Fred Olsen Cruises hikes fuel supplement charges

Cruise operator Fred Olsen is hiking its fuel supplement charges for cruises booked for the 20009/2010 season, as shown by the pricing in its first-edition brochure for the upcoming season.

The new charge will be £4 per person per night, levied on the first two passengers booked into a cabin, with a maximum charge of £80 per cruise, per passenger. Third and fourth passengers in a cabin will pay £2 per person per night, with a maximum charge of £40 per cruise. The new charges will apply to bookings made from July 1, and is an increase on the previous charge of £3.50 per passenger.

This hike in fuel supplement charges applies to all cruises featured in Fred Olsen Cruises Worldwide first-edition brochure for 2009/2010, with the exception of those cruises that were also featured in the third-edition brochure for 2008/2009. On those cruises, a £5 per person per night supplement is being maintained.

The reason for the higher fuel supplement charges listed in the third-edition 2008/2009 brochure is that fuel costs were calculated in a different way.

On launching the 2009/2010 brochure, Nigel Lingard, the company’s marketing director said that the entire cruise industry is challenged by “fuel prices that are exponentially growing”. The cost of oil has reached US$142 per barrel, and fuel costs continue to increase.

This is the cruise line’s fourth recent fuel charges change announcement. In December of 2007, a £2.50 supplement was introduced across all cruises. On 1 May it was then increased to £3.50 and on 1 June it was increased on third-edition brochure cruises to £5.