Cruise Lines Reach Settlements on Fuel Surcharges

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum has reached a resolution with two cruise lines over a retroactively-imposed fuel surcharge on cruise passengers. Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises have separately agreed to refund more than $3 million to consumers nationwide who were charged the fuel surcharge after they had booked their cruises.

The agreements were reached after the Attorney General’s Economic Crimes Division received several hundred complaints from around the country because cruise lines were retroactively charging a fuel supplement after cruises had been booked and deposited.

Under the agreements signed Feb. 4, all consumers who were retroactively charged a fuel supplement will be refunded the surcharge. In the future, the cruise lines must also ensure clear and conspicuous disclosure of any fuel supplement charges at the time the reservations are made, as well as in their advertisements.

Oceania will pay over $2.1 million in restitution and Classic Cruise Holdings will pay more than $1 million in restitution, a small portion of which may be in the form of onboard credits for consumers who have not yet sailed.

The two companies –both of which fully cooperated with the investigation- will contact consumers eligible for refunds and must report to the Attorney General’s Office on the status of refunds within 30 days. Similar settlements were reached last year with Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises and Carnival Corp. and its subsidiary cruise lines, resulting in another $61 million in consumer reimbursement.