(December 4, 2008) – As fuel prices continue to decline,
Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK) has
announced that it will suspend fuel supplements for its six
North American brands effective for all voyages departing on
or after December 17, 2008.
The fuel supplement suspension applies to the
following brands:
Carnival Cruise Lines,
Costa Cruises,
Cunard Line,
Holland America
Line,
Princess Cruises and The Yachts of Seabourn.
A refund of the fuel supplement will be made in the
form of a shipboard credit for all bookings within the final
payment period for departures on or after December 17, 2008.
All bookings outside of the final payment period for
departures on or after December 17, 2008 will be adjusted to
remove the fuel supplement and guests will be provided with a
revised final payment amount.
“As the
price of oil has dropped to $46 per barrel, it has now
reached a level where we are able to suspend the fuel
supplement,” said Bill Harber, director of marketing for
Carnival Corporation & plc. Harber cautioned that the fuel
supplement could be re-instated if
oil prices
increase significantly.
The company reserves the right to re-instate the fuel
supplement for all guests at up to $9 per person per day
(except Seabourn, which would be up to $15 per person per day)
should the price of
light sweet
crude oil according to the NYMEX (New
York Mercantile Exchange Index) increase above $70 per
barrel.
“It is our hope that fuel prices have stabilized and will
remain at a more rational level. The complete suspension of
the fuel supplement makes the inherent value of a cruise even
greater and that is increasingly important in the selection of
a vacation in the current economic climate,” Harber added.
The fuel supplement for five of the six
Carnival
Corporation & plc brands is currently $9 per person per
day for the first and second guest (not to exceed $126 per
person per voyage) and $4 per person per day for third, fourth
and fifth guests (not to exceed $56 per person per voyage).
Seabourn’s fuel supplement is $15 per person per day for the
first and second guest (not to exceed $210 per person per
voyage) and $4 per person per day for third and fourth guests
(not to exceed $56 per person per voyage).
Carnival Corporation & plc is the largest cruise
vacation group in the world, with a portfolio of cruise