This is a line from one of my favorite songs – “There’s Hope” But that’s not what I’m talking about here. Oil prices are rising and so Cunard Cruise line… the Queen Mary, Elizabeth, that one, has just announced to bring back fuel supplement charges for new bookings made after Feb. 28th 2011. They are also raising the amount from $6 a day per person to $9. So on a 7 day cruise a couple will pay $126 more for their cruise.
This is the first cruise company to cross the line that has been holding for a while now, even though the price of oil has been high for many months. I don’t think it will be very long before we will see the rest of them follow suit. Fuel supplements will be back. Air prices are high, and I don’t think that’s going to change anytime soon. Why don’t they just up the price of the cruise… cause the consumer likes a certain advertised price. If they can keep this as an add on, they don’t have to advertise it. It’s a pain for me, travel agent, to have to explain.
Cunard is saying new bookings, but most lines have had a clause on their invoices that they can add a fuel supplement to existing bookings if the price of a barrel of oil exceeds – $70. Some lines have a different price. The average price for 2010 was $79. The expected price for 2011 is $93. Not good. Something to plan for.
