Canadian Princess Cruisers

[Pstcrik]

I have only cruised Princess one other time and had some on board credit that was refunded at customer service the last night of the cruise. I have an upcoming cruise on Island Princess where I will have a large amount of OBC due to a move over offer. For those of you who had a cheque mailed to you after leaving the ship, was it refunded as US funds or did Princess convert it to Canadian funds?

 

Cheque comes out in U.S. Funds

[kruisey]

Is booked in $US.

The Canadian Dollar at the moment seems to be disappearing into the sunset,some say will go down to 70 cents.

I have been having some deep thinking about this and have decided that a few weeks before final payment if the two currencies do not even out I will cancel my cruise .Will wait until both are at an even keel again then book another cruise.

I travel solo so already pay double for my inside room with a slight past passenger benefit.Decided I am not willing to spent my hard earned pensions on a cruise that just a few miles away over the border costs a lot less. My grocery bill is much higher due to imports costs of perishables and other things from the USA.

Even converting to Canadian funds this would be + 20%+exchange rate too high for me.

Even the Australians are feeling the pinch at this time.

Have no objection what so ever on a few cents difference but this high rate has gone too far.

Do not put the blame on Princess what so ever for the position that the middle and lower income folks are being put through.

[Cruise Junky]

Is booked in $US.

The Canadian Dollar at the moment seems to be disappearing into the sunset,some say will go down to 70 cents.

I have been having some deep thinking about this and have decided that a few weeks before final payment if the two currencies do not even out I will cancel my cruise .Will wait until both are at an even keel again then book another cruise.

 

I feel your pain. I think we're going to cancel our Kauai trip. Just too much to pay when you add in 30% exchange rate :mad: :(

[St Paul Girl]

Is booked in $US.

The Canadian Dollar at the moment seems to be disappearing into the sunset,some say will go down to 70 cents.

I have been having some deep thinking about this and have decided that a few weeks before final payment if the two currencies do not even out I will cancel my cruise .Will wait until both are at an even keel again then book another cruise.

I travel solo so already pay double for my inside room with a slight past passenger benefit.Decided I am not willing to spent my hard earned pensions on a cruise that just a few miles away over the border costs a lot less. My grocery bill is much higher due to imports costs of perishables and other things from the USA.

Even converting to Canadian funds this would be + 20%+exchange rate too high for me.

Even the Australians are feeling the pinch at this time.

Have no objection what so ever on a few cents difference but this high rate has gone too far.

Do not put the blame on Princess what so ever for the position that the middle and lower income folks are being put through.

 

The sinking of our dollar against the USD will affect all travel to the US and all cruise lines operate on the USD. We booked our Princess Cruise in November 2014 for this coming late October and we are locked in at 10%, so we are going to Tahiti. Our airfare for the cruise has risen 30% since we bought it, so we are alright there as well. We are going to New Zealand after the cruise and the New Zealand dollar has fallen against the GDN dollar so we are alright.

There are many more of us who "winter" in Florida, Texas, California, Arizona,e tc and this currency change will affect this as well.

Anyway, have a great cruise if you go.

[Carla3]

Is booked in $US.

 

The Canadian Dollar at the moment seems to be disappearing into the sunset,some say will go down to 70 cents.

 

I have been having some deep thinking about this and have decided that a few weeks before final payment if the two currencies do not even out I will cancel my cruise .Will wait until both are at an even keel again then book another cruise.

 

I travel solo so already pay double for my inside room with a slight past passenger benefit.Decided I am not willing to spent my hard earned pensions on a cruise that just a few miles away over the border costs a lot less. My grocery bill is much higher due to imports costs of perishables and other things from the USA.

 

Even converting to Canadian funds this would be + 20%+exchange rate too high for me.

 

Even the Australians are feeling the pinch at this time.

 

Have no objection what so ever on a few cents difference but this high rate has gone too far.

 

Do not put the blame on Princess what so ever for the position that the middle and lower income folks are being put through.

 

 

I also booked in U.S. Dollars but called last week after I looked at the price princess website was currently quoting in Canadian dollars for same cruise. Did the math and cdn price was much better then what my U.S price converted too. I called Princess and the cancelled my cruise and rebooked as new booking in cdn dollars

[dshimizu]

Just a question to fellow Canadians cruisers: are there any discount cruise consolidators in Canada offering reasonable prices? For years we have booked in the US as we hadn't been able to find any comparable pricing in Canada. I know we can't discuss agencies, but right now, if you check both CDN and US Princess sites for the same exact cruises, there seem to have been recent large drops in CDN prices whereas the US prices remain the same. Nothing as simple as 10 or 20% higher/lower. Seems to me if we didn't have to book through US TA's to get discounts, maybe the price spreads wouldn't be so great at a time when our dollar is dropping with no rebound in site. Any ideas?

[kruisey]

Just a question to fellow Canadians cruisers: are there any discount cruise consolidators in Canada offering reasonable prices? For years we have booked in the US as we hadn't been able to find any comparable pricing in Canada. I know we can't discuss agencies, but right now, if you check both CDN and US Princess sites for the same exact cruises, there seem to have been recent large drops in CDN prices whereas the US prices remain the same. Nothing as simple as 10 or 20% higher/lower. Seems to me if we didn't have to book through US TA's to get discounts, maybe the price spreads wouldn't be so great at a time when our dollar is dropping with no rebound in site. Any ideas?

I wish.:)

[dstables]

Our American TA can quote prices in American or Canadian funds. Gives the same discount on both funds.

[jennymaxgirl]

My question is whether I can buy a chunk of onboard credit, say $500 or so, and withdraw the cash once onboard. I would like to have the cash to take off board on the islands. The 20% exchange is better than my bank can provide so if it's possible to do this - that would be great!

 

Any insight on this?

 

Thanks,

Jennifer

 

Eastern Carib x 10 day on the Royal coming up Oct 31/15. Yay!

[BCCRUSINGCOUPLE]

Yes you can through the casino play a few games of slots then cash out they won't give you the cash another way

[jennymaxgirl]

Yes you can through the casino play a few games of slots then cash out they won't give you the cash another way

 

Thanks for the quick reply!

 

How would this work? Would I buy a small amount of casino tokens ($20) and then cash out thereafter?

 

I think I might need to purchase a larger OBC - approx $1200 CDN. Would this amount be too large for them to cash out in the casino? Perhaps they would realize that I was just wanting the cash rather than to play the casino?

 

Thanks again,

Jennifer

[jennyg2610]

Thanks for the quick reply!

 

 

 

How would this work? Would I buy a small amount of casino tokens ($20) and then cash out thereafter?

 

 

 

I think I might need to purchase a larger OBC - approx $1200 CDN. Would this amount be too large for them to cash out in the casino? Perhaps they would realize that I was just wanting the cash rather than to play the casino?

 

 

 

Thanks again,

 

Jennifer

 

 

As an Aussie, we are feeling your pain. There was a topic started called buying casino credits. Lots of good information. On our next cruise in August we will buy these credits. Apparently a voucher is in you cabin when you get there, you take it to the casino and they give you cash. We will be using our cash in the U.S. where the cruise finishes.

[avcruz]

Our American TA can quote prices in American or Canadian funds. Gives the same discount on both funds.

 

Ditto for my Cdn TA. Can price most cruise lines in either currency, then I do the math and decide which $ is more advantageous to book. I think only Disney and MSC are USD only.

[dshimizu]

Ditto for my Cdn TA. Can price most cruise lines in either currency

could you email me at billanddeb11 at yahoo dot com?

[maple leaf 88]

Ditto for my Cdn TA. Can price most cruise lines in either currency, then I do the math and decide which $ is more advantageous to book. I think only Disney and MSC are USD only.

 

Please email me at edwi123 at hotmail dot com. Thanks.

[Cruise Junky]

Our American TA can quote prices in American or Canadian funds. Gives the same discount on both funds.

 

So can mine but you're still looking at minimum 20% exchange if you're lucky. And then everything onboard is in US as well as pre/post cruise hotels at a 32% exchange.

[Cruise Junky]

As an Aussie, we are feeling your pain. There was a topic started called buying casino credits. Lots of good information. On our next cruise in August we will buy these credits. Apparently a voucher is in you cabin when you get there, you take it to the casino and they give you cash. We will be using our cash in the U.S. where the cruise finishes.

 

Yes, you guys have it slightly worse than we do. We thinking of switching our Aussie cruise for a Aussie land trip instead. Looking at shore excursions in US today made my eyes water.

Edited July 24, 2015 by Cruise Junky

[jennyg2610]

Yes, you guys have it slightly worse than we do. We thinking of switching our Aussie cruise for am Aussie land trip instead. Looking at shore excursions in US today made my eyes water.

 

 

Yes our dollar has dropped again! We were lucky to get the 10% for our Transatlantic cruise next month and like I said bought lots of USD but our cruise that we have booked next July for the Baltic is set at 25%. That's ridiculous. I think we will cancel and sail out of Oz next year. There is a lot to consider! Sometimes the accommodation on land is more than what you pay on cruises then you have the car hire etc, although you do get to see more of our country.

[Cruise Junky]

Yes our dollar has dropped again! We were lucky to get the 10% for our Transatlantic cruise next month and like I said bought lots of USD but our cruise that we have booked next July for the Baltic is set at 25%. That's ridiculous. I think we will cancel and sail out of Oz next year. There is a lot to consider! Sometimes the accommodation on land is more than what you pay on cruises then you have the car hire etc, although you do get to see more of our country.

 

We have friends in Melbourne that we'd stay with for free. I checked out a rental on VRBO for Port Douglas and they seem really reasonable. Examples of RCL's shore excursions are $299 US$ pp for a Great Barrier Reef trip vs $200 AU doing it ourselves on a much smaller vessel. RCL's prices I have to add 32% - AU prices I can deduct 5%. Just that day is a $300 difference. You start looking at the price difference in every port and it's painful

Edited July 24, 2015 by Cruise Junky

[jennyg2610]

We have friends in Melbourne that we'd stay with for free. I checked out a rental on VRBO for Port Douglas and they seem really reasonable. Examples of RCL's shore excursions are $299 US$ pp for a Great Barrier Reef trip vs $200 AU doing it ourselves on a much smaller vessel. RCL's prices I have to add 32% - AU prices I can deduct 5%. Just that day is a $300 difference. You start looking at the price difference in every port and it's painful

 

 

Yes for sure. We always do private tours instead of cruise ship tours. You save so much money. My brother and sister in law live in Port Douglas. So long as you don't go in peak season, it will be reasonable.

[Steelers36]

Our American TA can quote prices in American or Canadian funds. Gives the same discount on both funds.

 

Interesting - not that I have corresponded with a ton of them, but have not yet encountered a US TA who would be able to charge a CAD credit card in CAD for the cruise. So, they are not just booking you with Princess as a Canadian in CAD and then billing you in USD?

 

This would be interesting because the pendulum has definitely swung to the point that Princess's "higher" 20% exchange coming into effect this fall/winter season is now a real bargain over USD pricing. So much so that it might offset some of the discounting we can get in the USA.

 

This is puzzling to me still because your US TA agency being a US company, ultimately has to deal in USD, so whatever they get from your CAD credit card has to be converted to USD by the agency and they are only going to get whatever the bank rate is and that won't be "enough" when you have only paid 20% over USD pricing for the CAD cruise using Princess exchange rate.

 

If you would care to share... gandrews54 ..... at ..... cogeco ... dot .... ca is an email I have that I don't use much so if it gets some extra junk, who cares?

 

Thanks.

[Pstcrik]

Interesting - not that I have corresponded with a ton of them, but have not yet encountered a US TA who would be able to charge a CAD credit card in CAD for the cruise. So, they are not just booking you with Princess as a Canadian in CAD and then billing you in USD?

 

This would be interesting because the pendulum has definitely swung to the point that Princess's "higher" 20% exchange coming into effect this fall/winter season is now a real bargain over USD pricing. So much so that it might offset some of the discounting we can get in the USA.

 

This is puzzling to me still because your US TA agency being a US company, ultimately has to deal in USD, so whatever they get from your CAD credit card has to be converted to USD by the agency and they are only going to get whatever the bank rate is and that won't be "enough" when you have only paid 20% over USD pricing for the CAD cruise using Princess exchange rate.

 

If you would care to share... gandrews54 ..... at ..... cogeco ... dot .... ca is an email I have that I don't use much so if it gets some extra junk, who cares?

 

Thanks.

 

I am thinking that what you are saying in first para is right. I have had quotes from several U.S. Cruise Agents and they will quote in Cdn funds but all they have done is take the U.S. price and convert to Cdn at current exchange so under todays exchange it would be better to deal with a Canadian Agent or Princess Direct using their Cnd price.

[dstables]

Interesting - not that I have corresponded with a ton of them, but have not yet encountered a US TA who would be able to charge a CAD credit card in CAD for the cruise. So, they are not just booking you with Princess as a Canadian in CAD and then billing you in USD?

 

This would be interesting because the pendulum has definitely swung to the point that Princess's "higher" 20% exchange coming into effect this fall/winter season is now a real bargain over USD pricing. So much so that it might offset some of the discounting we can get in the USA.

 

This is puzzling to me still because your US TA agency being a US company, ultimately has to deal in USD, so whatever they get from your CAD credit card has to be converted to USD by the agency and they are only going to get whatever the bank rate is and that won't be "enough" when you have only paid 20% over USD pricing for the CAD cruise using Princess exchange rate.

 

If you would care to share... gandrews54 ..... at ..... cogeco ... dot .... ca is an email I have that I don't use much so if it gets some extra junk, who cares?

 

Thanks.

 

When I book through my TA charges against my credit card are always by Princess and not the TA. This spring we booked the Royal for 20 days for next February. Our TA quotes U.S. prices in American dollars and Canadian dollars. Both prices had her usual discount off both prices. We did the math at the time and with the exchange rate at that time it was a better saves to book in Canadian funds. Our cruise has seen a price reduction since booking and with our very low dollar these days our Canadian pricing with the TA' s discount is a super deal. Charges for this cruise shown on our credit card as Princess Vancouver BC. In the past when we have booked with this TA and used the American price charges for those cruises show as Princess Valencia CA. How my TA is paid her commission by Princess I don't know but my invoice clearly states Canadian Funds and my Canadian credit card is used and charged only what the invoice is in Canadian funds.

[jennymaxgirl]

I am looking into buying Casino Credits so I can cash them out and get the US cash to spend on the islands.

 

Does anyone know how these are charged to my CDN Visa card if I prepurchase them? Not sure if $100 in casino credits would be charged as $120 in CDN funds to my VISA. Or if the $100 will be charged in US funds to my visa with a higher exchange rate from Visa.

 

I understand that Onboard Credit is charged in CDN dollars with the princess exchange rate. But are the casino credits charged differently?

 

Thanks,

Jennifer

[Steelers36]

When I book through my TA charges against my credit card are always by Princess and not the TA. This spring we booked the Royal for 20 days for next February. Our TA quotes U.S. prices in American dollars and Canadian dollars. Both prices had her usual discount off both prices. We did the math at the time and with the exchange rate at that time it was a better saves to book in Canadian funds. Our cruise has seen a price reduction since booking and with our very low dollar these days our Canadian pricing with the TA' s discount is a super deal. Charges for this cruise shown on our credit card as Princess Vancouver BC. In the past when we have booked with this TA and used the American price charges for those cruises show as Princess Valencia CA. How my TA is paid her commission by Princess I don't know but my invoice clearly states Canadian Funds and my Canadian credit card is used and charged only what the invoice is in Canadian funds.

 

Thanks for the detailed info. So that explains it - you are being billed and paying direct to Princess even though TA "owns" the booking. Guess I don't have to tell you that is unusual since in most cases you pay TA and TA pays Princess (and I always ask the TA to send me a PDF copy of the customer's invoice so I have the official).

 

So, I understand now how this US TA can do CAD. They are not involved in the billing aspect. Princess is (obviously?) paying them the same commission in USD that they would get if the booking had been made in USD.

 

This is a cool :cool: arrangement because it give you flexibility if currency choice with those terrific US TA prices. I can only hope you send me an email!