Thread: Fuel Supplement - Are any cruise lines doing this yet?

Crude Oil closed today at $82.86 per barrel.

Most cruise lines reserve the right to add a Fuel Supplement when NYMEX Oil Prices exceed $70 per barrel.

Do any cruise lines have the Fuel Supplement yet?

Originally Posted by LuLu

[SIZE=3][COLOR=navy]

Do any cruise lines have the Fuel Supplement yet?

Miss Lulu...they all have it...

i don't think i know of one that has re-implemented it as of yet....

Cunard implemented a $3.85 per person per day fuel supplement on May 10, 2010.

Fred Olsen and P&O (2.50 euro per person per day) also implemented fuel supplements this year.

But so far, keep our fingers crossed, none of the major mass market cruise lines have added a fuel supplement yet.

Funny thing about it was that last time all of the Carnival companies, of which Cunard, Princess, Holland America, and a few others, all implemented at the same time. This time, Carnival Corp gave Cunard permission to do their own thing. It'll be interesting to see if others soon follow suit. Don't think anyone wants to be first, but once one does it, I'll bet they all do it very shortly thereafter.

Pete

If the price of crude continues to rise, I guess it will just be a matter of time before all add the the fuel supplement.....

By the looks of next years cruise fares, I think they have incorporated it into the pricing structure!

Originally Posted by Char

By the looks of next years cruise fares, I think they have incorporated it into the pricing structure!

Would you rather they do it that way?

Originally Posted by LuLu

Would you rather they do it that way?

They are probably getting MORE if they add it to the fare. The downside for the cruise line is that they have to pay commission to travel agents on it.

I think I would just rather have a set fare with ALL the expenses built into it. The cruise line would be able to reduce fares if/when the cost of fuel goes down, making a lot of cruisers happy.....where the addition of the fee would make cruisers unhappy.

They SHOULD do it that way!

Think about it; if you go to a restaurant, look at the menu, and decide on a steak, should you be charged a supplemental fee just because the price of beef went up temporarily?

You could apply that same logic to just about anything.

But the reason they don't want to put it in the cruise fare is because that would increase the amount of commission they would have to pay to agents. As I've stated many times, the price you see advertised for a cruise is made up of two costs; the cruise fare and the non-commissionable fees (or port fees). Our commission is based on the cruise fare only. If they increase the cruise fare to accommodate a higher cost, then the commissions go up. By adding the higher cost as a 'supplement', they do not have to pay the extra commission. This way they get the best of both worlds.

Needless to say, agents hate these new 'supplements'. Next they'll be adding a supplement due to increase labor costs, or increase in food costs, or increase in shipbuilding!!

Pete

As one that has only started posting today, I will give my opinion on this subject.

In UK petrol for cars is approx £5 a gallon
In USA it is approx £1.85 a gallon, I realise it may be more expensive in some States.

I live in UK but purchase my cruises in USA. My next cruise with two upgrades and $150 off my onboard account the conversion rate, for the two of us the grand total came to £1000.95 and this included USA taxes. Cheapest I could purchase the same cruise in UK is £1310 pound each.
£800 each to me is a fantastic saving.

Without the prices our friend in the States pay we could never consider cruising. There is only P&O we are not allowed to book with in the States.

With these figures how can you determine a fair rise in fuel charges.

Norman

IMO cruise lines that impliment a fuel cost are gouging. The only reason they would do that is because they are having trouble filling their ships and can get additional $$.

Cruiselines, like airlines buy fuel on the futures market. They can buy futures more than a year ahead, so then the lines come out with their schedules, they already know what they will be paying for fuel and price future cruises accordently.

Paul