Canadian vs. US

[Roo B]

I was checking for price drops for my upcoming Mariner cruise, and discovered that the pricing in Canadian is completely different that the pricing is American. I don't meet different because of the exchange.

 

Inside

$532 US

$519 CAN

 

Outside

$656 US

$679 CAN

 

Balcony

$889 US

$1049 CAN

 

Suite

$1147 US

$1199 CAN

 

As you can see, Inside is cheaper in CAN, Outside and Suite would reflect a normal exchange, and Balcony is over the top.

 

I am currently waiting for an explanation from RCCL. I always thought the price differences were because of the exchange rate, but this says otherwise. Has anyone else run across this before?

[FreshOffTheBoat]

I was checking for price drops for my upcoming Mariner cruise, and discovered that the pricing in Canadian is completely different that the pricing is American. I don't meet different because of the exchange.

 

Room Category

US Price

 

Canadian Price

Inside

$532

$519

Outside

$656

$679

Balcony

$889

$1049

Suite

$1147

$1199

 

 

As you can see, Inside is cheaper in CAN, Outside and Suite would reflect a normal exchange, and Balcony is over the top.

 

I am currently waiting for an explanation from RCCL. I always thought the price differences were because of the exchange rate, but this says otherwise. Has anyone else run across this before?

 

So just book it in whatever currency is cheaper.

[lovemylab]

So just book it in whatever currency is cheaper.

 

OP is looking for a price drop on their upcoming cruise - therefore, I think it's fair to assume they've already booked it. If they want to cancel their booking in one currency and rebook in another it can be a lot of hassle (trust me, I've done it).

 

To the OP - I've been in situations where it made more sense to book in one currency or the other, but I've never seen it vary that much on one sailing.

 

If you get an answer please report back - I'm curious what their reasoning is.

[FreshOffTheBoat]

OP is looking for a price drop on their upcoming cruise - therefore, I think it's fair to assume they've already booked it. If they want to cancel their booking in one currency and rebook in another it can be a lot of hassle (trust me, I've done it).

 

To the OP - I've been in situations where it made more sense to book in one currency or the other, but I've never seen it vary that much on one sailing.

 

If you get an answer please report back - I'm curious what their reasoning is.

O true my bad, yeah that might be hard to do for a price drop scenario

[melbur]

Have run into this many times and have never received a plausible explanation so I would love to hear what they say to yours.

I book usually in USD - most times it is much cheaper that way.

Our sailing next weekend was priced 27% higher in Cdn than US - go figure.

[lovemylab]

Have run into this many times and have never received a plausible explanation so I would love to hear what they say to yours.

I book usually in USD - most times it is much cheaper that way.

Our sailing next weekend was priced 27% higher in Cdn than US - go figure.

 

The exchange rates they use amazes me.

 

When I was booking my Serenade B2B the gratuities for MTD were approx. $143 Cdn for each week. Had I booked the Freedom for a sailing that was a few months earlier it would have been $175 Cdn.

[Roo B]

Cancelling and rebooking would be quite a hassle, especially since I used a Crown and Anchor coupon as well.

 

To be honest, I expect them to have an inflated rate of exchange, I was luck when I booked and the exchange was really reasonable. It just seems really strange to me that there is this kind of fluctuation between categories. Less and one and more in another? Why don't they want me to have a balcony? Makes me wonder what reputations Canadians have for (mis)behaving on balconies. :D

[alicam]

You know, as much as it irks me to see those differences (one way or the other), I wouldn't let it bother me too much...the $$ is still close enough that I am not going to let it stop me from going on a cruise

[ecmcm]

Why don't they want me to have a balcony? Makes me wonder what reputations Canadians have for (mis)behaving on balconies. :D

 

Well some of us can be very bad on balconies but I don't think that's the answer. :D Last time we did a B2B we had one week booked in US$ and the other in CAN$. The reason was that we had a Next Cruise that had to be paid in US$ and so had to be used to book in US$ plus we had C&A coupons, one in each currency. We booked well in advance and the exchange rate kept changing and not in our favour. I could live with the different rates for the same balcony cabin one week after the other but there were other complications. One week the tips had to be pre-paid in US and other CAN. Then when I went to book excursions, for one week they had to be paid in US and the other CAN. The week in US$ ended up costing a lot more than the following week when everything was added together. Of course it could depend on the exchange rate at the time but in the future I'll stick to CAN$ because it was less expensive and less complicated. Plus I'll never buy a Next Cruise on board again because it was never explained that it had to be used in US$.

[Roo B]

Still no answer from RCI, hopefully I will get something tomorrow.

 

I am ok with there being differences in prices when there are currency changes. Someone has to pay an exchange fee, them or me. First cruise I booked, I paid a premium for paying in Canadian, this time it was not the case. I got a very good rate of exchange.

 

I just don't get the different percentages in different categories!

Going from a 2% decrease for paying in CAN for an inside room to an 18% increase for a balcony is absolute garbage. The other two are 4 and 5 % increase in CAN, maybe they are linked to the exchange. And this is all for the same cruise!!!

 

I enjoyed my previous cruise on RCI, so I booked this one. I am very unlikely to cancel my current one, as I am happy with the price I got (think I booked when it was at the lowest price). But knowing that they use unfair pricing for non-US, does not make me feel a lot of brand loyalty.

[lovemylab]

Well some of us can be very bad on balconies but I don't think that's the answer. :D Last time we did a B2B we had one week booked in US$ and the other in CAN$. The reason was that we had a Next Cruise that had to be paid in US$ and so had to be used to book in US$ plus we had C&A coupons, one in each currency. We booked well in advance and the exchange rate kept changing and not in our favour. I could live with the different rates for the same balcony cabin one week after the other but there were other complications. One week the tips had to be pre-paid in US and other CAN. Then when I went to book excursions, for one week they had to be paid in US and the other CAN. The week in US$ ended up costing a lot more than the following week when everything was added together. Of course it could depend on the exchange rate at the time but in the future I'll stick to CAN$ because it was less expensive and less complicated. Plus I'll never buy a Next Cruise on board again because it was never explained that it had to be used in US$.

 

I had the same problem with a next cruise booking I made for my 2009 cruise. I was told onboard that it had to be US dollars, only to get home and learn that it could have been in Cdn.

 

Like yourself, it was more favorable for me to have booked in Cdn. I had a really good TA who fought with RCCL to get the reservation switched to Cdn dollars while still keeping my OBC and not losing my deposit.

 

I did buy another next cruise certificate and made sure to indicate that I wanted it in Cdn dollars and thankfully it was done.

[ecmcm]

We were told the Next Cruise had to be paid in US$ by an LA who was a Canadian and listened to our complaints about the problems with sea pass accounts not being handled the way Canadians requested but obviously was more loyal to RCI as her employer. The TA we used to book the next cruises tried to get us to just throw the Next Cruise certificate away because working in US$ wasn't to her liking. She said it would cost us more money in the long run and unfortunately she was right. It's up to the individual which currency they choose but all the extras do have to be paid in the same currency as the cruise booking and that's where it cost us more because of the changing exchange rate as the cruise date got closer. It could have gone the other way though but unfortunately for us it didn't.