Canadian Princess Cruisers

[christydore]

Just talked to our Princess rep, as of today (Feb 19) you can still purchase OBC at the 10% rate !!

[CruisinFinsUp]

Yup - still works today -- I added more OBC for our cruise today too - rather get a refund at 10% than pay 25%++ !! :D

[Karen Lynn]

There was a time about 5 years ago ..when you could add OBC's at par..long before our two dollars were!!

[avcruz]

I was wondering if someone might know if I could goto passenger services and get some USD cash to spend in the ports and have them charge it to my account, either against OBC or credit card - not a huge amount - maybe $80-100? Do they do this at all?

 

 

Not that I'm aware of, but many of the ships have ATMs onboard now do you could always use that.

[yvr49]

I was wondering if someone might know if I could goto passenger services and get some USD cash to spend in the ports and have them charge it to my account, either against OBC or credit card - not a huge amount - maybe $80-100? Do they do this at all?

 

You can pre-purchase casino credits at the 10% exchange rate. Then on your first sea day go to the casino, open an account and get cash for those credits. I did that on our recent Regal cruise. Better than using an ATM machine!

 

Interestingly, our next cruise is on Norwegian in April. Their exchange rate is even better than Princess -- i.e. 7.5% so $1075 CDN for $1000 USD OBC. However, there is a 3% service charge for getting cash from the casino - Princess doesn't have that. Even with the extra 3%, if I want to get cash from the casino I think it would be cheaper than using the bank.

Edited February 20, 2015 by yvr49

[CruisinFinsUp]

You can pre-purchase casino credits at the 10% exchange rate. Then on your first sea day go to the casino, open an account and get cash for those credits. I did that on our recent Regal cruise. Better than using an ATM machine!

 

Interestingly, our next cruise is on Norwegian in April. Their exchange rate is even better than Princess -- i.e. 7.5% so $1075 CDN for $1000 USD OBC. However, there is a 3% service charge for getting cash from the casino - Princess doesn't have that. Even with the extra 3%, if I want to get cash from the casino I think it would be cheaper than using the bank.

 

Thanks!!

 

i would assume the ATM works like a normal ATM and accesses my bank account at current rates plus all the service charges. I'd rather get 25% money before we go than be subject to the unknown service charges from the ATM company plus service charges from BNS plus the 25% !!!

 

Seems like I'm counting pennies here :rolleyes: but I know for 4 of us, on a B2B we'll be racking up the expenses so I've bought lots of OBC at 10% and am trying to ensure I cover as much as I can!

 

Gotta save up for the next cruise - might as well start now!

[rick160158]

Do you have to book in Canadian dollars for this? I called them and they said since I booked in $US, they could only bill OBC in $US. I mentioned that they always convert my account to Canadian and bill by credit card in Canadian at the end of each cruise, but that just seemed to confuse him.

Same here. I called Princess, as I thought this deal was to good to be true. As you mentioned, your cruise has to be bought in Canadian $$ . If you bought your cruise in US $$ it doesn't apply.

[Kamloops50]

Just bought $100 US for our May cruise and charge was $110 Cdn. Got a flyer with an Hawaii cruise from Vancover. US price was $1599 US . The price in Canadian was $1759 or exchange was 1 dollar US was a dollar ten in Canadian.

 

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[AE_Collector]

I believe the exchange rate charged for OBC, gifts, services, etc is same rate as when you first booked the cruise.

 

Correct. The rate to prepurchase items is always (so far) the same as the exchange rate that was built into the Canadian pricing when you booked the cruise. Most are at 10% currently but cruises that start at various times in September are changing to 20% exchange rate. So we can still book cruises that will start before this September at the 10% rate and prepurchase OBC or other items for those cruises at that same 10% rate.

 

Terry

[CruisinFinsUp]

Most are at 10% currently but cruises that start at various times in September are changing to 20% exchange rate. So we can still book cruises that will start before this September at the 10% rate and prepurchase OBC or other items for those cruises at that same 10% rate.

 

Terry

 

So I guess I'll have to convince my DH that we HAVE to cruise again soon because of all the money we will SAVE! :eek:

LOL!!

[AE_Collector]

Thats my theory, time to get one or two more in before September though we are on a 49 day at the moment as well.

 

Terry

[CruisinFinsUp]

Thats my theory, time to get one or two more in before September though we are on a 49 day at the moment as well.

 

Terry

 

Unfortunately the higher airfares for any trips we might be interested in more than outweigh the exchange rate savings.

Oh well ....

[westcoaster]

Too bad you have to purchase the cruise in Cdn $ to get the low rate on OBC. I just booked a cruise for May, but the US$ price was MUCH lower than the Cdn $ price, so I won't be able to take advantage of this deal on the OBC. Still got a great deal on the cruise, though!

[christydore]

Too bad you have to purchase the cruise in Cdn $ to get the low rate on OBC. I just booked a cruise for May, but the US$ price was MUCH lower than the Cdn $ price, so I won't be able to take advantage of this deal on the OBC. Still got a great deal on the cruise, though!

 

Was it that much lower, even with a bank exchange rate around 28% these days?

[westcoaster]

Yes. In this case, the Cdn$ price was more than 60% higher than the US$ price, so even with the exchange it was much less.

[richstowe]

Yes. In this case, the Cdn$ price was more than 60% higher than the US$ price, so even with the exchange it was much less.

I am confused .:confused: Where are these prices ? When I go to Princess , the prices that

comes up are the US price plus the (current) exchange premium of 10% to arrive at the Cdn price.

If I go to a TA site which sells in Cdn $'s, the rates are also based on the original US prices .

Who quoted you rates 60% higher than the US$ price ?

Edited February 28, 2015 by richstowe

[westcoaster]

I was looking at a cruise on princess.com and the price (when I was logged in) showed $2748.90 Cdn, which I assumed was based on a price of $2499 US plus the current 10% exchange that Princess is using.

 

I called Princess to ask about this cruise, and the agent was able to find a price of $1699 US. However, there was no Cdn $ pricing available for this rate (i.e. $1699 x 1.1 = $1868.90 Cdn). The agent said this was a regional promotion and was not available with the usual Cdn $ pricing conversion that Princess used. I had never heard of this, so I even asked to speak to a supervisor who also confirmed what the first agent had told me. I also checked several Canadian and US travel agents, (providing my CC#) but they all came back with substantially higher prices.

 

Even with having to pay the higher exchange rate (roughly 25%), the US$ price was still much lower than the Cdn $ price. I guess the lesson is don't assume that the US$ price will just be the Cdn $ price divided by the 1.1 conversion rate - sometimes (probably rarely) there is a completely different price.

 

This was for a 30-day cruise, so still a very good deal even when paying the 25% exchange, and I booked it.

[sawasdee]

Hi! We're cruising on Regal next week 3/8 , we booked in Cdn and have non refundable OBC from Princess that we were hoping to use to pay gratuities, bevs etc. I'd like to buy additional OBC to use for cash @ ports but will I still be able to use the non refundable credits first? Asked our agent if I could pre pay the grats & buy coffee cards etc with the promo OBC but I was told I can't do that till we get on the Ship. Can I still add more OBC before we go? Is it Casino Credits that I should purchase ? Thank you!

[M4dC0w]

Obc is just that, on board credit.

Edited February 28, 2015 by M4dC0w

[Kamloops50]

Hi! We're cruising on Regal next week 3/8 , we booked in Cdn and have non refundable OBC from Princess that we were hoping to use to pay gratuities, bevs etc. I'd like to buy additional OBC to use for cash @ ports but will I still be able to use the non refundable credits first? Asked our agent if I could pre pay the grats & buy coffee cards etc with the promo OBC but I was told I can't do that till we get on the Ship. Can I still add more OBC before we go? Is it Casino Credits that I should purchase ? Thank you!

 

You can buy as much OBC as you want. Any used amount will be refunded to your on file credit card or you can take in cash. If you want take in cash earlier you will have to go to the casino . They have a charge to do that.

 

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[kruisey]

I want to book a long cruise in late 2016 it will be an expensive one.

Know you will think I am being stupid but should I book in US$ and save up this way?

[richstowe]

You can buy as much OBC as you want. Any used amount will be refunded to your on file credit card or you can take in cash. If you want take in cash earlier you will have to go to the casino . They have a charge to do that.

 

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Others have posted to tell me that there is no charge to get money from the casino . :confused:

 

I want to book a long cruise in late 2016 it will be an expensive one.

Know you will think I am being stupid but should I book in US$ and save up this way?

My understanding is Princesses current currency premium is 20%. With bank charges,

today you will otherwise pay about 28 % . I would therefore book in Cdn funds . If the Cdn dollar

rises , you can always cancel before final payment date and pay in US funds.

[Kamloops50]

I want to book a long cruise in late 2016 it will be an expensive one.

Know you will think I am being stupid but should I book in US$ and save up this way?

 

I always book in Cdn $ . I know that the cost of the cruise won't fluctuate depending on the exchange rate. Easier to budget for the cruise. I don't want to lose 10% of my deposit if I book in US then cancel. The Bank of Canada has a foreign fee transaction fee on all buying and selling of US $.

If you book in US$ the fee added to your CC is 4% plus current exchange.

When you get a refund the fee added to your CC is 6% plus current exchange rate . That means that the bank of Canada gets 10% of you deposit if you cancel the booking.

Edited February 28, 2015 by Kamloops50

[Kamloops50]

Others have posted to tell me that there is no charge to get money from the casino . :confused:

 

 

My understanding is Princesses current currency premium is 20%. With bank charges,

today you will otherwise pay about 28 % . I would therefore book in Cdn funds . If the Cdn dollar

rises , you can always cancel before final payment date and pay in US funds.

 

Currently the premium is 10%. They adjust depending on how go sales are and they set the rate every 6 to 12 months ahead.

[Cruise Junky]

I would book in Canadian for 2016 unless you're getting at least a 25% discount in us$. My credit cards add 2.5% foreign exchange which is pretty standard.