Aussie Dollar

G'day, I am a fan of Royal Caribbean but am getting a little worried about the falling Aussie dollar.

Can somebody please recommend a cruise line that deals in Australian dollars onboard and in all transactions and does every cruise line have a loyalty program like Royal Caribbeans crown and anchor society?

Thank you

Peter Heness

G'day, I am a fan of Royal Caribbean but am getting a little worried about the falling Aussie dollar.

Can somebody please recommend a cruise line that deals in Australian dollars onboard and in all transactions and does every cruise line have a loyalty program like Royal Caribbeans crown and anchor society?

Thank you

Peter Heness

all the aussie ships like Princess, Carnival and p&o all have AUD currency and no tipping involved as its built into the fare

i'm a princess cruiser and their loyalty program is very good, i havent cruised Carnival but i believe they have a loyalty program but p&o give you zero

Welcome to Cruise Critic poider :D

Thank you both I was lookng at princess they do look good

Peter

Thank you both I was lookng at princess they do look good

Peter

Welcome to Cc

We like Princess but be aware a different experience then Royal. More laid back, probably less active activities and an older passenger age. But hard to beat for relaxing.

We have found the Royal Caribbean cruises to be similar in price to the others, sometimes cheaper due to our loyalty discount, when we have compared like for like with our cabin preference and itinerary.

We have talked to a lot of cruisers on our previous trips and the general feeling is that Royal's loyalty program offers many people the best rewards. It can depend on what you are after, but the big things for us at the Diamond loyalty level are the happy hour (three hours) free drinks in the lovely Diamond Lounges, and the balcony discounts we receive as we want to book balconies.

Some people don't drink and don't want balconies. They prefer more free laundry or whatever other offerings suits them better. You really need to look at the lists of what a loyalty program will offer, and tick off your priority to see what one offers best value. We don't drink much during the day, particularly on port days, so the happy hours suits us for our drinking requirements.

When we book we generally put a certain amount on a card in a $US wallet (such as Qantas card/Aust Post travel card etc) or purchase some $US cash, and that covers our on board spending without worrying about exchange rate fluctuations before or during the cruise. We prepay our gratuities upon booking, and take that amount into account in the total price when comparing prices.

Lately we have been booking when there are specials with on board credit included, and on our last cruise we bought things from the clothes shops just to spend the balance of our on board credit.

So the aussie dollar issue is not an issue in our experience. We book the cruise itself in Aussie dollars and know exactly the price that we have to have saved up by final payment. We love the Royal loyalty program which is reciprocal on Celebrity. You must do what is the right fit for you though.

G'day, I am a fan of Royal Caribbean but am getting a little worried about the falling Aussie dollar.

Can somebody please recommend a cruise line that deals in Australian dollars onboard and in all transactions and does every cruise line have a loyalty program like Royal Caribbeans crown and anchor society?

Thank you

Peter Heness

Peter message me? :)

G'day, I am a fan of Royal Caribbean but am getting a little worried about the falling Aussie dollar.

Can somebody please recommend a cruise line that deals in Australian dollars onboard and in all transactions and does every cruise line have a loyalty program like Royal Caribbeans crown and anchor society?

Thank you

Peter Heness

Firstly, welcome to Cruise Critic. As mentioned, Princess, Carnival and P&O all deal in AUD, bear in mind that if the dollar drops their pricing will still rise but not to the same extent as those dealing in USD. Good hunting.:D

We have found the Royal Caribbean cruises to be similar in price to the others, sometimes cheaper due to our loyalty discount, when we have compared like for like with our cabin preference and itinerary.

 

We have talked to a lot of cruisers on our previous trips and the general feeling is that Royal's loyalty program offers many people the best rewards. It can depend on what you are after, but the big things for us at the Diamond loyalty level are the happy hour (three hours) free drinks in the lovely Diamond Lounges, and the balcony discounts we receive as we want to book balconies.

 

Some people don't drink and don't want balconies. They prefer more free laundry or whatever other offerings suits them better. You really need to look at the lists of what a loyalty program will offer, and tick off your priority to see what one offers best value. We don't drink much during the day, particularly on port days, so the happy hours suits us for our drinking requirements.

 

When we book we generally put a certain amount on a card in a $US wallet (such as Qantas card/Aust Post travel card etc) or purchase some $US cash, and that covers our on board spending without worrying about exchange rate fluctuations before or during the cruise. We prepay our gratuities upon booking, and take that amount into account in the total price when comparing prices.

 

Lately we have been booking when there are specials with on board credit included, and on our last cruise we bought things from the clothes shops just to spend the balance of our on board credit.

 

So the aussie dollar issue is not an issue in our experience. We book the cruise itself in Aussie dollars and know exactly the price that we have to have saved up by final payment. We love the Royal loyalty program which is reciprocal on Celebrity. You must do what is the right fit for you though.

Pretty much agree with all you said. Aussie dollar doesn't bother us either - we just pay up front for gratuities as well & our Diamond level drinks cover much of the drinks tab.

I would add that recently I researched Princess to consider a longer cruise out of Sydney, but even though I know some on here like them a lot, IMO the ships they have out of Sydney don't compare to the Royal & Celebrity ships & experience on offer here regardless of your age group.

Added to that the loyalty program I felt was not a match to Royals, only the laundry seemed to be a better deal in the Princess program, but when I'm on holiday - laundry isn't a priority for me - I just take enough clothes that I hardly need to wash anything. :D

Good thing about Royal is that they allow you to get reciprocal loyalty benefits on all both Celebrity & Azamara that they own.

My advice if you are going to join a loyalty program is to stick with one cruise line until you get to a level with good perks, like Diamond level on Royal - that is what we did & it has worked well for us.:)

all the aussie ships like Princess, Carnival and p&o all have AUD currency and no tipping involved as its built into the fare

 

i'm a princess cruiser and their loyalty program is very good, i havent cruised Carnival but i believe they have a loyalty program but p&o give you zero

PO cruises count towards your Princess credits on their loyalty scheme. So that is something.

Peter message me? :)

How do i message you?

Avalon I see you have a March Fiji voyager coming up,

My Wife and I are booked for march on voyager to Fiji

Peter

How do i message you?

If you go back to his post and click on his name, you can see his profile and an email address.

PO cruises count towards your Princess credits on their loyalty scheme. So that is something.

Yes, they all help in getting me to that elusive status level.:D

How does the falling $AUS affect Australian cruisers with RCI bookings either not yet paid in full or new bookings?

How does the falling $AUS affect Australian cruisers with RCI bookings either not yet paid in full or new bookings?

One cruise, some years ago, they hit us for extra when $ dropped drasitcally.

The biggest impact is likely, however to be in on board spending of any type.

One cruise, some years ago, they hit us for extra when $ dropped drasitcally.

 

The biggest impact is likely, however to be in on board spending of any type.

Was never going to pursue a drink package. May have to rethink.

Was never going to pursue a drink package. May have to rethink.

Yes, the on board spend will be increased with the AUD dropping, we tend to pay our cruises in full if we think the $ will drop so we do not get stung.:D

Yes, the on board spend will be increased with the AUD dropping, we tend to pay our cruises in full if we think the $ will drop so we do not get stung.:D

Do you think the Australian dollar will improve in the next few months or do you think the Greek crisis will continue to affect us?

How does the falling $AUS affect Australian cruisers with RCI bookings either not yet paid in full or new bookings?

Once you have booked & paid your deposit, the cruisefare in $A will not change.

For our B2B2B trip last year we were concerned about the falling $A, so we booked early and pre-paid our excursions & T&G's ahead of time to lock them in. Over the months the $A did fall & we saw prices rise, including for shore excusions, but we were all good.

As an aside, I was concerned a few months ago about the likely fall in $A, so I bit the bullet and bought some US$ for future RC cruises, hopefully next year :)

Do you think the Australian dollar will improve in the next few months or do you think the Greek crisis will continue to affect us?

Current 'expert' opinion is that the A$ will not be rising anytime soon & whilst I am no econimist, I think that is most likely scenario.

Was never going to pursue a drink package. May have to rethink.

Drinks packages also cost more.

If you prepay you can lock the price in, but then it's the same as prepaying by buying your USD for your onboard spending at the same time anyway. i.e. no need to rethink a drinks package for currency changes.

Drinks packages also cost more.

 

If you prepay you can lock the price in, but then it's the same as prepaying by buying your USD for your onboard spending at the same time anyway. i.e. no need to rethink a drinks package for currency changes.

How many cruise lines actually take cash, we sailed Radiance of the Seas in Feb 2015 and were told the only place we could use cash was in the casino?

Peter

How many cruise lines actually take cash, we sailed Radiance of the Seas in Feb 2015 and were told the only place we could use cash was in the casino?

Peter

if you wish to pay your account by cash thats ok but other wise the casino is the only place on any ship that you can use cash

and so therefore it is a worry when the aussie dollar drops... if in twelve months the aussie dollar is only worth 50 us cents then i can be pretty sure that RCI will price their cruises accordingly to ensure they are still getting their dollars worth

Peter