Passenger Fuel Surcharge Announced...

[jtl513]

Even my garbage company imposes a fuel surcharge - and they started that 2 years ago.

As did my lawn-spraying company.

 

if they just raised the prices by $70 a person, then no one would be any wiser.

But they wouldn't be able to impose it on everyone who has already booked.

 

I think the $5/person/day is excessive. That works out to about $66500 per week on a Vista ship. I suppose they think it is better to impose $5/p/d now than put on a smaller amount and have to increase it again later on.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

No Surprise.... but there goes the ship board credit:eek:

[Sea Island Lady]

Hi, Sea Island Lady:

 

 

In the press release which Prescott Bob has kindly brought to our attention, it does say that the fuel supplement will not exceed $70 per person per voyage. This is a relief to me, as I'm planning a 66-day cruise.........:eek:

 

Karin

Our cruise is a 10 day which comes to $50 pp ($100 for DH and myself.) We have 3 other staterooms booked for the family. My parents, brother and SIL and then my sister in a single. So our group will have extra charges of anywhere from $350 - $400, depending on what my sister will be charged.

 

I agree that although the increase is not all that bad (HECK... what's another $100 bucks!) existing bookings should have been exempted. However, there are so many people that have booked their cruises a year or two in advance, that Carnival needed to extend the charges.

[Old As Dirt Mom]

Our cruise is a 10 day which comes to $50 pp ($100 for DH and myself.) We have 3 other staterooms booked for the family. My parents, brother and SIL and then my sister in a single. So our group will have extra charges of anywhere from $350 - $400, depending on what my sister will be charged.

 

I agree that although the increase is not all that bad (HECK... what's another $100 bucks!) existing bookings should have been exempted. However, there are so many people that have booked their cruises a year or two in advance, that Carnival needed to extend the charges.

 

I do agree with you that it adds up to a lot of extra moola.:( I wonder if it might result in less onboard spending?

 

Karin

[jhannah]

I wonder if it might result in less onboard spending?

For those who have budgeted "down to the wire" to make their dream trip, I'm sure it will. With only so many dollars to spend, something has to be cut from somewhere. While not "significant" in terms of the overall cruise cost, it's still real money.

[james j feller]

CRYSTAL CRUISES have been doing this for some time now.

 

JIM

[hammybee]

CRYSTAL CRUISES have been doing this for some time now.

 

JIM

 

Crystal's charge is $5 p/p per day

 

Regent increased their charge to $7/50 p/p per day

 

I do not know if either caps the charge or how solo pax are charged.

[donh1]

The surcharge should be based on the projected amount of fuel for that actual voyage. Capping the charge to $70 for longer cruises including world cruise leads me to believe it all about profit. Clearly they are making enough profit off the longer voyages to ignore the fuel issue. Alarm bells should go off when the perdiem for a 7 day cruise is maybe $85 and a longer cruise it's twice that or better. No wonder they are waving the surcharge. This surcharge should only be in affect until such time as the existing brouchures are replaced reflecting the new costs. The brouchure price should fluctuate from year to year based on their need to make a profit. They are selling a product and should be able to put an actual price on it.

[Sea Island Lady]

I do agree with you that it adds up to a lot of extra moola.:( I wonder if it might result in less onboard spending?

 

Karin

We don't spend that much onboard, anyway. One or two drinks apiece a day isn't going to break us. :D We don't buy souvenirs, don't play BINGO, don't frequent the art gallery, don't buy photos and don't normally eat in the specialty restaurants. We charge those drinks and the gratuity for crew members, only. I may have to cut back on my $10 a day slots habit, though. :eek:

[terrydtx]

What we need are nuclear powered cruise ships no need to buy and burn all that oil and better for the ozone:cool: :cool: :eek: :eek:

[jtl513]

What we need are nuclear powered cruise ships no need to buy and burn all that oil and better for the ozone:cool: :cool: :eek: :eek:

Yes, but there would be a large surcharge assessed for the conversion costs! :)

[james j feller]

TERRY,

 

Just think of the cost to build one.

 

JIM

[terrydtx]

TERRY,

 

Just think of the cost to build one.

 

JIM

 

And the red tape!!!:(

[Steamboatin]

Hi, Sea Island Lady:

 

 

In the press release which Prescott Bob has kindly brought to our attention, it does say that the fuel supplement will not exceed $70 per person per voyage. This is a relief to me, as I'm planning a 66-day cruise.........:eek:

 

Karin

 

Yes, but how many segments is your 66 day cruise broken up into. Multiply the fuel surcharge for each segment of your cruise and not just one surcharge for the entire 66 day cruise.

 

What do you think. The way they handle tips and your sea pass account is on a cruise segment basis and not on a single 66 day cruise basis.

 

Sorry for this bit of good news.:D

[Steamboatin]

What we need are nuclear powered cruise ships no need to buy and burn all that oil and better for the ozone:cool: :cool: :eek: :eek:

 

 

Problem 1: Cost of labor to run the nuclear reactors and shortage of personnel to do so willing to be at sea versus a land based reactor job.

 

Problem 2. What cities and countries will let a nuclear cruise vessel enter its waters.

 

Thus, where will the nuclear cruise ship have a chance to make a port visit.

[Barek]

M'heh ... I know fuel surcharges are found everywhere now (taxi's, garbage collection, lawn care, even some airlines) ... but from my experience, this basically amounts to a hidden rate increase - and for HAL it turns out to be a retro-active one as well, catching everyone who has already booked. I've only ever seen one company remove one of these, and they re-implemented it several months later and have left it in place since then.

 

My opinion is that the price of fuel is a cost-of-doing-business, and should be included in the base price charged. But realistically, I know these things are here to stay, so consumers just need to be aware of them and they need to be sure to know what each company has in place for this when comparison shopping. These fees are just another way to obfuscate the true cost to the consumer, but an educated consumer can still make valid comparisons.

[terrydtx]

The next thing will be the Al Gore Global warming ozone depletion surcharge:eek: :eek:

[alphakitty]

ooops

[Harry1954]

are you certain it is 70 per voyage and not 70 per segment?

harry

[jtl513]

Yes, but how many segments is your 66 day cruise broken up into. Multiply the fuel surcharge for each segment of your cruise and not just one surcharge for the entire 66 day cruise.

 

What do you think. The way they handle tips and your sea pass account is on a cruise segment basis and not on a single 66 day cruise basis.

 

Sorry for this bit of good news.:D

 

are you certain it is 70 per voyage and not 70 per segment?

harry

The press release explicity says per voyage ...

[twinkletoes4445]

Count me as one who's surprised it took them this long (to add the fuel surcharge). We have a business, and we've already increased the costs to our customers. And I know that our costs from our suppliers have increased, and I'm sure this plays into that for us as well.

[Sea Island Lady]

M'heh ... I know fuel surcharges are found everywhere now (taxi's, garbage collection, lawn care, even some airlines) ... .

I wondered if the airline would be adding a surcharge or if they just add it in.

 

No surcharge on our garbage or any other services. I guess our lawn service is cutting back, he just hasn't shown up for a week! :D

[Lubber Line]

I checked my Booking Details on the HAL website today for our 4/22/08, 19 day Circle Hawaii cruise. The Cruise Fuel Surcharge is listed after the Administration Fees. $70.00 each for the two of us. Oh well, at least it was offset a little bit by the decrease in administration fees for this cruise.

 

Matt

[lakemurraykid]

We're not surprised at all. Today we received an email from our TA with the following:

 

Vacations To Go has received a very important notification from Holland America regarding your upcoming cruise. The notification reads as follows:

 

"We want to inform you that, because of rapidly escalating fuel prices, Holland America has implemented a fuel supplement of $5 per person per day. The fuel supplement, which applies to the first and second guests in a stateroom only, is not to exceed $70 per person per voyage and is effective on all new and existing bookings for voyages departing on or after February 1, 2008. Implementing this fuel surcharge was a difficult decision but one that we feel was necessary in today’s challenging economic environment."

I imagine all cruise lines will be implementing this.

[BILLP1]

Why don't they use the interest they make from my cruise deposit and final payment to pay for the fuel... .