Yet another fuel surcharge is coming!!

[Carnival Platinum Cruiser]

I was speaking today to a carnival rep in the interline dept. getting my DD214 to them for our upcoming cruise and he said another surcharge is coming. I said the latest surcharge went into effect today and he said yeah they can't keep up with oil going up several dollars a barrel almost daily. He did not know how much or exactly when but is is coming soon.

[krystalkruzer]

After reading this article from USA Today can you blame them ?

 

USA TODAY Travel http://www.usatoday.com/travel/cruises

Think your gas bill is bad? Be glad you're not a cruise line

There's been a lot of griping the past few months about the $7- to $12-a-day fuel surcharges that cruise lines have begun levying on customers. But maybe cruisers should just be happy the charges aren't a whole lot higher.

In a new report released today, UBS analyst Robin Farley offers a detailed look at the impact of higher fuel prices on cruise lines, and it isn't pretty.

Farley estimates industry leader Carnival Corp., the parent company of nearly a dozen lines including Carnival, Princess and Holland America, will spend nearly $2 billion this year on fuel.

The number is nothing if not astounding, given that as recently as five years ago the company's total fuel bill amounted to less than $400 million. In just the last year Carnival's fuel bill is up by nearly $900 million a year -- more than it cost to build the much-ballyhooed Queen Mary 2.

Carnival's smaller rival, Royal Caribbean, is in the same boat, with a fuel bill that Farley estimates will hit $783 million this year, up from $198 million in 2003. Royal Caribbean's fuel bill is up nearly $250 million over the past year.

Put another way, last year fuel accounted for about 17% of expenses at the major lines, up from 11% in 2004, says Farley. And that percentage has rocketed even higher since.

"Since the beginning of 2008, fuel is up another 35-40%, placing additional pressure on costs, and we estimate fuel expenses could account for 20-25% of net cruise costs in 2008," she writes.

Farley says the soaring cost of fuel is the reason cruise line earnings haven't taken off this year, despite a rise in "net yields" -- the amount lines are bringing in per cabin. Net yields, she notes, are rising despite the slowdown in the economy -- a testament to the industry's strength during tough times.

Unlike airlines, another segment of the travel industry that's been heavily impacted by rising fuel prices, the cruise industry remains solidly profitable this year. Just not as profitable as it would have been if oil hadn't spurted to once unthinkable levels.

[Susie51]

Thank you for posting the article. Our off-brand gas station raised it's price to $4.53.9 a gallon today. Chevron and Shell are even higher. It's no wonder cruise lines need to have fuel surcharges.

[ezjack1825]

Thank you for posting the article. Our off-brand gas station raised it's price to $4.53.9 a gallon today. Chevron and Shell are even higher. It's no wonder cruise lines need to have fuel surcharges.

 

Wow, and we're complaining about 3.96 in Florida. Glad I'm not in the People's Republic of Kalifronia!

[ruskatab]

I paid 3.83 today. Thats still shocking to me. Im so glad I got rid of my SUV a couple months ago.

[ldb2]

As hard as it is to believe, I envy you! We are paying about $1.33 a litre here, and our daughter in BC is paying 1.42 a litre last time I checked, and that was a couple of weeks ago. That worked out to over $5.12 a US gallon; $6.40 for a Cdn. gallon, ($5.98 for us here in Alberta). It is just insane. We have a booming economy because of the massive oil industry here, and we STILL pay those prices. And to think, when I bought my first car, I paid 69 cents an imperial gallon back in '76.

[Jolimont]

I pay about $9 per gallon for my diesel fuel in France (it's about $8 for unleaded). But, my car goes about 40 miles to the gallon. Still, it's a big hit and I'm doing whatever I can to walk/bike more and drive less.

[nolaAlive]

There is no denying that America is addicted to oil, however in many European countries (and many other parts of the world), the government tax on gasoline/petrol/etc is more than the price at the pump in the US.

[C cruzer]

What if they/we cant keep up with the prices? I love to travel, esp on a Cruise. But I'm not sure, that it might not become out of reach(at least as often)!And from the sounds of it, that might be soon:eek:

[tximprov]

The increase in price of fuel for the cruise lines in in line with the increase in fuel cost we as citizens are paying. I am personnally tired of hearing excuses such as a strike in Niger, a hurricane in the Gulf, blah, blah , blah, The Saudi oil minister has said repeadetly, "there is no shortage of oil". that is why they wont pump anymore. In fact demand has fallen and with it production has fallen. That is why these reports of stockpiles have decreased. If your not eating a certain item you have in your pantry, your not going to buy it next time you go to the grocery store...same goes with oil. In fact in the past five years more oil reserves have been discovered that probably more than triples the amount of oil thought to be in the world. One word can discribe the rise in fuel. GREED.

[gypsyrose]

I told my boss I was adding a fuel surcharge to my time sheet this week:D If everybody else can do it, why not???? It's really scarey the way prices on everything just keeps jumping. I don't know how some families will survive.

[NeptunesGoddess]

Well, I guess we can expect the daily fuel surcharge to surpass the automatic daily tip charge then. Pretty crazy. Makes me wonder if more and more people will start disputing that daily tip charge. I certainly hope this fuel surcharge doesn't take away from the staff getting their tips. Most everyone on this board respects the tip charges...and even give more. We also understand why the fuel charges have come into play. But I know there could be some people out there looking to save the money that Carnival charged them for fuel.

[cruzn buckeye]

Well, I guess we can expect the daily fuel surcharge to surpass the automatic daily tip charge then. Pretty crazy. Makes me wonder if more and more people will start disputing that daily tip charge. I certainly hope this fuel surcharge doesn't take away from the staff getting their tips. Most everyone on this board respects the tip charges...and even give more. We also understand why the fuel charges have come into play. But I know there could be some people out there looking to save the money that Carnival charged them for fuel.

 

Personally, I would never ignore the tip charge, that goes to the hard working crew that makes our cruises special. They don't get much base pay.

They live on their tips. I will just spend less in the casino. It isn't run by CCL anyway. I was told at the pursers desk that it is located in Britain.

And I will save as always, on shore excursions by booking my own.

[NeptunesGoddess]

Personally, I would never ignore the tip charge, that goes to the hard working crew that makes our cruises special. They don't get much base pay.

They live on their tips. I will just spend less in the casino. It isn't run by CCL anyway. I was told at the pursers desk that it is located in Britain.

And I will save as always, on shore excursions by booking my own.

 

Like I said, it most likely will not be the people on this board that will do it. Most of us know the crews' base pay is near nothing and that tips are a big part of their income. But this board is only about 2% of the cruising population...if that. There are a lot of people out there that are looking to save a buck and, unfortunately, they won't care who they mess over, to do it.

 

For this reason, I think Carnival should just build the fuel surcharge into the overall price of the cruise. Yes, their prices will go up...but they are going up anyway. It is just they are broken down into incidental separate prices. If they build the fuel surcharge into the price of the cruise, then what they are actually charging you for fuel is hidden and it just becomes the cost of cruising...not the cost of cruising plus fuel.

[MD34]

For this reason, I think Carnival should just build the fuel surcharge into the overall price of the cruise.

 

Yes, but this is unlikely to happen. Since the amount that Carnival pays the Travel agents is a fixed percentage of the cruise fare, putting the two together is giving the TAs a raise and further increasing thier costs.

[steveaaaaa]

 

For this reason, I think Carnival should just build the fuel surcharge into the overall price of the cruise. .

 

They they need to remove the clause from the contract then otherwise they build it in,and then charge it again.

Steve

[SDPadreFan]

As hard as it is to believe, I envy you! We are paying about $1.33 a litre here, and our daughter in BC is paying 1.42 a litre last time I checked, and that was a couple of weeks ago. That worked out to over $5.12 a US gallon; $6.40 for a Cdn. gallon, ($5.98 for us here in Alberta). It is just insane. We have a booming economy because of the massive oil industry here, and we STILL pay those prices. And to think, when I bought my first car, I paid 69 cents an imperial gallon back in '76.

 

The good news (if that's possible) is that you Canadians have a ton of oil up north in the oil sands area. My understanding is that it is even more than what the Middle East has. It's just much more expensive to get to. If these prices hold steady or go up a little more, I believe it will be price competitive to extract Northern Canada's oil. Think of the impact that will have on Canada's economy. The United States is in pretty much the same situation, a boatload of oil embedded in shale that is not currently price competitive to extract but it is getting close. While it will not necessarily drop the price we pay at the pump it should stabilize prices for quite a while. We are not running out of oil, we are merely running out of cheap, easy to get to oil.

[grammy c]

People! Do you hear yourselves? Does anyone not get it? Yeah, gas goes up, but are the profits for Carnival Inc. going down, I don"t think So!!! To tximprov--YOU got it! GREED!

[lvcrzn1016]

Milk is $5 a gallon. Maybe a dairy surcharge is next to cover the cost of all the pizza's they make. :p

[Chrislynn55]

This is off topic but I just have to tell Neptunesgoddess that I love the photos in your signature!

[linwell]

Question- If I put my deposit down already for my cruise in December, am I going to have to pay the extra fuel charge? When I booked in April it was 5.00.

[DiamondDave26047]

Question- If I put my deposit down already for my cruise in December, am I going to have to pay the extra fuel charge? When I booked in April it was 5.00.

 

No the increases are for future bookings. After the increased Fuel Charge goes it to effect.

[beccadoby]

Book your future cruise(s) now and that way the fuel charge rate is "locked in" they cant increase it after you have booked (they found out the hard way)

 

Take for instance, I set up a group cruise a few months ago before the increase. I have clients who are still paying only $25 deposits to book in this group. Carnival will not charge them the extra fuel charges since I made the group beforehand. ;)

[captianjscann]

I hope it is okay to have a conversation on Cruise Critic on topics other than cruising. I must chime in on this conversation on the cost of fuel and more specifically the cost of fuel in America as it relates to the prices around the globe. As an American I am ashamed that we continue to complain about the price of fuel yet we refuse for the most part to end our dependency on this fossil fuel. We must embrace conservation as a measure to reduce dependency and therefore affect the supply/demand segment. As we drive larger and larger vehicles we have no room to complain about ever increasing costs. We must strive to purchase smaller more fuel efficient vehicles which will significantly affect the supply side of this issue and surely bring prices down.

Sorry I am now off of my soap box and on to cruising. I will be on the Elation June 28th and cannot wait.

[SDPadreFan]

I hope it is okay to have a conversation on Cruise Critic on topics other than cruising. I must chime in on this conversation on the cost of fuel and more specifically the cost of fuel in America as it relates to the prices around the globe. As an American I am ashamed that we continue to complain about the price of fuel yet we refuse for the most part to end our dependency on this fossil fuel. We must embrace conservation as a measure to reduce dependency and therefore affect the supply/demand segment. As we drive larger and larger vehicles we have no room to complain about ever increasing costs. We must strive to purchase smaller more fuel efficient vehicles which will significantly affect the supply side of this issue and surely bring prices down.

 

Sorry I am now off of my soap box and on to cruising. I will be on the Elation June 28th and cannot wait.

 

I agree with most of what you say. However, our actions will have minimal effect on the overall supply/demand side of the equation. Right now, there are many developing countries (China & India most significantly) which have huge growing middle classes. Some of these developing countries heavily subsidize the cost of fuel for their citizens which adds to ever increasing demand. As China & India as well as others add more than a billion cars to their roadways, that will continue to exert huge demand for fossil fuels. There is still an incredible amount of oil in the world so that is not really a problem. The oil we have trapped in shale deposits in the USA as well as the oil sands in northern Canada is bigger than any proven reserves in the Middle East. The real problem is the cost to extract it. We are indeed running out of cheap, easy to get oil. We just have to bite the bullet and pay for the more expensive oil until alternatives are available but that is still at least 5-10 years off. Prices for gasoline will stabilize and perhaps even decline some but I don't see the averages dropping below the range of $3.50 - $5.00 per gallon any time soon in the U.S.