Another cheer for the Florida Attorney General's office!
Passengers on Carnival Corporation & plc’s best cruise lines who booked their cruises before November 7, 2007 and were charged a fuel surcharge, will see a refund. Today the company announced a voluntary agreement, similar to that announced earlier this month by Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., with the Florida Attorney General’s Office.
The refund applies to guests who booked their cruises prior to the fuel surcharge’s implementation and departed on or after February 1, 2008. The best cruise lines involved include the Cunard Line, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, The Yachts of Seabourn, Carnival Cruise Lines, and Costa Cruises.
Refunds will be processed based on the cruise departure date according to the following schedule:
- For cruises departing on or before April 4, 2008, passengers will receive a refund in the same form they used to purchase their cruise;
- For cruises departing from April 5, 2008 through June 23, 2008, passengers will receive an on-board credit in lieu of a refund;
- For cruises departing on or after June 24, 2008, the fuel surcharge will be deleted from their account balance.
All the lines, with the exception of Disney, followed Carnival and Royal Caribbean’s lead in implementing a surcharge. Will these best cruise lines now take the initiative to refund the charges assessed on bookings under deposit before their surcharges were announced? Or will they try to hold on to their excess profits?
