Is this potential fuel surcharge new?

[iflyrc5]

I remember several years ago HAL had a fuel surcharge provision but don't remember if we ever had to pay it.  With the black Friday sale we booked a 21 day Caribbean cruise for Feb 2022 and I noticed this statement on the paperwork.

 

Cruise lines reserve the right to impose a fuel supplement of up to $9 USD per person per day on all passengers if the NYMEX oil price exceeds $65 per barrel, even if the fare has already been paid in full.

 

Is this new? I don't remember seeing this on our 2019 and early 2020 bookings

[kazu]

No, ir’a nor. A few years ago (before your time line mentioned), there was a caveat on cruises for a few years that if fuel prices wen up too high there could be a surcharge.  It happens when oil prices are uncertain.

 

At that time, no one reported their price increased on their cruise - but it doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen now with the current situation of backlogs of container ships, etc.  Price is bound to go up on everything (and has) while the backlog lasts let alone oil prices

[rkacruiser]

Such a charge has been there in the past and I have paid it.  Makes no difference to me whatsoever.  If one cannot afford to pay such a fee, then one ought to re-consider if one can afford their cruise.  

[Mary229]

I know it has always been there but I wonder if it has been there with that specificity. 

[FlaMariner]

2 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

I know it has always been there but I wonder if it has been there with that specificity. 

 

I think it has...I always remember seeing it.....it's scary...especially now....."$649 charge on onboard account for FUEL"....LOL....

 

 

[Mary229]

8 minutes ago, FlaMariner said:

 

I think it has...I always remember seeing it.....it's scary...especially now....."$649 charge on onboard account for FUEL"....LOL....

 

 

Well the bad news is oil is above $65

[FlaMariner]

We must be punished for cruising using fossil fuels.

[rkacruiser]

14 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

I know it has always been there but I wonder if it has been there with that specificity. 

 

Yes, it has.  Maybe more obvious during the years when oil prices were performing as they now are.  

[chengkp75]

9 minutes ago, FlaMariner said:

 

I think it has...I always remember seeing it.....it's scary...especially now....."$649 charge on onboard account for FUEL"....LOL....

 

 

$649?  That is 36 days for 2 people, how much does the cruise cost?  Yes, the verbiage has been this specific all along, it is based on the WTI (West Texas Intermediate) crude price.  And, the price of crude has been over $65 previously over the last couple of years, and there has been no fuel surcharge. In fact, WTI has been over $65 since May. 

[Florida_gal_50]

23 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

Such a charge has been there in the past and I have paid it.  Makes no difference to me whatsoever.  If one cannot afford to pay such a fee, then one ought to re-consider if one can afford their cruise.  

I feel like I have as well.  You’d think it would have been there when oil was over $100 barrel several years back.

[Florida_gal_50]

3 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

$649?  That is 36 days for 2 people, how much does the cruise cost?  Yes, the verbiage has been this specific all along, it is based on the WTI (West Texas Intermediate) crude price.  And, the price of crude has been over $65 previously over the last couple of years, and there has been no fuel surcharge. In fact, WTI has been over $65 since May. 

That’s what I was wondering when I saw that amount.  If you can go on a cruise for 36 days you should be able to afford that.  It shouldn’t be long now until someone tells me I’m wrong and how they’ve saved their pennies 🤪.

[FlaMariner]

5 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

$649?  That is 36 days for 2 people, how much does the cruise cost? 

 

not serious...just thinking about how the surcharge would be applied......to help pay the for the fill up.

[iflyrc5]

3 hours ago, iflyrc5 said:

I remember several years ago HAL had a fuel surcharge provision but don't remember if we ever had to pay it.  With the black Friday sale we booked a 21 day Caribbean cruise for Feb 2022 and I noticed this statement on the paperwork.

 

Cruise lines reserve the right to impose a fuel supplement of up to $9 USD per person per day on all passengers if the NYMEX oil price exceeds $65 per barrel, even if the fare has already been paid in full.

 

Is this new? I don't remember seeing this on our 2019 and early 2020 bookings

I went back and checked my paperwork from our Oct 2019 cruise on the Rotterdam and our Grand South America on the Volendam in Jan-Mar 2020 and there was nothing regarding the fuel surcharge on those documents.

[nocl]

The surcharge language has been in the agreements for several of the cruise line for years.  Never been charged it though even though I have many cruises, even with high oil prices, during the time the language has existed.

[chengkp75]

Crude prices are down since October, and likely to fall more.  With the cruise lines going to bunker "futures" contracts, they are covering current cruises fuel using older contracts, and future cruises can merely raise fares to meet the cost of the futures contract that would be applicable at the time.  They don't want the bad PR they got the last time they used the surcharge.

[sfaaa]

Justifiable or not, a lot of companies slapped fuel surcharge on their products and services back when oil was $100+/barrel, not just cruise lines.