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The Return of Fuel Surcharges? Is it Inevitable?

Written by T.I. Cruiser on March 8, 2011 · Leave a Comment

I am writing this post not because I have heard actual news of the return of fuel surcharges but because I want to inform you all of the inevitability of their return. Some of you newer cruisers (or cruisers who have taken a break) may not know anything about fuel surcharges. No worries, I will explain.

A couple of years ago when the price of oil first spiked the cruise lines scrambled for a way to defray the costs of getting cruisers from port to port. The solution they came up with was something called a fuel surcharge. What this meant to us cruisers was we had to pay a fee to the cruise lines to cruise. This fee went to the cost of filling up the ships tanks. In short cruisers paid to fill up the ship’s gas tanks.

This was a temporary thing. I felt the sting of the fuel surcharge one cruise but after that it disappeared. The price of a barrel of oil dropped and (surprisingly) the cruise lines rescinded the surcharge. However, there were provisions made in the cruise line policies that gave them the right to reinstate the fuel surcharges in the event that the price of a barrel of oil once again surpassed a certain threshold.

Needless to say those thresholds were surpassed long ago all without the cruise lines reinstating the fuel surcharge. The problem is with the price of a barrel of oil now well over the 100 dollar mark on the New York Mercantile Exchange you almost can’t blame the cruise lines if they were to reinstate the fuel surcharge.

While this isn’t something that any of us wants to think about it is a reality that we may soon need to deal with. The reason I am writing this is to get you thinking (if you haven’t already started) about its financial impact. The last time these surcharges were instituted we were given a 90 day amnesty window, those sailing on cruises further out than those 90 days were made to pay the surcharge. Mine amounted to about 5 dollars per day per passenger.

Now, late last year the cruise lines hinted that future fuel prices were going to be built into the price of the cruise but that was when the price was in the 80-90 dollar range. Right now we are at 105 dollars per barrel with the arrow pointing up. Cruise execs are now put in a position of would passengers rather pay a higher up front cost that includes a fuel surcharge or a lower price but an additional charge tacked on top of the price you pay to board the ship.

How do you feel about a possible return of the fuel surcharge?

Saving Money On The Ship By Not Doing Anything

Written by T.I. Cruiser on October 12, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Here is a list of ten minimal effort ways to save money on board a cruise ship. Most of them are common sense and none are groundbreaking but they are all pretty useful and will save you money. These are all low effort and most of them are no effort; they actually require that you DON’T take any action.

1. Don’t buy a soda card. – Although you may think buying a soda card is a great deal its not nearly as great a deal as drinking all the tea, punch, lemonade and water that was included in the price of your cruise. If you are someone who absolutely has to have soda, carry it onboard. Most cruise line will allow you to bring your favorite non-alcoholic beverage on board.

2. Don’t dine in the specialty restaurants. – Honestly, I love eating in the specialty restaurants but if I were planning to cruise on a budget, they would be among the first things to go. Cruise ships have so many eating options available that it doesn’t make a lot of sense to pay extra for another. While it is a nice experience to have a special evening out in the specialty restaurant it isn’t a requirement for having a great cruise. My most memorable dining experiences tend to be the in port local restaurants. You can almost always find an affordable hidden gem by asking a life guard, taxi driver or shop keeper for a recommendation.

3. Stay away from the Casino. – If you are trying to make your cruise as economical as possible the Casino is probably the last place you should visit. However, if you do decide to gamble on board a cruise ship make sure to set and stick to a limit on how much you can lose. While casino’s can be a lot of fun they are amongst the worst at providing bang for your buck. Since I have yet to find a system for consistently winning in a casino I tend to leave gambling to the experts and those with money to burn; saves me a fortune.

4. Don’t use the ship phones. – Do yourself a favor and avoid using the 10 dollar per minute ship phones at all costs but of you must use it be sure to dial the wrong number. A few years ago, I needed to make a call via the ships phone. On the first attempt, I accidentally dialed the wrong number, which ended up being a 10-dollar mistake. Even though international roaming charges will apply, if you wait until you are in port to make calls it will be much cheaper.

5. Stay away from the Art Auctions. – Well, you can go to the auctions for the free champagne, just don’t buy anything. In all honesty, do you know if that piece of art is actually worth 600 dollars? If the answer is no, you should probably leave the art auctions to people with actual knowledge. However, if do fall in love with a certain piece, see if you can find a cheap print of it. When you get home have it framed and matted and use the money you saved as a payment on your next cruise.

6. Stay away from the Spa. – While many will say spas and cruises go together like peanut butter and chocolate, just say no. Truthfully, compared to many land based spas the services are merely so-so but the costs are not. However, if you want to get a massage while on vacation I would never want to stand in your way, but I will tell you not to pay full price. Over the course of your cruise, there will be many opportunities to enjoy these services at a discounted price. Take advantage of these opportunities.

7. BYOM – Bring your own meds. If you find yourself in need of some Excedrin or Benedryl, you can find them in the ships gift shops. Just be prepared to pay about five times as much as you would at your local drug store. Do yourself a favor and put together a small “medical kit” before you leave home. Not only will this come in handy should you get sick but you will be a hero to your tablemates who aren’t smart enough to read this blog.

8. Don’t buy the premium coffee, ice cream or pastries. – The price of the cruise includes many things, food and drink are among them. On most cruise ships food and drink are so readily available that it really makes no sense to pay additional for the specialty coffee, pastries and ice cream. While some people are programmed to thinking cost is an indicator of quality, often times this isn’t true. In fact, unless you are a real foodie oftentimes you can’t tell much of a difference in the free and premium ice cream.

9. Don’t buy ship photos. – When I return home from a seven day cruise I usually have somewhere between three and five hundred photos on my camera. Therefore, my belief is, if I didn’t shoot it, than it wasn’t worth shooting. The only time I break this rule is if a formal night picture turns out especially well. That being said I do pose for every picture I get the opportunity to take, just in case one turns out so unbelievably well that it warrants the cost.

10. Don’t book ship sponsored shore excursions. – Excursions are the fastest way to (unless you are addicted to gambling) run up a huge shipboard account. While I don’t expect everyone to resist the urge to book an excursion through the ship, be selective in which ones you choose as some are better values than others are. In fact, if you do your homework you can find all of the excursions offered by the ships for a much lower cost by going straight to the excursion provider. Personally I like to just walk of the ship and find a little adventure on my own, especially if it is a port I am familiar with.

Man Commits Suicide After Losing Big in Cruise Ship Casino

Written by T.I. Cruiser on September 22, 2010 · Leave a Comment

I was always told you can’t put a price on a human life but apparently Genting Hong Kong (the company that operates Star Cruises) has determined that $5 million Hong Kong dollars sounds about right.

It happened in Hong Kong but could probably happen on many other cruise ships; well any cruise ship that feels comfortable letting you gamble away an obscene amount of cash. After losing over 850,000 dollars at the baccarat table onboard Star Cruises, Superstar Aquarius a man identified only as Xu jumped to his death from the 13th deck.

On Saturday Xu boarded the ship for a two-day gambling trip. He reportedly started gambling just after dinner and kept it up until 8am Sunday morning. At that point he had lost a total of $857,000 (HK$5 million). A little while after he walked away from the tables he was seen on deck for about an hour (undoubtedly wondering WTF just happened), afterwards he jumped.

An alert was raised and after an hour long search, Xu’s body was retrieved from the water. Shortly thereafter the ship’s doctor declared Xu dead.

Being that I am not, nor will I ever be in a position to gamble away 850,000 dollars I have never given much thought to what the table limits are on cruise ships. However, after doing a very minimal amount of digging I see that there is a 200 dollar maximum on Carnival table games (I’d imagine other cruise lines have similar limits). It actually surprised me that the maximum bet was so high on a family focused cruise ship; I’ve never seen any high rollers on board.

What I wasn’t able to find out was if there was some sort of cap on how much they would allow you to lose on one cruise. Of course I already know the answer is that it’s not there problem if you lose your child’s college tuition, life savings or newlywed nest egg and it really isn’t their problem or their responsibility to save anyone from themselves. However, the humanitarian in me would like to think big business does understand and care about the ramifications of allowing a passenger to gamble such a large amount of money.

I’m a huge believer that each one of us is responsible for our own actions. But I must admit when I picture “Bob” ( the gambler who sits next to me at the blackjack table) doing a half gainer off the lido deck, while his wife and kids enjoy late night pizza my belief does get challenged. Do you think cruise lines should have a per cruise limit on how much someone is allowed to lose before they are cut off?