Fuel Surcharge | TheIntelligentCruiser.com Cruise Blog

You are here: Home » Archives for fuel surcharge

Mailbag Monday: February 13, 2012 Edition

Written by T.I. Cruiser on February 13, 2012 · Leave a Comment

Here is another edition of Mailbag Monday. Today we talk about single cabin pricing, age restrictions on both drinking and gambling and also a question about the Titanic.

Double vs. Single Occupancy Cabin Pricing

Since the price listed for a cruise cabin says it’s based on double occupancy that means they expect all cabins to have 2 passengers, right? So if I go on a cruise by myself will I still have to pay for a cabin for two?

Well, the answer to your question is both yes and no. While it’s true that most cruise cabins are based on double occupancy you probably will not have to pay double the rate. You will have to pay something called a single supplement which is basically a way for the cruise line to offset having only one passenger in a cabin. This single supplement will vary depending on the cruise line and will usually be anywhere from an additional 50% all the way up to double the rate (additional 100%). However since you will be the only passenger in your party physically occupying space on the ship you will get a slight break in port fees. So, even if you have to pay double the rate it will be slightly less than if two people actually took the cruise.

Please note that some cruise ships do have a fair amount of single cabins (the Norwegian Epic comes to mind). It also seems that the cruise lines are starting to acknowledge that more cruisers want to cruise solo so I would expect the amount of single cabins on cruise ships to more or less increase with each new build.

Can you drink if you’re under 21 on a Cruise excursion in Mexico?

I know that the drinking age in Mexico is 18 and Carnival will only let you drink on their ship if you’re 21. I’m finding out that a lot of the excursions they offer on land include drinking. If I’m twenty years old can I drink on the excursions?

I don’t see why not. Obviously while on a cruise ship you are subject to whatever rules the cruise lines observe, which in the case of a ship departing from the United States would be a legal drinking age of 21. However, once you are on land you are governed by the laws of the area you are visiting. So, even if the excursion is offered by the cruise line the laws of the land take precedence. The only exception to this rule would be if you are on an excursion to someplace owned by the cruise line. For instance, many cruise lines own private islands. If you are on an excursion to the Carnival private island of Half Moon Cay (Bahamas) the drinking age will follow Carnival’s rules rather than the 18 year drinking age observed throughout the rest of the Bahamas.

When a cruise ship is at sea, at what age can a person gamble?

When onboard a cruise ship the minimum age a passenger needs to be in order to gamble on a ship departing from a U.S. port doesn’t ever change. While in port the Casinos will be closed meaning age isn’t a concern and while at sea the minimum age will be either 18 or 21 years of age.

For the following cruise lines passengers need to be 18 years of age or older to play in the casino: Carnival Cruise Line, Celebrity Cruises, Holland America, Norwegian, and Royal Caribbean.

If sailing on Crystal, Cunard, Princess Cruises, Regent Seven Seas, Seabourn Yachts or Silversea Cruises you will need to be 21 years or older.

Are cruise lines still charging the fuel surcharge they reserve the right to charge?

On my last cruise we had to pay a fuel surcharge. But when we boarded the ship we ended up getting a credit and I haven’t heard anything about this since then. I am looking to book another cruise and since gas prices are pretty high I was wondering if the cruise lines are back to charging that surcharge.

Yes and no. About 5 years ago when the price of oil hit a sharp spike cruise lines instituted the fuel surcharge as a way to subsidize the additional cost of fuel. After a while they rescinded those charges but stated they still reserve the right to reinstate those charges if certain conditions are triggered. To date I am not aware of any cruise lines reinstating those charges even though many of those triggers were hit long ago.

The main reason why those charges were never put back into place was because it was a public relations nightmare. Passengers hate the idea of being told they have to buy the gas for their cruise. However, cruise lines figured this out and instead decided to just roll the cost of the surcharge into the cruise fare. You see we don’t mind paying for the fuel as long as you don’t tell us we are paying for the fuel. So, what we saw was a rise in the cost of the cruise, everyone wins. The cruise lines still get to pass on the cost of fuel while passengers get to pretend they aren’t buying it.

How Large Was the Titanic Compared to Todays Cruise Ships?

I know this is the 100year anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. In its day the Titanic was a huge ship but that was in 1912. How large would the titanic be compared to today’s cruise ships?

In 1912 the White Star Line’s RMS Titanic was a marvel of technology. Up until that time the world had never seen a steamer as large and as advanced as that ship. However, in 100 years a lot can change. So even though the Titanic was a Behemoth, by today’s standards it would be quite small.

The Titanic was about 882 feet in length and 92 feet wide. Its gross tonnage was somewhere around 46,000 tons. The ship had 9 decks and carried about 3500 passengers and crew. So while the Titanic was gigantic (lol I rhymed) in 1912 but in today’s terms that would be a baby of a ship. In comparison the largest of the Royal Caribbean ships (Oasis and Allure of the Seas) weigh more than 225,000 gross tons, have 16 decks and carry nearly 8500 passengers and crew.

Even the older ships at sea, such as the Carnival Fantasy, Dawn Princess and the Monarch of the Seas from Royal Caribbean are nearly twice the size of the Titanic. If you want an accurate size comparison you would need to look at the luxury cruise lines. Ships from Seabourn and Regent are a much better comparison.

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?

It’s 2010 Will Fuel Surcharges Be Returning?

Written by T.I. Cruiser on January 11, 2010 · 2 Comments

cruisers paying for fuel 300x300 Its 2010 Will Fuel Surcharges Be Returning?

Back in October I wrote a blog entry about the return of the fuel surcharge, you can read it here. In that blog entry I speculated about whether or not cruise lines would once again begin charging their customers the fuel surcharge now that the price of oil has once again risen. You see, when the cruise lines decided to rescind the fuel surcharge they did it with the caveat that if the price of fuel once again reached a certain threshold those surcharges could once again be re-instituted. Back in October when oil rose past 75 dollars per barrel those escalators were triggered. However, the cruise lines (being that they are so pro-consumer) didn’t roll out those surcharges, as many including myself had expected.

Now the price of a barrel of oil has surpassed the 80 dollar mark and low and behold there are rumbles. You see, Disney cruise lines has once again begun charging its passengers to fill up the gas tank. As of now no other cruise lines have re-instituted the fuel surcharge however they do reserve the right to put them in place at any time.

Upon further investigation it is actually pretty clear that Disney has been having passengers chip-in on fuel for months. Let me explain what I mean. Back when fuel surcharges were first instituted, just like the other cruise lines Disney started requiring customers to help “fill up the tank”. In the fall of 2008 when the price of a barrel of oil dropped back down, cruise lines stopped collecting. Of course, Disney was among those who stopped collecting, on all newly booked cruises. However, those who had already booked were only entitled to a refund (in the form of an on-board credit) if the price of oil was below 70 dollars a barrel two weeks prior to the beginning of the calendar quarter of their sailing.

In June of 2009 the price of oil once again crept past the 70 dollar a barrel threshold, meaning Disney could stop issuing refunds. In other words, those who had booked cruises between May 28 and December 1 of 2008 have been paying the fuel surcharge since July of 2009 and will continue to do so until March 31, 2010 at the very least.

The question then becomes how, even though Disney has been collecting a fuel surcharge for 6 months how much longer will it be before the other cruise lines jump on board. Although Disney has done nothing but stick to their original plan as of now they are the only ones who are doing so. Is it just a matter of time before the major cruise lines (Royal Caribbean, Carnival and NCL) jump back on board? After all, they all had plans to re-institute the fuel surcharge if oil surpassed a certain threshold (which it has).

As of now those cruisers who choose to book with with the major cruise lines can do so without having to pay for fuel. Actually, Royal Caribbean has the right to not issue refunds to those passengers who booked doing the fuel surcharge time period but they have been. Currently, they have no no plans to reinstate the surcharge. The other major cruise lines (most notably Carnival and Norwegian) have also decided not to reinstall the fuel surcharge. However, all of the cruise lines vehemently state that they although they have not reinstated the fuel surcharge the situation is being closely monitored and the fuel surcharge can be re-instituted at any time. Is that time now? Tell us what you think about fuel surcharges.