How Can I Be Successful in Getting My Onboard Account Charged in US Funds

[kingsgirl]

UPDATE:

 

I originally posted this question, and now that I'm back from my cruise I'd like to answer my own question.

 

The only way to be sure your account is charged in the currency of your choice, is to go to Guest Relations on day two of your cruise. At check-in, this information is not put into the computer. It is done onboard and is not complete until day two.

 

We tried to check the night we embarked, but we were told to come back. They will also look at you strangely if you're asking but having used your card to buy anything yet :)

 

Hope this helps someone else! It's cheaper for me to have my CC convert it than RCI, so look into the conversion rates yourself to see if it's a better deal.

 

This time, RCI got it right, but last time we did the same thing (highlighting our page where the conversion choice is listed) and it wasn't right, so you have to stay on top of it!

[Canard]

Hopefully this won't happen to me with my UK based credit card when I cruise with RCI later this year. I've already ticked the box saying I want to be billed in USD, as my CC only has a 1% foreign transaction fee, compared to the 3% that most cards over here have.

 

Also I've found that when a company tries to bill you in your "local" currency, they normally use a horrible exchange rate. For example, I was in a major department store in Florida (will remain nameless, but believe me, they are a big name) and the cashier asked if I wanted to pay in pounds or dollars. I said dollars, but out of curiosity, asked what rate they were using for pounds - it was almost 10% worse than the rate I'd exchanged currency at before I flew out! I dread to think how many unwitting tourists just accepted it, not realising how much profit they were being skimmed for...