Thread: NCF's for Singles - Who Charges What?

Thought you would find this information revealing.

You may or may not know that the cruise price you see advertised or quoted by an agent is actually made up of two separate prices; the cruise fare and the NCF's (non-commissionable fees).

The NCF's are actually a total of all the Port Fees. These fees are charged per person by the ports and are based on the number of passengers on the ship, not the size of the ship, or the total occupancy of the ship.

Instead of calling these Port Fees, they call them NCF's because commission is not paid on this part of the cruise price. Commission to agents is only paid on the cruise fare itself.

The cruise fare is often charged at 200% for a single. This is called the single supplement. At 200%, it's twice the amount in order to make up for the loss of revenue they do not get if they would have booked a double in the same cabin. Sometimes, cruise lines will offer a single special and the supplement may be 125% or 150%. In the past, we use to see the occasional single special whereby the supplement was only 100%, but we don't see these anymore. The NCL Epic is offering their new Studio cabins at 100% supplement, which is a nice opportunity for singles.

Now here's the interesting part; some cruise lines will only charge the NCF's once for a single, which is the appropriate method, while others will charge more. In affect, they are adding an extra amount just to increase their profits.

As of today, here is what each of the major cruise lines charge, keeping in mind that 100% is the appropriate amount;

Holland America - 150%
Princess - 150%
Royal Caribbean - 100%
Celebrity - 100%
Carnival - 200%
NCL - 200%*


*NCL is 100% for the new Studio cabins on the Epic, but 200% for all other cabins on the Epic as well as all cabins on all other ships.


I found it really interesting that NCL charges two different NCF amounts for singles based on the type of cabin booked. So, I sent them an email about it and after exchanging several questions and answers, they basically told me that's their "policy". In other words, they have no basis for charging extra, only their policy.

Anyway, now that NCL is trying something different with these studio cabins, we'll see if other cruise lines will try some sort of accommodation for singles in their new ships.

In the meantime, as you can see by the results above, it would behoove singles to seek cruises on those cruise lines who do not overcharge them for the NCF's.

Pete

Actually NCF stands for Non Commissionable Fare and by law is included in the cruise price quoted to the consumer. An additional amount, government taxes and fees, is also charged and is shown as a separate line item. No amount in cruise fare or taxes and fees is properly called a port charge.

Actually, NCF does stand for Non-commissionable Fees or Gov't Fees as some cruise lines call them on their confirmations. They are not a 'fare' as they are not a part of the cruise fare, they are fees charged by the ports based on the number of passengers.

And yes, these fees must be included in the amount quoted by the agent or the cruise line as I stated below. But they are actually made up of the total amount of port fees charged by the various ports, even though the cruise lines always just refers to them as 'fees'.

Check out the definition;

Define Non-Commissionable

Here's another article;

ASTA ASTA praises Regent for ending most NCFs in 2010 - eTurboNews.com

You'll notice that ASTA (American Society of Travel Agents) refers to NCF's as port charges.

Pete

The names have changed from time to time but it is interesting the some of the cruise lines are collecting government fees/taxes for empty berths and keep the money for extra profit.