Canadian Princess Cruisers

[kruisey]

Sigh... As I stated earlier I can walk across the street and buy it for 1.408

 

http://www.vbce.ca/rates/major-currencies

 

Banks exchange rates suck. Only people with no other options buy their currency from banks.

Bullion & Gold are selling USA 1.408..........That is where I buy from.(11.14 PM)

So why Princess is using 1.45 ???

[CruisinFinsUp]

Setting their rate above "market" is nothing new for Princess.

 

They used to set their rate only once annually - all cruises booked during the year had the choice of CAD at the preset rate or USD and we bore the risk on the rate changes between booking and final payment and for on board costs, as RDC1 has described. I used to play the second guessing game every time we booked.

 

Many times the Princess rate was far off "market", either higher or lower as the year progressed, and if we booked near the end of the "rate year" and there was a big difference between the Princess rate and market we were able to get a great "deal" by picking the better booking currency.

 

If you don't like their rate, book in USD.

[joe d]

I remember back in the late 1990's when the Canadian dollar reached this level (on the way to 1.60). We switched to coach tours and did not take a cruise or visit the USA for 8 years. Our dollar will come back someday but in the interim it is a good time to travel elsewhere. I just checked a coach tour to Italy and it is very competitive with Princess cruises and you don't have to pay over $100 US just for a bus transfer from the port to Rome or Florence. I haven't checked Australia or South America yet but I believe their currencies have also been very weak.

 

Last year we took 4 cruises (3 with Princess). We took one last month but have no intention of taking another at 1.45. While I have already seen most of Canada I will probably take some time to travel more in Canada where a Canadian dollar is worth a dollar.

[kruisey]

I remember back in the late 1990's when the Canadian dollar reached this level (on the way to 1.60). We switched to coach tours and did not take a cruise or visit the USA for 8 years. Our dollar will come back someday but in the interim it is a good time to travel elsewhere. I just checked a coach tour to Italy and it is very competitive with Princess cruises and you don't have to pay over $100 US just for a bus transfer from the port to Rome or Florence. I haven't checked Australia or South America yet but I believe their currencies have also been very weak.

 

Last year we took 4 cruises (3 with Princess). We took one last month but have no intention of taking another at 1.45. While I have already seen most of Canada I will probably take some time to travel more in Canada where a Canadian dollar is worth a dollar.

You are on the right track:)

[kruisey]

Setting their rate above "market" is nothing new for Princess.

 

They used to set their rate only once annually - all cruises booked during the year had the choice of CAD at the preset rate or USD and we bore the risk on the rate changes between booking and final payment and for on board costs, as RDC1 has described. I used to play the second guessing game every time we booked.

 

Many times the Princess rate was far off "market", either higher or lower as the year progressed, and if we booked near the end of the "rate year" and there was a big difference between the Princess rate and market we were able to get a great "deal" by picking the better booking currency.

 

If you don't like their rate, book in USD.

Unless one goes to Princess with cash in hand the bank charges are higher than ones exchange bureau.

[RDC1]

Unless one goes to Princess with cash in hand the bank charges are higher than ones exchange bureau.

 

As I explained earlier that is because when you exchange currency yourself you are executing the full transaction at that time. There is no future risk held by either party.

 

When you book a cruise you are locking in an exchange rate, but the actual conversion of funds will not happen for several months. You, the buyer does not have any risk because until the final payment date you can cancel the transaction and re book without penalty. The cruise line has risk because the exchange rate can move against them in the intervening time period between he date the exchange rate is locked in and the date they actually receive the money and can exchange it.

 

if they forecast that the exchange rate is expected to drop in the interim the model will allow a lower rate to be locked in. If the rates are expected to rise in the interim then the model will adjust for that risk and require a higher rate.

 

Not unlike locking in a mortgage rate while waiting for a home to close.

 

What Princess is offering is a guaranteed exchange rate, often months in advance of the actual payment. An individual can do the same by converting funds at current rate and hold the time risk themselves.

 

Now people have been able, at times, to arbitrage the rate offered because historically cruise lines offered rates have tended to lag the actual market because 1. They tend not to change them often, 2. Currency are fluctuating considerably at this time compared to historic rate changes.

[coconutmonkey]

I hope this question has not been posted yet. I bought some shipboard credits with a Canadian exchange rate. If I want to use part of that usd shipboard credit for cash during the cruise, can I apply part of my shipboard credit to the casino and then take it out in cash at the casino teller? I thought I read once they restricted, to a certain dollar limit, how much per day you can use in shipboard credit for the casino.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

[Kelownacruiser]

Funny how nobody complains when they have a cruise booked at 25 or 30% exchange rate and are able to pre pay gratuities and OBC at that rate, far below the current exchange rate. Works both ways for us and Princess.

[Kamloops50]

Princess is having a special for Canadians ending on

Thursday Feb 4 . The exchange is 1.30

[Cruise Junky]

Princess is having a special for Canadians ending on

Thursday Feb 4 . The exchange is 1.30

 

We're did you find that info?

[BCCRUSINGCOUPLE]

Princess is having a special for Canadians ending on

Thursday Feb 4 . The exchange is 1.30

 

 

That's great news because from what I have noticed in the 3 cruises we have been looking at prices have all gone up 10 percent in the last two weeks.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jennymaxgirl]

Princess is having a special for Canadians ending on

Thursday Feb 4 . The exchange is 1.30

 

 

Hi. I'm also from Kamloops :)

 

I am interested in this deal. I don't see it on princess.com so I am unsure how it works. Is it the price of the cruise that is adjusted? Or is the exchange rate for repurchasing casino credit, etc?

 

If you have any details that would be great to hear. Thanks,Jennifer

[Kamloops50]

It's the Stay and Go sale. It is for cruises up to April 2016.

[jennymaxgirl]

It's the Stay and Go sale. It is for cruises up to April 2016.

 

Thanks!

[snoodqueen]

Not seeing anything for Stay & Go on the website. There is Drop & Go but it hasn't had anything new on it in a long time. I clicked on one for the Ruby on March 10th. It showed balconies starting at $868.05 CDN but when I went to check cabin availability, it showed the cheapest balcony as $1013.05 CDN. Big difference. That was before taxes & yes, I was logged in. Is this info from an email sent out to select cruisers? I'm on the email list but rarely see any bargains.

[Kamloops50]

Not seeing anything for Stay & Go on the website. There is Drop & Go but it hasn't had anything new on it in a long time. I clicked on one for the Ruby on March 10th. It showed balconies starting at $868.05 CDN but when I went to check cabin availability, it showed the cheapest balcony as $1013.05 CDN. Big difference. That was before taxes & yes, I was logged in. Is this info from an email sent out to select cruisers? I'm on the email list but rarely see any bargains.

 

I found the prices in USD on another site and compared them.

[Cruise Junky]

I found the prices in USD on another site and compared them.

 

Not getting the same result. April 4 Star sailing $1699 US or $2463 CDN. That's 145%. Both prices coming directly from Princess's site

[mattie00]

Is there something I'm not getting? We booked some time ago with a travel agent in Canadian dollars so the exchange rate does not affect our final price.:D:confused:

[Cruise Junky]

Is there something I'm not getting? We booked some time ago with a travel agent in Canadian dollars so the exchange rate does not affect our final price.:D:confused:

 

You're all good. Nothing will change on your pricing. Just your onboard spending will be painful ;)

[mattie00]

You're all good. Nothing will change on your pricing. Just your onboard spending will be painful ;)

 

Phew! Luckily both of our cruises will be in AUS$ for onboard spending. Just have to be concerned about expenses during our stopovers in Honolulu....but hopefully the CDN$ will improve somewhat vs US$ by the time we cruise in February/March/April 2017.:)

[Steelers36]

I remember back in the late 1990's when the Canadian dollar reached this level (on the way to 1.60). We switched to coach tours and did not take a cruise or visit the USA for 8 years. Our dollar will come back someday but in the interim it is a good time to travel elsewhere. I just checked a coach tour to Italy and it is very competitive with Princess cruises and you don't have to pay over $100 US just for a bus transfer from the port to Rome or Florence. I haven't checked Australia or South America yet but I believe their currencies have also been very weak.

 

Last year we took 4 cruises (3 with Princess). We took one last month but have no intention of taking another at 1.45. While I have already seen most of Canada I will probably take some time to travel more in Canada where a Canadian dollar is worth a dollar.

 

You might fool yourself in that respect, but virtually everything goes up in price when CAD tanks because we rely heavily on imports and businesses have a lot of costs in USD.

[Steelers36]

It's the Stay and Go sale. It is for cruises up to April 2016.

 

Drop and Go. And those specials don't apply to all cruises, so if they are offering 1.30 exchange on D&G, then it's not necessarily every sailing, every ship. D&G normally applies to last-minute type deals.

Edited February 3, 2016 by steelers36

[Steelers36]

We are their North American neighbors but I did not realize our ratio was so lowly.No wonder we have no influence.

 

The quoted percentages back a couple of pages were probably based on worldwide fleet. In the Caribbean, the ratio of Canadians has to be a lot higher just based on personal observation.

[Steelers36]

I could add a rant and suggest Princess ought to be at 1.40 for fairness, but they have probably seen the exchange rate run away from them, plus folks buying up OBC at their booked rate and since revenue from bookings comes into their pockets in future, they don't want to get beat up by a 1.50 or 1.55 dollar down the line.

 

Let's just hope they are as quick to lower the rate back down when CAD recovers. I remember last time the CAD was in the dumper and Princess was still sitting at 1.40 when I booked in USD because the true rate was about 1.25.

 

At this point, I would simply book a cruise in USD and take my chances.

But that's me. I'm always going to get a better discounted price in the US, so it offsets if currency moves against me by final payment.

[Cruise Junky]

Just putting in a plug for HAL. They still seem to be charging 1.30 which is a great break from Princess's 1.45. You might want to check them out as an alternative.