Carnival Eliminates Fuel Surcharge

[dan40]

I don't have a problem with Carnival making money. But I think they really blew it with this press release.

 

Does it take 5 weeks to gas up the ship? Whats with the 5 week price window? 1 or 2 weeks is plenty.

 

When do oil prices spike? Usually when theres instability with oil supply like terrorist attacks, pipline breaks, or political strife in an oil producing country etc.

 

I have no problem with paying market price (I booked a cruise this coming March). I have a problem with what appears to be a corporation knowing that oil prices are expected to go down to about the $60 price (see CNN website tonite) and what appears to be an attempt to cash in on any misfortune that may happen. One incident, however brief, guarantees them the fuel surcharge for a full 10 weeks.

 

My only point is that 5 weeks is too long a window.

 

How you ever seen a cruiseship pull up to the pump at a marina and take on a quarter million gallons?

 

They get filled up by FUEL BARGES that pull alongside. Those barges are scheduled and purchased in advance. Evidently about 5 weeks in advance. They are not putting 8 gallons in a KIA.

 

Dan

[DGP1111]

I am sure there is no one on here that will go to work if they are told "today you work for free".

 

Actually, yes, I have -- multiple times. I'll agree that it's not the norm, and you are correct for the vast majority of individuals.

Oddly enough. . . just tomorrow I'm representing my company completely gratis . . . and it's going to be a blast (as long as the weather is good). :)

[tha sista]

Actually, yes, I have -- multiple times. I'll agree that it's not the norm, and you are correct for the vast majority of individuals.

Oddly enough. . . just tomorrow I'm representing my company completely gratis . . . and it's going to be a blast (as long as the weather is good). :)

I frequently have to work for free and let me assure you it is not fun...on my end anyway!

[halos]

Actually, yes, I have -- multiple times. I'll agree that it's not the norm, and you are correct for the vast majority of individuals.

Oddly enough. . . just tomorrow I'm representing my company completely gratis . . . and it's going to be a blast (as long as the weather is good). :)

 

 

Point is, if your company weren't making a profit, if they let you keep your job, you'd be working gratis a lot more.

capice??? ;)

[big_duck]

Does it take 5 weeks to gas up the ship? Whats with the 5 week price window? 1 or 2 weeks is plenty.

 

5 weeks is a trend, 1 or 2 is a blip. :cool:

[vacation_junkie]

I don't get this. People are all up and down on the boards about this!

 

If you have already booked your Carnival Cruise or intend on booking with the Fuel surcharge included then that means that you have accepted the price and are willing to travel regardless of the fuel surcharge. You have already considered it gone!

 

It is funny how when they mention a slight chance of it being refunded that people now have a problem with it (After they have agreed to pay the price for their trip)!

 

You booked without thought that it may be refunded!

 

So if it gets refund consider it a bonus!

 

Do people not realize that Carnival is a business..transportation involved!

 

Being a business owner. I know first hand that When the price of gas goes up..EVERYTHING goes up. The Gas surcharge isn't pertaining to only the Fuel for the boat

 

The price of the food that you eat on Ship goes up..The Grocer companies that supply the food increases their prices for the products because it costs them more to deliver it to the ship for your cruise, more to get the food from their suppliers! We don't pay for the food on the ship so they can't give us a surcharge on the food! They don't increase the price of the Cruise. You generally see if drop .

 

The price of EVERYTHING goes up.

 

From the cleaning solutions used to clean the boat , to the FREE Samples/Items in the Bathrooms...to the Laundry Detergent used to wash our sheets......

 

Have you prices cruises from Other Companies lately?

 

Even with the Gas surcharge Carnival is way more competitive!

 

Hats of to Carnival for being the "FIRST" company to even put an offer on the table regarding refunds for the Fuel charge!!!!!

 

Sure it would be a bonus to get an OBC..but its not disrupting my vacation if I don't..i already paid and I considered it gone!

[DGP1111]

. . .We don't pay for the food on the ship. . .

I was totally getting your post up to that point. You lost me there.

 

 

From the cleaning solutions used to clean the boat , to the FREE Samples/Items in the Bathrooms...

Carnival, like other lines, is actually paid by the product manufacturer to put those in the cabins

 

Add me to the list, which includes Snorkel earlier, who are grateful to CCL for putting this effort out there. :)

In a completely separate thread I mentioned I was certain CCL would be reactive to any reversal, and not proactive. I was sooo totally wrong on that one.:o

Another line who was in some discussion of being the first, is probably now certainly asking what the %#$@ just happened. :eek:

[vacation_junkie]

Add me to the list, which includes Snorkel earlier, who are grateful to CCL for putting this effort out there. :)

In a completely separate thread I mentioned I was certain CCL would be reactive to any reversal, and not proactive. I was sooo totally wrong on that one.:o

Another line who was in some discussion of being the first, is probably now certainly asking what the %#$@ just happened. :eek:

 

What I meant was..that we pay for our food in the initial cost of our trip! They don't tack on any extra cause the price of food went up! ;)

[DGP1111]

Gotcha, Thanks !! :)

[vacation_junkie]

Gotcha, Thanks !! :)

 

:D no problem!

[13point1]

Wow. That surprised me. People who heat their homes with oil don't feel it's less costly in the winter...trust me on that one.

Good news is that it looks like heating my home this year won't be as horrid as I thought it was going to be. Maybe this winter I won't have to wear 4 layers of clothes....2 or 3 may do. *sigh*

Well everyone doesnt use oil to heat their homes in the winter.Also, demand for oil is lower in the winter than in the spring/summer.

[browneyes7]

Ok, if I understand correctly if the price per barrel is $70 or below the five days prior to my cruise, the fuel charge will be refunded as an OBC at time of sailing. So.. where do I look in the paper to see what the current prices are?

 

Thanks For your help~

 

 

Happy Cruising!

Donna

 

I believe it was $79 a day or two ago!!

[UpstateCruizer]

Why would the fuel have been removed? Carnival said you have the choice until Oct 31st if you choose to book 2010 cruises. You can book a the price now and pay the fuel surcharge OR you can wait until Oct 31st, after they increase the prices to book without the fuel surcharge.

 

My guess is once its after Oct 31st, if your cruise has not gone up as much as what you paid in fuel, you could elect to subtract one from the other and they would reduce the amount of your final payment.

 

Now the poster below thinks she should email her PVP because you said her fuel should be eliminated, when thats clearly not what Carnival said.

 

.... again Carnival said, bookings made after Oct 31st, they will not have the fuel surcharge added but will just increase the price of the cruise. They reserve the right to add a fuel surcharge on later.

 

Whoa......:eek: I did NOT say that Carnival said they would remove the charges for ANYONE who simply read my post and decided to call. I also did not say they should call nor did I say they should expect this to happen. You really need to re-read what I wrote as I did not said her charge should be eliminated. I do not work for Carnival and I have absolutely no control over wether or not they will or won't eliminate a surcharge. Everyone (who booked with Carnival) has the right to decide for themselves wether or not they want to make a call to Carnival to see what they say wether it be OBC after final payment or fuel surcharge issues.

[firefly333]

Whoa......:eek: I did NOT say that Carnival said they would remove the charges for ANYONE who simply read my post and decided to call. I also did not say they should call nor did I say they should expect this to happen. You really need to re-read what I wrote as I did not said her charge should be eliminated. I do not work for Carnival and I have absolutely no control over wether or not they will or won't eliminate a surcharge. Everyone (who booked with Carnival) has the right to decide for themselves wether or not they want to make a call to Carnival to see what they say wether it be OBC after final payment or fuel surcharge issues.

 

The following is confusing to post here on this thread as you seem to be saying folks might get it removed .... instead of yelling at me, why not clear up what you said? It does seem to imply that 2010 fuel surcharges already charged might be removed now does it not?

 

Originally Posted by crazed

Wasn't there a post on here yesterday from someone who had a 2010 cruise booked, and received an email from their PVP telling them the surcharge had been removed? Good luck on getting it removed and congrats on that wrap!

[halos]

Well everyone doesnt use oil to heat their homes in the winter.Also, demand for oil is lower in the winter than in the spring/summer.

 

 

I am well aware that not everyone heats their homes with oil. I was just saying as one who does that I never knew oil prices were lower in the winter because I am not charged any less for oil in the winter. Just because the barrel prices are shown on that graph, it is not telling of what people are charged. If you are in an area that heats with oil, the demand is high so you are charged more. So, all I was trying to say was that the fact that it is lower in the winter was s surprise to me. Please read my post.

Demand for oil nationally may be more in the summer, but that does not reflect individual areas and prices vary all over. You only have to travel a mile to see that at the pumps.

[calgarygary]

Actually the price of oil does drop in the winter

http://indexmundi.com/commodities/?commodity=crude-oil-brent&months=60

Please review your chart closely and you will see that in every year, the price for a barrel is higher in Jan. than in Sept. and early Oct.

[North_bound]

I am well aware that not everyone heats their homes with oil. I was just saying as one who does that I never knew oil prices were lower in the winter because I am not charged any less for oil in the winter. Just because the barrel prices are shown on that graph, it is not telling of what people are charged. If you are in an area that heats with oil, the demand is high so you are charged more. So, all I was trying to say was that the fact that it is lower in the winter was s surprise to me. Please read my post.

Demand for oil nationally may be more in the summer, but that does not reflect individual areas and prices vary all over. You only have to travel a mile to see that at the pumps.

 

Halos, 13point1,

 

I'm no expert on commodities but I believe that the bulk of oil for home heating fuel is actually purchased late summer/early fall. It takes time to refine, transport and then distribute. Something like 90 to 120 days. So, we really do pay top price for heating oil.

 

I'm sure that since home heating fuel is so similar to the fuel burned by these ships the lead time is probably similar. Since fuel is such a large component of the cost of cruise lines, I'm sure they have their own staff of commodity traders that purchase their fuel on the open market and schedule it for JIT (just in time) delivery to the ships as they arrive, very much like a stock purchase, only they do not resell.

 

This is why I don't understand the 5 week window for purchases that can probably contracted in a matter of minutes by commodity traders.

 

If someone knows more about this, I would appreciate someone to explain/correct.

[vacation_junkie]

Well everyone doesnt use oil to heat their homes in the winter.Also, demand for oil is lower in the winter than in the spring/summer.

 

Doesn't just mean its for people who use oil to heat their homes! They are predicting at 25%-30% raise in our heating bill (Natural Gas) due to the high fuel prices!!!

[mrgoalie]

How many of you out there think that oil is really going to be under $70 a barrel for 25 consecutive trading periods in the volitable market?? Keep dreaming if any of you think you are going to see a dime of ship credit anytime soon. If I am wrong I'll stand up and apologize, but dont start planning on having a few extra drinks yet. The only way for Carnival or any other line to make good on these surcharges is to pick a date, stick to it, and eliminate it. If oil shoot sky high again, then pick another date, stick to it, and reinstate the charge. This whole fuel charge issue is going to be on again off again probably forever so get use it.......There I feel better now ;-)

[dan40]

Halos, 13point1,

 

I'm no expert on commodities but I believe that the bulk of oil for home heating fuel is actually purchased late summer/early fall. It takes time to refine, transport and then distribute. Something like 90 to 120 days. So, we really do pay top price for heating oil.

 

I'm sure that since home heating fuel is so similar to the fuel burned by these ships the lead time is probably similar. Since fuel is such a large component of the cost of cruise lines, I'm sure they have their own staff of commodity traders that purchase their fuel on the open market and schedule it for JIT (just in time) delivery to the ships as they arrive, very much like a stock purchase, only they do not resell.

 

This is why I don't understand the 5 week window for purchases that can probably contracted in a matter of minutes by commodity traders.

 

If someone knows more about this, I would appreciate someone to explain/correct.

 

I would be surprised if they are not bulk buying for the entire Carnival Corporate fleet. Do you think they are scheduling JIT deliveries for 80 ships all over the world? I'd guess they do a lot of storage too, which means time lags.

 

Dan

[vacation_junkie]

Originally Posted by Litewait

Ok, if I understand correctly if the price per barrel is $70 or below the five days prior to my cruise, the fuel charge will be refunded as an OBC at time of sailing. So.. where do I look in the paper to see what the current prices are?

 

Thanks For your help~

 

 

Happy Cruising!

Donna

 

Noooooo:eek: :D

 

Count back 5 days trading days before your cruise.

Example:

Cruise leaves Nov 22nd!

 

Count back 5 trading days.

Nov 21st, 20th ,19th, 18th, 17th.

These days do not count!

 

The 25 trading days that you need to monitor the gas prices would be:

November 14th , 13th , 12th , 11th , 10th

November 7th , 6th , 5th , 4th , 3rd

October 31st , 30th, 29th , 28th , 27th

October 24th , 23rd , 22nd , 21st , 20th

October 17th , 16th , 15th , 14th , 13th

[solle1]

How many of you out there think that oil is really going to be under $70 a barrel for 25 consecutive trading periods in the volitable market?? Keep dreaming if any of you think you are going to see a dime of ship credit anytime soon. If I am wrong I'll stand up and apologize, but dont start planning on having a few extra drinks yet. The only way for Carnival or any other line to make good on these surcharges is to pick a date, stick to it, and eliminate it. If oil shoot sky high again, then pick another date, stick to it, and reinstate the charge. This whole fuel charge issue is going to be on again off again probably forever so get use it.......There I feel better now ;-)

 

you get it !

What was the price when they instituted the surcharge ?

Why wasn't initially tied to the GNP of Bolivia or whatever arbitrary benchmark they establish . Im not b'in I understand the neccesity of accounting for fluctuation but don't spin this removal as anything but a wave at fairness

[MikeNKim]

When I booked my 2010 cruise, I specifically asked my PVP if they removed the fuel s/c (as prices have been going down I was hoping it would be removed soon) would I still have to pay it and she said no.

 

So I sent her a email when this was all announced last week and she said that it would be deleted but not till after the end of the month and would send me a new invoice.

 

FIngers crossed I will get it deleted.

[firefly333]

When I booked my 2010 cruise, I specifically asked my PVP if they removed the fuel s/c (as prices have been going down I was hoping it would be removed soon) would I still have to pay it and she said no.

 

So I sent her a email when this was all announced last week and she said that it would be deleted but not till after the end of the month and would send me a new invoice.

 

FIngers crossed I will get it deleted.

 

Really, if that is so, then it is against the new policy just announced. Carnival said anything booked before Oct 31st you would have the fuel surcharge added, after that date it would be removed and prices would go up instead. I was thinking they would adjust your price to whatever the new price was if it was up less than the amount of fuel surcharge.

 

Hope you PVP removes the surcharge fast before she finds out what the policy is. Doing it for one and not for everyone is only going to make the rest feel cheated.

[Dan Askin]

Hi,

 

Just want to let everyone know Cruise Critic launched a piece about the fuel surcharges.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=2874

 

Thanks,

 

Dan