Beginning December 17, 2008, Carnival will not be including a cruise fuel surcharge in their fees. Previously, Carnival charged as much as $15 per day. They will now be refunding those fuel surcharges through a ship board credit after the 17th.

In a statement on Thursday December 3rd, Carnival's director of marketing, Bill Harber, said oil prices have dropped low enough for the company to lift the surcharges. "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," Harber said.

They warned that if fuel prices rise again, they may start charging the fee again.

This should increase bookings, a good thing for Carnival. From the beginning, many cruisers were unhappy with the fuel surchages.

While Royal Caribbean passengers must still pay a daily $10 fuel surcharge for 2009, this fee will end starting in 2010. They also said that each quarter in 2009, they will examine the fuel conditions to determine whether to refund the charge.

Carnival's elimination of the fuel surcharge will increase the pressure on Royal Caribbean to also drop their surcharges. I'd expect to see them make a move in the near future.

Lets all hope that oil prices stay down and we never see a cruise fuel surcharge ever again