63 replies to this topic

[georoc01]

Spoke with Peter Hughes this morning and they have now also removed their fuel surcharge starting with Jan 3rd departures.

How about Nekton?

[WreckWench]

Spoke with Peter Hughes this morning and they have now also removed their fuel surcharge starting with Jan 3rd departures.

How about Nekton?

I have not heard any decision on their part yet.

A caveat to Agressor and Peter Hughes...while they have removed the fuel surcharge they have raised their prices to include what would have been the fuel surchg and port fees etc. Basically they listened to customers that said...set a price and stick to it. For many years they did not absorb all the increases in the cost of operating a vessel but when oil/gas got sooooooooo high they had no choice but to pass some of those back to the customer. Customers have complained vehemently that they should have a price and that's it. That is easy for retailers who just raise the cost of their shipments each time they replenish stock. However liveaboards post prices for a year to 2 years in advance so don't have that luxury. They have to KNOW what their costs will be NOW when they post new prices for 12-24 months out. That being said OTHER NON FUEL RELATED COSTS have also increased for liveaboards and so they have to accommodate those as well.

Since Nekton has published prices using the old model with a fuel surchg that can later be removed if fuel stays sufficientlylow for an extended period of time I do not know what that necessary timeframe is. And if anyone did they could make a killing on the future's market.

[Parrotman]

Spoke with Peter Hughes this morning and they have now also removed their fuel surcharge starting with Jan 3rd departures.

How about Nekton?

I have not heard any decision on their part yet.

A caveat to Agressor and Peter Hughes...while they have removed the fuel surcharge they have raised their prices to include what would have been the fuel surchg and port fees etc. Basically they listened to customers that said...set a price and stick to it. For many years they did not absorb all the increases in the cost of operating a vessel but when oil/gas got sooooooooo high they had no choice but to pass some of those back to the customer. Customers have complained vehemently that they should have a price and that's it. That is easy for retailers who just raise the cost of their shipments each time they replenish stock. However liveaboards post prices for a year to 2 years in advance so don't have that luxury. They have to KNOW what their costs will be NOW when they post new prices for 12-24 months out. That being said OTHER NON FUEL RELATED COSTS have also increased for liveaboards and so they have to accommodate those as well.

Since Nekton has published prices using the old model with a fuel surchg that can later be removed if fuel stays sufficientlylow for an extended period of time I do not know what that necessary timeframe is. And if anyone did they could make a killing on the future's market.

Hmm, according to the Peter Hughes website their prices have not changed from Sept of this year and are the same through 2010

[WreckWench]

Hmm, according to the Peter Hughes website their prices have not changed from Sept of this year and are the same through 2010

Yes they did institute new pricing in Sept for new bookings from Sept on. (Our group trip was booked under old pricing.) The standard cabin we are paying $1595 for on our Grenada trip here is now $1895 for the same trip. Check the site and you'll see. However we are paying $160 in fuel surcharges and $65 in port fees. The balance is their normal annual rate increase.

Again I do not begrudge them anything in terms of pricing due to the excessive costs of running liveaboards. Its a wonder any of them actually make it.