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Canadian Princess Cruisers

Gunner22aa

By Gunner22aa,
in Princess Cruises

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  • 2 weeks later...
corsage

corsage

Posted
Posted

That is great! I called Princess the other day and asked about buying OBC and they told me it would be billed in USD. My booking is in CAD, so I am interested to know how its done to get it billed in CAD.

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AE_Collector

AE_Collector

Posted
Posted

I was initially told that buying something like the beer package (6 for $23) would be billed at par in Canadian but other things such as OBC or prepaying gratuities would be billed in US.

 

But others were reporting otherwise so I decided to buy some OBC and indeed it came through at par in Canadian. It doesn't seem to have anything to do with how they enter it but rather how the system charges it.

 

Determine factors are likely that the cruise is booked in Canadian rather than US, possibly you have to be registered as Canadian living in Canada with Princess, and the date of your cruise might matter as well. What I mean is cruise pricing has been at par and even though our dollar is no longer at par. Cruises with Princess (that i am following at least) are still at par until the end of the Alaska season at which time they are no longer priced at par. Not sure what might happen with pre paid items for those trips.

 

If you are Canadian and booked in Canadian I would give it a try. You probably have little to lose.

 

Terry

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Lovetravel101

Lovetravel101

Posted
Posted

Lucky for you...I am Canadian, booked my cruise in CDN, bought internet, soda cards, crown grill vouchers, all in CDN , but the onboard credit that I purchased was charged to my Canadian credit card in US funds. My cruise was Mar 1, 2014. I purchased all items in February.:mad:

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Kamloops50

Kamloops50

Posted
Posted
I just bought a bit more OBC for our upcoming cruise as we have lots of Shore Excursions booked. Once again $500 OBC cost $500 Canadian and the charges are from Princess Santa Clarita. Sure nice as long as it lasts!

 

Terry

 

I've been charges on my CC marked Princess Cruises Vancouver in Canadian dollars.

 

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Forums mobile app

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AE_Collector

AE_Collector

Posted
Posted (edited)

It is strange, I have no idea how it all works. I have done four separate purchases now and all came through at par on my Canadian credit card and I believe they all showed from Santa Clarita. Then Lovetravel101 had some items billed in Canadian and some in US. The prepaid gratuities is the one items that says it will be booked in US.

 

I wonder if where it shows as billed from on the CC could be related to booking directly or through a TA. My trip is booked directly with Princess through one of their sales people at Santa Clarita (I think) and last time I called to buy more OBC I heard him mention her name while looking up our booking.

 

Once we figure it all out it is bound to all change again!

 

Terry

Edited by AE_Collector
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Kamloops50

Kamloops50

Posted
Posted
It is strange, I have no idea how it all works. I have done four separate purchases now and all came through at par on my Canadian credit card and I believe they all showed from Santa Clarita. Then Lovetravel101 had some items billed in Canadian and some in US. The prepaid gratuities is the one items that says it will be booked in US.

 

I wonder if where it shows as billed from on the CC could be related to booking directly or through a TA. My trip is booked directly with Princess through one of their sales people at Santa Clarita (I think) and last time I called to buy more OBC I heard him mention her name while looking up our booking.

 

Once we figure it all out it is bound to all change again!

 

Terry

 

The same I book directly thru Princess and pay online with my CC. The charges have since January 2014 been marked Princess Cruises Vancouver.

 

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Forums mobile app

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AE_Collector

AE_Collector

Posted
Posted (edited)

There is a form that I believe lets you order on-line but I have always just phoned to do it.

 

Log in and click the "Booked Passengers" tab. Near the bottom of the drop down menu is "Gifts and Services". That is where you will find what can be pre purchased.

 

Terry

Edited by AE_Collector
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avcruz

avcruz

Posted
Posted

I wonder if it makes a difference how you order? I notice that the order form on the website reads US dollars, so if you use that to place your order you are charged USD and it's converted at the prevailing rate. If you call or get your TA to place the order it is done in CAD. Could that be it?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

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Kamloops50

Kamloops50

Posted
Posted
I wonder if it makes a difference how you order? I notice that the order form on the website reads US dollars, so if you use that to place your order you are charged USD and it's converted at the prevailing rate. If you call or get your TA to place the order it is done in CAD. Could that be it?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

OBC will be billed US Dollars because it is USD onboard.

 

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Forums mobile app

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AE_Collector

AE_Collector

Posted
Posted

I thought it was just Prepaid Gratuities that say they will be billed in US$. I haven't heard of anyone who prepaid Gratuities being billed at par. Prepaid OBC can go either way and pre buying items such as coffee cards, soda or beer always seems to go through in Canadian at par assuming you live in Canada and paid for the cruise in Canadian. This may not be true for anyone in Canada paying for a cruise in Canadian this fall where there is now a higher Canadian price.

 

Terry

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  • 1 month later...
AE_Collector

AE_Collector

Posted
Posted (edited)

Here's an update on the OBC and other pre purchased items at par in Canadian. All of my OBC and beer packages that I pre purchased for our Tahiti to Vancouver cruise in April went through to my Canadian credit card at par. I had phoned in to put all of these purchases through.

 

While onboard I had my daughter (who was at home) fill in the pre purchase form and fax it in to buy us a couple more beer packages and another coffee card. It went through in US funds this time to our Canadian credit card and of course was converted to US $ by the credit card company.

 

I don't know if Princess had put an end to this by that time OR if it was handled differently by being faxed in rather than phoned in that time. We have just booked another two B2B cruises for June and I am about to start pre purchasing things.

 

Has anyone else had any new experiences with this in the last month or so?

 

Terry

Edited by AE_Collector
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cdnphotogirl

cdnphotogirl

Posted
Posted (edited)
I purchased 500 on on board credit. Went through at par. Tried to buy more and was told that Princess fixed the glitch. So no more at par.

 

Must admit after reading this that I am glad I have $325 extra in OBCs after everything is paid: gratuities, excursions and a couple of extras that I have budgeted for.

 

You must admit that Princess has lost a crap load of money due to this "glitch".

Edited by cdnphotogirl
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AE_Collector

AE_Collector

Posted
Posted

I called in tonight and got a guy who said it shows us as booked in Canadian so any prepaid purchases will be billed in Canadian. But when he tried to put in OBC it changed to billing in US$. He Put me on hold to check and came back to say that anything related to the onboard account now gets billed in US$. A very recent change. I bought beer package and says it showed Canadian billing for us still though. I asked about prepurchasing credit towards shore excursions which is an option available and that is our main expenditure other than the automtips while on board but it too shows as US billing.

 

Not sure why beer and maybe some other "items" still are in Canadian for us it it looks like "At Par" is now history for the onboard account. We did well on our recent 32 day cruise!

 

Terry

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1stCruiser

1stCruiser

Posted
Posted

So glad I found this thread! Just pre-purchased the all-inclusive bar package and saved $70 on exchange. I did not ask about OBC, but may try calling back for a spa credit or casino credit and see what happens.

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Hamptoncruiser

Hamptoncruiser

Posted
Posted

Since I found this thread 2 months ago I have been calling Princess every 2 weeks and purchasing $100 shipboard credits for our Diamond princess cruise in Feb,2015. Just did one on May 23rd and checked credit card today and it went through at par.

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  • 1 month later...
1stCruiser

1stCruiser

Posted
Posted
So glad I found this thread! Just pre-purchased the all-inclusive bar package and saved $70 on exchange. I did not ask about OBC, but may try calling back for a spa credit or casino credit and see what happens.

 

Just an update for fellow Canadians. In addition to the bar package, I purchased flowers, onboard gift credits and casino credits. All were charged to my credit card in Canadian at par. Even though our dollar is improving, it is still significant savings! My entire shipboard account will be prepaid and I will have saved close to 10%. :D:D

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