Carnival leads a fuel-surcharge wave

By Arline and Sam Bleecker | Special to the Tribune

November 18, 2007

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As the price of a barrel of oil soars to all-time record highs near $100, cruise lines are crying uncle.

Finding their pocketbooks squeezed hard by higher energy costs and poorer Caribbean bookings last year, several lines are spreading the pain around by levying fuel charges of $5 to $12 per day per person.

According to Micky Arison, Carnival Corp. chairman and CEO, fuel prices have increased 140 percent over the last three years -- 50 percent alone in just the last seven months. His company, whose revenues increased from $11.10 billion in 2005 to $11.84 billion in 2006, operates a fleet of 84 ships under a dozen brands worldwide.

Consequently, all of Carnival Corp.'s six American branded lines -- Carnival Cruise Lines, Costa Cruises, Cunard Line, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises and The Yachts of Seabourn -- will add a daily $5 fee for all new and existing bookings for voyages on or after Feb. 1, 2008. The energy tax applies only to the first and second guests in a stateroom and will not exceed $70 per person per voyage. New invoices with the added fuel charge will be issued to all passengers with current reservations.

Some cruise lines planning to impose surcharges, such as Oceania and Regent Seven Seas, will waive them if passengers pay in full now. Oceania' daily surcharge of $7 won't be imposed for voyages fully paid by Dec. 1. Same deadline applies at Regent Seven Seas Cruises, which otherwise is adding a daily $7.50 surcharge.

Silversea Cruises has instituted a daily $10 surcharge for all new 2008 bookings. Reservations made prior to Nov. 14 are exempt from the surcharge, however. At Cruise West, a planned $12 daily surcharge can be avoided by paying in full by Dec. 7.

Effective on all NCL and NCL America bookings made on or after Dec. 1, the daily fuel supplement will be $7 for the first and second guests in a stateroom, and $3 for any additional guests in the same stateroom.

These payments should be made by credit card, notes Nancy Kelly, owner of Oak Brook-based Kelly Cruises, "since there is a narrow window of time to get the full amount to the cruise line in order to meet its deadline."

Currently, Celebrity, Azamara and Crystal Cruises are among luxe lines that have not yet imposed a fuel surcharge.