Royal Caribbean Cruises announced today that it will apply a fuel surcharge of $5 per person per day on some of its voyages due to rising fuel prices.
The surcharge only applies to the first two guests in a stateroom on new and existing North American bookings and will not exceed $70 per person per trip, the company said. It will be effective on voyages departing on or after Feb. 1, 2008 and will apply to brands including Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Cruises.
The announcement stated that the surcharge will not apply to bookings which are already paid in full.
But Royal Caribbean is offering travel agents a $12 administrative fee to go after existing reservations with post January sailings and collect the surcharges. Now with oil at $100 a barrel, it is understandable that cruise lines are paying more for fuel, but this $12 bait to have agents contact their cruise customers is just plain tacky, and poor customer relations - Linda.
Guests that booked their trips prior to Friday and who do not wish to pay the surcharge can cancel their reservation before Dec. 7 for a full refund of the amount already paid and will not be subject to normal cancellation charges.
Royal Caribbean said the surcharge is intended to be temporary and may be adjusted as fuel prices change.
Carnival Cruise Lines is expected to announce a similar fuel surcharge next year.
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