Mon 10 Nov 2008 09:40

Cruise firm sued over fuel surcharge


Attorney General files lawsuit following Economic Crimes Division investigation.



Florida’s Attorney General Bill McCollum has filed a lawsuit against cruise shipping company Imperial Majesty Cruise Line for allegedly failing to adequately disclose fuel surcharge fees.

According to the lawsuit, Imperial Majesty has collected approximately $4 million in fuel surcharges since late 2006. The company, which offers two-day cruises to the Bahamas, is also accused of falsely representing those fees as governmental taxes or fees.

An investigation conducted by the Attorney General’s Economic Crimes Division determined the company’s web site informs consumers that a “fuel/security” surcharge will be added to their onboard account “…only if [they] have not paid the governmental taxes and fees at the time of booking.”

The suit alleges that many travelers first learned of the $20 to $30 surcharge when they arrived to embark on their cruise.

The lawsuit follows agreements reached this spring with cruise line companies Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises over a similar issue. The Economic Crimes Division received several hundred complaints from customers who said the aforementioned cruise lines were retroactively charging a fuel supplement after cruises had been booked and deposits had already been made.

The Attorney General's office is asking customers who sailed with Imperial Majesty in the past two years to come forward if they feel that they were either not informed of the charge at the time of booking or that the charge was misrepresented.

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