Anyone pay the fuel surcharge?

[amyd1972]

I'm curious if anyone has had to pay the fuel surcharge since I noticed oil is indeed above $65 per barrel.

If RCI is going to charge it will I not know this until the day of the cruise or do they notify you in advance?

[felix_the_cat]

No, haven't paid the surcharge in a long time. I believe none of them want to be the first to put it on again. The economy isn't moving as well as they thought it would and I (and this is personal thought only) believe they know there will be a lot of cancellations if the put it back on at this time.

[felix_the_cat]

To the second half of your question - when they do decide to do it everyone will be notified at the same time and if RCL keeps with their normal ways for a lot of people it will be the day they sail.

[blueliner]

None of the major cruiselines have implemented the fuel surcharges. In the current economy, I don't think they will really implement the fuel surcharges. If they did, you would have to give you a notice well ahead of time. If you had already made F/P, they would have to contact you to authorize an additional CC charge. If you haven't made F/P yet, they would send you or your TA a notice that it would be added on to F/P.

That part of the fine print is just something the cruiselines keep in there just in case, I doubt seriously any cruiseline will implement it while the economy is down.

[felix_the_cat]

Originally Posted by blueliner

None of the major cruiselines have implemented the fuel surcharges. In the current economy, I don't think they will really implement the fuel surcharges. If they did, you would have to give you a notice well ahead of time. If you had already made F/P, they would have to contact you to authorize an additional CC charge. If you haven't made F/P yet, they would send you or your TA a notice that it would be added on to F/P.

That part of the fine print is just something the cruiselines keep in there just in case, I doubt seriously any cruiseline will implement it while the economy is down.

One of the primary reasons for it being on every reservation is so that they can retoactively charge everyone. It's such that even if you have made final payment, they can charge you. Highly unfair but damn thing is legal.

[blueliner]

Originally Posted by felix_the_cat

One of the primary reasons for it being on every reservation is so that they can retoactively charge everyone. It's such that even if you have made final payment, they can charge you. Highly unfair but damn thing is legal.

They cannot just charge it to you at the pier or retroactively. When RCI implemented the initial fuel surcharge a couple of years ago, they did not make it retroactive, it only applied to bookings with a sailing after a certain future date. There is no reason to believe they would hit anyone who has made their final payment with a retroactive charge for fuel surcharges. Also, RCI would have to contact the customers to reauthorize their credit cards well before sailing, as when you make final payment for a cruise, they only authorize the CC for the exact amount charged. They don't keep the CC on file for other charges, and they can't charge it without your authorization. I disagree strongly that RCI would hit anyone with a fuel surcharge at the pier or even after final payment, no way they would anger their cruisers like that. If RCI were to ever reimplement that charge, it would be done carefully with lots of notice.

In 2007 when the Alaska passenger head tax went into effect, RCI had to charge everyone the tax. Well, our agency got a notice from RCI announcing the new tax, and offered a full refund to any of our clients that didn't want to pay the tax. So history tells us that RCI does not do that sort of thing.

[johnthed0g]

I noticed that P&O were mentioning a surcharge when I looked at possible future cruises today.... £2-50 a night, hopefully per room!

[felix_the_cat]

duplicate.

[felix_the_cat]

Originally Posted by blueliner

They cannot just charge it to you at the pier or retroactively. When RCI implemented the initial fuel surcharge a couple of years ago, they did not make it retroactive, it only applied to bookings with a sailing after a certain future date. There is no reason to believe they would hit anyone who has made their final payment with a retroactive charge for fuel surcharges. Also, RCI would have to contact the customers to reauthorize their credit cards well before sailing, as when you make final payment for a cruise, they only authorize the CC for the exact amount charged. They don't keep the CC on file for other charges, and they can't charge it without your authorization. I disagree strongly that RCI would hit anyone with a fuel surcharge at the pier or even after final payment, no way they would anger their cruisers like that. If RCI were to ever reimplement that charge, it would be done carefully with lots of notice.

In 2007 when the Alaska passenger head tax went into effect, RCI had to charge everyone the tax. Well, our agency got a notice from RCI announcing the new tax, and offered a full refund to any of our clients that didn't want to pay the tax. So history tells us that RCI does not do that sort of thing.

Yes, they most definitely can charge after the fact now. It is in their contract. That's why every invoice from them has the disclaimer "the right to charge etc etc". When they had to give back all the retro they charged the first time out, they had their lawyers make it possible to retro from that point on.

[felix_the_cat]

Originally Posted by blueliner

None of the major cruiselines have implemented the fuel surcharges. In the current economy, I don't think they will really implement the fuel surcharges. If they did, you would have to give you a notice well ahead of time. If you had already made F/P, they would have to contact you to authorize an additional CC charge. If you haven't made F/P yet, they would send you or your TA a notice that it would be added on to F/P.

That part of the fine print is just something the cruiselines keep in there just in case, I doubt seriously any cruiseline will implement it while the economy is down.

When they no longer have your cc info they charge it to your Seapass account. It's what they do when there is a change in port taxes. Carnival group is great at doing that. Quite frequently I get notices from Princess and HAL that the taxes have increased and if it's after final payment, it will be added to their Seapass account. They will be doing the same thing with the fuel surcharge should they decide to implement it again.

[blueliner]

Originally Posted by felix_the_cat

When they no longer have your cc info they charge it to your Seapass account. It's what they do when there is a change in port taxes. Carnival group is great at doing that. Quite frequently I get notices from Princess and HAL that the taxes have increased and if it's after final payment, it will be added to their Seapass account. They will be doing the same thing with the fuel surcharge should they decide to implement it again.

Yes, they can implement it when they want, I am saying I doubt they would apply it to any booking already past F/P if they ever did. Although Carnival may do it, I have never heard of anyone showing up for an RCI cruise and finding a surcharge or a tax added on their seapass account. As I stated, when the Alaska $50 head tax was implemented, RCI offered to let people cancel with no fees and full refund if they didn't want to pay the tax, they didn't add it on to anyones seapass account. So there is no reason to believe they would do that now.

[felix_the_cat]

Originally Posted by blueliner

Yes, they can implement it when they want, I am saying I doubt they would apply it to any booking already past F/P if they ever did. Although Carnival may do it, I have never heard of anyone showing up for an RCI cruise and finding a surcharge or a tax added on their seapass account. As I stated, when the Alaska $50 head tax was implemented, RCI offered to let people cancel with no fees and full refund if they didn't want to pay the tax, they didn't add it on to anyones seapass account. So there is no reason to believe they would do that now.

While I agree that Carnival Corp. is much faster to add costs onto seapass accounts, I don't believe for a minute that RCL won't. What I do think is going to happen, if and when they make a decision, they will announce a date. It will only be a short time and everyone sailing after that date will be charged the surcharge. It won't matter when you booked, you are going to pay. Right now most of the cruiselines (except for Cunard and P&O who are charging a fuel surcharge) are not willing to be the first and they also know that there will be cancellations they can't afford to have happen. All this is due to the economy in the U.S. not coming back they way the pundits thought it would by now. But once it does, I guarantee RCL will get on the same bandwagon and begin charging a fuel surcharge on those who are already booked. (and paid)

[blueliner]

Originally Posted by felix_the_cat

While I agree that Carnival Corp. is much faster to add costs onto seapass accounts, I don't believe for a minute that RCL won't. What I do think is going to happen, if and when they make a decision, they will announce a date. It will only be a short time and everyone sailing after that date will be charged the surcharge. It won't matter when you booked, you are going to pay. Right now most of the cruiselines (except for Cunard and P&O who are charging a fuel surcharge) are not willing to be the first and they also know that there will be cancellations they can't afford to have happen. All this is due to the economy in the U.S. not coming back they way the pundits thought it would by now. But once it does, I guarantee RCL will get on the same bandwagon and begin charging a fuel surcharge on those who are already booked. (and paid)

Of course you believe that, your "anti-RCI" bias is pretty evident here.

[schang42t]

I hope they don't...

[felix_the_cat]

Originally Posted by blueliner

Of course you believe that, your "anti-RCI" bias is pretty evident here.

Actually I'm not as much as you think. I am realistic though.

I have to know this information properly for my clients. All cruiselines will do exactly the same thing when the time comes, not just RCL.

I would also point out that RCL pushed back final payment date 5 days effective August 1 and didn't let anyone know til Aug. 5.