go and every cruise uses Ensenada as the foreign port.
Depends on the type of block. It's very specific and very confusing: www.thestreet.com/travel/royal-caribbean-shares-some-clarity-on-its-newly-banned-items
Mexico has already had taxes for people flying there, but cruise lines have been exempt. It is per sailing, not port. It is an attempt to level the playing field. But the timing is not great.
Can you point me where you saw that it's per sailing vs. per port? I've looked extensively for clarification on this point, since it's an important one, but haven't found any article that notes this.
I get your point about the annual pass on Virgin being a PR opportunity, but you should also give them credit for including the basic WiFi when you criticize the other cruise lines about increasing prices or restricting WiFi equipment. Just try to be balanced.
We plan to avoid Mexico cruises in the future if this tax actually goes into place. We have an Explora Journey’s cruise with a scheduled overnight stop in Progresso Mexico in early 2026 which we’ve already booked. I guess we’ll get charged $84 per person tax for that 2-night stop. Since we’ve already booked the cruise, I wonder if we will pay the fee, or the cruise line will have to “absorb” it? It will not hurt my feelings of Explora Journeys moves that from Progresso overnight to different ports. I’m going to talk to my buddy Donald Trump and see what he can do to get this “tourist” tax removed. 😁
Same. We booked MSC Seashore for September 2025 for Costa Maya and Cozumel. Thinking they might just find two other ports for us to visit. $164 seems a bit steep for Mexico.
It's still uncertain if it's per Mexican port or per sailing. I'm certainly hoping it's at least per sailing b/c per port would be INSANE for sailings with 2-3 Mexican ports of call.
@ Oh yes… we are going to Cozumel on this itinerary as well. So, it may be $126.00 per person tax for the two Mexico stops (with the overnight in Progresso) - can’t imagine Explora Journeys is just going to absorb that for almost 1,000 passengers.
I think that $42 tax is coming from a place of greed and power especially when you only spend like 5-6 hours in port. Mexico literally knows that 10 million plus people are coming in and even if that drops off significantly there still raking in brand new buckets of money. The cruise lines can't just stop going at least for the next few years as they have contracts for already scheduled port stops and Royal has already committed to Perfect Day Mexico. I did hear that they have delayed it for now because of all the uproar but I'm sure they will still pass it and maybe lower it a bit. What really pisses me off the most about Carnival is they keep raising prices on the beverage package and yet there the only cruise line that limits you to 15 and it doesn't work on the private island like ALL the other cruise lines do. There jacking the beverage rates up while more and more sailings are going to be going to there new Celebration key and Half Moon with the new dock where you can't use your drink package
We will probably avoid Mexican ports for now. We’ve visited many of them several times already. We might visit Mexico again if it’s a port we’ve never been to, even though I’m not happy with the excessive port fees increase. We don’t get the drink packages or WiFi when cruising, however I’m not happy with the sneaky way Carnival increased it without any early notice. What’s next to increase or eliminate without notice. I love Carnival Cruise Line, but they sure are making it easier for me to start looking at other cruise lines.😏
I guess you must not travel much, then.. What they charge for drinks and other things are real comparable to other places and far lower than many. These are optional add-ons as well. No one is forced to purchase a drink of internet package.
@ true. But not everything needs to stay low priced. Luxuries are just that. If you want something extravagant you get to pay the asking price, only a low class liberal would think everything needs to stay cheap. If it’s not a direct necessity than sky is the limit. If you can’t afford it too bad. Save up until you can or move on. I want to live at the beach. It’s not in my budget so too bad for me. I don’t expect a landlord to reduce his rent just because I can’t afford it and I want it. That’s called socialism.
Yeah, I think this is a BAD move on behalf of the Mexican government, and if it ever goes into effect (they kicked it back already to July), they're going to feel the negative impact of it.
Mexican government passed a new "port levy/tax" for cruise ship passengers of $42.00 for each passenger, for each Mexican port that is visited, beginning in 2025, whether the passenger disembarks the ship or not.
I won't cruise any Western Caribbean itineraries for awhile I guess. I'll have to seriously think about any Mex Riviera cruises as well. Not sure that I want to support another country's military.🫤
If the changes keep coming this aggressively, I see bookings declining in the near term until they normalize.
Sold our CCL stock, taking our last Carnival cruise in Feb. Very tired of all the cutbacks price increases and general BS. Thank goodness there are other choices. We been on 17 Carnival cruises
I get it but which line isn’t raising prices?
As a solo Carnival cruiser, I don't purchase any packages....drink, wifi, specialty restaurants, photos. So, I don't worry about these specific price hikes. I'm more concerned with cruise and gratuities hikes.. As far as the Mexico port increases, I'll have to weigh out the costs and decide if I really want to go to these ports! As long as I'm on a cruise, I'm flexible with cruise port changes ...although I may be disappointed in the change. Oy Vey!!
I’m a relatively new cruiser starting in 2019 just finished my 18th cruise with Carnival have seen it pre-Covid and post Covid. Carnival has definitely gone downhill with food casino with offers. We are platinum and starting to lose platinum perks. I have 200 shares of Carnival Cruise line stock. The reason we started cruising was to find a better source for three or four vacations a year now we’re thinking about inground pool horse ranches, something different really like cruising, but the cost is getting out of hand. By this time of the year, every year, I have already booked 3 to 4 cruises for the next year. I have not booked any for 2025 maybe a phone call from Carnival to talk about this would help.
I obviously love cruising, but yes, the value seems to be diminishing year over year. I sail on casino offers, so the value is still there for me, but I probably would be also exploring other options if I were paying full fare.
I’m cruising Carnival in March and will finally get to the next tier of rewards. My next cruise will be on another line, MSC is starting to look good.
There's a big world out there. It is easy to skip Mexico. Carnival is easy to skip as well. There are other companies.
I had the drink package in my cart, ready to purchase, but was just waiting for word from my friend to see if she wanted to do it also or not. Then they raised the rate out of nowhere and booted it out of my cart. Really pisses me off there was no warning. I will NOT be purchasing a drink package now, because it won’t be worth it financially for me. Ridiculous. Likely won’t be booking on Carnival again in the future, because once everything is said and done, they’re really not a bargain anymore. Looking at Celebrity, Princess, and Royal now.
what about the private island there building in mexico will that be 42 per person for that stop the drink package i dont buy because my wife does not drink so i have to pay for 2 drink packages just not worth it to me so i pay per drink still cheaper for me
Yeah, I know Royal Caribbean is hot on this issue with their Perfect Day Mexico. That's a HUGE investment and if they threaten to pull back over this, that's going to put lots of pressure on the government.
I will continue to shop around for the best cruise for my family, cost is 100% a factor. I traditionally cruise western Caribbean because of my home port. I hope that the cruise lines consider other ports of call in response to these increases.
This one hurts. We have 2 Mexican ports booked in March. I am thinking of cancelling the cruise.
Unless something has changed, another cruise youtuber shared this doesn't go into effect until June or July, so you should be ok. I would do your research.
I noted in the description that the Mexican government has delayed implementation until July 2025 (they announced it after I filmed this). And it still remains to be seen if it's per port or per country.
@@ProfMelissa thank you. I enjoy your videos and they are very helpful.
I really miss the cheap cruises with Carnival and the extra OBC. Now you get $25 OBC and increased room rates 😢. All when I’ve finally hit Gold tier.
Casino cruise offers are the way!
Already have 2 booked for 2025. Will in the future book eastern cruises. Ridiculous to charge 42.00 in order to spend your money there.😢
Though I like cruising to Mexico, I could happily cruise other places in the Caribbean. I love Carnival. It’s the only kind I’ve been on. My husband and I already stopped getting the drink package. We can drink what we want for far less. We don’t get WiFi, but our jobs don’t depend on it.
At this point, you'd have to be a pretty heavy drinker to get your money's worth on the drink package, especially on itineraries with lots of port days when you're off the ship much of the day.
No matter where you go, there is outrageous pricing, it's no surprise that others follow. Go to Vegas, get hit with resort fees for things you get free at any other hotel and food prices are ridiculous, and now a lot of them charge outlandish amounts to park as well.. We went to a women's basketball game Sunday and the price for a bottle of water was $4.99, pop was $5.99, a glass of beer was $11.99, and Nachos were $7.99.. It only cost us $7.00 to get in the game. The drink package and the internet are optional, if you feel they aren't a good deal, then you don't buy them. .We are booked on our 9th cruise in Feb. and have never bought the drink package because we don't like the restrictions it has on it.. Not just the limit of 15 drinks, but the fact that they can only give you one at a time, meaning you both need to leave where you are to go to a bar and get a drink and lose your table ..
I was going to do my 1st cruise to Mexico next year. Not anymore.
With two cruises booked next year on Carnival, this is more 'corporate greed!' 😡🤬😠
It's the sneaky way they did it that bugs me most. At least do it like you have in the past, where you give those of us with cruises already booked the chance to pre-buy at the "grandfathered" rate.
For every dollar they raise prices now on Wifi, I lower my gratuity the same rate.
Aww, but that just hurts the low paid, hard working staff. :(
@@ProfMelissa Nope. I tip them over $30 a day ( 2 people in Cabin). And when they cut their service in half I still tipped the same. They make my bed, vacuum, and swap towels. Tell me how that justifies a $ 30-a-night tip? They are j just doing their normal job routine.
I love cozumel..and cabo..but can do without
Also just started back woth carnival after an 8 year carnival break..cruising others...this is too bad...now completion is tight
Trying my hardest to be loyal to Carnival. Always enjoyed previous cruises, but last on the Liberty was bad and left feeling that I wasn't valued as a customer. Will give them another try.
@bobharris6792 that is how we felt in 2014 on the Fascination and Glory, called it quits. Back in the 90's Carnival was a very different company.
I have a VERY hard time these days sailing the older ships like Liberty. I still really enjoy the XL's, but with the cut backs, long lines from being understaffed, and jacked up prices, it's making it hard to be loyal.
Me and my wife are going in 10 days and I saw how much total we are going to pay and I think this will be our last cruise for a while. Next year we are just going to fly to a destination of choice and stay. It may cost a little more but we will have more freedom to do more things and not be worrying about if I buy this or drink the bottle water in the cabin if it's going to cost more.
And it's crazy b/c the allure of cruising has always been the "all-inclusive" nature of it! I'm seeing a shift, obviously, away from that, and that's going to make cruisers re-evaluate the value of cruising for sure.
Only $42 per country, not PORT, and it has been delayed until JULY.
Yes, I noted the delay of implementation. Where did you see the per country vs. port? I scoured dozens of articles but couldn't find a single one that specified that. I certainly hope it's not per port.
@ProfMelissa Matt from Royal Carribean blog explained it in detail. I was unsure at first as well.
I learned about hike last week spent 1000 on all my cruises WiFi except 3 14 day cruises
The port fee has been postponed for 6 mo's, that's what I heard.
Yes, I noted that in the description! It was announced after I filmed this.
Maybe the BIGGER question is WHY is Mexico building/funding their army???? WHY ISN'T ANYONE TALKING ABOUT THIS???? There is something deeper here than our precious vacations being disrupted! Especially with them being so close to the US!
Opening the door for other ports to possibly follow suit.
I have a longer carnival cruise (14 days) coming up and because of the price increase, I will NOT be getting the drink package. I get better drink package prices on Royal. I will still get the WiFi because I work from the ship.
Yeah, I'm not a drinker so I don't care about the drink package (and maybe it will have the positive impact of reducing the rowdy behavior), but I am VERY dependent on wifi b/c I also have to work on the ship, so that one hurts. :(
It depends you cruise from west coast or east coast, for east coast, Florida, you can cruise Caribbean, Honduras, Belize, … Panama Canal, instead of Mexico. If you cruise from west coast you have only 3 choices: Mexico, Hawaii, Alaska. This will impact a lot on west coast Mexico and Hawaii cruises. It will impact a lot on California cruise industry, oh well, the California like marijuana more than cruising. In California how many Hollywood celebrities addicted to drug ? Many. How many like to cruise ? None.
Carnival is a FOR PROFIT corporation - they are free to raise / lower prices as they see fit - if you don't like the cost / value, then do not use the service and/or go to a competitor - that is how the economy works - if you want fixed / regulated pricing, try Cuba or North Korea
The tax has been changed from January to June.
Yes, I noted that in the description: (Note: Since I made this video, the Mexican government announced that they're postponing implementation of this new tax until July 2025).
I've been on 20+ cruises so far, and with all the changes, I'm beginning to rethink my travel options.
I'll still cruise, but I'm definitely going to balance out cruise vs. land travel a bit more b/c of it.
Carnival drink limit paired with increase in drinking package makes Royal a better value
Norwegian doesn’t limit
Best value is MSC.
Mexico tax has been delayed from January to July 2025
Yes, I noted that in the description! It was announced after I filmed this.
Msc is the only way to go right now, especially with there yatch club. I'm blue diamond on msc free wifi one of there great perks plus many more. I dumped carnival with being diamond 400 days at sea with them. Later carnival cruise lines. Except we may try princess and yes i know they are under the carnival corporate umbrella.
I'd love to try yacht club sometime, but it's SO expensive!
Holland is also owned by Carnival Corporation, but hasn't cut back like Carnival. It's also a great option to consider.
So how is this tax going to work if our 2025 cruise is already paid for? Are they going to try and add it after the fact? Totally not fair. We’re not doing Mexico anymore. Enough is enough. Not to go mainly to their military. Sorry Mexico. No thanks. All this greed is getting pretty old. Too many price hikes. Not worth it anymore. Sad that we just got into cruising, all for it to just start continuously sucking afterwards. What a bummer.
Yep. It's in the contract of carriage we all agree to when we book that fees and taxes are subject to change, and there's nothing we can do about it. Thankfully, they kicked implementation back to July 2025, because I have a few for spring that call on Mexico and I will probably avoid it now b/c of this and select alternate Caribbean itineraries.
They will raise cost till people slow purchases.
Yep, good old capitalism and supply/demand. But I think they're pushing people to a tipping point where they're going to start seeing that impact.
We cruised Carnival for the 1st time last month with 20+ family members (not our choice of cruise line, nor itinerary). Even before these poorly rolled out price hikes, we felt that it would also be our last. I'd watched enough videos to know 1) what cruising would be like post-Covid, and 2) what a typical Carnival experience is for that itinerary, so taking the cost of the cruise into consideration, our expectations were quite reasonable. Despite that, there were so many disappointments here and there. Nothing serious enough to ruin our trip, but enough for us to decide that maybe budget cruising isn't for us. Now, with even more nickle-diming on the way....its a definite hard pass on future Carnival cruises.
Yeah, with the nickel and diming, it's making the higher priced lines more attractive. I love Carnival, so I worry that they're going to price themselves out of the market.
on the west coast side, what do you do????
There's literally no other option. I live in California and Mexican riviera is the only place cruises from here go and every cruise uses Ensenada as the foreign port.
Ohhh I didn't even think about how this will specifically impact West Coast-based cruisers.
I only book my own, i will never get scammed. I only use the companies site to get the real #. They even try doing it with airlines.
Beautiful tatas 😘
You can bring a multiple USB hub for Royal.
Depends on the type of block. It's very specific and very confusing: www.thestreet.com/travel/royal-caribbean-shares-some-clarity-on-its-newly-banned-items
@ProfMelissa right. As long as it is USB, and not anything with an additional regular outlet plug. ✅
Def not going to Mexico, family of 5 , yeah ! No , unfortunately
Calling it quits for Carnival. Too much Bull$hit lately. January will be our last cruise with them. Cancelled 3 cruises and rebooked 2 with MSC.
Not going to mexico anytime soon....
Mexico has already had taxes for people flying there, but cruise lines have been exempt. It is per sailing, not port. It is an attempt to level the playing field. But the timing is not great.
Can you point me where you saw that it's per sailing vs. per port? I've looked extensively for clarification on this point, since it's an important one, but haven't found any article that notes this.
I get your point about the annual pass on Virgin being a PR opportunity, but you should also give them credit for including the basic WiFi when you criticize the other cruise lines about increasing prices or restricting WiFi equipment. Just try to be balanced.
I do! Did you watch my recent video review of Virgin? I give them high praise for this and many other things!
Any caribbean port except mexice, we left carnival, found a better cruise line.
We plan to avoid Mexico cruises in the future if this tax actually goes into place. We have an Explora Journey’s cruise with a scheduled overnight stop in Progresso Mexico in early 2026 which we’ve already booked. I guess we’ll get charged $84 per person tax for that 2-night stop. Since we’ve already booked the cruise, I wonder if we will pay the fee, or the cruise line will have to “absorb” it? It will not hurt my feelings of Explora Journeys moves that from Progresso overnight to different ports. I’m going to talk to my buddy Donald Trump and see what he can do to get this “tourist” tax removed. 😁
Same. We booked MSC Seashore for September 2025 for Costa Maya and Cozumel. Thinking they might just find two other ports for us to visit. $164 seems a bit steep for Mexico.
It's still uncertain if it's per Mexican port or per sailing. I'm certainly hoping it's at least per sailing b/c per port would be INSANE for sailings with 2-3 Mexican ports of call.
@ Oh yes… we are going to Cozumel on this itinerary as well. So, it may be $126.00 per person tax for the two Mexico stops (with the overnight in Progresso) - can’t imagine Explora Journeys is just going to absorb that for almost 1,000 passengers.
I think that $42 tax is coming from a place of greed and power especially when you only spend like 5-6 hours in port. Mexico literally knows that 10 million plus people are coming in and even if that drops off significantly there still raking in brand new buckets of money. The cruise lines can't just stop going at least for the next few years as they have contracts for already scheduled port stops and Royal has already committed to Perfect Day Mexico. I did hear that they have delayed it for now because of all the uproar but I'm sure they will still pass it and maybe lower it a bit. What really pisses me off the most about Carnival is they keep raising prices on the beverage package and yet there the only cruise line that limits you to 15 and it doesn't work on the private island like ALL the other cruise lines do. There jacking the beverage rates up while more and more sailings are going to be going to there new Celebration key and Half Moon with the new dock where you can't use your drink package
And especially when they still charge it for people who STAY ON THE SHIP!
All the cruise lines screw you over. Really shocked people still book on these ships.
if you are against cruising, why are you here?
We will probably avoid Mexican ports for now. We’ve visited many of them several times already. We might visit Mexico again if it’s a port we’ve never been to, even though I’m not happy with the excessive port fees increase. We don’t get the drink packages or WiFi when cruising, however I’m not happy with the sneaky way Carnival increased it without any early notice. What’s next to increase or eliminate without notice. I love Carnival Cruise Line, but they sure are making it easier for me to start looking at other cruise lines.😏
Carnival needs the money to pay for the additional security they need to hire to deal with all the brawls caused by their drunken passengers.
Yes, this!!
I see cruise bookings cool off if they keep going up on prices and down on perks working people can't afford this anymore
I guess you must not travel much, then.. What they charge for drinks and other things are real comparable to other places and far lower than many. These are optional add-ons as well. No one is forced to purchase a drink of internet package.
It’s not price gouging on a cruise. It’s not a necessity.
That weak argument could be used for everything except food, water, and air🙄
@ true. But not everything needs to stay low priced. Luxuries are just that. If you want something extravagant you get to pay the asking price, only a low class liberal would think everything needs to stay cheap. If it’s not a direct necessity than sky is the limit. If you can’t afford it too bad. Save up until you can or move on. I want to live at the beach. It’s not in my budget so too bad for me. I don’t expect a landlord to reduce his rent just because I can’t afford it and I want it. That’s called socialism.
Starting July 1
The raise in taxes will be a net negative with a decrease of the total number of passengers, tax at your own peril
Yeah, I think this is a BAD move on behalf of the Mexican government, and if it ever goes into effect (they kicked it back already to July), they're going to feel the negative impact of it.
@ I totally agree, news channels stated that if 15 percent of people stop coming the gains are zero , raise fees at your own peral
Damn, i wanna cruise with you❤
You can! www.cruisewithprofmelissa.com
If the tax goes up, I will cruise out of Florida to eastern Carribean instead
Same! I love Cozumel, but there are a LOT of other Caribbean ports of call I also love that will save me $126 per cruise (me and my two kids).
Nothing about any of these tax/price increases is good.
It is appropriate because air passengers have had it for years.
The Mexico tax is per port
Can you show me where you saw this? I've looked everywhere for clarification on port vs. sailing and can't find it spelled out ANYWHERE.
Mexican government passed a new "port levy/tax" for cruise ship passengers of $42.00 for each passenger, for each Mexican port that is visited, beginning in 2025, whether the passenger disembarks the ship or not.
Adios Mexico!
Bus prices have gone up for cheap travelers.
Hopefully cruisers will boycott the Mexican ports and watch how quick they do an about face 😊
Yep, I don't think this one will last long (once it finally takes effect since they've already had to delay six months).
Carnival prices are too cheap anyways....attracts the wrong crowd
I won't cruise any Western Caribbean itineraries for awhile I guess. I'll have to seriously think about any Mex Riviera cruises as well. Not sure that I want to support another country's military.🫤
Such a great point! Not just about the port fee, but where the $ is going.