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“We definitely feel we were ambushed by Royal Caribbean”

November 27, 2007

The latest round of fuel surcharges imposed on cruise passengers who have already paid for their tickets isn’t just morally wrong. It’s probably illegal, too. And at least one passenger has taken the fight against these surprise extras to a new level that could eventually help thousands of passengers get to cruise at the price they deserve.

I’m talking about Le Moore’s case against Royal Caribbean. On Nov. 16, she received a notice from the cruise line that a cruise she’d booked next spring would cost an additional $140 in “fuel surcharges.” If she didn’t like it, she was told, she could complain by e-mail to cruisecomments@rccl.com.

Now, I should probably mention that Moore is no casual cruiser. She’s a Diamond member of RCCL’s Crown & Anchor Society, its guest loyalty program. She’s used to being treated like a valued customer. So when she received nothing more than a canned response from the cruise line, Moore decided to take his fight public.

“We definitely feel we were ambushed by Royal Caribbean,” she told me.

(RCCL is being extra naughty, because it’s enlisting travel agents in the fight by offering a $12 administrative fee to go after existing reservations with post-January sailings and collect the surcharges.)

Here are the main points of Moore’s letter to RCCL. As I see it, the information in this is grounds for a class-action lawsuit against the cruise line, if not against several cruise lines who recently imposed fuel surcharges. But I’ll let you decide:

Fuel surcharges violate agreement in Florida case. In February 1997, Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth announced that several cruise lines settled allegations that they misled consumers about cruise costs. Under the agreements, the cruise lines can no longer charge customers any fees in addition to the advertised initial ticket price except those fees actually passed on by the company to a governmental agency.

Extra fees don’t reflect rising costs. Is RCCL really paying more for fuel? An SEC filing made by RCCL less than a month before the cruise line imposed its surcharge suggests the answer is “no.” RCCL declares that if fuel prices for the fourth quarter of 2007 remain at the level of current “at-the-pump” prices including any hedge impacts, fuel expenses for the fourth quarter of 2007 will be $137 million. “We are currently 42% hedged for the fourth quarter of 2007 and estimate that a 10% change in the market price of fuel would result in an $8 million change in fuel costs for the fourth quarter of 2007, after taking into account existing hedges,” it says. In other words, because RCCL has hedged its fuel purchases, it is protected from rising fuel costs.

“We can’t cancel our May cruise, because we are already committed to nonrefundable airfare and hotel arrangements,” Moore says. “This is wrong. This fuel charge should NOT have applied to already booked cruises.”

I agree. There current fuel surcharges were a knee-jerk reaction to higher prices at the pump. They’re wrong and they should be removed for people who have already paid for their cruise, if not scuttled entirely.

Update (11/27 3 p.m.): Apparently, RCCL knows it’s on shaky legal ground — as surely the rest of the cruise industry does. Here’s an interesting exchange from RCCL most recent earnings call report, which Moore as forwarded to me. It has been making the rounds online today:

[D]uring the earnings call, Hakan Ipekci of Merrill Lynch asked, ‘Now that oil or fuel expenses have risen substantially again, what’s your view on a potential fuel surcharge on the ticket prices, passing on the fuel costs to the customers?’ [RCCL] Chief Financial Officer Brian Rice responded: ‘It is something we’ve looked at. There is a little bit of a legal concern before we can pass on a fuel surcharge. As you may recall, years ago, we entered into a compliance with the Attorney General’s office in terms of passing on anything that is non-governmental taxes; anything that was not paid to a government could not be classified as a taxing fee. Also, we view fuel surcharges as something that is more for a shorter term spike in fuel prices. It is something we keep an eye on, but at this time we have no immediate plans to do so.

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

29 comments

  • Joe F.

    what about simply REFUSING to pay it.

    Here is my response that you need to send to the company:

    Dear [insert name of RCCL president of the month]

    I received the following notice informing me of an increase inthe price of my cruise, on May __, 2008. At no location in my cruise contract do I see any provision in your contract which permits RCCL to unilaterally increase the price of a cruise already under contract.

    Be advised that RCCL is in breach of contract pertaining to the request for additional funds. This breach is an intentional violation of our contract, as well as the covenant of good faith and fair dealing inherent in all contracts entered into the State of Florida. I further note that public communications made in SEC filings state that RCCL has hedged its fuel expenses and will not have any additional cost for fuel other than as already determined by the company. Thus, the request for a ‘fuel surcharge’ seems to be a false statement being made to your customers. RCCL is essentially obtaining money under false pretenses, which is both a tort, a crime, and and unfair business practice. It may also violate the terms of a 1997 consent decree entered into by RCCL and the State of Florida.

    As a Diamond member of your frequent cruiser club, I am dismayed at how RCCL sees us merely as a source of additional revenue instead of as a valued customer.

    I hereby demand arbitration of that demand under the provisions set forth in your agreement of this issue. This demand is made on behalf of all RCCL customers to whom the demand was sent. I will not back down from this demand simply because you may decide to ‘waive this fee as an accommodation for a loyal customer.” Be advised that if you also involuntarily cancel my cruise that there shall be consequential damages for non-refundable airline tickets and other similar fees and charges that I will incur the result of your actions which I will seek to collect.

    Regards – xxx

    Just send it – certified mail – return receipt, fedex or priority mail with delivery confirmation – this way they get it -

  • Chicky

    Bravo, Joe! Beautiful.

  • Rina

    It seems like everyone it taking it out on RCCL, whereas I think they did a much better job than Carnival Corp. At least RCCL didn’t go after the people who have paid their booking in full and are offering gifts to the people who do have to pay the fuel surcharge. Carnival Corp went after every sailing after Feb 1, 2008; even the ones that were paid in full! And why is everyone so upset with the fuel surcharge when 6 star lines and all inclusive lines, such as Oceania, have been charging a fuel surcharge for god knows how long?

  • Joe F.

    Rina – here’s the answer –

    1 – its a big assumption that the cruise was not paid for yet – even if it wasn’t – how can you change the price on something already under contract? They don’t let the passenger unilaterally change the terms of the deal. Their contract is silent on the ability to add additional fees – they have the right to change the price of the cruise or add new third party fees – not add new surcharges. The contract is king – read it. This is not a change in the price of the cruise – it is a fuel surcharge. So there is no provision of the contract giving them the right to do this.

    2. – I’m all for ‘fuel surcharges’ for increased fuel costs, if they are permitted under your contract and are actually for higher fuel charges. However, RCCL filed an SEC report which clearly states that they will not HAVE higher fuel charges. So – is this a real charge or a means to raise the price without raising the price? They already have you paying their wages by tipping their employees on everything from soda to alcohol and excursions – why not have you pay for everything including the executive bonuses.

    Lets make it personal. You are a travel agent. You book cruises. You make your living off your clients taking cruises. You book a cruise for a client and then you decide you want to make more money off them so you add a booking fee AFTER they paid or made the booking. Think thats fair? Is it legal? Think you’d be in business very long?

    If RCCL tells people that they have a fuel surcharge ‘due to increased costs,’ and they are not paying more for fuel, is that truth in advertising? An unfair trade practice?

    Under their agreement they have mandatory arbitration of any dispute ‘arising under the contract.’ Does this arise under the contract? I do not think so. If they do not have the right to demand the fee under the contract, or if it is under false pretenses then it likely does not arise under the contract.

    The travel industry has lots of ‘fuel surcharges.’ If they state they are for increased fuel costs, and they are not, then they are obtaining under false pretenses, whether they have the right to the charge or not under their contracts.

  • http://www.shipcriticblog.com Anne Campbell

    I think the cruise industry is fair in adding fuel surcharges. Life will get more expensive because the price of fuel has risen so high. This is the first fuel surcharge levied in the 14 years I’ve been covering the cruise industry as a journalists. I assume I’ll be paying higher prices at the grocery store to reflect the increased trucking costs.

    I think the cruise industry will be affected by the shakey economy and you’ll see a lot more discounting, especially in the overcrowded Caribbean, Mexico and Alaska. And I believe quite a few people will avoid cruising if they have to fly to take a ship. What a nightmare that is! So a few dollars more for a cruise will be offset by more agressive pricing.

  • Dave

    Man Joe, I wish I could write as clearly as you. You stated my own thoughts on the issue brilliantly!

    I just arranged a group cruise with Royal Caribbean for my extended family (some 9 staterooms). Everyone has paid their deposit and I am “pushing back” as well.

    Check out what is actually written in the Royal Caribbean brochure (in this case page 99 of the Royal Caribbean 2008 Alaskan Brochure):

    This is under the bold heading “Will The Price Change?”

    “Royal Caribbean International reserves the right to increase any published rates, including cruise rates and airfare supplement rates, without prior notice. However, once Royal Caribbean has received a full deposit for the service initially booked by a guest, the cruise rate or airfare supplement rate, whichever is applicable, will not change, although the guest will remain liable for any applicable taxes, fees or surcharges that may be assessed by any governmental or quasi-governmental agencies.”

    Since when did the fuel providers become governmental or quasi-governmental agencies?

  • Joe F.

    Anne – if RCCL’s costs have gone up, then should they not simply raise the price of the cruise? Thats what happens in the real world. If my costs to provide a service go up, I raise my price. When my malpractice insurance goes up I do not charge my clients an ‘insurance increase surcharge,’ I raise my rates. RCCL needs to do that as well. Raising the price on a fuel charge but not on the cruise does not change the price of the cruise, does it?

    As for Dave – good for you Dave. I agree as well with the analysis.

    I had the same deal when I refinanced a mortgage. The company tried to charge me a $175 fee under the heading ‘third party charges,’ yet the fee was charged by a captive, wholly owned company that only did work for the bank – so it was not a third party.

    I actually filed a class action against them, which got their attention pretty fast and they wanted to simply settle with me. No dice. I got the fee refunded for almost a million customers of this very large bank. $175 MILLION in fees. Think about that for a minute. BIG incentive to collect in violation of their own contracts – who is gonna fight $175 fee on $3-4k in fees on a mortgage?

    Same issue as these fees – 2000 people on a boat, $175 a pop. Extra $35000 a sailing. 20 ships – 50 weeks =- 35MILLION a year.

    Hey Dave – want free legal representation! I’ll take the cash as a class action . .. email me at the address in the post!

  • http://www.shipcriticblog.com Anne Campbell

    As far as raising costs to cover the fuel surcharge, there is a reason why a cruise line won’t do that. They pay travel agents a commission for the price of a cruise (roughly 15%). They would want the fuel surcharge kept separate so they don’t have to pay commission on it. It’s the same with port charges and taxes. These are bundled into the price of the cruise, but the cruise line doesn’t pay commission on these fees.

    Keep in mind, if fuel charges go down, one of the cruise lines will announce they’re cut the surcharge. When one does, they all will.

  • Joe F.

    Anne – one question – where in the contract language can RCCL add a charge for fuel?

    so, instead of charging people more for an essential element of the cruise, fuel, they ripoff the travel agent? How is that fair?

    Why not break it down like this for a $1000 pp balcony cabin cruise for a week, which ends up being $1315 with the fuel surcharge :

    Cruise $500
    Fuel $200
    Food $175
    Linens $75
    Cleaning $20
    Carpet cleaning $20
    Engine rebuild $20
    Coffee $20
    Entertainment $35
    Chairs $15
    Home Office Overhead $25
    Executive Bonus 40
    Port Fees $100
    Immigration Fee $20
    Bribes in the Caribbean $25
    Customs Fees $25

    Then they can raise and cut the price of each of the elements on a competitive basis and only pay the travel agent $45 per person – this way cuts the commission in half.

    Anne- you are just not being creative enough.

    So, they screw the travel agent out of more money – yet collect more from the passenger – which pads their bottom line – thats fair. Huh?

    And my math was off in the last instance – its $350,000 per cruise. lets cut to $200,000 to take into account most sailings are not full. $200,000 times 12 ships times 50 weeks = $120 MILLION a year. Nice work if you can get it.

  • Dennis

    With all respect to Anne Campbell, no problem paying fuel surcharges. It’s protecting bookings on record.

    Charge me but not after I contracted. Norwegian Cruise Line is the big and only true winner here. They protected all their guest already booked.

    Also “Shame” on all the trade mags for not taking this up the day it was announced.
    They starting to sound like the New York Times. Print what they want just to suit their cause.

  • Erin

    I am in a sticky situation on this one. I work for a cruise line. I have been on the end of saying “We will now be implementing a surcharge of ___ per person.” I have been on the end of stating to people “Sir/Ma’am, I am sorry, but on page ___ of that particular brochure, it does clearly state in our policies that we reserve the right to raise fares, or to implement or pass on a fuel surcharge as we see fit without prior notice.” Blah, Blah, blah.

    My problem is: I don’t like it. I agree that it is not-so-savory. I agree with passengers and agents that say they don’t want to pay it. I agree completly and emphatically with all those concepts. It DOES seem sneaky and mean and anything else we could call it.

    But I agree in silence, because for the sake of keeping my job, I must, shall we say, choose my battles.

  • Joe F.

    Good for you Erin. However, if you work for a cruise line whose contract lets you add fees- then we would not be having this discussion! It’s all well and good if the agreement with your customers lets you do it. Just go read the text of what your company is charging to see what it sez. its never a good thing to simply accept their word for it – especially if it is in a ‘brochure,’ since the actual contract of carriage, not the brochure advertising the cruise , controls what your employer can and cannot charge for. I may not like it, but if I am contractually bound to pay it – then I pay it. I did that with RCCL myself – I did not like the way they do business and the cavalier attitude of customer service toward customers. I take my travel dollars elsewhere.

    The point here was that RCCL’s contract does NOT let them change the deal after it is made – unless the fee or charge comes from the government – as in the Most Royal Government of East Belize President for Life New Personal Jet Fund Tax of $10 per passenger. THAT fee they could pass on- a fuel surcharge – they can’t!

  • Erin

    This is a really popular topic. I wonder why…

    Anyway, Joe, with all due respect: What the heck are you talking about with that second paragraph? Hmm…

    Also, I have just completely scoured our passage and tour contract, and it DOES say, as well as what our brochure that “The (company) reserves the right to impose or pass through fuel, security or any similar surcharges.” There’s also a line in there somewhere about we have the right to change the terms of the contract at will. I feel that a problem begins when a passenger or agent doesn’t read the contract but then comes at us with these things. It always seems to “come out of left field” to me.

    I can’t speak for RCCL or any other cruise line, and I don’t want to go read their contracts to see if they have it in their terms and conditions. It’s their job to know, if I do say so at all.

    Again, I don’t condone the charges, or agree with them necessarily. But the fact is, they do exist. They will probably continue to exist. I continue to want a job, and as such, my mouth remains shut.

  • BriCo

    It’s just their way (cruise line, airlines, hotels, etc.) of raising the price while trying to APPEAR to keep the price the same; i.e. they didn’t raise the price, they added a surcharge.

  • Cruzpro

    Just received this notification re: Carnival Corp bookings and Canadian Residents; This should get you all thinking about what you pay taxes for!

    ** IMPORTANT – FUEL SUPPLEMENT UPDATE **

    DUE TO PROVINCIAL RESTRICTIONS FOR CANADIAN TRAVEL AGENTS, THE FUEL SUPPLEMENT ANNOUNCED EARLIER THIS MONTH BY CARNIVAL CORPORATION DOES NOT APPLY TO CANADIAN PASSENGER BOOKINGS MADE PRIOR TO NOV. 7, 2007, THE DAY THE SUPPLEMENT WENT INTO EFFECT. THE $5 PER DAY, PER PASSENGER FUEL SUPPLEMENT WILL APPLY TO NEW BOOKINGS ONLY, AND WILL BE AUTOMATICALLY ADDED.

    One of the very few things that governmental legislation has us covered for!!

    Oh Canada and God save the Queen.

  • Joe F.

    Erin – what I meant was that a cruise company can pass on the most unreasonable fee imposed by a government – a tourist fee, a departure fee, a fee to pad the pockets of the tourism minister, buy the president for life an airplane, or even a legit port fee. Under RCCL’s contract – they can charge for this – but not a fuel surcharge. Simple as that.

    Your companies provision that lets you change the contract after the customer pays is unconscionable and not enforceable. This provision gives the company the ability to simply amend the contract to state that they will provide you with a dingy ride around the Ft. Lauderdale harbor and then a gift card for dinner to Appleby’s. What you are saying about the fuel surcharge being a contract amendment which they have in their unilateral control, is merely a matter of degree from the dinghy and the girt card. Conceptually, it is identical – the only difference is on of how far they are willing to go.

    Look at it this way – what happens when the ‘luxury cruise of a lifetime’ becomes the cruise from hell. Broken air conditioning, poisoned food, illness spread from other cruisers. You file a claim and the company says, we’ve amended your contract to include no air conditioning in your cable, food poisoning and we can’t control you getting sick – tough. Thanks for your on board purchases.

    Give me a break. Treat people poorly long enough – and they WILL stop coming. People need to travel, they’ll endure the airlines – but they do NOT need to cruise . . . I think some of these travel companies forget that for some reason. After all, they’re riding high, fat, dumb and happy; people spending lots of money and in a vacation frame of mind – tolerating that which they never would if they were not on vacation. . .

  • Acadia

    I agree with everything that Joe has written, and applaud his highly articulate clarity.

    The fact is, some cruise companies’ contracts specifically allow them to add such a surcharge. (such as the company for which Erin works).

    Royal Caribbean’s contract specifically DOES NOT.

  • Mark Lang

    Fighting back is worth it. We have been pushing Princess Cruise Lines to reverse the fuel surcharge and we finally received confirmation from our Travel Agent that the charges would be reversed. It seems that the reversal only applies to us Canadians at the moment as Canadian Law does not allow these sorts of arbitrary charges to be tacked on after the fact. Hopefully our friends down south will soon get the same treatment

  • Mark

    Why does everyone say that it doesn’t exist?

    21. Carrier reserves the right to impose a supplemental charge relating to unanticipated
    occurrences including, but not limited to, increases in the price of fuel. Any such
    supplement charges shall apply to both existing and new bookings (regardless of whether such bookings have been paid in full).

    http://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/pdf/CTC_Not_For_BR.pdf

    This is from the rccl site. All the contracts that I could find on the site have this line.

    This wording is in all my docs going back as far as 2003.

    I got banged with the surcharge also and I don’t like it either but it looks legite to me.
    April 2008 will be RCCL Cruise #7 for me. What really bothers me more is the hidden drink surcharge that’s been slowly increasing over the last 5 years.

  • Joe F.

    Mark – your para 21 does not say what you think it does. . .

    The charges must be ‘unanticipated’ in order to be chargeable. RCCL has stated in its quarterly 10Q filings with the SEC that their fuel charges are:

    1) predictable in amount
    2) predictable in quanity
    3) hedgable in amount and quantity – and they do hedge.

    Thus, so long as RCCL knows what its fuel expenses are expectedto be, guess what, they are not ‘unanticipated.’ The only time that fuel surcharges can be added is when they are in excess of the predicted / budgeted fuel cost for the trip. You see – RCCL has only limited ‘unanticipated’ increases in cost. They know what the cost of the cruise will be – thats how the price it.

    Further, how can a 5 day cruise burn the same amount of fuel as an 8 day cruise, yet they have the same fuel surcharge.

    A company that burns lots of fuel needs to budget for it? Correct? I have ZERO problem paying them what an ‘unanticipated’ cost might be in certain circumstances, such as when they have a contract provision for it, but that means that as the payer of the charge, I then have the right to examine their books to make sure that it truly is an ‘unanticipated’ fee.

    Heck, like I said in my prior email, RCCL has no real liability to transport you anywhere – they can change the cruise to a lifeboat ride around Biscayne Bay and have no liability for doing so. Obviously, it is not going to be interpreted the way it is written – just like the use of the word ‘unanticipated’ has a meaning. RCCL SHOULD have just said “We add a surcharge for any increased cost in an amount that we determine.” if you are going to have a contract as anti-consumer as the one they use – well – why not?

  • Dave

    Mark:

    How in the world did you manage to find the contract link on the Royal Caribbean site? I looked for a long time and it’s certainly not under “legal information”. I even tried their “site map” link to no avail. Can you tell me, click by click, the way to get there?

    When I booked my cruise I had no knowledge of the “contract” referenced (perhaps it has been updated after I paid my deposit, how the heck would I know). What I had available was a cruise brochure and a price quoted by my travel agent. Further, the cruise brochure (see my previous post) seems to contradict clause 21.

    I’m no lawyer, but companies, especially those dealing with the public, can’t simply write anything they want in a contract and have it enforceable. There are often other, shall I say higher order, restrictions such as common law, federal, state, and provincial laws and regulations governing their behaviour. I’m sure it’s even more complex than I could imagine.

    To make the point, the unofficial word from my travel agent is that Royal Caribbean will be reversing my fuel surcharges because of (if you can believe this) a TICO (Travel Industry Council of Ontario) regulation prevents it.

    I will update my post when I get an official response.

    Joe: Great posts.

  • Joe F.

    Lets take this a step further. RCCL operates the same ship, on the same itinerary, with essentially the same number of people, on a cruise, week after week after week.

    Is the amount of fuel used ‘unanticipated?’ I think not.

    Is the cost of the fuel ‘unanticipated?’ I think not. Except for whatever fraction of fuel cost is bought at market price above a hedged price, and thereafter more than it was last week, last year or whenever, it is not unanticipated.

    Since they reference the cruise itself in th contract, should the fuel surcharge not relate to how much more YOUR individual cruise cost that what wsa ‘anticipated?’

    Inquiring minds want to know. ‘

  • Dave

    Just a quick update about the Surcharge and Canadian customers.

    I read on the Canadian Cruiser site at the thread http://www.thecanadiancruiser.com/vBulletin/showthread.php?t=297 that Carnival (plus Costa, Cunard, Holland America, Princess and Seabourn) are reversing the fuel surcharge for Canadians that booked before the announced surcharges (the thread references http://www.traveldailynews.com/pages/show_page/23633)

    The thread discussion seems to suggest that the travel agents may have been left “holding the bag” since Canadian Law prohibits this type of despicable corporate behaviour.

    My guess is RCCL will follow suite soon enough.

    Now, if the surcharge is reversed for Canadian customers, does this mean it will have to be increased for the non-Canadian customers to cover RCCL’s “unanticipated cost” of not being able to rip off all customers equally. What a joke.

  • http://yahoo Mike Goldinger

    How many people buy a car put money down on go pick it up, and are going to pay a higher price? Nobody, RCCL did not tell us about addition cost I found it on websites. We called they said they new about it 16th, but had to have your trip paid by the15 of November! Pretty fishy Lawsuit are great when you know a big company is in the wrong!

  • Le Moore

    Hello to everyone! I am the person who contacted Mr. Elliott about this whole issue. I was really surprised to read what Mark said on December 12th.

    Mark stated:

    Why does everyone say that it doesn’t exist?

    21. Carrier reserves the right to impose a supplemental charge relating to unanticipated occurrences including, but not limited to, increases in the price of fuel. Any such supplement charges shall apply to both existing and new bookings (regardless of whether such bookings have been paid in full).

    http://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/pdf/CTC_Not_For_BR.pdf

    This is from the rccl site. All the contracts that I could find on the site have this line.

    This wording is in all my docs going back as far as 2003.

    I say that I just looked AGAIN at my documents from my RCCL Alaska cruise THIS August and my documentation STOPS at paragraph 19!!!! I will check my other documents that I have saved to see if they are the same. I REALLY wish I would have printed the documentation from the RCCL web site BEFORE they changed everything. Once it was changed there is NO way that I can figure out how to “see” the older documentation as it was posted on their web page previously.

    I stand behind my statement that “We definitely feel we were ambushed by Royal Caribbean.”

    As of today OVER A MONTH LATER, I have NOT received any correspondence from RCCL, except for a canned response to MY e-mail, even though they have 3 phone numbers, my home and business address and my e-mail address. We booked one of our cruises directly with RCCL WHILE ON OUR ALASKA CRUISE and the other cruise DURING THE ONE OCTOBER WOW sale.

    Since we dealt directly with them, I would have thought they would have thought that it MIGHT have been courteous (or make good business sense towards a LOYAL customer) to at least contact us with such a change AFTER WE PAID OUR REQUIRED DEPOSITS in GOOD FAITH. We thought we had a CONTRACT for these cruises and the ONLY change that could happen would be if there was GOVERNMENTAL FEE OR CHARGE.

  • Joe F.

    Hey – anyone – I’ll be happy to speak with you personally about any concerns you have over surcharges.

    In fact, if I am correct, you and a companion can cruise free for life in a suite – email me @ joe@weatherby-associates.com to discuss your anger or if you to get even a little . . .

    ESPECIALLY if LeMoore is correct that RCCL changed the contract on purchased tours and is trying to enforce provisions that were not present in its contracts when people booked cruises.

  • http://www.funattic.com Robin Scheel

    Our cruise with Royal Caribbean leaves in March. We were never notified about the increase but seen it on the Internet. The price of our cruise went down by $20 per person and so we argued that point last night. Even though Royal sent us two reminders that our money is due 1-3-08 they never notified us in person about the increase and they have our email address. This is our 5th cruise but first with Royal Caribbean. We even argued the point that if we were given the option to pay ahead of time we would have done that to avoid additional costs, because we were lead to believe from the website that if you paid before November you wouldn’t be charged this fee. We have several college students going with us that are on a budget and they picked this criuse according to what they could afford. Last night my husband was told that we will be given a gift for our extra cost and my husband stated that he didn’t want the gift he wanted the money from the gift. We have recieved money from previous class action suits where our other cruises charged additional taxes, so I can see this is in line for another class action suit. Royal caribbean stated that this is on the internet that they can charge you additional money anytime they see fit. Can imagine budgeting for a Wedding… locking in prices on based how much money you have to spend and then two months before the wedding the hall states they need money to pay the heating bill and if you don’t like it “cancel”. All arrangements are made… people are coming and they have you by the throat. Well all our arrangments are made with hotels locked in during College Spring Break to catch this ship and they have us by our throats. And how long did they know that they were in trouble or going to raise this fee, or add it to the website. At the time that I place my reservations??? If so they should have raised their price.. its like bait and switch.. expect their switching the price, which I thought was illegal to do so.
    Robin Scheel – Not a happy Sailor!!

  • Paula Coulter-pissed off

    I just called Costco Travel to pay for our 4 night “Spring Break” trip and was informed that the price jumped $47. After an hour of arguing with Costco and Royal Carribbean I have gotten nowhere. Both would cancel our trip at no charge. We planned this trip with numerous neighbors so we aren’t the only one effected. We have children that are looking forward to their first cruise. We have hotels booked, etc. This fuel supplement is the biggest scam I have ever run across. No where on my Costco document does it state that they can increase my cruise for fuel, it is dated in July 2007, I would imagine that they have changed the wording since.

    Count me in for the class action law suit and this will be my last Royal Carribbean cruise trip!

  • Dave

    This is not about the fuel charge but about a RCCL program called Next Cruise. You purchase a Next Cruise onboard to pick your sail date at another time and you will receive onboard credit based on the length of the cruise. I purchased several next cruises between June-Oct 2007 to be used for 2009 sail dates as Next Cruises do not have expiration dates. I put 200.00 deposit down on each one as it’s 100.00 a person. In December I sailed with friends and encouraged them to buy Next Cruises to get an OBC of 200.00 for a 9 night cruise. On Dec. 15, without warning and after we came home from our cruise on Dec. 14, RCCL changed the OBC for 9 night cruises and reduced it to 100.00 instead. They refuse to honor the 200.00 OBC amount they promised us for 9 night cfruises when we purchased the Next Cruises. Next CRuises are purchased from the Loyalty Embassodor onboard the ships and we had all been told we’d receive 200.00 OBC for a 9 night cruise. I am a diamond member of RCCL and the bulk of our cruises out of the NY area are 9 night cruises. I feel they should honor the OBC we were promised at the time we purchased them which was before the policy change on 12/15/07 but they refuse. I will no longer support this program as I can’t trust they will not change it again. The Next cruise program was suppose to be the same as booking onboard with the only difference we could choose our sail dates at a later time. Had we booked a cruise on the ship at that time instead of buying a Next Cruise we would have received the 200.00 as usual. This was classic bait and switch. You may want to do an article about this issue also. As for the fuel charge, it has been added to all my 2008-2009 cruises that were booked way in advance of the fuel charge policy. We had no warning like Carnival gave their people to pay in full and they would not be charged the fuel charge. On the DAY RCCL announced it, you could pay THAT day if you were fortunate enough to know about it and if not too bad, you were charged period. Perhaps the drop in stock they have now is not just because of the economy but because of issues like this.

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