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Gunner22aa

By Gunner22aa,
in Princess Cruises

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lastrooney

lastrooney

Posted
Posted
I'm pretty sure that if you booked your cruise at 10%, then any purchases you make for that particular cruise will be at that same 10%.

 

Not to sure what the US rate of our cruise is.

Rates listed/billed/purchased from the website are Cdn.

I'm thrilled we can still buy at the lower rate of exchange.

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canadarocks

canadarocks

Posted
Posted
Not to sure what the US rate of our cruise is.

Rates listed/billed/purchased from the website are Cdn.

I'm thrilled we can still buy at the lower rate of exchange.

 

One way to tell is the last two digits of your Canadian rate. If it ends in .90 it's a 10% exchange.

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Mingus

Mingus

Posted
Posted
Not to sure what the US rate of our cruise is.

Rates listed/billed/purchased from the website are Cdn.

I'm thrilled we can still buy at the lower rate of exchange.

Cruises starting Sept 2015 are priced at 20% exchange rate>

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cpcanuck

cpcanuck

Posted
Posted

I was able to pre-pay gratuities and purchase OBC at the 10% rate, but I discovered that if I wanted to pre-pay for a shore excursion (apparently a new option on cruise personalizer) that I was unable to get it at the 10% conversion rate. So I simply purchased enough OBC to cover that cost - no problem, that was at the 10%. Bonus!

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RLK33853

RLK33853

Posted
Posted
What's to stop someone from pre purchasing $1000 OBC then cashing it out (to cash?) at the pursors or casino to spend at the ports? Any restrictions on cashing out prepaid OBC?? Thanks!

 

This is perfectly fine - just finished doing exactly that.

 

Just go to the Customer Service desk and request the cash - if you try to go the Casino route, they will tell you that you have to gamble or they will freeze your Casino account. Customer Service couldn't have been easier to deal with.

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jennyg2610

jennyg2610

Posted
Posted
This is perfectly fine - just finished doing exactly that.

 

 

 

Just go to the Customer Service desk and request the cash - if you try to go the Casino route, they will tell you that you have to gamble or they will freeze your Casino account. Customer Service couldn't have been easier to deal with.

 

 

Thanks for your information. I am an Aussie and bought $2000 OBC and got the same exchange rate as the Canadians. Much better than the 74cents exchange which is around our current exchange. I was hoping that we could cash out at Customer Service and use the USD when we get to New York after the cruise so it was good to read that there is no problem doing this.

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jennymaxgirl

jennymaxgirl

Posted
Posted

Purchased cruise in CDN funds. Have been reading this thread and looks as though it's beneficial to also purchase an OBC in CDN funds. Just can't quite figure out how other than to complete the form that is attached to the website?

 

Can anyone explain how the exchange works on this?

 

Thanks so much!

 

Jennifer

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jennyg2610

jennyg2610

Posted
Posted
Purchased cruise in CDN funds. Have been reading this thread and looks as though it's beneficial to also purchase an OBC in CDN funds. Just can't quite figure out how other than to complete the form that is attached to the website?

 

 

 

Can anyone explain how the exchange works on this?

 

 

 

Thanks so much!

 

 

 

Jennifer

 

 

All I did was phone Princess and ask to buy OBC. They charged my credit card that is registered in Cruise Personaliser for $2200 for the $2000USD bought. If you have booked with Princess direct they can give you a confirmation email but if you used a TA then they can get the confirmation for you.

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Sxxacy

Sxxacy

Posted
Posted
This is perfectly fine - just finished doing exactly that.

 

 

 

Just go to the Customer Service desk and request the cash - if you try to go the Casino route, they will tell you that you have to gamble or they will freeze your Casino account. Customer Service couldn't have been easier to deal with.

 

 

When you say customer service desk, do you mean the pursors desk or is there a CS desk in the casino?

 

And as I understand it there are 2 diff types of OBC, right? Casino OBC and regular OBC?? Can both be cashed out?

 

Thanks again for the info on this

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RLK33853

RLK33853

Posted
Posted
When you say customer service desk, do you mean the pursors desk or is there a CS desk in the casino?

 

And as I understand it there are 2 diff types of OBC, right? Casino OBC and regular OBC?? Can both be cashed out?

 

Thanks again for the info on this

 

Purser's Desk - they cash out without question any refundable OBC which is what I had purchased.

 

Called Princess before the cruise and asked to purchase OBC - not pre-paid gratuities, etc. That way you can use the OBC for anything, gratuities, Casino, excursions, etc. It is your choice. Only paid 10% which is a great deal when banks are charging 25%.

 

The Casino will only let you cash out a couple of times up to $300 unless you are gambling - Purser's Desk is the way to go - no hastle, no limit.

 

Have fun on your cruise.

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AE_Collector

AE_Collector

Posted
Posted

Not my experience on 3 B2B's in February & March on Ruby. Had pre purchased lots of OBC and found myself getting close to running too low on US cash for extra tipping after each cruise segment. I tried at the Pursers Desk at the end of each segment to get even $100 out of our account in cash and even mentioned that it was for onboard tipping but no go. Said I would have to wait for refund at the end of the entire cruise. At the end it was still no go as apparently they have just changed the policy to a cash refund only if $25 or less, otherwise a cheque will be mailed.

 

On Princess last year I had a cash refund of around $200 on one cruise, refund to credit card on another and a check mailed on yet another (this one being in December). I know I could try in the casino but I don't think they really want to do that (we aren't an ATM comments some have reported) and since I have never spent even 10c in there don't feel comfortable trying that.

 

In the end everyone got their extra tips and we made it home with about $40 left over!

 

Terry

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RLK33853

RLK33853

Posted
Posted

Terry (AE_Collector) - sorry to hear that it didn't work on the Ruby - you have to love how each ship sets their own policies from whether they offer Wine packages to how they handle the refund of OBC. I guess the only thing we can do is try - and of course having a backup plan is a good idea.

 

Ray

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racj846

racj846

Posted
Posted

Anyone know of a workaround so that when accessing the Princess website I can see fares in US$. It appears that Canadian I.P. addresses cause Cdn$ prices to be shown with no option to change to an alternate currency.

 

Have for some time been using a US online TA for booking cruises. Great site for research then speak to a human to make the booking! While this may seem odd I worked in the US for a number of years and as a result have the ability to pay in US$.

 

Would be nice to monitor prices on Princess; compare to TA prices then make contact if Princess shows less than TAs prices.

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toberman

toberman

Posted
Posted (edited)
Anyone know of a workaround so that when accessing the Princess website I can see fares in US$. It appears that Canadian I.P. addresses cause Cdn$ prices to be shown with no option to change to an alternate currency.

 

I haven't been able to find a 'work around' for the Cdn pricing on Princess. Same thing with eZair - will only allow me to get pricing from a Cdn airport, even though my closest (and cheapest) airport is in the US. I usually compare Princess's prices with a large Cdn TA, and check US pricing on several US TA's and add 25% exchange to get an idea. Plus.. I've never found Princess to offer prices lower than a TA.

Edited by toberman
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jennymaxgirl

jennymaxgirl

Posted
Posted

Hi there,

 

I booked thru a CDN travel agency and my credit card was charged in CDN funds. However, when i log into the Princess Cruise Personalizer it states that Folio Charges will be in USD.

 

Does this mean I cannot take advantage of pre-purchasing the OBC at the lower exchange rate that is being discussed in this thread?

 

Thanks,

Jennifer

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twoblklabs

twoblklabs

Posted
Posted
Hi there,

 

I booked thru a CDN travel agency and my credit card was charged in CDN funds. However, when i log into the Princess Cruise Personalizer it states that Folio Charges will be in USD.

 

Does this mean I cannot take advantage of pre-purchasing the OBC at the lower exchange rate that is being discussed in this thread?

 

Thanks,

Jennifer

 

Hi Jennifer,

 

Since your cruise was paid in CDN dollars you are able to call Princess and purchase OBC credits at the present 1.10 rate. Great deal but I read on one post that after September 2015 it will go up to 1.20....

 

We are on the Regal tomorrow and can't wait to check her out.

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richstowe Great Review Rare

richstowe

Posted
Posted (edited)
Anyone know of a workaround so that when accessing the Princess website I can see fares in US$. It appears that Canadian I.P. addresses cause Cdn$ prices to be shown with no option to change to an alternate currency.
No workaround but why don't you just use an on-line TA to see the prices ,which are quoted in US $'s .

Then you will be able to compare prices.

Edited by richstowe
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toberman

toberman

Posted
Posted
Hi Jennifer,

 

Since your cruise was paid in CDN dollars you are able to call Princess and purchase OBC credits at the present 1.10 rate. Great deal but I read on one post that after September 2015 it will go up to 1.20....

 

We are on the Regal tomorrow and can't wait to check her out.

 

For cruises before Sept 2015 it's 10%. For cruises after that it's 20%. Has nothing to do with when you call.

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