How the Cruise Lines Feel About Fuel Surcharges
Yesterday, I started talking about cruise line fuel surcharges. Today I wanted to touch on what the cruise lines are saying in the midst of the once again rising costs of fuel. At the time when the cruise lines decided the price of oil had returned to a level that was acceptable they did away with the furl surcharge. However, they did leave the door open by stating if the price of oil reached certain levels they may re-institute them. Lately the price of oil has surpassed the “green light” prices but as of now fuel surcharges have not been re-established.
Recently Chairman and CEO for Carnival Corp., Mickey Arison issued a statement concerning fuel surcharges. Here is what he said:
“At the time we suspended fuel supplements for our six North American brands, we reserved the right to reinstate them if the price of light sweet crude oil, according to the NYMEX, should increase above $70 per barrel. While we have now exceeded that threshold, in light of the economic crisis and resulting consumer weakness, we presently have no plans to institute a fuel supplement. We will continue to monitor the situation in the markets and review our position as the situation warrants.”
Personally I would like to applaud Carnival for looking at the current economic environment from the cruisers point of view. Many times, decisions such as these are made without giving much thought to the consumers economic status (especially when considering that avid cruisers are an addictive bunch). Being sensitive to the position of their customers shows me once again why Carnival is clearly the leader in the cruise industry.
While other cruise lines have not yet issued official statements on how they plan to handle the rising costs of fuel here is a reminder of what their policies are in regards to implementing fuel surcharges:
Royal Caribbean – Royal Caribbean just like the other cruise lines are closely monitoring the rising costs of oil and have stated in the past, they reserve the right to reinstate fuel supplement charges if the price of West Texas Intermediate fuel exceeds $65 per barrel, on the quarterly milestone dates. The most recent milestone date was June 17, 2009, which covers sailings occurring from July 1, 2009 through September 30, 2009; fuel surcharges have not been re-established. The following milestone date is September 17, 2009 at which time the price will determine whether passengers departing on cruises between October 1 and December 31, 2009 will be impacted.
Norwegian Cruise Line – NCL reserves the right to reinstate the fuel supplement for their guests if the price of light sweet crude oil according to the NYMEX increases above the $65 per barrel threshold. Just like Royal Caribbean the most recent milestone date was June 17, 2009, which would affect sailings occurring from July 1, 2009 through September 30, 2009 and no surcharges have been re0established. The following milestone date is September 17, 2009 at which time the price will determine whether passengers departing on cruises between October 1 and December 31, 2009 will be impacted.
For those of us with cruises departing before October 1 this is obviously great news. Hopefully, this good fortune continues into the future. If I had to guess I would bet that as long as Carnival maintains their socially responsible position the pressure will be on the other cruise lines to follow their lead. That isn’ t to say that at some point one of the other cruise lines won’t break ranks but it does put a certain amount of pressure on them to hold off as long as possible.
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