Cruise lines feeling the effects of high fuel costs

As fuel costs are impacting the airline industry it is becoming apparent that the cruise line industry is also feeling the effects.  Cruise lines have begun to change their itineraries to cut the number of miles traveled between each port to help reduce the fuel expense that they accrue.  Along with the number of miles being trimmed down the speed at which the ships will sail will also be decreased to help make them more efficient.

Royal Caribbean Cruise Line’s Explorer of the Seas has had its literary altered so it spends more time along the New England coast.  Before the ship sailed as far North as Quebec City but with its new modified schedule it will only sail as far North as Halifax, Nova Scotia.

This could hurt the ports that the cruise ships previously said to.  The revenues from passengers led to big money for the ports that will be hard to recoup elsewhere.  Betty MacMilliam who is the business development manager for the New Brunswick port of Saint John, said that “It’s disappointing to be losing a bit of business, but we realize that cruise lines have to make decisions based on best-business practices.”

The spokesperson for the Cruise Line International Association, Lanie Fagan, said that  “While it is paramount to offer a cruise itinerary that a guest wants to sail, the design and sequence of that itinerary can be evaluated to minimize the distance between ports of call and the speed necessary to accomplish that itinerary,”

www.royalcaribbean.com