Carnival Corp., the world's biggest cruise ship operator, on Nov. 8th became the first major cruise company to announce that passengers on its North American brands will have to pay a $5 per day surcharge to help offset the soaring cost of fuel.

The fee, which will go into effect for cruises that start after Feb. 1, will apply to the ships of Carnival Cruise Lines, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Cunard Line, Costa Cruises and Seabourn Cruises.

While neither Royal Caribbean or NCL has announced a fuel surcharge, the small luxury line Regent Seven Seas Cruises imposed a $7.50 per passenger per day fee earlier this week.

Carnival added a fuel charge for customers sailing on its European ships earlier this year.

"We had hoped to avoid a similar supplement for our North American brands, but with the price of oil approaching $100 a barrel this is no longer possible," Chief Executive Micky Arison said in statement.

"We are hopeful fuel prices will someday return to a level that will enable us to eliminate this supplement," Arison said. "Until then, we believe that guests sailing on our North American brands will understand the dilemma that soaring fuel prices has caused for our company and industry."

Carnival said the surcharge would be capped at $70 per person per voyage, and that it would apply only to the first two occupants of a cabin.