Higher oil prices amid the conflict in Iran have already led some airlines to raise flight prices. Now, cruise vacations could get more expensive too.
At least one international cruise line has started adding fuel surcharges to some voyages in order to help cover the elevated cost of oil: Malaysia-based StarDream Cruises announced last week that it will add fuel surcharges to new bookings made after March 20 for its voyages through Asia. The extra fees will be about $19 to $26 per night for every guest age 2 and older, depending on the itinerary, the cruise line said.
Experts say it’s possible that cruise companies around the world could implement similar fee structures. And unlike airline fuel surcharges, cruise lines are able to retroactively add fees to voyages that have already been booked. It's not unprecedented: “Fuel surcharges are not a stranger to the cruise industry,” says Leslie Fambrini, a Condé Nast Traveler travel specialist and the founder of Personalized Travel Consultants.
In fact, most cruise lines reserve the right to add fuel surcharges to fares that have already been purchased before the voyage takes place, Chris Woronka, director and senior equity analyst at Deutsche Bank, tells Traveler. “It's in the fine print of the terms and conditions,” Woronka says. “What seems increasingly likely is that a surcharge might begin to be added to new itineraries.”
However, not all cruise lines will be equally affected by elevated oil prices. Some major lines participate in an industry process known as fuel hedging, in which they spend money upfront to lock in the cost of future fuel purchases in the hopes of creating pricing stability. Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line both hedge, and both lines said on their fourth quarter earnings calls that they were at least 50% hedged for 2026 fuel consumption. “That means they are absorbing only about half of the rise in fuel prices,” Woronka says. (Norwegian Cruise Line also owns luxury lines Regent Seven Seas and Oceania, and Royal Caribbean is the parent company for Celebrity Cruises and Silversea Cruises.)
Other major cruise brands, like Carnival, don’t hedge at all, and “thus fuel is having a greater impact on their bottom line financially right now,” according to Woronka. (Carnival owns Princess Cruises, Holland America, Cunard, and Seabourn.)
When will cruise lines start increasing prices?
Travelers should brace themselves to see those higher fares or surcharges imminently. “The lines have been dealing with significantly higher fuel prices for about three weeks now, and there isn't much high conviction clarity in terms of potential de-escalation, and thus lower fuel prices,” says Woronka. “So we would not be surprised to see the spike in fuel prices get passed along to the consumer within a few weeks.”
Lines could also embed the higher cost of fuel into future fares by simply raising the ticket prices overall, Woronka says. It’s potentially a more likely scenario, especially because travelers don’t like the idea of surcharge, and they expect it to be removed when oil prices come down. “If the lines don't use that term, but just raise prices, they don't necessarily have to lower those prices when the cost of fuel retreats,” he explains.
Whether through fuel surcharges or higher overall fares, cruise companies are likely confident that they can pass on the elevated costs to travelers without risking canceled bookings due to this year’s strong demand for cruises, Woronka says.
A record 21.7 million Americans are predicted to take a cruise in 2026, according to estimates from AAA. Cruise companies have also reported historic bookings this year. Virgin Voyages, for example, saw a 20% jump in bookings for the 2026 wave season (which stretches from January through March) compared to last year—and January was its best month for bookings yet.
All that momentum means that some lines are mostly booked up for all of 2026. Executives at Royal Caribbean, for instance, said on the company’s 2025 annual earnings call in January that its voyages were already two-thirds booked for 2026.
When should I book my cruise?
Since the conflict in Iran began, travel agents have reported some hesitancy among travelers to purchase upcoming cruises. At least one line, Avalon Waterways, has canceled Nile River cruises through August 2026. Others like Viking and Uniworld are operating on the Nile as normal, however, most cruise companies have suspended all pre- and post-voyage land tours in Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, and elsewhere in the region.
New bookings appeared to have slowed down suddenly in March, according to Tom Baker, CEO of Cruise Center, who says worried clients are calling daily to ask whether their trip might be canceled, even for voyages outside of the Middle East. That reaction from travelers is not uncommon. “Historically, when some kind of event like a geopolitical conflict breaks out, we see a temporary lull in bookings as people spend more time watching the news,” Woronka says. “But this is generally short-lived, and we typically see the lost bookings more or less made up for.”
Rising airfares could also put a damper on cruise bookings. Airfare increases and fuel surcharges could negatively impact cruise sales, Baker says. “This is a worry and being expressed already,” he tells Traveler. “We will have to watch this carefully.”
To avoid the higher fares and charges, travelers should theoretically book immediately. But given the nature of cruise travel, that might not be the right move for every traveler. “It really depends on when the trip is taking place, and how confident the traveler is that they are going to end up taking the cruise,” Woronka says. “Since most tickets require at least a 15% to 20% deposit, it's generally not advisable to book a trip far out into the future—like 15 months or more—simply because you are worried about a potential fuel surcharge that might be removed within a few months anyway.”
If travelers book early and their plans change, they could then lose their deposit, which can range up to several hundred dollars or more, all because they were trying to avoid a fuel surcharge that might only cost $50 to $100. However, if a traveler has already been planning to book a cruise for a closer date, “it could make sense to do it ahead of any fuel surcharges or price increases on tickets,” Woronka advises.