Fuel Surcharge
Cruise Line Fuel Surcharges
Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Azamara
$5 per passenger, per day charge, capped at $70 per person per voyage, applies to bookings not paid in full by Nov. 16 on sailings on or after Feb. 1.
Carnival, Costa, Cunard, Holland America, Princess and Seabourn
Effective June 12th, 2008: $9 per person per day for first and second guests in a stateroom, and $4 per person per day for third, fourth, and fifth passengers. Charge will not exceed $126 per person for first and second guests, and $56 per person per voyage for third, fourth, and fifth guests in a stateroom. For bookings made prior to June 11th, 2008, the fuel supplement of $7 pp/pd (1st & 2nd) and $2 pp/pd (3rd, 4th, 5th) will apply.
Norwegian
Effective June 20th, 2008: $11 per person per day for first and second guests in a stateroom, and $5 per person per day for third, fourth, and fifth passengers. For bookings made prior to June 20th, 2008, the fuel supplement of $7 pp/pd (1st & 2nd) and $3 pp/pd (3rd, 4th, 5th) will apply.
Oceania
$7 per guest per day for all currently published sailings unless the reservation is paid in full by December 1, 2007.
Regent Seven Seas
$7.50 per person, per day on all new 2008 bookings made after December 1, 200 and alll 2008 bookings that are not paid in full by December 1.
Silversea
$10 per person, per day for new bookings made on or after Nov. 14.
Windstar
$8.50 per passenger per day on bookings not paid in full by Dec. 14 on cruises through March 2009.
Crystal Cruises
$5 per passenger, per day for 2007 sailings and
$7 per passenger, per day on 2008 sailings not paid in full by Jan 1.
Majestic America Line
$8.50 per passenger, per day for bookings not paid in full by Dec. 15 for cruises through March 2009
Viking River Cruises
$7 per person per day for reservations not paid in full by Dec. 19 for all published sailings through 2008.
Braking News as of 12/10/2008
I am happy to report that in the past seven days, most of the world's major cruise lines have announced an end to the fuel surcharges that added as much as $12 per person, per day to the price of a cruise.
Disney was the first U.S. cruise line to eliminate fuel surcharges for all new bookings. For existing bookings, Disney will refund fuel surcharges in the form of onboard credit if oil prices remain near current levels.
Next we heard from Carnival Corporation that all of the company's brands -- Carnival, Costa, Cunard, Holland America, Princess and Seabourn -- would suspend fuel surcharges for new bookings on all voyages departing on or after December 17, 2008.
Existing bookings for departures on or after December 17 that are within final payment period (60 to 90 days before departure, depending on the cruise line) will have fuel surcharges refunded in the form of onboard credit. Bookings outside of this period will be adjusted to remove fuel surcharges from the final payment amounts.
Norwegian then suspended their fuel surcharges for all voyages departing in 2009. For existing bookings that are within the final payment period, Norwegian will refund the fuel supplement in the form of an onboard credit. The surcharge will be removed from the final payment amount of all existing 2009 bookings that are outside the final payment period.
At about the same time, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Azamara cancelled fuel surcharges for all new bookings on sailings that depart on or after January 1, 2009. Guests with existing bookings on sailings that depart on or after January 1, 2009 and who are now paid in full will have the surcharge refunded in the form of an onboard credit during sailing. Guests with existing bookings on sailings that depart on or after January 1, 2009 and who are not yet paid in full will have the surcharge automatically removed from their outstanding balance.
Finally, Regent and Oceania dropped their fuel surcharges on all 2009 voyages. Passengers who have already paid in full will have the fuel surcharge refunded as onboard credit, while those who have not paid in full will have the fuel surcharge removed from their final payment amount.
There are rumors that more announcements will follow this week, and we'll update our site as that happens. Hopefully, we will see the complete elimination of fuel surcharges throughout the industry in the next few days.