Citing Fuel Costs, Cruise Lines Plan for Less Cruising

If you're planning on taking an extended stay cruise in the near future, it may be smart to anticipate a few course corrections on your next trip. Several media outlets recently reported that Royal Caribbean International and other cruise lines have begun charting a new course in search of routes that eat up less fuel. Already one of the industry's biggest costs, record fuel prices have cut heavily into the bottom line.

When examined, it was revealed that the impact of shifting itineraries will certainly have implications beyond the bottom line of cruise operators, specifically for numerous port towns along the way. When a cruise ships pull into Maine's Bar Harbor, for example, passengers spend an average of over $100 per person while ashore. Quite the revenue considering that many ships carry more than 3,000 passengers.

"It's disappointing to be losing a bit of business, but we realize that cruise lines have to make decisions based on best-business practices," said Betty MacMillan, vice chairwoman of Atlantic Canada Cruise Association and business development manager of the port of Saint John, New Brunswick.

Royal Caribbean International will reportedly be changing the fall itinerary for several of its ships along its northern route in 2009, shortening the distance between ports. The Explorer of the Seas, rather than sail from New Jersey to Quebec City and back, will add stops in New England and go no farther than Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Fuel consumption was the primary reason, said Vice President Diana Block. "You have to look at where the biggest benefit is financially with the least impact on the guests," she said. Annual fuel bills for cruise lines can add up to hundreds of millions of dollars and their ships can gobble up tens of thousands of gallons of fuel on any given cruise. The price of intermediate fuel oil, which most cruise ships use, has risen in tandem with crude oil. Many cruise lines have added fuel surcharges to passenger bills, but energy costs continue to cut into profits and squeeze margins.

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