Fuel Surcharge ?

[wadecruiser]

IF Carnival brings it back it needs to apply to all people wether they are after final payment or not, I'm included in that final payment made group and have a cruise in the works for next year so I'm included it in it too.

 

Reason being, when the fuel charge was cancelled everyone demaded refunds, including those that were already paid in full or past final payment date. If everyone deserves a refund when the surcharge is dropped then everyone deserves to pay it if/when it's reinstated. You can't have it both ways.

 

Well put. That does put it into perspective. It is too bad that we have to worry about it at all, but such is the nature of this economy. I am just lucky I can go on this cruise.

[grneyedgirl]

I, too, have to be careful of how I spend my money. But, when I booked the cruise, I took into account that I could have to pay an additional $9 per day because of the fuel supplement charge. So, if they add it, I am not going to worry about it because I signed the aggreement which stated that the charge could be added when the cost of oil is greater than $70 per barrel. In a sense, I budgeted for the additional cost and if I don't have to pay it well...I can just have a couple more DOD's. :D

 

I don't understand why people are so upset about the possible adding of the fuel supplement. Ok, I understand that it is an additional cost. But, this is a risk we all took when we booked the individual cruises.

[bfkkbc]

Carnival used to have a link to help you track the fuel prices. Does anyone know where we can find that info on carnival's website??:confused:

[calicruise74]

Carnival used to have a link to help you track the fuel prices. Does anyone know where we can find that info on carnival's website??:confused:

 

 

They used to use nymex.com as the "official" tracking resource, per the message they posted last year. I bet it would be the same again.

[Wolfie48]

Don't flame me! I read a couple of responses that said "not to worry about it", and one was a stockholder and would welcome it.

 

Why worry about something that hasn't happened, and may not? If oil goes above $70.00 and if carnival decides to add a fuel charge it won't be $9.00 per person per day unless it goes much higher. The fuel charge would likely start at $5.00 and may or may not include 3rd and 4th guests in a cabin. While I hope they don't need to add a fuel charge if they do I will pay it gladly and enjoy my cruise!

[firefly333]

Why worry about something that hasn't happened, and may not? If oil goes above $70.00 and if carnival decides to add a fuel charge it won't be $9.00 per person per day unless it goes much higher. The fuel charge would likely start at $5.00 and may or may not include 3rd and 4th guests in a cabin. While I hope they don't need to add a fuel charge if they do I will pay it gladly and enjoy my cruise!

 

You can cross that "if" off your list. Oil went above $70 briefly on Friday morning. Its already happened.

[glrounds]

I think that:

1) Carnival didn't hedge their oil purchases before, but probably couldn't resist hedging some when it was at $40, so they're, IMHO, protected 1-2 years out.

2) Even without the hedging, as others have stated, tacking on a fuel surcharge after having dropped the cabin pricing so dramatically wouldn't make much sense. Especially true for the reason they dropped the prices, to guarantee full ships throughout the season. It would make more business sense to gradually raise the pricing over several months and leave the "hot button" of fuel surcharges to others.

[killian25]

Y are people so dramatic about the oil??

We all know that oil goes up and down just like the stock market..

It is SUMMER gas always goes up..

 

I have seen like 4 threads in the past 2 minutes about oil...

[G'ma]

Ok, here is something I have not seen addressed yet. Fuel did top $70 for awhile today but closed just under, so no fuel charges yet obviously. What I want to know is how they determine when to charge someone. We are booked on the Dream Feb 2010. If fuel tops $70 now (sometime in June) I know they can implement it immedietly, but would they for a cruise that far out? It wouldn't make much sense to me to implement it, then maybe have to refund it, then possibly have to implement it again, possibly refund again (see where I am going with this?) Would they wait till final payment time to determine whether or not we would need to be assesed the fuel charges for our cruise?

 

TIA

 

If you read their little blurb about it, any increase would apply to ALL cruises whether paid in full or not.

 

They learned their lesson last time, for sure. Now this information is part of the passenger ticket contract to which we all agree when we put our deposit down....

[oldpatrol]

I'm not worried about it. If it's implemented I'll pay it. If not I'll buy drinks with it. They just might be saving my liver if they institute it. (HA!HA!):)

[steveaaaaa]

Most of us are not stockholders. As for flaming? Go back and read your original post. Again, that was one post that said he would welcome it and chances are he's being sarcastic. Sorry if those people irritate you.

 

I am not being sarcastic.I am dead serious. CCL withheld their dividend last year and a big hit on the financials was fuel.

I have enough shares that I attend the yearly meeting.

 

Steve

 

It hit $70,charge the fuel surcharge!. If they did hedge oil then more profit.Every one agreed to it when they purchased their cruise.

[Snorkel2Much]

I agree with Carnival Platinum Cruiser: surely they hedged prices for fuel when oil was at $45 per barrel, but there is no way for cruisers to know.

Given that previous filings claimed that they did not hedge, if they have now started to hedge it would be disclosed in the next 10Q and 10K filings.

[crow99]

I am not being sarcastic.I am dead serious. CCL withheld their dividend last year and a big hit on the financials was fuel.

I have enough shares that I attend the yearly meeting.

 

Steve

 

It hit $70,charge the fuel surcharge!. If they did hedge oil then more profit.Every one agreed to it when they purchased their cruise.

 

The only thing you need to consider is brand damage, if they are the only cruiseline that charge the fuelcharge for a short period as the price briefly went above $70 it could put a lot of people off crusing Carnival in the future, therefore short term gain for long term pain.

 

Personally I have no problem with the charge but would expect the price of oil to hit $70+ for a prolonged period before the charge was implemented, if they implement it tomorrow for the next 3 months of cruises based on where it hit above $70 last week a lot of people might be annoyed - yes we all signed into it - but theres a difference between covering the costs and trying to hit your customers in their pocket.

[firefly333]

The only thing you need to consider is brand damage, if they are the only cruiseline that charge the fuelcharge for a short period as the price briefly went above $70 it could put a lot of people off crusing Carnival in the future, therefore short term gain for long term pain.

 

- but theres a difference between covering the costs and trying to hit your customers in their pocket.

 

RCL and NCL both have $65 as their price. We will know soon if RCL will implement the surcharge for the next qtr, in a week they will either say yea or nay. Dont know if NCL has a plan in place like RCL. I think Carnival will wait to see what RCL does, since they have a specific date set.

[CRUISEMAMMA]

I just wish I could get a straight answer, TA tells us one thing, Carnival tells us another, and then there are all these threads. It is frustrating and even though it doesn't answere the question, an honest "we just don't know" would be nice from carnival. What they told me and what I am seeing on these boards are completely opposite. I know what the book says I can read but we also have had to save for 2 years and we sail in 8 days. An extra 144 or so dollars will make a difference of whether our kids will get to do one or two excursions and it would be nice to prepare them better for the possibility that that might happen. I guess we cross our fingers and prepare our kids.:confused:

[steveaaaaa]

The only thing you need to consider is brand damage, if they are the only cruiseline that charge the fuelcharge for a short period as the price briefly went above $70 it could put a lot of people off crusing Carnival in the future, therefore short term gain for long term pain.

 

Personally I have no problem with the charge but would expect the price of oil to hit $70+ for a prolonged period before the charge was implemented, if they implement it tomorrow for the next 3 months of cruises based on where it hit above $70 last week a lot of people might be annoyed - yes we all signed into it - but theres a difference between covering the costs and trying to hit your customers in their pocket.

 

I agree with you to a point,but why put a number on it? $70 is/was the number. Why not $80 or $90?

Lets look at brand damage from the other angle.They wait 30 days and then they charge it.60 days from now oil drops to $69.99 a barrel.Do they stop the charge that day,week,month? Do they rescind it,but charge those who sail for the upcoming 30 days?The same period they waited to implement it?

I know I would be ticked if people were not charged it while it was over $70 and I am being charged it when its under $70.

Don't make sense does it?

Steve

[firefly333]

I agree with you to a point,but why put a number on it? $70 is/was the number. Why not $80 or $90?

Lets look at brand damage from the other angle.They wait 30 days and then they charge it.60 days from now oil drops to $69.99 a barrel.Do they stop the charge that day,week,month? Do they rescind it,but charge those who sail for the upcoming 30 days?The same period they waited to implement it?

I know I would be ticked if people were not charged it while it was over $70 and I am being charged it when its under $70.

Don't make sense does it?

Steve

 

On the other hand, I think for a implementation point of view, Carnival cannot announce it on Monday that it starts Tuesday. Impossible. They have to allow a certain time period for contacting TAs to notify them and give people time to be billed and pay up, unless they plan on collecting it on the ship which my PVP says they woudnt do.

 

By necessity there will be a significant lead period or Im a monkeys uncle.

[Pegs222]

On the other hand, I think for a implementation point of view, Carnival cannot announce it on Monday that it starts Tuesday. Impossible. They have to allow a certain time period for contacting TAs to notify them and give people time to be billed and pay up, unless they plan on collecting it on the ship which my PVP says they woudnt do.

 

By necessity there will be a significant lead period or Im a monkeys uncle.

 

I honestly did not think this could happen again, but then I did not think about it until I booked our cruise on Tuesday and our TA told me we may have to pay the fuel charge. It was such a mess last year, first we had to pay it, then we didn't since we booked before October 2007, then they were suppose to refund it back to us and that took forever. Then when the prices went down for our cruise they deducted the fuel charge from the refund.

 

I hope it takes a long time for the price of oil to bottom out and stay over $70.00. It seems to be going up one day, down the next. This is so frustrating for everyone that is thisclose to sailing and for those that have a while.

[firefly333]

It seems to be going up one day, down the next. This is so frustrating for everyone that is this close to sailing and for those that have a while.

 

I think oil only had two down days in the last 2 weeks :( I think the direction right now is clearly up, not up and down .... from someone watching the daily fluctuations. Yep, I think people are frustrated with the uncertainty.

[Pegs222]

I think oil only had two down days in the last 2 weeks :( I think the direction right now is clearly up, not up and down .... from someone watching the daily fluctuations. Yep, I think people are frustrated with the uncertainty.

 

Yes, your right it has only gone up and down two times. But your right when you say it is going to take time for them to contact all the TA's. By the time they get all their ducks in a row the price of oil could go down again. It must be as frustrating for them as it is for us, all the uncertainty.

[salty dingo]

I'd like to see the fuel cost be treated similarly to the auto-tip: have it added at the end of the cruise. The price of oil at the start of the cruise (closing price the day prior) would determine the amount of the surcharge.

 

That way, people would not have to be concerned about it like they are now, and it can't really be predicted, so it's just like any other fuel costs. You pay what it costs when you travel. You can plan for a certain amount, and what you actually pay may end up more or less than that based on what the fuel actually costs when you travel.

 

Carnival has every reason to pass the cost of fuel along to passengers, and I don't think too many people would object to this.

[firefly333]

I'd like to see the fuel cost be treated similarly to the auto-tip: have it added at the end of the cruise. The price of oil at the start of the cruise (closing price the day prior) would determine the amount of the surcharge.

 

I don't think too many people would object to this.

 

:eek: Yikes!!!! If I didnt like the uncertainly now, this would sure do it to me. Im already to the point I am going to wait until I know if RCL has a surcharge before booking my spring cruise and not booking anything other than Crazies Too (it is what it is).

[Silverscreencruiser]

After the mess that Carnival went through the last time they imposed a fuel surcharge, they undoubtedly had their lawyers draft the language they used when they removed the charge to give themselves the maximum flexibility. However, just because they have the right to do something doesn't mean they will. The environment now is much different than it was in the winter and spring of 2008 when the first fuel charges went through:

 

1) The economy is in much worse shape so that cruise lines have had to slash prices like crazy to get anyone onboard. Bad publicity of any sort (after the problems from the swine flu and the forced reschedulings) is the last thing they need.

 

2) The price of oil is still much lower than it was during the peak of the fuel scare (about $140 a barrel then) and much of the price rise this time around is due to speculation rather than the general laws of supply and demand. Demand is down as people and businesses have tightened their belts, so there's an adequate supply. Some people keep bidding the price up beyond what it should be hoping it will go still higher. When the bubble bursts (as it did last year, and with housing), it will settle again.

 

3) Having been bitten once, Carnival has probably learned its lesson and has taken steps to hedge its exposure to price increases this time around. Therefore, the impact of the higher prices won't be as severe.

 

Carnival and the other cruise lines have to consider the damage to their reputation and to bookings should they impose a surcharge when things are tough. In addition, imposing a surcharge that leads to a rash of cancellations for cabins that wind up being rebooked at firesale prices is not a winning proposition. You are more likely to see them try to recoup it by raising drink prices and photo prices to get people once they are on board. In addition, there will be a considerable administrative expense in imposing a surcharge they have to consider as well.

 

Of course, if oil prices stay up, say around $100 a barrel for a lengthy period of time, they will have to reconsider their options. But they won't do anything hastily in this economy.