Surcharge news

When oil prices skyrocketed in 2007, most cruise lines introduced fuel surcharges which they described as a temporary, stop-gap measure to make up for their inability to cover costs. However, there are no signs that those surcharges are going away – why? Well the really big lines Carnival, Norwegian Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean etc are mainly focused on keeping their published fares low, which means that the surcharges which are usually hidden in the fine print, and can be as much as £7 a day, get lost in the detail when comparing topline cruise prices. Also, most lines publish fares anything up to two years ahead, which doesn’t give them a lot of flexibility when their costs rise unexpectedly. So while it seems logical that cruise lines would build the increased fuel costs into their fares for 2009 onwards, most of them are preferring to hang on to the surcharge instead – so the moral is, check ALL the costs of your cruise carefully before booking, so you don’t get a nasty surprise.