Canadian Princess Cruisers

[Katies12]

I am happy you called and things worked out for you, there is no point in wasting those months of your passport....unlike the Brits we get no credit for unused months and as you likely know passports seem to get more expensive each year. I just sent mine off a week ago for renewal and it was $160 for the 10 year edition. I really don't think you will have an issue with the Princess rep at the check-in counter and I have found both CBP and CBSA officers over the years very to be very intelligent and good to deal with. That notwithstanding, I would still print up the information in links and have it in my hip pocket just in case.

 

 

 

Have a great cruise and wave to me as you sail by Sechelt....I will be watching for you, I am normally by the barbeque with a drink my hand waving as the ships go by....tonight it was the Pacific Princess and the Disney Wonder that went by at about 6:30 pm.

 

 

Hey Putterdude, is that forest fire close to you?

[Putterdude]

About a mile or so directly behind us on the Sechelt Inlet side of the peninsula. We are on the Georgia Strait side so can see the smoke bellowing up but are not at risk. We went around to the far side of the inlet a couple of times today to watch it....its not pretty. It has now engulfed some 34 hectares at last report and it is nowhere near under contained. The good news is that the smoke is blowing up the inlet or around us toward Davis Bay to the east and there are no homes or structures currently at risk. Anyone sailing out or into Vancouver tomorrow morning or evening will certainly see the smoke.

[Adventures ahead]

You have the option of pre-paying gratuities on your Cruise Personalizer up to two days before sailing. The total amount appears in Cdn$ and I'm having trouble figuring out the exchange rate Princess is using (I'm math-challenged:confused:). It appears that there may be a cost advantage to pre-paying. The conversion rate they're using doesn't jive with, for example, today's rate.

 

Oh, bummer... if I pre-pay, I assume this would be a credit card charge now. Then I wouldn't be able to apply my OBC to the tips.:rolleyes:

Edited July 5, 2015 by Adventures ahead

[Grayce]

It appears that there may be a cost advantage to pre-paying. The conversion rate they're using doesn't jive with, for example, today's rate.

 

Oh, bummer... if I pre-pay, I assume this would be a credit card charge now. Then I wouldn't be able to apply my OBC to the tips.:rolleyes:

 

We found we saved by prepaying tips. Our cruise is in September and we paid $202 CDN per person for a 16 day cruise. It would be $184 US. We only paid 10% exchange. A very good deal at today's rates. I have heard they are charging 20% exchange for cruises after September.

 

We are going to use our OBC for drinks and specialty dining. I'm hoping that we have a zero balance when we get of the ship.

[Kamloops50]

Cruises this year are with a 10% exchange. Cruise in 2016 are 20% exchange. Can't remember the date where the exchange rate changes.

[Steelers36]

Cruises this year are with a 10% exchange. Cruise in 2016 are 20% exchange. Can't remember the date where the exchange rate changes.

 

Changeover is after SEP cruises ... it might vary a little by ship. Easy enough to check as you can tell by the pricing. If you are not sailing then it doesn't really matter.

 

BTW, we are sailing in NOV under the 20%, but we saved a ton of money bu booking with a US TA. I have never found a better deal in Canada. Maybe there are some, but IDK where and no one can post details here. So, we are still ahead of the game with a 25% exchange paying in USD. All I saw in Canada (albeit with a small effort) was Princess pricing, so what's the point? I'd just book with Princess in that case - and have done so in the past.

 

But got better price plus OBC from a US agent.

[Cayoooga]

Casino Cash out

 

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I plan on making the pre-cruise Gratuity Pre-Payment on-line through "My Princess" @ the current $1.10 FX on Princess. The current FX anywhere else is <$1.28.

 

Planning also to make the pre-cruise purchase of "Onboard Credits" for expected expenses while on board also through "My Princess" @ the current $1.10 FX on Princess.

 

My question is for those with some experience,

I have the option to purchase more OBC's above what I expect is needed and/or Casino Credits.

I am wondering if I can open a Casino account and cash out any time (withdraw) my excess cash for spending in ports i.e. private excursion, etc.

 

Any insight is greatly appreciated.

__________________

[Colo Cruiser]

Casino Cash out

 

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I plan on making the pre-cruise Gratuity Pre-Payment on-line through "My Princess" @ the current $1.10 FX on Princess. The current FX anywhere else is <$1.28.

 

Planning also to make the pre-cruise purchase of "Onboard Credits" for expected expenses while on board also through "My Princess" @ the current $1.10 FX on Princess.

 

My question is for those with some experience,

I have the option to purchase more OBC's above what I expect is needed and/or Casino Credits.

I am wondering if I can open a Casino account and cash out any time (withdraw) my excess cash for spending in ports i.e. private excursion, etc. Any insight is greatly appreciated.

__________________

 

 

Yes you can do the casino route for your cash.

Also any OBC that you purchase and is left over is fully refundable at the end of the cruise.

[goofy559]

Any refundable OBC (such as that you purchase yourself) can be refunded in cash at the passenger service desk - my mom just did this on a recent cruise.

[bigenna]

Cayoooga, being a Canadian cruiser myself, this has my interest piqued.

Previous discussions on this board I thought had indicated that this exchange rate was no more, that it had been raised to $1.10?

[M4dC0w]

Was supposed to end on september cruses, after that 1.20x

[ceilidh1]

Any refundable OBC (such as that you purchase yourself) can be refunded in cash at the passenger service desk - my mom just did this on a recent cruise.

 

Not necessarily - on my last few cruises (Golden, Star, Grand) the front desk would not refund the OBC as it was over $25. I got cheques in the mail about 3-4 weeks after the cruise. Don't depend on getting it back in cash onboard!

[Camelia-]

I was told that any OBC over $25 would be mailed. This was on the CB in May.

 

Camelia

[goofy559]

Well my mom just got 400 back with no issue on the Ocean. As with all things princess YMMV. 😀

[Island wannabe]

Well my mom just got 400 back with no issue on the Ocean. As with all things princess YMMV. 😀

 

US too. Just off Emerald in last couple of hours. I bought way more OBC than we ended up needing. Last night I transferred the balance on my account to my casino account using a slot machine. Immediately went to the cash cage and got $300 cash back in a refund of the balance no questions asked. Easy peasey. However I have heard mixed responses about trying to get a refund at the front desk instead of the casino.

[caribill]

US too. Just off Emerald in last couple of hours. I bought way more OBC than we ended up needing. Last night I transferred the balance on my account to my casino account using a slot machine. Immediately went to the cash cage and got $300 cash back in a refund of the balance no questions asked. Easy peasey. However I have heard mixed responses about trying to get a refund at the front desk instead of the casino.

 

Since it was purchased OBC, it was refundable at the front desk. The only question is whether they would give it to you in cash or want to send a check or put it to the credit card used to purchase it.

 

Doing it via the casino took the uncertainty out of it.

[Island wannabe]

Since it was purchased OBC, it was refundable at the front desk. The only question is whether they would give it to you in cash or want to send a check or put it to the credit card used to purchase it.

 

Doing it via the casino took the uncertainty out of it.

 

Yep, agreed. We wanted cash as it can be a hassle depositing a USD cheque at our bank in Canada (clearing times, costs, etc). Cash is king and I really wanted it to put aside for our next cruise. As you rightly said doing it at the Casino took the uncertainty out of it.

[dshimizu]

Purchased Sept. cruise in Cdn. Just went to pay my gratuities online. Rate was 1.20. So for sure the 1.10 days are over!

[St Paul Girl]

Purchased Sept. cruise in Cdn. Just went to pay my gratuities online. Rate was 1.20. So for sure the 1.10 days are over!

 

I went and checked out our cruise around Tahiti departing Oct 28th and our rate is still 10%(checked out gratuities, beverage packages, OBC, etc. and all are 10%) I booked this in December in CDN dollars.

We have made our final payment yet, so we have not booked any extras. This almost like it changes everyday.

Have a great cruise.

[AE_Collector]

Purchased Sept. cruise in Cdn. Just went to pay my gratuities online. Rate was 1.20. So for sure the 1.10 days are over!

 

No they aren't. It depends when the cruse sails. From now until approximately September (each ship/itinerary is a little different) if you have a Canadian Passport and paid the Canadian rate for your cruise you can pre purchase OBC at the 1.10 rate.

 

There are things to watch out for though so you need to read about what to watch for when purchasing the OBC to ensure they dont charge the regular exchange rate. IMHO it would be so much more preferable to keep all these ongoing Canadian / Princess exchange rate discussions in the long standing "Canadian Princess Cruisers" topic so that all tips are right there for future cruise bookings by other Canadians.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1968249&page=32

 

Terry

[2Canucks]

Can you explain exactly how to make a Pre-Cruise OBC purchase to receive the Princess exchange rate.

 

What currency do we ask to be charged to our Canadian credit card...Canadian or US funds??

 

Not sure how this works so a simple explanation would be appreciated.

 

Thank You in advance for any info you can share with me.

 

Pat

[kruisey]

Definitely $1.20 in 2016.The coffee card pre cruise booked is also $40 Canadian.

[St Paul Girl]

Can you explain exactly how to make a Pre-Cruise OBC purchase to receive the Princess exchange rate.

 

What currency do we ask to be charged to our Canadian credit card...Canadian or US funds??

 

Not sure how this works so a simple explanation would be appreciated.

 

Thank You in advance for any info you can share with me.

 

Pat

 

HI Pat:

First, did you pay for your cruise in US or CDN dollars? If you booked in CDN, go on-line to the Princess Cruise Personalizer and you can buy everything there(OBC, Casino Credits, pre-pay gratuities, beverage packages, etc, and it is quoted in CDN dollars at the exchange rate that you will be charged. Hope this helps. I think the problems have occurred when people call Princess and then the agent "screws up" what currency to charge.

Have a great cruise:

[dshimizu]

I just booked a 3 day cruise last week, in Canadian funds, on the Grand Princess leaving Vancouver on Sept 12, 2015. Today I went onto My Princess to prepay gratuities and the charge will be 20% ($34.50 x 1.20 = $41.40). I was going to buy some OBC's too but was hoping that the rate was still 1.10. Would phoning Princess make a difference or is now just 1.20 and that's that?!?!

[AE_Collector]

There must be three of you to get a gratuity rate of $34.50 US per day?

 

The last couple of years the rate has beenadjusted in the February/March time frame to take effect in the September time frame. On ships operating on the west coast of NA the "old" rate seems to end with the end of Alaska cruises and the new exchange rae takes affect with the reposition trip out of the aea.

 

We did Pacific Princess Vancouver to Hawaii last September 16 2014 which was the first cruise (on Pacific Princess) at the new 10% exchange rate. 5 prior cruises on Princess in 2014 were at par. Other ships still finishing up the Alaska runs were still at par at the same time as we paid 10% extra. Ships doing the last Cruises in the Med were still at par as well.

 

It makes sense tgat they dont change the exchange rate in the middle of the season forany given itinerary.

 

So.....it will be 20% for your cruise no matter what you do. By then the "real"l exchange rate will quite likely be closer to 30% if the Bank of Canada rate is adjusted lower this coming Wednesday.

 

Terry

Edited July 12, 2015 by AE_Collector