fralon

Just off the Magic Saturday Mar 18. We thought the food in the MDR was just as good or better than the food on Royal Caribbean. The choices were great and the food was always served hot. During lunch, you had a choice of 7 different venues where you could eat.

I was on this cruise last week with you! Looking forward to your review & pictures so I can show them to my jealous co-workers!

What exchange rate do they offer you for booking in CAD? The going rate? Even a somewhat lower rate is probably not as good as what I got for the USD I have on hand. ($1.10 CAD to $1.00 USD, sound familiar to people? ;))

 

 

 

I am a good customer with RBC and have many accounts with them. The problem with the RBC USD Visa is that even if they agree to waive the annual fee for the first year, I'll be stuck with it going forward. If I cancel the card, I can avoid the ongoing annual fee, but not without an impact on my credit rating (since average account age is a factor in credit score calculations). I don't normally care that much about my rating (especially because it's good; I've never had a late payment or paid interest on anything except my mortgage), but my mortgage is due to renew one final time next year before it will be paid off.

 

CAA offers the Cash Passport, which as I mentioned, only allows loading in CAD if bought in Canada. Reference: "A Cash Passport purchased in Canada can only be loaded with Canadian Dollars (CAD). If you have a foreign currency Cash Passport, the amount loaded will be converted to the currency of your Card."

 

I have thought about the third idea as well, but the product I know of from Walmart is the Amex Bluebird, which requires a SSN.

 

I appreciate you taking the time to provide suggestions...however I am looking for a specific solution that somebody knows about or has personally tried. It wouldn't make sense for me to drive down to the U.S. to Target or Walmart on the chance that there's something to fit the bill, only to drive home empty-handed. In short, I am hoping for "you can do this" instead of "you should be able to...". :)

How about getting a no fee TD US Visa card?

Wow, Robyn! Thanks for the update. I hope everyone is safe & these men get rescued.

Hey Robyn, loved your Freedom report last February. Looking forward to you reporting live from Indy! Have a great time!

Just off Freedom March 15-22. At Q & A with Captain, he said fixipod had been repaired. Sea trials were conducted during our cruise. Vibration noticed during the first 2-3 days but disappeared afterwards. Ship speed reached 23.7 kts during last sea day.

Already going into Freedom "Live" withdrawal!! Thanks Robyn for taking time during your vacation to do this. It's going to be a long 3 weeks!

Robyn, thanks for all the wonderful pictures & review. Looking forward to our March 15 Freedom cruise so we can escape our harsh winter (-34 degrees Celcius in Sault Ontario this morning) How good has the onboard entertainment been, specifically the headliners?

Frank

Even though you have paid for your cruise in CDN $ beforehand many people will spend varying amounts of money on board. Any money that you spend on board is charged in US$. You can buy an on board credit in US$ ahead of time and it will be applied to your account to offset what you sound on board....basically so at the end of the cruise you have no bill to pay. The exchange rates that Royal uses just changes and went from 10% to over 20% which is closer to the rate at the bank. Some who purchased a couple of days ago got a great rate at a 10% exchange.

 

Really no different than buying a beverage package ahead of time except instead of drinks you are buying US$

Can you only use this on board credit for purchases in the ship or can you ''withdraw" funds from this credit for purchases on the islands? This way you take advantage of the generous exchange rate when converting CDN to USD.

We recently had the pleasure of spending the day with Tyrone touring the beautiful island of Barbados. Please don't hesitate to book his tour. This man will make your visit memorable & enjoyable. We had such a great time, the highlight being when he took us to feed monkeys at a nearby golf course. He will take you wherever you want to go so that you see what you want to see. He is caring, sincere and enthusiastic. You will learn so much from him during the tour. Thanks Tyrone for the wonderful time, we will never forget!