Carnival Stops Fuel Surcharge

January 1, 2009

As of December 17, 2008, Carnival will no longer charge a cruise fuel surcharge. Previously, Carnival charged as much as $15 per day. They will now be refunding those fuel surcharges through a ship board credit after the 17th.

In a statement on Thursday, Carnival’s director of marketing, Bill Harber, said oil prices have dropped low enough for the company to lift the surcharges. “As the price of oil has dropped to $46 per barrel, it has now reached a level where we are able to suspend the fuel supplement,” Harber said.

However, they did indicate that if fuel prices escalated, those fees could be reinstated.

This should increase bookings, a good thing for Carnival. Many cruisers were quite upset when the cruise companies began placing fuel surcharges.

Starting in 2010, Royal Caribbean’s fuel surcharge of ten dollars a day will be dropped. They also said that each quarter in 2009, they will examine the fuel conditions to determine whether to refund the charge.

I believe the removal of the cruise fuel surcharge that Carnival once had will eventually cause Royal Caribbean to follow as well and drop the charges too. I’d expect to see them make a move in the near future

Lets all hope that oil prices stay down and we never see a cruise fuel surcharge ever again

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Carnival Stops Fuel Surcharge

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