Why are Aussies being overcharged for cruises?

[Flossygirl]

Now I'm a little confused. Murrumba, I just did as you suggested and went to the Royal Caribbean website selected USA from the link at the top that asks what country you are from. I then picked a cruise sailing on 25 September 2011 (not 2010) - balcony room. The price came back as US$979. I then went back to the beginning and changed my country to Australia and found the identical cruise. The price came back as AUD$1,499 for the same balcony room. Now I would have expected it to have been the same price plus the current difference in currency i.e. AUD$1,067. It appears that even going to the cruise line direct we are still paying far more than the americans or am I missing something? :confused:

[UKBayern]

Now I'm a little confused. Murrumba, I just did as you suggested and went to the Royal Caribbean website selected USA from the link at the top that asks what country you are from. I then picked a cruise sailing on 25 September 2011 (not 2010) - balcony room. The price came back as US$979. I then went back to the beginning and changed my country to Australia and found the identical cruise. The price came back as AUD$1,499 for the same balcony room. Now I would have expected it to have been the same price plus the current difference in currency i.e. AUD$1,067. It appears that even going to the cruise line direct we are still paying far more than the americans or am I missing something? :confused:

 

A similar price difference showed up when switching country of residence USA for Germany, where we live:mad:. The cruise I used as a test was a mediterranean cruise.

When booking by phone gets around the country of residence rate difference: great:)!

We pay a € 3,95 flatrate monthly for unlimited calls both inside the EU and to the US and Canada, so phone charges are not an objection here. If calling the US is the solution, we will definitely be doing that for our next cruise reservation.

[Cruisin_on_th_net]

stingua.... what was the nationality of the truck driver??? if he's a USA dude, the ice shoulda been way cheaper!! LOL, the aussie truckie would have been the dearer one, according to our theories.... slurps on her stella... LOL, the reason why 4X is cheaper in wales is......... It's dead set carp, and they have to give it away to make sure people stock it to sell Bwahhhhhh :D

 

 

*lurches off with the weight of the tight and non-tip paying "country of Australia' reputation" on shoulders* :p :D

[stingau]

stingua.... what was the nationality of the truck driver??? if he's a USA dude, the ice shoulda been way cheaper!! LOL, the aussie truckie would have been the dearer one, according to our theories.... slurps on her stella... LOL, the reason why 4X is cheaper in wales is......... It's dead set carp, and they have to give it away to make sure people stock it to sell Bwahhhhhh :D

 

 

*lurches off with the weight of the tight and non-tip paying "country of Australia' reputation" on shoulders* :p :D

 

 

Yeh im not a big fan of XXXX shhh dont tell anyone an me being a QLDER and all that enough to get me kicked out an ill have to go live south of the border with the cockaroaches or worse yet victorians.....

 

When I do drink beer i drink Hahn Premium or when my PTI is around Pure Blondes. The blondes go down real well and not fattening.

 

I drink a lot of frozen cocktails at home.... mainly because as a sideline business when im not wearing army cams I have a business which hires out the drink machines for Adult parties... one of the downsides of the job is I have to taste test the various cocktails before recomending them...all in the name of research of course

[Murrumba]

Now I'm a little confused. Murrumba, I just did as you suggested and went to the Royal Caribbean website selected USA from the link at the top that asks what country you are from. I then picked a cruise sailing on 25 September 2011 (not 2010) - balcony room. The price came back as US$979. I then went back to the beginning and changed my country to Australia and found the identical cruise. The price came back as AUD$1,499 for the same balcony room. Now I would have expected it to have been the same price plus the current difference in currency i.e. AUD$1,067. It appears that even going to the cruise line direct we are still paying far more than the americans or am I missing something? :confused:

 

Hello Flossygirl, I just got home from a concert, so sorry this reply a bit late. I also went to the RCL site and put in the same criteria for USA and then Australia. USA came back at $US979.00 for balcony and 115 taxes.

Australia returned $1499 plus 150 Taxes. I could not believe this. My partner wonders if in fact they are not aware the Aussie dollar today is paying 91.6 cents to the US$. It would appear that they have the wrong conversion amount and not the present 91.6 as the taxes should return $125.6 not $150.00 and there is no way that they would be able to inflate the taxes as this is revenue that needs to be accounted for. Verification of their current conversion needs to clarified with RCL.

 

I apologise to you I was wrong about RCL - I am totally disgusted and would absolutely refuse to pay this amount. This was not a problem when I booked cruises previously with RCL I promise you.

 

I went on a 14 day tour of the South Pacific late 2008 and early 2009 14 days to New Zealand and I really checked all this. I know that this is not a problem with Carnival and Norwegian as my pricing was in US$, and Carnival have an early saver plan where if you see the price lower anywhere they will drop the price. They have honoured this 3 times already in a couple of months.

 

If you want to cruise with RCL I would definitely telephone them and talk to them about the issue and get them to check it. It would appear to me that their currency conversions are totally incorrect. They are charging Aussies the incorrect Taxes also, and they have added on Gratuities but I did not include them in this costing.

 

The difference with Taxes converted was $404 approximately per passenger or 809.45 per room. This to me is totally unacceptable.

 

Let me know how you get on.:eek::eek:

[Murrumba]

Now I'm a little confused. Murrumba, I just did as you suggested and went to the Royal Caribbean website selected USA from the link at the top that asks what country you are from. I then picked a cruise sailing on 25 September 2011 (not 2010) - balcony room. The price came back as US$979. I then went back to the beginning and changed my country to Australia and found the identical cruise. The price came back as AUD$1,499 for the same balcony room. Now I would have expected it to have been the same price plus the current difference in currency i.e. AUD$1,067. It appears that even going to the cruise line direct we are still paying far more than the americans or am I missing something? :confused:

 

Hello Flossygirl, I just got home from a concert, so sorry this reply a bit late. I also went to the RCL site and put in the same criteria for USA and then Australia. USA came back at $US979.00 for balcony and 115 taxes.

Australia returned $1499 plus 150 Taxes. I could not believe this. My partner wonders if in fact they are not aware the Aussie dollar today is paying 91.6 cents to the US$. I apologise to you I was wrong about RCL - I am totally disgusted and would absolutely refuse to pay this amount. This was not a problem when I booked cruises previously with RCL I promise you.

They have even overcharged for taxes which does not appear to be correct as this is revenue that they would need to account for one would think????

 

I went on a 14 day tour of the South Pacific late 2008 and early 2009 14 days to New Zealand and I really checked all this. I know that this is not a problem with Carnival and Norwegian as my pricing was in US$, and Carnival have an early saver plan where if you see the price lower anywhere they will drop the price. They have honoured this 3 times already in a couple of months.

 

If you want to cruise with RCL I would definitely telephone them and talk to them about the issue and get them to check it. It would appear to me that their currency conversions are totally incorrect. They are charging Aussies the incorrect Taxes too. RLC have added on Gratuities but I did not include them in this costing as this appears to be something which they like Aussies to do now before they cruise.

 

The difference with Taxes converted was $404 approximately per passenger or 809.45 per room. This to me is totally unacceptable.

 

Let me know how you get on.:eek::eek:

 

I have just had my partner (he is a maths teacher) work the currency conversion out that RCL are using:

 

For the Passenger Fare they are using 65 cents to the $US dollar

For the Taxes: They are using 76 cents.

So therefore they are not even consistent with their conversions.

 

I wondered when I looked at the Fares recently why they appeared so high from 12 months ago now I know. They need to be challenged on this!!!!!!!!

[moniquet]

Am I allowed to ask what CC members think of *****.com? They seem so cheap, that's all

 

They are excellent! We have used them for 10 years except this year (HAL won't allow them to accept bookings from Europe any longer!:mad:)

[Flossygirl]

Thanks Murrumba, at least I know it's not something I'm doing wrong! These cruise lines are messing with my head! :( I don't really care which cruise line we go with but it needs to be minimum 4 stars doing either a repositioning cruise from say Boston/New York to Florida/New Orleans or return out of Florida in or around September 2011. We don't have kids anymore so there is no need to factor that in. We eventually need to get back to LA to get home. My neighbours just toured with RCL and loved it hence the reason for looking at them closely. I just want value for money on a nice ship in a balcony room. Every day I look I get a bit more confused to a point where I don't know which end is up. :confused:

 

If people out there have a favourite ship going around September next year from US east coast would you please let me know so I can have a look at it. That's half the problem - I don't know what I'm looking at when it comes to the ships themselves. :(

 

You would think RCL would just pull in the conversion rate from xe.com or something so it is automatic and alleviate the problem for us!

 

I would prefer to deal directly with the cruise lines but I don't want to get taken for a ride either.

 

Hope you enjoyed your concert - was it AC/DC or something like that? :D

 

Thanks for your help, once again. You really are a gem! :)

[Murrumba]

Thanks Murrumba, at least I know it's not something I'm doing wrong! These cruise lines are messing with my head! :( I don't really care which cruise line we go with but it needs to be minimum 4 stars doing either a repositioning cruise from say Boston/New York to Florida/New Orleans or return out of Florida in or around September 2011. We don't have kids anymore so there is no need to factor that in. We eventually need to get back to LA to get home. My neighbours just toured with RCL and loved it hence the reason for looking at them closely. I just want value for money on a nice ship in a balcony room. Every day I look I get a bit more confused to a point where I don't know which end is up. :confused:

 

If people out there have a favourite ship going around September next year from US east coast would you please let me know so I can have a look at it. That's half the problem - I don't know what I'm looking at when it comes to the ships themselves. :(

 

You would think RCL would just pull in the conversion rate from xe.com or something so it is automatic and alleviate the problem for us!

 

I would prefer to deal directly with the cruise lines but I don't want to get taken for a ride either.

 

Hope you enjoyed your concert - was it AC/DC or something like that? :D

 

Thanks for your help, once again. You really are a gem! :)

 

 

Thanks for reply. Yes, I totally understand what you mean. I am very confused too. I would telephone them and speak to somebody in charge about this issue. I certainly believe that it must be an error.

 

For instance somebody mentioned Vactions to Go. I have used them in the past and they were good. They have a conversion factor - you just click on this and it goes to currency conversions.

 

For instance I put in a Florida Cruise on RCL Allure of the Seas on the 4 September (the same criteria I used before).

http://www.*****.com/fastdeal.cfm?deal=24582

They came up with 979 US$ for this cruise for Balcony, when you click on this it goes to Currency Conversions and shows the Aussie cost as $1069.00. I think that this goes to prove that there is really an error in the RCL conversions and I think that if you want to go with them and I would suggest you do as they are great to cruise with, then telephone them and speak to them and if they will not assist you then go with Vacations to Go. They are excellent too. You can sometimes ask for OBC with them too!!:p

[Murrumba]

They are excellent! We have used them for 10 years except this year (HAL won't allow them to accept bookings from Europe any longer!:mad:)

 

ditto - sorry that they won't accept booking from Europe - why??:confused:

[daisy-mae]

You would think RCL would just pull in the conversion rate from xe.com or something so it is automatic and alleviate the problem for us!

 

I would prefer to deal directly with the cruise lines but I don't want to get taken for a ride either.

 

 

It would be great if the cruise lines had a "real time" currency converter. I have a feeling that they do a projection to compare the future value of the US dollar against other currencies, the add a few percentage points and let the value ride for a given period. If online booking websites provide up-to-date conversions, then I think that would be the best place to start.

 

A TA here in Canada recently advised us to book our cruise in US funds, since the credit card provider's exchange rate would be more favorable than the CDN $$ price that the cruise line was quoting. We have done one better, and have acquired a US$$ credit card, which means that we can purchase US funds when our dollar is riding high (as is the case this week) and use that money to pay our US cc bill. It may only save a few dollars, but I would rather have the cash in my pocket than in the bank's coffers.

[mom2isabella05cole08]

Originally Posted by moniquet

They are excellent! We have used them for 10 years except this year (HAL won't allow them to accept bookings from Europe any longer!:mad:)

 

ditto - sorry that they won't accept booking from Europe - why??:confused:

 

From my understanding, it has to do with international business laws. A company in the US (or anywhere, really) has to follow the business laws of any country that it does business with. So, if I owned a business and wanted to do business in another country, I would have to go through all the proper steps within THAT country to ensure that I was doing everything properly, that the government was receiving what they were supposed to be receiving from me. If companies pay higher taxes in Australia (or the UK) then a US company would need to make sure that they were bringing in enough income to pay those taxes as well as still make a profit, which could explain at least PART of the price difference.

 

Although, as someone said the difference for the particular cruise they were looking at was about 400 per person, that does seem excessive.

[moniquet]

When I spoke to V2GO which was last August I understood from what they said that HAL would not allow them to take bookings from Europe.

 

I am about to go out but I shall e-mail them later and give V2GO this link and ask for comment.

[daisy-mae]

From my understanding, it has to do with international business laws. A company in the US (or anywhere, really) has to follow the business laws of any country that it does business with. So, if I owned a business and wanted to do business in another country, I would have to go through all the proper steps within THAT country to ensure that I was doing everything properly, that the government was receiving what they were supposed to be receiving from me.

 

But if we are talking about a European or North American cruise, then the "product" is not located in Australia.

 

One could argue that the Australian who is dealing with a local TA is buying a service from a company, in which case the service (travel advice and booking) would have to follow the country's rules of commerce. However, if an Australian citizen chooses to deal directly with a cruise company's head office in Florida, then there should be no interference from his own government. Or am I missing something?

[stingau]

But if we are talking about a European or North American cruise, then the "product" is not located in Australia.

 

One could argue that the Australian who is dealing with a local TA is buying a service from a company, in which case the service (travel advice and booking) would have to follow the country's rules of commerce. However, if an Australian citizen chooses to deal directly with a cruise company's head office in Florida, then there should be no interference from his own government. Or am I missing something?

 

 

You are correct it isnt the TA but the cruiseline. I have since found out that my booking should not have been made (apparently). It is a matter of Cruise lines protecting thier overseas agents. Australia charges $1,000's of dollars more for the same cruise who gets the extra profits..who knows... but evenually at the end of the day if a ship leaves from a US port ea passenger costs an equal amount.

Does Princess USA charge Princess Aust more per ticket...I think not.

 

Does Princess Aust charge the local TA's a lot more... Probably given their attitude when I called them to query something, they were pretty P##sed off that I had brought my ticket direct.

 

Does the Aust TA charge more.. again also possibleand if like my old local TA almost certain. I was on a cruise that got cancelled and the line refunded the cost of the cruise as well as give a 25% discount on a further cruise. When I collected my refund it was $400/person short ( x 4) When I quiered this I was told that was the booking fee the agent puts on top of all tickets for their work they do and they wanted to keep it. I contacted the cruise line as a "full Refund" is a full refund, they made them give me all my money back. But surprise surprise my 25% discount voucher got lost. The cruiseline would not reissue it saying they sent it to the travel agent. The travel agent states they never recieved it so tough luck.

 

Needless to say I will never cruise with that line again nor will I use that Agent.

[Murrumba]

But if we are talking about a European or North American cruise, then the "product" is not located in Australia.

 

One could argue that the Australian who is dealing with a local TA is buying a service from a company, in which case the service (travel advice and booking) would have to follow the country's rules of commerce. However, if an Australian citizen chooses to deal directly with a cruise company's head office in Florida, then there should be no interference from his own government. Or am I missing something?

 

Yes, that is how I see it. I think that they have to have the options of buying in your own country and then leave the decision upto the person. But this also gives the "so called Agent" opportunity to increase price to whatever they think the market will accept, which often unfortunately in Australia is to me at least "unacceptable".

[Murrumba]

You are correct it isnt the TA but the cruiseline. I have since found out that my booking should not have been made (apparently). It is a matter of Cruise lines protecting thier overseas agents. Australia charges $1,000's of dollars more for the same cruise who gets the extra profits..who knows... but evenually at the end of the day if a ship leaves from a US port ea passenger costs an equal amount.

Does Princess USA charge Princess Aust more per ticket...I think not.

 

Does Princess Aust charge the local TA's a lot more... Probably given their attitude when I called them to query something, they were pretty P##sed off that I had brought my ticket direct.

 

Does the Aust TA charge more.. again also possibleand if like my old local TA almost certain. I was on a cruise that got cancelled and the line refunded the cost of the cruise as well as give a 25% discount on a further cruise. When I collected my refund it was $400/person short ( x 4) When I quiered this I was told that was the booking fee the agent puts on top of all tickets for their work they do and they wanted to keep it. I contacted the cruise line as a "full Refund" is a full refund, they made them give me all my money back. But surprise surprise my 25% discount voucher got lost. The cruiseline would not reissue it saying they sent it to the travel agent. The travel agent states they never recieved it so tough luck.

 

Needless to say I will never cruise with that line again nor will I use that Agent.

 

Sorry to hear about your lost money, but I just don't see that it is the fault of the cruise company, rather some corrupt dodgey TA from Australia. The same thing happened to me on airline tickets and I will never use TA again because of this.

I think that they probably have laws that if they sell directly, they also need to let the "market" in Australia sell too but it is upto the person to decide who they purchase from.

When I was speaking to the Cruise lines booking my next 3 cruises, they certainly were not telling me to book through TA's. They encouraged me to book through them, for although at the time the offer from on-line TA's was OBC and discount books for purchases on the ships, there was a problem about was I going to get price drops??? So I booked with the cruise lines and within approximately 2 days have had every price drop that has come along. Now that the costs of the same cruises have gone up I have saved even more money because I booked ealry.

 

I for instance who have friends who refuse to purchase directly from the cruise company. I found them cruise tickets including airfare last year to Australia for less than the air ticket alone, told them and they went straight to a TA in their town in the US and were charged a fortune. When I pointed out the price difference to them they became defensive stating that the TA needed an income (??????) and that they did not trust anything that they could not see in their hand. So they paid $1400 more than they should. So this happens in the States too. They must have more money than me, because I am afraid that I would be looking for the best price.

[moniquet]

When I spoke to V2GO which was last August I understood from what they said that HAL would not allow them to take bookings from Europe.

 

I am about to go out but I shall e-mail them later and give V2GO this link and ask for comment.

 

 

I have just received a reply from Alan Fox at V2GO. Here is part of his reply.

 

 

 

Unfortunately, Celebrity, Cunard, Holland America, MSC, Oceania, Princess, Royal Caribbean and Star Clippers now prohibit all U.S. travel agencies (including Vacations To Go) from selling cruises to citizens of countries other than the United States and Canada, unless they have a residence in the U.S. or Canada. This is not a Vacations To Go policy or a U.S. government policy, it is a corporate policy instituted by each of these cruise lines. We are very disappointed in the restrictions they have placed on U.S. travel agencies.

 

Fortunately, many cruise lines allow customers of all nations to book deeply-discounted cruises through Vacations To Go. Here is a list of cruise lines we can offer you: Azamara, Carnival, Cruise West, Crystal, Disney, Norwegian, Paul Gauguin, Regent Seven Seas, Seabourn, SeaDream, Silversea, Voyages of Discovery and Windstar.

 

If you are ever interested in booking one of these cruise lines, please let me know.

 

Thanks again for writing, and best wishes!

 

So it seems it is just individual cruise line(s) policy. Perhaps they think we are all a soft touch outside the USA:mad:

[Murrumba]

I have just received a reply from Alan Fox at V2GO. Here is part of his reply.

 

 

 

Unfortunately, Celebrity, Cunard, Holland America, MSC, Oceania, Princess, Royal Caribbean and Star Clippers now prohibit all U.S. travel agencies (including Vacations To Go) from selling cruises to citizens of countries other than the United States and Canada, unless they have a residence in the U.S. or Canada. This is not a Vacations To Go policy or a U.S. government policy, it is a corporate policy instituted by each of these cruise lines. We are very disappointed in the restrictions they have placed on U.S. travel agencies.

 

Fortunately, many cruise lines allow customers of all nations to book deeply-discounted cruises through Vacations To Go. Here is a list of cruise lines we can offer you: Azamara, Carnival, Cruise West, Crystal, Disney, Norwegian, Paul Gauguin, Regent Seven Seas, Seabourn, SeaDream, Silversea, Voyages of Discovery and Windstar.

 

If you are ever interested in booking one of these cruise lines, please let me know.

 

Thanks again for writing, and best wishes!

 

So it seems it is just individual cruise line(s) policy. Perhaps they think we are all a soft touch outside the USA:mad:

 

I wonder if they are just saying this as you are in Europe. I honestly don't think these cruise lines extend this policy to Australia as I have spoken with them on the telephone in Houston Texas and never had a problem with saying that I am Australian living in Australia and paying with a Australian Credit Card. I have bought RCL off them. I wonder if you rang them if you would get a different response and it was not in writing?????????

[moniquet]

Possibly;)

 

Does seem to be a worldwide policy from these cruise lines as it says outside the USA and Canada.

[Murrumba]

Possibly;)

 

Does seem to be a worldwide policy from these cruise lines as it says outside the USA and Canada.

 

 

Moniquet, I just went to the Vacations to Go and they definitely have this new policy displayed under international booking rules.

I have never seen this before and feel really angry, sad and confused. I have put in a booking with RCL for a cruise and want to see what their response to me is. I will let you know.

 

If these cruise companies enforce this policy and it is widespread and if we ascertain that it is not their currency conversions that are incorrect and they make us book in Aussie dollars, then I for one will never cruise with these companies again.

 

It is interesting that two of the cruise companies i.e. Carnival and Norwegian - both of whom I booked cruises with for this year, were the cheapest and allowed me to book using US dollars on their sites and both these companies have allowed Vacations to Go to continue to sell their product.

 

I wondered why I saw an increase in RCL and Holland America prices and my partner asked me why we were not booking with them again for this year. I just told him I went with itinerary first (New England/Canada) first and then price and Carnival and HAl won price by streets.

 

So much for singing the praises of both these companies!!!!!!!!!!!!!:mad:

[Murrumba]

Vacations to Go responded to my request for a fast deal on a RCL cruise.

 

No go - just as Moniquet said they cannot sell RCL to anybody outside Canada and USA!!

[Murrumba]

Just went and had a look at my cruise from New Orleans in September. If I book via an Australia on-line Agency the cruise commences at $A789 (include tax).

 

If I book via Carnival Cruise Line directly in the US it is $US449 plus 45 tax = $US547 which converts at todays rate to: 539.00. Therefore if I buy this one week cruise in Australia on an on-line agency, I am paying $A250 more per person, or $A500 more per cabin. Why on earth would I be stupid enough to do that????

I do not believe that it is the cruise companies in this case, but our greedy Australian Travel Agents.

[cotton93]

Below is a reply I received from Royal Caribben (Aust) in relation to a question I asked about Aussies being charged considerably more than Americans. Lucky for us we booked our Oasis cruise before they stopped us using USA agents.

 

"Royal Caribbean Cruises Australia prices and sells all of our cruises in

Australian dollars. These cruise costs are determined some two or more

years prior to sailing using a set exchange rate. Thus the price remains

constant for the full time up until sailing, apart from any special

advertised offers. By doing this, guests are not affected by any currency

fluctuations, either up or down from time of paying the deposit to the time

of final payment.

 

We hope this answers your enquiry and look forward to welcoming you

onboard"

[Bescotti]

Moniquet, I just went to the Vacations to Go and they definitely have this new policy displayed under international booking rules.

 

Hi, I was aware of the change in policy of non-US residents booking HAL , Princes etc cruises in the US from January this year, that's why I asked how recently you had booked direct with HAL. As I mentioned, I booked direct with HAL several years ago but now they seem to be directing you to their Australian agent so I wasn't sure if HAL would allow you to book direct any more.