Canadian Princess Cruisers

[AE_Collector]

You should not be pre paying for the shore excursions. Let them be billed to your onboard account once you board the ship and you should be pre purchasing enough OBC to cover them and other onboard expenses.

 

I have had small surpluses refunded on the last night of the cruise. I have also had them refund to my credit card. I had a larger surplus after our last cruise which was being refunded by cheque in the ail. A month later still no sign of it.

 

Terry

[canadarocks]

For excursions can't you ensure to leave enough OBC by the end of the trip to cover for it?

 

 

Envoyé de mon iPhone à l'aide de Tapatalk

 

Yes. Purchase enough OBC to cover your excursions (you don't need to pre-pay for them). I just now got $500 OBC and was charged the 10% exchange. And I confirmed that OBC you purchase yourself is fully refundable. So if we don't spend it all, we get the balance back.

 

And I booked with a USA T.A. (in Canadian funds), but was able to do the OBC purchase myself. :cool:

Edited January 21, 2015 by canadarocks

[molly2kit]

I just purchased OBC at the 10% rate for 3 upcoming short cruises I have booked. I bought through the gifts department - the person was unaware but looked it up and saw the 10% rate.

 

Thank you all who have posted here!:)

[canadarocks]

Two questions for you Terry:

 

Can we use our OBC (that we purchased ourselves) to buy FCDs?

Can we use our OBC (that we purchased ourselves) to get US cash onboard?

 

Thanks,

Cindy

[NewCruiser139]

Yes, that would work if u paid for your excursions with OBC that you had purchased

 

Sent from my HTC Incredible S using Tapatalk 2

Edited January 21, 2015 by NewCruiser139

[AE_Collector]

Two questions for you Terry:

 

Can we use our OBC (that we purchased ourselves) to buy FCDs?

Can we use our OBC (that we purchased ourselves) to get US cash onboard?

 

Thanks,

Cindy

 

You cant use your OBC to purchase FCD's on the ship. You put them directly on your credit card. You can buy US$ and CDN$ FCD's. We always keep several of each type on hand but have only been actually using the CDN ones lately. That will change when our dollar finally starts to climb in value as for some period of time then Princess cruises will likely be a better deal for us to book in US$.

 

Getting cash from your available OBC is possible but I have only done it at the end of a cruise. We do lots of B2B cruises though and I have gone to the desk at the end of the first cruise to get some of the left over $ as cash and ensured that they were rolling my account over to the next portion of the B2B. Others say it is easy to do in the casino. I have absolutely no idea how the casino works. Maybe someone can explain how money gets from your onboard account to the casino and then turns into cash rather than going back to your onboard account when you cash out.

 

We are about to do a long B2B2B and I am certain that I have bought more than enough OBC for the trip (famous last words!). I hope to be able to get some cash after each part of the cruise to use for tips onshore as we go as well as for the extra gratuities onboard after each segment.

 

Terry

[rocker57]

I called the celebration line for the OBC, and they quoted the 10% exchange rate, so I bought more. I also prepaid for the unlimited soda and more as that was at the same rate.

 

So again, thanks for the tip to call the gift line!

[cruisergal 1]

I just spoke with Princess on their Celebration gift line and they informed me that the original reservation had to have been made in Canadian funds, mine was in American funds, so they cannot give me the 10% exchange rate. I called my on-line travel agency and they informed me that they only charge in US funds, and that only Princess directly can charge in Canadian funds.

 

Anyone use an on-line agency that charges in Canadian funds? Or did anyone charge their trip in US and then the OBC in Canadian?

[HMSDingy]

I just spoke with Princess on their Celebration gift line and they informed me that the original reservation had to have been made in Canadian funds, mine was in American funds, so they cannot give me the 10% exchange rate. I called my on-line travel agency and they informed me that they only charge in US funds, and that only Princess directly can charge in Canadian funds.

 

Anyone use an on-line agency that charges in Canadian funds? Or did anyone charge their trip in US and then the OBC in Canadian?

 

When I booked our cruise with Princess, I was quoted and paid in Canadian funds. But my on board account is in US. I have a US$ account at BMO and I was fortunate enough to buy my US when our dollar was strong. I also have a US credit card which comes in handy as I won't be charged ridiculous exchange rates.

[AE_Collector]

The first requirement of this is that you hold a Canadian passport and booked the cruise at the princess canadian price. That has been mentioned several times in this topic.

 

If outside final payment you may be able to cancel and rebook in canadian at the current prices but otherwise you are out of luck for this trip.

 

Terry

[chiacat]

I called last week and bought internet time and soda package at the 10% exchange rate. I just called again today, paid for OBC and gratuities that appear to have gone through my CC straight across dollar for dollar. Unfortunately shore excursions bought during the same call were billed to my card as a regular foreign currency charge. I guess it all just evens out in the end. There doesn't seem to be any real protocol as to what gets charged at what rate, aside from the shore excursions (I should have done more research on that - I would have just bought more OBC to cover it).

[AE_Collector]

Being able to prepay for shore excursions on Princess is new. It appears to be handled differently if you prepay fir them. IE: only able to be billed directly in US$. Of course the easy way around that s to NOT prepay them so they come out if your onboard account.

 

The things that can be pre purchased at the same exchange rate that the cruise was booked in are all in the PDF Gift catalog (not certain what it s called exactly).

 

So that is a second person who says that something still went through at par! That seems potentially like an error by the person actually entering the charge. Did they happen to tell you what would be billed in Canadian before processing it?

 

Rocker57's quote if $1.24 the other day must have been an error as they have reported purchasing at $1.10 now.

 

Terry

Edited January 22, 2015 by AE_Collector

[chiacat]

I called last week and bought internet time and soda package at the 10% exchange rate. I just called again today, paid for OBC and gratuities that appear to have gone through my CC straight across dollar for dollar. Unfortunately shore excursions bought during the same call were billed to my card as a regular foreign currency charge. I guess it all just evens out in the end. There doesn't seem to be any real protocol as to what gets charged at what rate, aside from the shore excursions (I should have done more research on that - I would have just bought more OBC to cover it).

 

Awww, sorry. I just double checked, and they did get charged at the 10% exchange rate, not par. :( I wonder if I had bought shore excursion credits whether that would have been charged at the 10% rather than the horrible credit card rate for just paying for them. Seems like a silly policy.

[NZCANCruisers]

Thanks everyone for this great thread! I stumbled on it last night and promptly booked our drink packages and gratuities.. at 10 % exchange. We are on a B2B on Caribbean Princess leaving next week.. so this was very timely! Was planning to pay on board. Went to the bank to get US cash today... 26% :( I called the main Princess line.. the agent I had was very quick in putting this through and confirming and emailing my cost in Ca dollars. Yay!

[kruisey]

Saudi King dies.Oil prices jumping up........:D

[richstowe]

Thanks everyone for this great thread! I stumbled on it last night and promptly booked our drink packages and gratuities.. at 10 % exchange. We are on a B2B on Caribbean Princess leaving next week.. so this was very timely! Was planning to pay on board. Went to the bank to get US cash today... 26% :( I called the main Princess line.. the agent I had was very quick in putting this through and confirming and emailing my cost in Ca dollars. Yay!

So a 13 % saving on I'm guessing almost 2000 ? Great ! :)

[kruisey]

Saudi King dies.Oil prices jumping up........:D

 

No change in policies oil price down again:(

[goofy559]

 

Rocker57's quote if $1.24 the other day must have been an error as they have reported purchasing at $1.10 now.

 

Terry

 

it was all in what was asked for - the first time rocker asked to prepay his excursions - that's charged at the going rate. The second time he asked to buy OBC (to cover his excursions) - that can be bought at 10%

[awinte2]

Have ordered an OBC for 1000 and cost 1100 Canadian. Lot better deal than the banks. Just make sure you take copies of your confirmation emails with you on the ship just to cover all bases.

 

Arlene

[rocker57]

When I was quoted the $1.24, I just phoned the regular line. But because of the great suggestions on here, I phoned the gift line, and there was no problem with it at the $1.10 rate. I wish I had more money to put down and then cash out at the end for a nice profit :D

The OBC I purchased will cover the excursions, the daily tip and incidentals. I am hoping my husband stays away from the casino so we don't use up all of the money, I'd rather spend it on jewellery!

[ceeceecruiser]

Thank you all for keeping this post updated, never knew one could do this. It's such a great idea with the state of our Canadian $ these days.. Just phoned Princess Celebrations' line and booked $1,000 OBC - $1,100 CAD funds.

[Dave.ca]

Just booked:

 

coffee cards (US$31). Price quoted by Princess rep: C$34.10. Price in email receipt C$34.10.

 

multiple US$500 Onboard Credits. Price quoted by Princess rep: C$550. Price in email receipt C$550.

 

So, 10% conversion, compared to 20%+ going rate. Not par, as some reported last year, but still a good deal. We saved almost $400.

 

Thank-you to everyone who has contributed to the thread.

[Dave.ca]

We've always chosen the option to have Princess bill our end of cruise folio charges in $US, letting our credit card company do the conversion to $C. I was wondering, if you choose to have Princess bill in $C ,are they converting these charges at 10% as well? If so, we should definitely change this option (if we can).

[canadarocks]

We've always chosen the option to have Princess bill our end of cruise folio charges in $US, letting our credit card company do the conversion to $C. I was wondering, if you choose to have Princess bill in $C ,are they converting these charges at 10% as well? If so, we should definitely change this option (if we can).

 

No and I've read that their conversion charge is higher than if you let your credit card company do it. What I've done is bought enough OBC at the 10% rate to more than cover our charges. At the end of the cruise, I'll get the excess returned to me. That's our plan anyways! ;)

[debi56]

Canadarocks

 

so if I buy say $800.00 obc and only use $600. they will credit back the left over $200. back to my credit card? I had asked someone at princess if we have to cancel say due to health reasons, would my obc that I purchased be credited back to my credit card and she told me no I would lose it. :confused:

Wonder if she misunderstood me or was new.

Like everyone else I did buy some obc but if this is the case we can get back the left over then it is a no brainer, will buy more.

 

Thank you!