Insta-CoGo: Cruisin' for a Rebate

Those gas guzzlers!

For once, I am not talking about SUVs or OPEC, but rather the cruise lines.

According to news reports, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Cruises were recently busted by the Florida attorney general for levying unscrupulous fuel charges on passengers. (Rates were changed retroactively to add the fuel supplement.) As redress, the cruise lines will refund $21 million worth of fees to hundreds of thousands of cruisers.

So, who can expect that proverbial check in the mail?

Pete Peterson, a cruise specialist who runs Storybook Cruises in Virginia, explained to me that the refund is valid for anyone who booked a cruise before Nov. 16, 2007, and was scheduled to depart on or after Feb. 1.

Passengers who completed their cruise will receive a refund on the same credit card used for their booking; those who have not yet sailed will receive their refund as an onboard credit. The fuel supplement runs $5 per guest per day, applies only to the first and second guests in each stateroom, and will not exceed $70 per person per cruise.

To be sure you get your much-deserved bucks, cruisers should be aware of the reimbursement -- but don't pounce on the burser yet. Advises Peterson: "Travelers should first contact their agent for more information. If they don't have an agent, then they can contact the cruise line directly. But I would wait for a couple of weeks as it will take a while to get the refunds/credits to passengers."

Maybe next time cruisers should consider a rafting trip.

By Andrea Sachs |  March 13, 2008; 7:02 AM ET  | Category:  Andrea Sachs
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