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November 7, 2007 – As a result of the continued rapid
escalation of fuel prices, the North American brands of Carnival
Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK) have announced they
will implement a fuel supplement of $5 per person per day.
The fuel supplement, which only applies to the first and second
guests in a stateroom and will not exceed $70 per person per
voyage, is effective on all bookings for voyages departing on or
after Feb. 1, 2008 on the following Carnival Corporation & plc
brands – Carnival Cruise Lines, Costa Cruises, Cunard Line,
Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, and The Yachts of
Seabourn.
According to Carnival Corporation & plc Chairman and CEO Micky
Arison, the recent spike in fuel prices has dramatically
impacted the company’s operating costs, thus necessitating the
supplement. The price the company pays for fuel has increased
140 percent over the last three years, with a 50 percent
increase occurring in just the last seven months.
“Earlier this year, we implemented a supplement for our European
brands. We had hoped to avoid a similar supplement for our North
American brands but with the price of oil approaching $100 a
barrel this is no longer possible. The implementation of the
fuel supplement beginning February 1 for our North American
brands will result in consumers paying approximately one-third
of our year-over-year fuel cost increases over the first six
months of the fiscal year,” he said.
Arison added that the company had been considering a supplement
for some time but held off as long as it could. “We are hopeful
fuel prices will someday return to a level that will enable us
to eliminate this supplement. Until then, we believe that guests
sailing on our North American brands will understand the dilemma
that soaring fuel prices has caused for our company and industry
and that a fuel supplement was needed to enable us to continue
offering the high quality cruises our guests have come to
expect,” Arison explained.
The fuel supplement of $5 per person per day will be applied to
all new and existing bookings for cruises on or after February
1, 2008. For existing reservations, travel agents will receive
$10 per booking in administrative compensation for notifying
their clients of the new fuel supplement and collecting the
additional funds. Carnival Corporation & plc brands will provide
additional information on the fuel supplement via their
respective Web sites, as well as through various marketing and
collateral materials.
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