Are they sailing the seven fees?
Mexico-bound cruise passengers better start saving dough, as they’ll soon have to spend twice as much to visit our Southern neighbor’s most popular sites.
“Consumers keep getting hit with more and more taxes and fees for everything related to travel,” Clint Henderson, a managing editor of the travel site The Points Guy, told Fox News Digital.
The Carnival Panorama cruise ship is seen in the Pacific Ocean off Los Cabos, Baja California, Mexico, on Tuesday, July 15, 2025. AFP via Getty Images
One of the first phases, debuted on August 1 as part of Mexico’s multi-phased tax plan, entailed hiking the entrance fee from $5 to $10 per person for foreign cruise passengers disembarking at popular cruise hubs.
These hotspots include Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, Cozumel and Costa Maya.
This might seem negligible to someone who’s already invested a lot to sail the world, but Henderson warned that this “frustrating” hike was just the tip of the iceberg.
The $10 fee is just one of several increases that they plan to roll out over the next two years as part of Mexico’s multi-pronged plan.
As part of Mexico’s multi-phased tax plan, the entrance fee has been upped from $5 to $10 for foreign cruise passengers visiting some of the country’s most popular destinations. Bloomberg via Getty Images
On July 1, 2027, the levy is slated to rise to $15 per passenger while it’s scheduled to increase to $21 beginning on August 1, 2028.
The Carnival Horizon cruise ship docks at the Cruise Port Pier in Cozumel, Mexico, on Thursday, December 21, 2023. (Universal Images Group Editorial) Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
“It’s definitely making Mexico more expensive as all these taxes and fees start to add up,” said Henderson, who wondered if these price hikes will dampen demand for Mexico-bound cruises.
The one silver lining is that this amount is a lot less than our neighbor to the South had originally planned for.
A couple stands on Medano Beach as the Holland America cruise ship Statendam is anchored offshore on May 11, 2012, in Cabo San Lucas, Baja California, Mexico. AFP via Getty Images
In December 2024, Mexico reinstated a $42, but whittled the charge down to the aforementioned $5 — which rolled out July 1, 2025 — after pushback from the cruise industry.
However, this stay of execution offers little consolation in an industry where the prices of everything from staffing to entertainment and food seem to be going to Pluto.
In July, the Malaysia-based StarDream Cruises said that it had tacked on a daily fuel surcharge to Asia voyages booked after March 20, sparking fears that other cruise lines would follow suit.
The charge, which would clock in at up to $26 per day depending on the itinerary, was announced amid skyrocketing oil prices due to the Iran conflict.
Unfortunately, not even the high seas are safe from snowballing service charges. Passengers of Celebrity Cruises are pushing back after the company hiked daily gratuities by $1.50 per person across every stateroom category without warning.
The move had some guests threatening to rescind their service fee payments and gift crew members cash tips instead.
