Paying Onboard Account in USD for non-US passengers

[cruisincdns]

My wife and I are from Canada and just completed a Mexican Riviera cruise on the Sapphire Nov. 14-21/09.

 

Since my wife works for a bank and gets staff rate on US exchanges charged to our VISA, and, our dollar is strong, we purposely checked off the box at the bottom of our Boarding Pass form, that says we "want our onboard account to be charged to our VISA in US dollars and not Canadian dollars."

 

When I received our final Statement of Account at our stateroom door on the morning of disembarkation, I was surprised to read that my VISA was charged in CAD rather than USD. I was charged a 3% surcharge for this.

 

I went to Passenger Services but the clerk said it was too late and they could not reverse it and for me to contact Princess Customer Relations. She gave me a business card with the contact info.

 

I called Princess when I got back home and was told that for the majority of their cruises, the Boarding Passes each passenger hands in when they get their cruise card at the cruise terminal at embarkation do not get brought onboard the ship. The embarkation staff at the cruise terminals are non-Princess staff who work for their dock Agent.

 

Princess Customer Relations told me that for those non-US passengers who want to have their onboard account charged to their VISA in US dollars, they MUST go to the Passenger Services desk and fill out a special form to have this done.

 

Paul

[sondi 14]

Hi Fellow Vancouverite,

 

We were aware of this policy on Princess and on our last cruise on the Tahitian Princess, we paid our bill in cash the day before we disembarked. We had only a small charge on our bill to be charged to our Visa. We tried to figure out beforehand how much cash we would need to pay our bill as I had read about the problem on CC in the past.

[newfirsttimer]

Also being Canadian and wanting my Visa charged in US $, part way through the first week I go to the front desk and make sure they have my account set up properly. Last cruise they could not find the 'paperwork' either but they did change their system so I was billed in US$. Got to stay on top of them.

[paul929207]

There have been a number of threads from people who have had similar problems.

[cjpj]

Yes, we had this problem on our first cruise - my account was charged in US$ and DH's was converted to CAN$. Even though I was aware of the issue from CC, I did not know it was common to check the box, and not have it converted properly. We we told the same thing, once we had our bill on the last day it was too late to change and given it the requisite card to call head office. We've cruised several times since then and always make a visit early in the cruise to the purser's desk to ensure the accounts are being handled as we like. Of course, we've never had a problem since.

[jimpod]

We have cruised with Princess 4 times. The first time we ticked the box to have the bill in USD (we are from UK) and had no problems. The second and third cruises we did the same but were billed in GBP using their exchange rate and 3% charge. On both occasions my husband went to the desk and asked and was told that it would be changed on the system which it wasn't. On our most recent cruise in September we again ticked the box but noticed that the form was more strongly worded and the choice more apparent on the form. We had no bother on this occasion and on talking to other UK passengers found that everyone had been billed in the choice they made. We had hoped that the problem was now solved but obviously not.

[taxmantoo]

We were on the Sapphire in October and did not have any problem with this. We pre-registered our card on the Princess website before embarkation and that was the end of it. Presented the card at embarkation and got our bill in U.S. and debited in U.S. then transfered to CAD by the credit card company.

[ell52]

They are very hit and miss with this.

 

On our back-to-back last year, we specified no conversion to CAD and verified with passenger services on the first leg. No problem. We figured they would automatically carry-over our preference for the second leg. Wrong. They converted the second leg to CAD! So it's always a good idea to double check.

[senior lady]

That's why I always pay my bill with travelers cheques. We were just on a 30 day cruise and I paid it off half way through the trip and then paid the rest off the day before we got off in the morning when there were'nt any lines:) So won't have much more than $100 on our mastercard.

 

Living in canada, I always buy some US money when it's at a good exchange rate, and just put it in the bank. We have a RV and camp a lot across the line so always need US money.

[D&N LUV 2 TRAVEL]

I agree with the other replies. You can not assume anything and I always check with the passenger services desk to make sure my account is set up properly and even go the night before we disembark to check again. We only do this because of the horror stories others have reported on CC similar to the OP.

[terrierjohn]

Not certain from your post if Princess are going to reimburse you the difference. If they have not agreed to then I suggest that you work out how much it cost you and send them another letter asking for a credit.

We have had two seperate experiences with Princess where they converted our final account to GBP, however on both occasions they sent me a credit in GBP to cover the excess charge.

It may only be a small amount but it's better in my pocket than Carnival's.

[pg.]

Personally I think it is a sneaky money grab,, remember,, they do this to hundreds of Canadians( etc) each week( on varirous cruises),, they only get stopped by a fraction I bet.. they come out ahead, and they KNOW that Canadians ( and others) come out behind when they do it.

 

If they wanted to stop doing it ,, it is very simple,, just STOP.. it doesn't take a huge system overhaul.

 

We will be sure to go to the Pursers office after boarding,, which btw,, is a waste of our holiday fun time,, but we don't like being ripped off either.

[Katie333]

Agree that the new boarding pass forms make this selection more obvious (presumably for customers as well as their own staff). It does seem like a money grab, but it might be laziness that causes it to be missed often - not an excuse of course!

 

We check the box and also highlight it, that seems to have worked on our most recent cruises. I suppose checking it midway through the cruise is the ultimate protection, too bad we have to go to these lengths at all!

[sloney]

I called Princess last week to order a Celebration Pacakge and some beer. I wanted to be billed in US funds and the Customer Service person told me that it was impossble over the phone. I insisted that nothing is impossible. I had to fax my order into Princess and make a large note to bill in US funds only. They complied and I saved nearly 20%

 

For a $420 USD package they wanted $520 CAD.....simply ridiculous considering that our dollars are almost a par right now.

 

I have checked the "Bill me in US funds" box and highlighted my boarding pass for my upcoming cruise. Now I will also check after day one or two to make sure.

 

Thanks for the tip!

 

sloney

[Shogun]

Hi All

 

On our Crown B2B we had no problems.

 

yours Shogun

[kruisey]

I always book in USD funds and also have a USD credit card.

Also tick USD fund box and write in big letters also on the form......First day on board I check with pursers desk. Never had any trouble.:)

May I give you another tip .One pays a smaller comversion charge to Canadian Dollars by bank if you have a USD credit card and use that when dealing in USD dollars.:)

[sloney]

I wish they would simply bill eveything in US funds, like most travel companies do, and let us worry about how we exchange our money.

 

I'm sure the only reason they do the conversions is because they want to make more money from the Canadian customers. For many years now we, the Canadians, have been tolerant of paying more for goods and services such as books, and cars. We always assumed it was "the exchange" but since the first time our dollar reached par a couple of years ago, things have changed. We now realise there isn't any significant exchange on the dollar and that we have been getting rooked for a long time.

 

Given the current economic climate, I'm sure it will only be a matter of time before Princess starts realising that there is a lot of foreign money out there to be had, and that they will want to make it easier for us to SPEND!

[katiepe]

As someone said this has been discussed before and we have experienced the 3% conversion without permission even though we checked and highlighted and so on so yes we will be going to the Purser's desk as well. And I agree what a waste of time and no we shouldnt have to.

But just to note:

I did call my credit card company(TD Visa) to see if they charged anything above the exchange rate of USD to CAD and they did tell me that VISA International charges a conversion fee of 2.5% so you may want to check with your credit card company. It may depend on your type of credit card of course.

[sun~]

I had the same issue on the Nov. 7-14th sailing on the Crown. The staff said it was a 'glitch in the system' and never happens. Which of course is an absolute lie. They don't even care if you are using a USD credit card - just have a non-US address. This deplorable practise of skimming 3% as a fee then their exchange rate is appalling.

 

I did check off the box to be charged in USD, as did the hundreds of others who were in line with us the last night.

 

It has been well documented that Princess rips off people with this exchange rate scam. I urge all non-US folks travelling on Princess to watch them like a hawk for this dishonest billing practise.

[brutus11]

We have been on many cruises with Princess and Holland America. 75 % of the time the cruise companies DID NOT pay attention to the two boxes at the bottom of the boarding pass. We were pleased that CIBC now have a VISA in USA funds. We got our cards last week. No more fighting with the front desk. Being a careful Canadian, we have been watching the exchange rate and when it is up we buy.:p

[sun~]

We have been on many cruises with Princess and Holland America. 75 % of the time the cruise companies DID NOT pay attention to the two boxes at the bottom of the boarding pass. We were pleased that CIBC now have a VISA in USA funds. We got our cards last week. No more fighting with the front desk. Being a careful Canadian, we have been watching the exchange rate and when it is up we buy.:p

 

You would think that this would be a no-brainer for them. USD credit card - charge in USD. BUT NO!! My friend who travelled with me (Ambitiouspice) had the same fight. They were going to charge her in CANADIAN dollars on her USD visa and charge their outrageous 3% service charge + their own exchange rate. They purposely targeted all those with non-US addresses.

 

We waited in a two hour line up on the last night with hundreds of other Canadians, Brits and other non-US addressed people.

 

Don't trust Princess billing practises. Especially if they have to make up lost revenue from things like all the cancelled shore excursions or lost liquor sales due to rough seas or rainy weather. Funny how those things go hand in hand. :rolleyes:

[senior lady]

I had the same issue on the Nov. 7-14th sailing on the Crown. The staff said it was a 'glitch in the system' and never happens. Which of course is an absolute lie. They don't even care if you are using a USD credit card - just have a non-US address. This deplorable practise of skimming 3% as a fee then their exchange rate is appalling.

 

I did check off the box to be charged in USD, as did the hundreds of others who were in line with us the last night.

 

It has been well documented that Princess rips off people with this exchange rate scam. I urge all non-US folks travelling on Princess to watch them like a hawk for this dishonest billing practise.

 

 

It's not just Princess............. Have had the extra charges on Celebrity, and Royal Caribbean also. I think we have to be careful on a cruiselines

[cjpj]

We have been on many cruises with Princess and Holland America. 75 % of the time the cruise companies DID NOT pay attention to the two boxes at the bottom of the boarding pass. We were pleased that CIBC now have a VISA in USA funds. We got our cards last week. No more fighting with the front desk. Being a careful Canadian, we have been watching the exchange rate and when it is up we buy.:p

 

Ahhh Brutus, don't be lulled into a false sense of security just because you have a US Visa card.... Princess doesn't know that. They base their conversion on your address. And even though your CC is a US visa card, it is from a Canadian bank and as such has the first four digits identify it as such.

We've had a Royal Bank US Visa card for years. You still have to jump through all the hoops! And if Princess does screw up, it's a double whammy because your charged to convert the bill into CAN dollars, then your CC will charge you to convert from CAN to US.:eek::eek::eek:

[iancal]

"Glitch in the system' is what they say to everyone. It is a SCAM and this business practice reflects very poorly on Princess. We stop by the Purser's office on the day prior to disembarkation to double check.....never had an instance where they planned to do as we instructed. There is a feigned look of astonishment that the staff must be trained to do.

[kruisey]

As well as the usual tick mark I also write in USA please.On embarking go to pursers desk and verify. I pay and bill in USA with an American VISA belonging to Canadian bank. Never had a problem 'I must be lucky':)