Royal Caribbean eliminates fuel charges

On Friday, Royal Caribbean Cruises announced an end to fuel surcharges on certain of its cruises as a result of the decrease in the price of oil and recent price stabilization.

From November 10, the cruise operator will no longer add the surcharge to bookings on Azamara, Celebrity or Royal Caribbean International cruises for departures beginning on the first of January, 2010.

Royal Caribbean said further that fuel surcharge refunds on bookings made before November 10 for sailings in 2009 and onward would be determined on a quarterly basis.

What this means is that the determination will be made on whether the closing price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil is at the $65 per barrel level or lower, on New York’s Mercantile Exchange, two weeks prior to the start of the next quarter.

The closing price of oil on December 18, for example, will determine if there will be a refund of fuel surcharges during the first quarter of 2009. All refunds will be in the form on credits to be used onboard.

Royal Caribbean has said that if the trend in oil prices is reversed and prices move upward, they might reinstate fuel surcharges.

The cruise operator’s move follows the announcement by its rival, Carnival Cruise Lines, that it would drop fuel surcharges from October 31, for new bookings on sailings scheduled for 2010. Carnival is also determining refunds based on closing prices of crude.

www.royalcaribbean.com