Fuel upcharge letter

[RuthC]

If there is such a letter I would have to wonder who is getting it; I didn't. I have two cruises booked for next year and am well outside the final payment date (cruises are for 7/06 and 10/06).

Could it be that there is a letter---but only for sailings during a set period of time?

[kryos]

And regarding things like port charges and Panama Canal fees, any cruise line has to make an estimate of costs many, many months in advance of actual sailings. If their operational costs go up more than minimally, they have to take action. Sure, I'll grouse since I don't want to have to pay more ... but it's a fact of life. Look at what our electric, natural gas and fuel oil utilities are doing right now. Same thing, IMO.

As far as I'm concerned, that's a predictable cost of doing business that HAL or whatever cruise line should have planned for. If the fee goes up (or even goes down) my price shouldn't be affected if I've already made final payment. Sorry, but I would grouse very much were I told upon boarding that I had to pay some sort of a surcharge for fuel, increased port charges and the like. Hey, look ... maybe for some reason the cost of fuel goes DOWN since I made final payment. I wouldn't expect the cruise line to give me a FUEL REFUND, would I? I paid a set fare and that's the fare. If the prices go down, the cruise line pockets a little spare change ... and that's fine.

 

If those things go up, fine ... assess the surcharge on FUTURE cruises ... ones that have not passed the final payment stage yet. Those cruisers are being dealt with fairly ... because they are being given the option of cancelling without penalty if the new price is not to their liking. But don't penalize me once I am onboard and can't do anything about it.

 

Sorry, but on this issue, I guess we'll just have to "agree to disagree." :)

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[Grumpy1]

I would expect a refund of the port charges I PAID ... not the raised price if I didn't pay it.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

Port charges are not "officially" a part of the quoted price. If you look at the quotes, you will see a price for the cruise and a price for port charges and taxes. The TA does not receive a commisson on the latter items. If you miss a port, the port fees are refunded. If the port increases their fees, you can be asked to pay the increase, although the cruise line will often "eat" the increase if it is small, just to maintain goodwill. There can come a time, though, that maintaining goodwill would cause the line to lose money. Then everyone will pay through across the board increases. You can't plan for every eventuality. Who could have planned for the increases in fuel prices following Katrina? Or would you prefer that they increase the base price of your cruise enough to cover any possible scenario and then just pocket the extra money when the "what if's" don't happen?

[arzz]

We are after final payment, cruising 12/17 and have heard nothing yet. I am aware, however, that a lot of cruise lines are assessing extra fuel charges (see the recent article on the Cruise Critic News page) but have yet heard nothing from HAL. They would be within their rights to assess a fuel surcharge, and I would not even be surprised if they did so. That said, I would also not be really happy to pay the extra. Quite honestly, I choose my cruises for a number of attributes and price is only one of them. A difference of $50-$100 per person will not cause me to choose one cruise or cruise line over another as the experience as a whole is important to me.

 

It has always amazed me that the same people who complain about lagging standards and changes in services provided gratis may also gripe loudly about just a few dollars one way or another. How can the cruise lines continue to provide all of the services that you enjoy as well as charge very little for you to cruise? Something has to give somewhere. It is not fair to continue to expect the same service from, say, fewer employees. Cuts in the quality of goods like food can only go so far before you lose the quality of the product. You can't have it both ways. Sometimes we just have to pay up for what we want.

 

And lets face it, the cost of fuel is well beyond the limits of control of even the exalted, omnipotent Carnival Corporation.

[noblepa]

A couple of months ago, I posed just this question on this board. The responses were much the same: that the fine print in the contract gives HAL the right to raise the fare until embarkation. Everyone agreed that they would be very unhappy if this happened.

 

I sent an email to HAL and this is the response I got. I've included my original email, as well, so you can see how I worded the question.

 

Dear Mr. Noble,

 

Thank you for contacting Holland America Line regarding your upcoming Mexico

sailing aboard the ms Oosterdam.

 

Your cruise rate is protected at the rate that was in place at the time of

deposit, this will not increase unless a category change is made on this

reservation.

 

Typically, if air prices increase guests who have paid there booking in full are

not subject to the increase. While this seems to always be the case, we are

unable to promise or guarantee that if you are paid in full and the air prices

increase the additional expense would not be passed on to you.

 

Please feel free to contact us again if we may be of additional assistance. We

look forward to welcoming you aboard the ms Oosterdam in April.

 

Kind Regards,

 

 

Sandy

Internet Department

Holland America Line

1-877-SAIL HAL

 

 

 

 

On September 6, 2005 at 5:02 PM, noblepa@msn.com wrote:

 

>

>Topic: Existing reservation

>First Name: Paul

>Last Name: Noble

>Email: noblepa@msn.com

>Booking Number: 7j7gwh

>Message: With the volatile prices of gasoline and diesel fuel, plus the

competitive pressure that will probably result from Carnival's leasing three of

their ships to FEMA for emergency housing, it has been suggested to me that I

might protect myself from possible fare increases by paying my remaining balance

in full.

>

>My wife and I are booked on Oosterdam for a 7 day cruise, beginning Apr 15,

2006. We are also booked for airfare through your plan.

>

>What is HAL's policy regarding fare increases? We have paid the deposit for our

cruise, but we still have a significant remaining balance.

>

>If a fare increase becomes necessary, and I have only paid the deposit, will I

be required to pay the increased fare?

>

>If I have paid my balance in full, will I be required to pay the increased

fare?

>

>If the airlines increase their fare, will we be required to pay the increased

fare?

>

>Thank you,

>Paul Noble

>

>

>

>

[chimera]

Anybody have an actual dollar amount that HAL is supposedly asking? Also, most posters are equating gasoline prices with what the cruise line uses. Cruise ships do not use gasoline. They use bunker oil- essentially the sludge left after a barrel of crude is refined. An earlier post stated that bunker increased by 7%. Is that how much more HAL is asking or are they asking more? Or is this just another way the bean counters are increasing the corporate bottom line?

 

We have not recieved any letter to this effect and we are booked on the Veendam for 11/26 and on the Volendam 3/23/06.:confused:

[doone]

My final payment is due Monday, I'll let you know what happens with me.

[Randyk47]

Mine too Doone so I'll also report back.

[noblepa]

Just for the record, modern cruise ships, including all of HAL's ships, do not use bunker oil. They use diesel fuel. Steamships use bunker oil.

 

Virtually every cruise ship built in the last twenty years uses diesel engines to generate electricity, which in turn powers electric motors to turn the propellers.

 

Diesel is not quite as refined as gasoline, but, lately, the price of diesel has actually been higher than gasoline.

 

Has anyone yet confirmed that HAL is really sending out these letters?

 

Paul Noble

Oosterdam - April, 2006

[eldercruser]

Interesting discussion. Lot's of maybe's and what if's but no substantive proof. We made final payment on our February cruise a couple of weeks ago. No mention before or since of a fuel surcharge.

[kryos]

Interesting discussion. Lot's of maybe's and what if's but no substantive proof. We made final payment on our February cruise a couple of weeks ago. No mention before or since of a fuel surcharge.

I made final payment on my January cruise about six or so weeks ago and I, too, have heard nothing about an "upcharge." Of course, it would be interesting to hear from others who have just sailed a HAL cruise (maybe in the past week or so) if they had such a letter waiting for them in their cabins upon embarkation. Wondering if these letters are being "sent out" at all ... but rather just waiting for passengers in their cabins?

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[sail7seas]

This seems to be 'much ado' about nothing. Unless I have missed it, where has anyone said they actually read/received such a letter? The only letter specifically referenced here is an e-mail which says the 'booking price' will be honored.

 

Until/unless I read something a little more definitive here, I am taking this as a 'hypothetical' conversation and have no concerns our 'booked prices' will not be honored.

 

[BEAV]

Earlier this year, Crystal imposed a $4 per person, per day fuel surcharge. However, to no surprise, the surcharge could be avoided by making final payment by a designated date, which in this case was July 15.

 

I would think that if HAL were to follow in Crystal's footsteps, the terms would either be the same or at least very similar. I cannot imagine HAL, or any cruise line, imposing a surcharge to anyone who has already made final payment.

[Randyk47]

Just this past minute paid my final payment to HAL for our February cruise. Dealt directly with HAL in Seattle as soon as they opened this morning and not a word about any upcharge for fuel.