Mexico is adding a new tourist tax

It will now be more expensive to visit Cozumel’s Mayan ruins, beaches, and restaurants as the country is adding a Natural Disaster Prevention Fund of $5 per cruise ship passenger.

As first reported by PorEsto, the new tax would apply to guests visiting a port in either Cozumel, Mexico or Costa Maya, Mexico and will be a single payment, regardless of which port they enter first.

It would apply to cruise ship passengers only, and not crew members.

It’s not yet clear how the new tax would be implemented in regards to those that already have a 2025 cruise booked.

The goal of the tax is to improve tourism infrastructure. “Seventy percent of the income will be used to improve the tourist infrastructure and the remaining 30 percent will be used to create a Natural Disaster Fund for when storms, rain, and hurricanes impact the area.

The new tax could become a reality in 2025.

From January to October of this year, 3,260,568 passengers have arrived at the three piers of Cozumel, which represents a growth of 16.5 percent compared to the same period of the previous year.

The island of Cozumel is the third-busiest cruise ship port in the world, and is visited by about 1,250 cruise ships each year.

Quintana Roo is located on the eastern portion of the Yucatan peninsula, and two popular cruise ports are within the state.  The other port in Eastern Mexico that Royal Caribbean cruise ships visit, Progreso, is in the state of Yucatan.

Port fees and other extra cruise costs

Port fees and taxes, such as this new tax, are levied on top of the base cruise fare. Royal Caribbean recently made a change to how it advertises its cruise prices by including fees and taxes in their pricing.

As an example, port fees and taxes for a 7-night cruise on Wonder of the Seas in 2025 amounted to $325.18, or $162.59 per person.

There’s no getting around these fees, as it’s levied by the countries ships visit and cruise lines simply pass it onto the passenger.

While the fare you pay for a cruise vacation includes the basics, there are other costs you’ll need to account for in the total vacation cost.

Some of the extra charges are what you probably expect, such as souvenirs, a spa treatment, or a shore excursion not being included.

However, there are extra costs that take some cruisers by surprise when they discover them, especially first time cruisers.

Internet access is not included with your cruise fare, and if you want to use Royal Caribbean’s WiFi, you’ll need to pay $27.99 per day for one device a at a time when purchased on the ship.

You could save a little bit of money off the cost if you pre-paid it before the cruise, as well as if you opted for a multi-device plan.

Another extra cost is room service, which Royal Caribbean began charging for in 2017.

A single $7.95 per order fee is added to any room service order, regardless of how much you order.

An 18% gratuity is added on top of the $7.95 fee for a total cost of around $9.40.

Another common extra cost you’ll run into are drinks.

Royal Caribbean includes basic beverages with your cruise fare, you’ll need to pay extra if you want a soda, beer, wine, cocktail, or latte. 

You can pay for each drink individually, with a can of soda costing $3.50 each, or a beer at $7.99 each.

Read more: Royal Caribbean drink prices list

Gratuities are another extra cost you’re going to run into on any cruise.

Each passenger pays a daily gratuity that covers the services of the crew members they interact with the most, and this daily rate is charged automatically unless the guest pre-pays it prior to the cruise.

Royal Caribbean charges $18.00 per day, per person for guests staying in a Junior Suite or below, and $20.50 per day per person for guests staying in a suite.

On a typical seven-night cruise, that’s around $500 in fees for a family of four.