Cruisegoers worldwide
are worried that their vacation costs could increase due to rising oil prices tied
to the ongoing war in the Middle
East.
One overseas
cruise line has already started adding extra fees, sparking concerns that others
might follow suit if fuel costs continue to surge.
Malaysia-based
StarDream Cruises recently introduced a daily fuel surcharge on its Asia
itineraries booked after March 20. The added fee is expected to range from
about $19 to $26 per person, per day for guests aged 2 and up, Condé Nast
Traveler reported.
For cruise
passengers, the bigger concern is that this might signal the start of an
industry-wide trend.
According to Fox
News Business, oil prices have skyrocketed by over 40 percent since the U.S.
and Israel initiated attacks on Iran on February 28, 2026.
"Everyone
should be concerned," Tom Baker, CEO of Cruise Center, a Houston-based travel
agency that sells more than 10,000 discount cruises, told Fox
News. "This war is already spreading its tentacles. It's going to
impact every traveler on the planet in some capacity."
Cruising demand
itself isn’t slowing down. Nearly 39.6 million people worldwide are projected
to take a cruise this year, according to the Cruise Lines International
Association (CLIA), highlighting just how many travelers could be affected if
costs rise across the board.
Some travelers who already hold reservations
have noted that their cruise companies reserve the right to tack on fuel
surcharges even after a trip has been fully paid.
In the Facebook
group “Royal Caribbean Cruise Tips, Tricks and Deals,” one user said they
noticed this stipulation in the fine print of their booking documents.
"I was going
through some paperwork for my cruise next week, and I saw it said the cruise
lines reserve the right to impose a fuel surcharge on guests if oil prices
rise, even after a booking is paid in full."
That revelation elicited
strong reactions from fellow cruisers online.
"Right or
wrong, but if a worldwide company charges me a fuel surcharge after paying my
total, that would be the last time I did business with them," one
commenter wrote.
Another added,
"I feel like people need to start reading the contracts and fine
print."
Chris Woronka, a director
and senior equity analyst at Deutsche Bank, told Fox News that this detail in
the fine print is fairly standard across the industry.
"If you look
at the fine print listed on most reservations, you will find that many cruise
lines have the ability to add a fuel surcharge of approximately $9 to $12 per
person, per day, when the price of a barrel of oil exceeds a generally
pre-defined level," he explained.
"Since many
cruises are purchased many months — perhaps even one year or more — in advance,
the cruise operators wanted to leave themselves the flexibility to recapture a
portion of the impact of rising fuel prices since the time the ticket was sold,"
Woronka added.
For now, though,
some of the sector’s biggest players have indicated that they aren’t planning
to raise cruise fares or tack on fuel surcharges in the foreseeable future.
"We do not
expect any immediate impact on ticket prices or the guest experience due to
current oil market disruptions," a spokesperson for Norwegian
Cruise Line Holdings told the outlet.
Similarly, a Carnival
Corporation spokesperson confirmed that the company isn’t eyeing any changes
at this time, saying, "We have no plans to change our current pricing
model."
"Surcharges
tend to be temporary," Woronka said. "But if there is an opportunity
to perhaps embed higher fuel costs into ticket prices, that could actually have
longer staying power."
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