Fuel Supplement?

[rhcruzer]

I forgot the rule of the fuel supplement. We're sailing in 25 days. I know crude oil hasn't reached $70/per barrel yet, but it seems to be rising steadily. How long does it have to be below $70 before saling before they reinstate the supplement? Just curious & keeping aware & forgot the rule.

[Bandman]

From the Carnival Website:

 

The company reserves the right to re-instate the fuel supplement for all guests at up to $9 per person per day if the NYMEX oil price exceeds $70 per barrel.

 

They can do it immediately if they want.

[ADD Boy]

I saw an analyst on CNBC this morning that is very confident oil has peaked. He stated that he expects the July 4th price for gas to be less than the Memorial Day price. Certainly hope that is the case.

[sistermerm]

I forgot the rule of the fuel supplement. We're sailing in 25 days. I know crude oil hasn't reached $70/per barrel yet, but it seems to be rising steadily. How long does it have to be below $70 before saling before they reinstate the supplement? Just curious & keeping aware & forgot the rule.

 

Remember... it is "light, sweet" crude oil... not the regular stuff gasoline is made from...

[Earthworm Jim]

In theory, all it would take is the price of oil to exceed $70 for one minute and they could reinstate the fuel surcharge. No one knows for sure whether oil prices will reach $70, but typically they do peak in early summer due to summer demand. So if it stays below $70 for a few more weeks you have a good chance.

 

Remember... it is "light, sweet" crude oil... not the regular stuff gasoline is made from...

 

Au contraire. Gasoline is commonly made from light sweet crude. That's what makes it desirable. From Wikipedia:

 

"'Light sweet crude oil' is the most sought-after version of crude oil as it contains a disproportionately large amount of these fractions that are used to process gasoline, kerosene, and high-quality diesel."

 

My understanding is that can make any petroleum product out of any type of oil. The question is how much refining you have to do to it first. Refining the oil is expensive and energy intensive, so they'd rather use light sweet to make gasoline which is comparatively easy, as opposed to refining some heavy crude into gasoline.

[MissKegz]

In theory, all it would take is the price of oil to exceed $70 for one minute and they could reinstate the fuel surcharge. No one knows for sure whether oil prices will reach $70, but typically they do peak in early summer due to summer demand. So if it stays below $70 for a few more weeks you have a good chance.

 

My BF & I booked a cruise for September back in March, when oil prices were way down, and we aren't planning on paying the fuel surcharge. Anyways, if Carnival can reinstate the fuel surcharge immediately when oil exceeds $70/barrel, will they also remove it as soon as oil goes below $70/barrel? I'm just curious as to how this all works. I would hope that they would remove just as fast as they reinstate it, but I'm not too sure. Does anyone have an answer to this?

[crzycick]

I can tell you on my cruise in November the rules were something like oil had to be below $70 for like a month or so before they would drop the charge. It was below $70 for our cruise but we were a few days shy of the cut off.

 

SO, they can reinstate it immediately (and probably do!) and take forever to take it off. Which means extra money for them

[RITTER19]

Don't let $9.00 a day ruin your pre cruise excitement. It's something you can't control and once you step foot on the ship you're not going to care about $9.00 per day. Just relax and have fun.

[rhcruzer]

Thanks for all the responses. I had just forgotten the stipulations that Carnival had with the fuel supplement. It's still below $70, and sailing in 24 days so I'm pretty confident.

[crazcane05]

I was a little surprised when I saw the fuel charge rule in the fine print. We reserved an RCI cruise last Sept. and took it in April. We had a $80 onboard credit (40 pp) that was a fuel charge refund. We heard the reason for this was a class action lawsuit against them for charging extra for fuel beyond the ticket price.....i dont know if this is true or not, but if it is I would not think Carnival would want to be put in the same spot...:confused:

[poobears]

The cruiselines were sued because they were charging they didn't refund the fuel supplement people had paid for up coming cruises even after they dropped the supplement for new bookings. So some on the ship were charged because they booked early and some weren't because they booked after they dropped it.

 

Or that is my understanding of it. For the 6 of us it's an extra $54 a day. Just the cost of cruising.

[LorrieB]

I was a little surprised when I saw the fuel charge rule in the fine print. We reserved an RCI cruise last Sept. and took it in April. We had a $80 onboard credit (40 pp) that was a fuel charge refund. We heard the reason for this was a class action lawsuit against them for charging extra for fuel beyond the ticket price.....i dont know if this is true or not, but if it is I would not think Carnival would want to be put in the same spot...:confused:

I don't believe it was actually a law suit. The Florida Attorney General made claim that Carnival and other Cruiselines were illegally enforcing the fuel surcharge to those who had booked long before the fuel surcharge had been in place. Those who booked prior to a certain date were either refunded or given OBC for their fuel surcharge. We had booked our September 2008 cruise in April 2007 but were charged the fuel surcharge which was credited back to us in a refund due to the ruling and the timing of the cruise. It worked out well for us but this time Carnival has covered their butts and are in their right to enforce the fuel surcharge to everyone. They won't make the same mistake twice!

[firefly333]

I was a little surprised when I saw the fuel charge rule in the fine print. We reserved an RCI cruise last Sept. and took it in April. We had a $80 onboard credit (40 pp) that was a fuel charge refund. We heard the reason for this was a class action lawsuit against them for charging extra for fuel beyond the ticket price.....i dont know if this is true or not, but if it is I would not think Carnival would want to be put in the same spot...:confused:

 

You got the money back this april because the fuel had dropped below $65 per barrel. RCL had dropped the fuel for cruises after this January 2009.

 

A year prior (April 2008) I paid RCL $10 per day per person fuel, add on, $140 for a 7 day cruise. It was perfectly legal when oil prices were high, all cruiseslines were allowed to add oil surcharges onto what your ticket price was, they just hadnt been allowed at that time to add it on to already booked cruises.

 

All cruiseslines took fuel off for cruises taken this April because oil price was low. (not because they werent allowed to)

 

----

 

poorbears, the cruise lines were not sued over this (no lawsuit was filed), Lorrie B is correct.

[crazcane05]

Looks like there was an agreement before it came to a lawsuit but one could still be coming. Not because of the charges in general....but because they may have colluded to raise the charges higher than what they should have been. Regardless I was very happy to see the credit on my account, more drinks! :D I am happy to pay the charges so long as there is not funny business going on....

 

"Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum announced on March 11 an agreement with Royal Caribbean to refund passengers on its Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises ships $21 million in improper fuel surcharges. Attorney general's office spokeswoman Sandy Copes said the investigation was prompted by more than 150 consumer complaints that the cruise lines were retroactively charging fuel surcharges. The office is also investigating Carnival Corp., including its Princess and Norwegian cruise lines, to see if there are similar violations, she said."

"Salzman said she could not disclose how she intends to prove the cruise lines colluded, but noted the attorney general has served some of the companies with subpoenas for information related to the case."

 

entire article is at http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2008/03/24/story4.html