Canadian Princess Cruisers

[RLK33853]

Is everyone just phoning the Princess general number or is there a Canadian number?

[Hamptoncruiser]

It is just the regular 1-800-Princess #.

[Kamloops50]

It is just the regular 1-800-Princess #.

 

There is a special number if you want Personal Cruise Vacation Planned.

1-800-901-1726

 

You'll be able to get one person to handle all your Princess cruises.

 

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[kruisey]

The wife and I have a long cruise coming up in Apr. I just pre ordered a bunch of stuff for the trip from Princess. Total bill was just over $280. Coffee card for $31, soda and more card for her at $8.05/day incl gratuity and a couple of bottles of red wine.

 

As we know I the onboard currency is US dollars with the exception of a couple of ships where it is in $AU.

 

I had fully expected to see my actual charge on the credit card in $US and be something over $300 Cdn. Much to my suprize the bill was Princess Cruises Vancouver and for the exact amount I was quoted. Had I waited to get this stuff once I was on the ship it would have cost me about 10% more than it did.

 

With our dollar taking daily hits against the recovering $US right now the smart thing to do is pre order whatever you want/can and save some money. The exchange rate isn't getting more favourable anytime soon and many of the reliable forcasters are predicting our dollar to drop to about .88 US

Now you have let "That cat out of the bag" I guess its converted to US funds now for me.........:eek:

[cdngrl]

1stcruiser, did you book your cruise in $cad or $us?

my cruise is booked in canadian. their program charged in $cad--it automatically added 10%. so $300 in credit was going to cost $330.

he changed it to bill me in $us--visa did the change and it cost me $328.78about 9.6%.

no at par for me.

[1stCruiser]

1stcruiser, did you book your cruise in $cad or $us?

my cruise is booked in canadian. their program charged in $cad--it automatically added 10%. so $300 in credit was going to cost $330.

he changed it to bill me in $us--visa did the change and it cost me $328.78about 9.6%.

no at par for me.

 

Cruise is booked in CAD with Princess. First time booking directly with Princess and in CAD but Princess CAD pricing was at par, so worth it.

 

As for the credits, I chose USD the onboard currency, so my folio charges will be in USD. If you chose CAD for onboard currency, maybe this is why they are doing the conversion...

 

My gifts and services summary clearly state "Onboard Credit $500 Usd" and the charge went through on my Canadian credit card as $500 Cdn.

 

Your choice of onboard currency is the only explanation I can see.

[cdngrl]

Cruise is booked in CAD with Princess. First time booking directly with Princess and in CAD but Princess CAD pricing was at par, so worth it.

 

As for the credits, I chose USD the onboard currency, so my folio charges will be in USD. If you chose CAD for onboard currency, maybe this is why they are doing the conversion...

 

My gifts and services summary clearly state "Onboard Credit $500 Usd" and the charge went through on my Canadian credit card as $500 Cdn.

 

Your choice of onboard currency is the only explanation I can see.

 

I got a screaming deal on my cruise so this isn't a big deal but my onboard credits are in $us (booking is in $cad). I'm paying the $us credits with a canadian credit card...it all seems to be the same as your booking. darn my luck, I think I actually got a csr who knew what they were doing! bummer. ;)

[avcruz]

Just tried to buy OBC for my upcoming cruise like I did for my Hawaii cruise this past April but now USD $100 OBC is going to cost CAD $110 and a USD $31 coffee card is CAD $34. So I guess Princess have caught onto the discrepancy and closed the gap. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted.

 

 

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[AE_Collector]

Just tried to buy OBC for my upcoming cruise like I did for my Hawaii cruise this past April but now USD $100 OBC is going to cost CAD $110 and a USD $31 coffee card is CAD $34. So I guess Princess have caught onto the discrepancy and closed the gap. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted.

 

My guess is that when the cruise booked in Canadian is priced at 10% more than US price, any pre purchased items will be 10% more as well. I think the bargain lasted in the interval before our Canadian price with Princess went up. Ironically as we get to close to the the date when prices change our dollar is slowly climbing which will potentially make it a better deal to book cruises in US$.

 

I bought OBC at par for a total if 62 days of cruising between April 1 and yesterday and we do a ton of Princess shore excursions when we cruise. Only once did a batch go through in US. I called and cancelled and repurchased it all with the same CSR and it went through Canadian on the second attempt. However my credit card company credited back significantly less on the refund. Much more than what the change in the currency was over the couple of days. Still have to deal that up with them.

 

Terry

[Hamptoncruiser]

I too am not sure why some are being charged exchange and others are not My cruise was booked through a Canadian travel agency and is part of a tour package that includes land tours in Australia and New Zealand and also air so I am not exactly sure what rate the travel agency paid for the cruise portion. As mentioned before, since finding this post I have called Princess every other week for the last 3 months ( 6 times) and purchased $100US on board credits. I get a different rep every call and I don’t ask if it will be charged in Canadian funds. Every time I have been charged $100 Canadian and the confirmation shows $ 100 US on board credit. The latest was 3 days ago. I guess I will keep doing it until they start to charge exchange.

[AE_Collector]

Only once did a batch go through in US. I called and cancelled and repurchased it all with the same CSR and it went through Canadian on the second attempt. However my credit card company credited back significantly less on the refund. Much more than what the change in the currency was over the couple of days. Still have to deal that up with them.

 

Terry

 

I got this problem solved with AMEX. The credit card company's do currency exchange by using the "bank rate" (which isn't the true exchange rate but is between .5 and .75 of a cent more than the true exchange rate) and then adding to it a "currency exchange fee" of another 2.5%. When an item is returned they don't bother refunding the 2.5% currency exchange fee. Thankyou Very Much!

 

I had bought $3500 in OBC and it came through in US$ which AMEX converted to Canadian. I had Princess cancel and refund it and repurchased it a second time and it then went through in Canadian. I thought I was sunk when the serv rep said she would call their help desk to see what to do. She came back saying the help desk suggested cancel and try again making sure it went through in Canadian!

 

I called AMEX today and while they said normally the 2.5% loss would apply it was clearly an error on the part of the merchant (Princess) as they could easily see the purchase, refund and then repurchase in Canadian all within 48 hours. So I got an $84 refund.

 

I still think this Canadian at Par deal might come to an end (or at least have a fixed 10% added to the cost just like cruise prices) starting in the later half of August so I would suggest getting your OBC purchased before then if you have a cruise booked in Canadian $.

 

Terry

Edited July 10, 2014 by AE_Collector

[canadarocks]

I just ordered the Unlimited Soda & more package and was charged just over 10% exchange. Pretty sure it was billed at par last year when I did the same. But with our dollar dipping and the fact that prices of drinks have increased on the ships(which could mean an increase in cost of the package at some point), 10% isn't bad at all. :)

Edited August 4, 2014 by canadarocks

[AE_Collector]

I assume that you mean that you are booked in canadian and you were billed 10% more by Princess for your pre purchases? If Princess billed you in US$ by mistake (happened to me) your credit card company would be the one adding the exchange rate.

 

I suspected that by sometime in August all pre purchases by Canadians who are booked in CDN$ and who want to be billed in Canadian would have the same 10% added that the cruise fares are having added. It was good while it lasted though 10% is still reasonable.

 

Terry

Edited August 4, 2014 by AE_Collector

[Craigster-diver]

Interesting to note that the option to pre-pay gratuities is clearly shown in $US, while gifting OBC doesn't differentiate between $US and any other currency. The order form clearly says the prices are quoted in $US. I'm going to try to gift my wife some OBC tomorrow, and we'll see what happens.

 

C.

[Craigster-diver]

I just bought $800 "gift" OBC for my wife. Charged $800 CDN to my CDN credit card. My cruise is booked in $CDN and I'm using my favorite local TA. I called the 1-800 Princess number and said I wanted to buy on-board gifts for my wife (both our shipboard accounts tie to my credit card).

 

Could have purchased anything on the gift list priced in $US for "at par" pricing.

 

I even told the Princess agent that they had a great thing going, effectively buying $US for on-board spending using $CDN at par.

 

This is the greatest thing since sliced bread! :) :D :) :D

 

C.

[AE_Collector]

When and where is your cruise? I don't know if pre buying things relates to the exchange rate in effect on the actual cruise or not. For example, I know that the Alaska cruises are still at par but as soon as the ships leave Seattle and Vancouver for other destinations the prices of the cruises go up by 10% in Canadian.

 

Terry

[cdngrl]

I just bought $800 "gift" OBC for my wife. Charged $800 CDN to my CDN credit card. My cruise is booked in $CDN and I'm using my favorite local TA. I called the 1-800 Princess number and said I wanted to buy on-board gifts for my wife (both our shipboard accounts tie to my credit card).

 

Could have purchased anything on the gift list priced in $US for "at par" pricing.

 

I even told the Princess agent that they had a great thing going, effectively buying $US for on-board spending using $CDN at par.

 

This is the greatest thing since sliced bread! :) :D :) :D

 

C.

 

I'm happy for you and bummed for me...that wasn't my experience at all. boo.

[Craigster-diver]

When and where is your cruise? I don't know if pre buying things relates to the exchange rate in effect on the actual cruise or not. For example, I know that the Alaska cruises are still at par but as soon as the ships leave Seattle and Vancouver for other destinations the prices of the cruises go up by 10% in Canadian.

 

Terry

 

Cruising on CB from FLL in September 2014.

 

C.

Edited August 5, 2014 by Craigster-diver

[Keata]

A huge thanks for the head's up on this - just bought $200 OBC for my CB cruise in 18 days and paid Canadian dollars. Nice to get this surprise price break.

[cdngrl]

aaaargh! I need to stop reading this thread!

poor me, princess doesn't like me as much as she likes you all.

sniff.

[canadarocks]

I'm wondering if those who are buying OBC in Canadian dollars are getting written confirmation that their OBC is in US$ and therefore at par?

 

Isn't it possible that whatever OBC people are gifting themselves in Canadian could be converted to US$ once onboard and charged the exchange? :confused:

Edited August 7, 2014 by canadarocks

[Renmar]

I'm wondering if those who are buying OBC in Canadian dollars are getting written confirmation that their OBC is in US$ and therefore at par?

 

Isn't it possible that whatever OBC people are gifting themselves in Canadian could be converted to US$ once onboard and charged the exchange? :confused:

 

I have written confirmation for our $ 500.00 OBC. we gifted to our account.

OBC is in US $$--Credit Card charge is in Can.$$

 

Theo

[canadarocks]

I have written confirmation for our $ 500.00 OBC. we gifted to our account.

OBC is in US $$--Credit Card charge is in Can.$$

 

Theo

 

That's awesome. Congratulations! :D

[Sailingpeace]

Ordered flowers this week from 1-800 number. Website says $49 USD, credit card was charged $53,90 Canadian :eek:, billing is from Princess Santa Clarita CA . Cruise billed in Canadian $.

[AE_Collector]

Exactly a 10% premium on Canadian over US $, just like the pricing on upcoming cruises. While it isn't "Par", 10% exchange rate beats what your credit card company would have charged you. That would be at least 12% at the moment.

 

I have OBC to pre-purchase for an upcoming cruise in September and a B2B in December. Ever since i was mistakenly billed for $3500 OBC in US for my credit card company to convert to Canadian and I had to cancel and re do it all, I cringe at what will wind up happening when I call. I am still hearing of some being billed at par so I will have to give it a try.

 

Terry