Pay for Cruise Now or Later?

[cutiediva]

We have booked our cruise for Dec 29, 2010 and the final payment is due on October 15. Our Canadian $ is basically at par with the US$.

Is it better to have the cruise paid off as soon as possible? Are there any advantages to this or should I get US currency. Thanks for your help.:)

[JYeagersGrl]

If your cruise price drops before your final payment is due and you HAVEN'T paid it off yet you will get a discount of that amount off of your final payment. If you pay off your cruise and the price drops you can only get on board credit. I personally prefer getting the discount on the final payment but we are smaller spenders on board no bingo, no drinks, minimal shop purchases etc.

[valancy1]

We have booked our cruise for Dec 29, 2010 and the final payment is due on October 15. Our Canadian $ is basically at par with the US$.

Is it better to have the cruise paid off as soon as possible? Are there any advantages to this or should I get US currency. Thanks for your help.:)

 

How exciting! Well, here's what we do... we have our cruise money (usually from my Christmas bonus or income tax refund) and put it in savings account to collect even a little bit of interest. We pay it about a week before the "due" date.

 

The one thing that might "benefit" you is if you pay for it now, you would be entitled to onboard credit if you watch the price of your cruise throughout the months... though I have heard they are cutting back on these (I have never gotten one despite constant checking; others get big OBCs)

 

I'll be interested to see what others say...

[golfadj]

I see no reason to pay for things earlier than I have to.

[kcroxyoursox]

Please note that the OBC for post-final payment dates is only if you are booked under the Early Saver rate. Since its inception I've only ever booked ES so I can't comment on the other fares, but I believe there may be restrictions on pre-final payment price adjustments as well.

[jtdlmc]

I opened a US dollar account at my bank and am keeping the money there until final due date. I figure why give it to Carnival any earlier than I have to. I also got a US Visa to make paying easier. With having the US acc't I transfer money over into it on a weekly basis (online banking). I know I wouldn't drive back and forth to the bank or currency exchange once a week to exchange money so it works perfectly for me to help save my cruise "spending money".

[DanJ]

All the experts are saying the dollar is going to go higher by summer. Whether you want to take the chance is up to you. I personally would wait. $1.05 might be my jumping point.

[golfadj]

All the experts are saying the dollar is going to go higher by summer. Whether you want to take the chance is up to you. I personally would wait. $1.05 might be my jumping point.

 

Put "12" experts in a room and you can get 13 opinions. Crapshoot either way.

[Fourseventeen]

I personally would rather pay off my cruise at time of booking. That is one less thing I need to worry about as the time for my vacation approaches.

[Toronto Maple Leaf Fan]

The first question I would have is what currency did you book your cruise in? We just booked a cruise yesterday through Royal and because we live in Ontario, it was billed in Canadian $$. When talking to a representative, she was figuring out our balcony discount and there was quite a difference between the U.S.$ amount discount and the Canadian $ amount discount. We then asked what the cost of the cruise would be in U.S. dollars and the amount was over 500.00 different. At this point we opted to book the cruise in U.S. dollars since both currencies are virtually the same.

 

Because they will give you a song and dance, we went to a travel agent, had them take over the reservation, and let them listen to the song and dance. We got the exact same cruise, exact same room (Royal Family Suite with only 4 people in the room) and we saved over 500.00 by paying in U.S. dollars. Our cruise is July 1st and final payment is in May BUT we are waiting to pay it off because I'm hopeful that our dollar will remain pretty close or even go above parity!:D

[RambleRocket]

I also got a US account. Some analysts are saying the CDN dollars will continue to rise, so it may be best to hold off a bit. :)

 

Extra dollars = Extra drinks onboard :D

[gtalum]

If it weren't for the foreign currency issue, I'd say "don't pay until you have to". However it's more complicated. Who knows how the currencies will react in the coming weeks. My money says the US dollar will continue to decline in the near term so you should wait to pay. But I am not an economist. :D

[Tapi]

Other than for personal reasons and peace of mind (and in your case, exchange rate fluctuations), there aren't many benefits.

 

With that said, my November 2010 cruise has been paid in full for months now (including tips and shore excursions). I figure out the total amount to be paid and come up with monthly payments. That way I don't get hit with the full amount all at once.

 

I don't like putting my cruise money on a bank account waiting for final payment. Seeing that money sitting there makes me feel as if I should be using it for something more "practical".

 

Cruise 2010 is paid in full. I have already started making payments on Cruise 2011! :D