Carnival Cruise Lines Fuel Surcharge Ripoff - Carnival charges $90 fuel surcharge despite the fact that gas and crude oil charges are cheaper than they've been in years Miami Florida
We (17 family members) booked a cruise on Carnival early in 2008. Fuel rates were running above $3.00 a gallon at the time. Carnival added a fuel surcharge of $90.00 to each cabin. By the time we sailed (December 6th, 2008) fuel charges and barrels of crude oil had dropped drastically and were running well below $50.00 a gallon.
Carnival (and other cruise lines) had stopped charging fuel charges weeks before we left but Carnival refused to issue refunds to the customers who had already been charged. They developed a 'corporate policy' that said that crude oil needed to be below $70.00 a barrel daily for 25 days. Well, one day out of 25 the price was 70.58 cents but the average price was well below $70.00 - for an entire week the price was less than $50.00 per barrel. They have refused multiple requests to refund (or even issue an onboard credit) for the fuel surcharge. I ended up paying $180.00 for 58 cents!
Carnival doesn't care about customers - I won't use them again and I urge others to avoid this RipOff company.
Nancy
Southgate, Michigan
U.S.A.