​⛽​ RCI No fuel surcharges? Is it true? ​⛽​

[xxHadleyxx]

18 hours ago, grandgeezer said:

 I find it hard to believe that they would lose a bunch of cruisers over $70 per week. 

It wouldn't cause us to cancel...but I was on a cruise with a different line quite a while back (15ish years I would guess) when fuel surcharges were added...it was a tiny percentage of the cruise cost, but somehting like 20% of people cancelled after that was announced and they ended up fire selling cabins last minute and once we were onboard there were a lot of people vocally not spending as much as normal becuase they felt "abused" by the fee.  We thought it was rather ridiculous, but it DID appear to negatively affect both bookings and on board spending.  Obvious that is purely anectodotal and based off of only one experience, but I figure if the lines are not jumping at the excuse to add that surcharge, they must be looking at their data on past additions and deciding it is not worth it right now.

[LGW59]

21 hours ago, novicetraveller said:

Because raising prices (quietly or loudly) would be equally bad PR.

whatever way they charge, people will still buy them, just that many need something to complain about, cest lavie

[firefly333]

11 minutes ago, xxHadleyxx said:

It wouldn't cause us to cancel...but I was on a cruise with a different line quite a while back (15ish years I would guess) when fuel surcharges were added...it was a tiny percentage of the cruise cost, but somehting like 20% of people cancelled after that was announced and they ended up fire selling cabins last minute and once we were onboard there were a lot of people vocally not spending as much as normal becuase they felt "abused" by the fee.  We thought it was rather ridiculous, but it DID appear to negatively affect both bookings and on board spending.  Obvious that is purely anectodotal and based off of only one experience, but I figure if the lines are not jumping at the excuse to add that surcharge, they must be looking at their data on past additions and deciding it is not worth it right now.

The cruises I was on the fuel surcharge was added, there was a line at guest services removing the auto tips to get even.

[xxHadleyxx]

1 minute ago, firefly333 said:

The cruises I was on the fuel surcharge was added, there was a line at guest services removing the auto tips to get even.

how awful!  (there were no auto tips on teh sailing I was on....that was still recomended and you gave it out yourself on the last day; sadly, I bet you are correct that many petty people took teh fee out on the crew and reduced their gratuities)

[novicetraveller]

39 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

whatever way they charge, people will still buy them, just that many need something to complain about, cest lavie

I ask myself... do I want to pay more than what I am paying? Nope. Am I committed to going on this cruise and am I willing to pay more? Well, if I have to pay more to have a holiday, as long as it's reasonable.... yes.

[cruisegirl1]

Seems it will be so much easier to increase the price of a few things and  bury  any   surcharge fee.  

M

[Lane Hog]

I'd raise the price of the specialty restaurants, or drink and wifi packages before raising the base price of the cruise, since those are optional and won't affect the advertised prices (not to mention they already are hugely marked up in relation to the cost of delivering).

[soccer2010]

1. If booking a cruise during this high price of oil, you should be somewhat protected unless the price goes up from here.

[BND]

On 3/12/2022 at 1:22 PM, firefly333 said:

The cruises I was on the fuel surcharge was added, there was a line at guest services removing the auto tips to get even.

Why did they think taking money from the crew would punish the cruise line?  They also don't control fuel prices in any way.  I'm also sure if any of those people owned a business and their costs went up, they would immediately increase what they charge.  

 

Pretty sure we had one cruise that had the surcharge.  We just paid it and enjoyed our cruise.  If the fuel surcharge will break the bank, maybe some should rethink how they spend what money they do have.   

 

 

[DCPIV]

I recall when they added fuel surcharges before, and it sure as heck was not well received.  We actually avoided it because we already had paid in full earlier than the final payment deadline, but I recall a lot of nasty chatter while on board.  

 

In the event they do institute a surcharge, I wonder if they'll maintain the policy of only adding it to bookings that have not been paid in full.  I can understand a need, but I have to be honest and admit that I'd be pretty honked off if I suddenly had a new balance due.

[SRF]

On 3/12/2022 at 2:11 PM, cruisegirl1 said:

Seems it will be so much easier to increase the price of a few things and  bury  any   surcharge fee.  

M

 

The point is, you have a lot of cabins booked at X price, based on the fuel costs at the time. But the cruise is not for 18 months, and the price of fuel goes way up.  You cannot charge more for the cruise, because people already booked.

 

Yes, going forward, it is better to just raise the cruise price, but that only works for future bookings.

[OfcSupport]

I wonder if this is why the wifi went up to $17.99 and $21.99 per day.

 

[neverbeenhere]

There is always a "charge" for getting tanked.

[Jingerwoppy]

Oil is back under $100 per barrel today. We'll see how long it lasts.

[Lane Hog]

It's actually been under 100 for the last couple days.  Far cry from 133 back on 3/8...

 

https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/future/crude oil - electronic

[Jimbo]

There are many ways they can make up the extra cash needed now all ready on a cruise for the extra fuel cost.  Don't believe for 1 minute about the fuel they are using now was bought at a much lower price............maybe it was or maybe it wasn't but just like your local gas station where you live................They raised prices instantly, they didn't wait until their tanks went empty and then refilled the tanks at the higher bought price and then raised their price accordingly........

 

The reason they raised it immediately is because they can. Just like Royal can charge more for anything on the ships when they want to, Because they can to make up for the higher cost of fuel right NOW..........They are  not waiting until all that cheap hedged fuel is gone, they are smarter then  that.

 

Don't believe for 1 minute what you heard on CNBC.   @orville99

Edited March 17, 2022 by Jimbo

[SRF]

1)  Yes, all heavy fuel using industries hedge fuel with futures buying.  Yes, RCI does.

2)  Can you show that RCI has raised prices?  Other than the normal up and down pricing?

 

And no, gas stations do not raise the prices immediately just because they can.  The price they charge is based on the expected price of the NEXT delivery.  The margins in the gas station business are not huge.  And when you get deliveries of 5,000 or 10,000 gallons at a time (paid on delivery) you can easily be in a cash bind if you do not raise prices.

 

Say you have a 25 cent per gallon margin (which is higher than many stations, most are 7 to 10 cents).  You buy a load at $4 a gallon, so you pay $40,000.  You sell it at $4.25.  So you take in $32,500.  But the next load costs $4.50 a gallon, so you have to pay $45,000.  Where does that extra $2500 come from?  Remember, that was your margin, the money you supposedly earned.  So it cost you, out of your pocket $2500 to be back where you were after the last load was delivered.

 

And that margin is NOT profit.  That goes to paying the lease, paying for the equipment, paying employees, paying the electric bill, etc.

 

And when prices drop, if you are out of sync with your competition, you may have to lower prices on fuel you paid a high price for.

[Jimbo]

6 minutes ago, SRF said:

 

 

And when prices drop, if you are out of sync with your competition, you may have to lower prices on fuel you paid a high price for.

Do you own a gas station?

[SRF]

3 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Do you own a gas station?

 

No, but my former Father in Law did.

 

This is from a while ago, but looks at the numbers:

https://money.cnn.com/2008/03/13/news/economy/gas_gallon/index.htm#:~:text=Most service stations are independently,station isn't even profit.

 

This article says about 15 cents per gallon:

 

https://www.omegawv.com/faq/140-how-much-money-do-businesses-make-on-fuel-purchases.html

 

This one from 11/21 says 35 cents per gallon.

 

https://www.convenience.org/Media/conveniencecorner/Who-Makes-Money-Selling-Gas

 

This article points out that gas station owners make $61,000 to $69,000 per year per station.

 

https://www.eposnow.com/us/resources/how-much-do-gas-station-owners-make/

 

Edited March 17, 2022 by SRF

[Lane Hog]

When one gas station chain raises the price, others follow.... I know QuikTrip raised their prices uniformly across the Dallas area two weeks ago and in other markets trying to get a premium and others followed.  It's all about setting the pump price as high as they can while still getting customers.  People panic buying only added to the hikes.