Carnival Not Implementing Fuel Supplement At This Time

Don't know if you noticed, but crude oil prices (most specifically West Texas Light Sweet Crude) slipped over the infamous $70/barrel price yesterday, and is today trading around $71. Many observers in the cruise industry started mulling over whether or not that would mean the return of fuel supplements.

On all recent bookings, Princess and Holland America have had a disclaimer that if fuel exceeds $70/bbl, that they reserve the right to re-impose supplements. Other lines aren't so blatant about it, but if you go back to when they were first implemented, there were a number of "benchmark" dates where, if the price was over $70/bbl at the close of trading, the supplements would be implemented for the following quarter. We have one of those benchmarks coming up on June 17.

First out of the block to address this question is Carnival Corporation's Mickey Arison, who has stated that they have "no plans" to reinstate supplements on any of their brands at this time. It was noted that, while the price of fuel is increasing, they also have to take into consideration the overall economic climate in evaluating whether or not they should implement these fees. An official statement to this effect will be released later today.

Of course, they reserve the right to monitor the prices and review their position as factors change.

Royal Caribbean and Norwegian had actually set their benchmarks at $65/bbl, which we passed several days ago, and have not indicated any move toward re-instating supplements on their lines at this time.

So for right now, cruisers, looks like we're in the clear for the near term on fuel supplements. Stay tuned, as I'll always keep you updated.