News from Seatrade...
MIAMI, March 10 -- After working closely with the Florida Attorney General's office, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. today announced it has voluntarily agreed to eliminate its fuel supplement on any bookings made prior to the announcement of the fuel supplement on Nov 16, 2007.
Royal Caribbean will eliminate the fuel supplement for any guests who had a booking made prior to November 16. Guests booked before November 16 who paid the fuel supplement and have taken their cruise will receive a refund through the form of payment used to purchase their sailing. Guests booked before November 16 who paid the fuel supplement and have not taken their cruise will receive their refund as an onboard credit during their sailing.
As originally announced, the company did not charge the fuel supplement to guests with bookings made and paid in full before Nov 16. It will now eliminate the fuel supplement for guests with bookings made but not paid in full before that date. These latter guests were also provided with a three- week period in which to cancel their sailing without penalty.
The company has been in discussions with the Florida Attorney General's office to ensure the fuel supplement was implemented in a fair and reasonable manner.
The fuel supplement, which remains in place for North American bookings made on or after Nov 16, 2007, involves three Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. brands: Royal Caribbean Intl, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Cruises. The fuel supplement consists of a $5 per-guest, per-day charge for sailings that depart on or after Feb 1, 2008. The fuel supplement applies only to the first and second guests in each stateroom and does not exceed $70 per person per sailing.
Today's announcement will have no impact on the company's revenue projections and the company reaffirms its previous yield guidance.
The Florida Attorney General's office is expected to issue a press release regarding this matter Tuesday morning.
How long before other cruise lines with similar fuel supplement policies follow Royal Caribbean's lead? We'll be watching closely.
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