The price of oil is rising steadily and cruise lines could reinstate fuel surcharges at any time without warning.
If you have a cruise on deposit, or even fully paid for, you could still have a fuel supplement imposed on you at any time now; And you would have no choice except to pay it or lose your cruise. Oil is going up, and the only thing stopping the cruise lines from imposing that fuel surcharge today is the weak economy causing pricing pressure.
Fuel Surcharges were added to cruise fares by the cruise lines back in November of 2007. On average, the lines charged from $5 to $10 per person per day. At the time the price of oil had crept as high as $130 per barrel. On the day most cruise lines actually imposed the surcharges oil was still well above $100/barrel.
The cruise lines that imposed the fuel surcharges put them onto every cruise, even those that had already been paid in full. Travel agents were dispatched to contact their customers and ask them to cough up anywhere from $70 to $150 additional per couple - or else lose the cruise they had already paid for in full.
Almost everyone paid up, but naturally those who felt they had already settled their contracts were not happy about the surprise fee. Soon, a number a class action lawsuits were filed by attorneys general in several states, including Florida. They prevailed and the specific charges imposed after the final payment had already been made, were ruled not legal. These cruisers were all immediately refunded to the tune of several millions of dollars from the cruise industry.
But the surcharges put on people who had only put down a deposit were still legal as long as the cruise lines offered the choice of paying the surcharge or taking a refund of the deposit. Of course all new cruise bookings had the extra surcharges charges added.
These surcharges continued until the the price of oil fell once again. The cruise lines had promised the cruising public that if the price of oil dropped below about $70/barrel (the price varied slightly by cruise line) that they would not only stop charging the fuel supplement fees, but that they would even refund the fees already collected.
For example, Carnival had stated that if oil dropped to $70 or less and stayed there for 30 consecutive days that the refunds would be given. A stretch of 30 days below $70 nearly occurred once, but upon closer review it was noted the price had crept above $70 for brief periods during certain days, even if the price did not close at that level any of those days and did not appear on the daily price charts (talk about nitpicking). About 20 days later, however, there had been 30 consecutive days with oil below the promised refund price and tens of thousands of cruisers received either cash refunds or onboard credits for the money they had paid in.
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We are Over the "Strike Price" Again
But - when the original surcharges were rescinded the cruise lines said that if oil reached $70/barrel once again they reserved the right to reinstate the surcharge at any time. And furthermore, because they were now giving advance notice they also reserved the right to impose them on people who had already paid in full, and this time a class action lawsuit will not be able to turn that around.
Whether you realize it or not - if you have a cruise booked right now, whether on deposit or even paid in full, fuel surcharges could be reinstated at any time.
Just last week Carnival said that current pricing pressures precluded them from reimposing the surcharges, but that was last week. This week oil is up another $5, to $85/barrel, which is $15 over the price where they said they might reimpose the fuel supplements.
Things change quickly, and the point is that as we enter the summer the price of oil tends to go even higher. We are just in April now and oil is already at a new high for the year. Just know that you might end up paying a fuel supplement, anywhere from $5 to $10 per person per day, if you book a cruise now. If cruise bookings remain strong, and the price of oil stays above $90/barrel for an extended time I would not be surprised at all to see this happen. We are currently close to $85/barrel.
Here is the recent history of oil prices just in the last five months:
