Agents Applaud Carnival Corp. Decision to Drop Fuel Fee, Revise Fares in 2010

Many travel agents applauded Carnival Corp. for doing what agents have long asked them to: eliminate fuel surcharges and raise cruise fares to reflect increased operating costs.

Carnival Corp. said it would drop fuel supplements for 2010 sailings on its five North American cruise brands: Carnival Cruise Lines, Cunard Line, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn Cruises, and on Costa Cruises, on all 2010 sailings booked on or after Oct. 31.

Carnival Corp. will instead raise tickets fares on 2010 cruises.

“If fuel prices stabilize below $70 a barrel, we will be able to effectively eliminate a separate fuel supplement,” Bill Harber, director of marketing for Carnival Corp., said in a statement, in which he also cautioned that fuel prices could go higher, in which case Carnival Corp. would maintain or reinstate a fuel supplement.

“But the company is hopeful that the goal of eliminating the fuel supplement can be achieved,” he said.

The company outlined a specific plan for when fuel charges would go into effect.

“The agents only get paid on the bare bones base price of a cruise,” said Bob Sweeney, president of Innovative Travel Acquisitions, a travel and tour business brokerage firm in Alpharetta, Ga., who said that agents that sells cruises were experiencing serious margin erosion. “NCFs are hurting cruise agencies.”

When Silversea raised its 2009 cruise fares in the spring and decided to not extend its fuel surcharge into 2009, several agents noted that the move would benefit retailers.