The Benchmark Date that Wasn't

My calendar reminded me that today, December 18, was set to be a huge benchmark date for cruisers sailing in the first quarter of 2009. It was the date many of the cruise lines had set to determine the price of crude oil and whether or not cruisers would receive a refund on their fuel supplements for their sailings from January through March, 2009. If all had gone as originally announced, there likely would have been a huge spike in searches for closing pricing on West Texas Intermediate Crude which would have puzzled analysts at Google.

Of course, the date was made a bit moot a few weeks back when the cruise lines announced the suspension of the fuel supplement, and plans to refund already-paid supplements in the form of onboard credits to cruisers. What was overlooked in some of the fine print was that Royal Caribbean's brands (RCCL, Celebrity and Azamara) would still be looking at the price of West Texas Intermediate Crude on the previously-announced quarterly dates (December 18, 2008, March 18, 2009, etc.) to determine whether or not they may re-implement the fuel supplements if the price went over $65/bbl. While Carnival Corporation's brands are the only major brands not using the quarterly system, they also reserve the right to re-implement if the price goes over $70/bbl.

If you're wondering, the closing price today was right around $36. So cruisers - you're safe for now!