Canadian cruisers!!

[vacation_junkie]

You don't have to wait to the end of the cruise to withdraw your own money at Guest Services. Why would you go to the Casino to withdraw your own money??

I've withdrawn my money at Guest Services before the end of a cruise.

 

Not sure what you're saying. Is Guest Services telling you that you cannot close your account before the end of the cruise? Or are you under the impression that you have to pay the 5% at the Casino to take out your own money during the cruise?

Please clarify if you can. Thank you. :D

 

 

We put $400 U.S. On ahead of time as it only cost us $440 cdn

We also have a credit card attached to the folio.

 

I'm not under the "impression" I know for a fact it is 5% to withdraw my OWN cash that I put on before hand. I had a 5 minute argument with three different people in the casino.

 

We were told that you can only take the remaining out at the END of the cruise at guest services. Not during!

 

 

 

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[vacation_junkie]

All I can add is that I have. I always set up a cash account (due to poor exchange rates with Canadian credit cards), and I've withdrawn money prior to the end of the cruise, and I've added money back into the account prior to the end of the cruise.

Unless the rules have changed, this has been my experience. Perhaps there are new rules....I'll find out in a few weeks.

I simply can't see Guest Services not allowing a guest access to their own refundable on-board account. To me, that's like restricting access to your own cabin. It doesn't make sense.

I will find out and tell you what happens. :D

 

They wouldn't allow me to withdraw $100 on day three of our cruise. I could at the casino but with a 5% surcharge

 

 

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Edited February 13, 2015 by vacation_junkie

[copter]

I think the cost of the gratuities has increased. If you pre-paid them at the time of booking, and the booking date was a while ago, then yes, there would be a difference. I don't have access to my invoices at the moment, but you've given me something to look into. :D

 

 

 

I just made the payment a few days ago.

[vacation_junkie]

It depends on what type of 'account' you have set up. If you put a credit card on your account, then where is any money to put back on it? All expenses are charged to your credit card.

 

If you gave them cash to set up a spending account, then yes, they will give you back the unused cash in US funds. That is the currency that you gave them in the first place and the ship only deals in US currency for on-board accounts.

If you prepaid your on-board account through Royal Caribbean before the cruise started, that's as good as setting up a cash account. The ship will have no record of your cc number, unless you've actually given it to them while on the cruise.

The prepayment of on-board credits has always existed. It's an Amenity under the Amenity listings, like flowers, wine, logo gear, etc. It's been there for the advantage of friends or family who want to give a 'gift' of money to the people who are cruising. It's just recently that cruisers have been giving the 'gift' to themselves...:p...because of the exceptional exchange rate.

So think of it as your Uncle giving you a gift of money using his credit card from home. The ship will have no idea of his cc number...all they know is that the money is sitting in your on-board account for you to use. It is totally refundable back to you if you don't use any or all of it.

 

We put cash & credit card. In my argument with the casino I said I wanted my own money that I had put on my account. Not drawn against my credit card.

We were told we couldn't withdraw the "gifted" money without the 5% surcharge! I argued with three different people plus thread cashier called someone else. We were told that we can get it from guest services at the END of our cruise... Not on Day 3 which was the day I was there on.

 

 

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[ladysail2]

I just made the payment a few days ago.

 

Well,that gives more interest in looking at my invoices when I get home. Thanks for the info! :D

[Toddcan]

We put cash & credit card. In my argument with the casino I said I wanted my own money that I had put on my account. Not drawn against my credit card.

We were told we couldn't withdraw the "gifted" money without the 5% surcharge! I argued with three different people plus thread cashier called someone else. We were told that we can get it from guest services at the END of our cruise... Not on Day 3 which was the day I was there on.

 

 

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Vacation Junkie.. thanks for the information, but maybe, just maybe the "problem" is that you have a credit card on file.

 

What I didn't hear is that you went to Guest Services to try and get cash - did you? It's pretty common to be charged 5% in the Casino - but did you try @ guest services?

[Haber]

The last time the Canadian dollar was at par or higher than the US dollar was in Nov 2007. By the end of that month it was back down to the 98 cent mark. I don't think current cruises could be booked that far back. :p

 

I think the exchange rate has been set by Royal, and they haven't reset it to reflect current exchange rates, which is nice for us. I'm surprised their accountants haven't caught the discrepancy yet!!

 

Wow! That long ago? I obviously haven't been paying attention as long as it was a few cents here and a few cents there. lol! That's a long time for them to keep their interest rates on gratuities that low. Bonus for us!

[ladysail2]

They wouldn't allow me to withdraw $100 on day three of our cruise. I could at the casino but with a 5% surcharge

 

 

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I wouldn't tolerate that answer and would have simply closed out my account. What can they say then?

 

You can make purchases up to $300 (maybe more) without having any Account set up. I would then go and pay off the account as it got used, or after a certain amount.

 

Maybe each ship is making up their own rules now. What difference does it make to them how much money your account has? I'll have to find out what's going on in a few weeks!

[marcoigna]

Wow! That long ago? I obviously haven't been paying attention as long as it was a few cents here and a few cents there. lol! That's a long time for them to keep their interest rates on gratuities that low. Bonus for us!

 

 

Actually our dollar was par and slightly above last spring. April - Nay I believe. And that is what the rates could be based on.

[ladysail2]

Wow! That long ago? I obviously haven't been paying attention as long as it was a few cents here and a few cents there. lol! That's a long time for them to keep their interest rates on gratuities that low. Bonus for us!

 

 

Yes, it's been that long, unfortunately. It has been good for a long time too, hovering around the 95 cent mark, but then our gas went up to $1.30 a litre too!

 

Yes, lucky for us that Royal is giving us a break on the exchange rate for now.

[Ken at the beach]

The last time the Canadian dollar was at par or higher than the US dollar was in Nov 2007. By the end of that month it was back down to the 98 cent mark. I don't think current cruises could be booked that far back. :p

 

I think the exchange rate has been set by Royal, and they haven't reset it to reflect current exchange rates, which is nice for us. I'm surprised their accountants haven't caught the discrepancy yet!!

 

The Canadian $ was above par for Appx. the first 9 months of 2011.

 

http://www.oanda.com/currency/historical-rates/

Edited February 13, 2015 by Ourusualbeach

[ladysail2]

Actually our dollar was par and slightly above last spring. April - Nay I believe. And that is what the rates could be based on.

 

It didn't get to par in those months. It did go to 99cents for a minute. It didn't stay there long enough to make it useful for us average users. I'm going by the Bank of Canada's historical rates and my memory. Believe me, if it has passed the US dollar, I 'd be down in Syracuse taking advantage of it!!

[ladysail2]

The Canadian $ was above par for Appx. the first 9 months of 2011.

 

http://www.oanda.com/currency/historical-rates/

 

I honestly don't think so. I'm on my iPad and can't negotiate around like I can on my PC. I check the exchange rates almost daily using the Bank of Canada site, and I sure don't remember that happening. I'll be looking into it just for my own interest. I only remember the 2007 above par lucky day!

[Ken at the beach]

It didn't get to par in those months. It did go to 99cents for a minute. It didn't stay there long enough to make it useful for us average users. I'm going by the Bank of Canada's historical rates and my memory. Believe me, if it has passed the US dollar, I 'd be down in Syracuse taking advantage of it!!

 

Take a look at the link I posted above. I definitely bought CDN$ above par for our March trip.

[ladysail2]

Take a look at the link I posted above. I definitely bought CDN$ above par for our March trip.

 

You may have, but according to the Bank of Canada's closing rates for the Can $ vs the US $, our dollar closed at about 90Cents to their 100cents for most of Feb and March 2014.

When the Canadian dollar goes above the US dollar it's practically a national holiday.

 

I can give you the link if you want. I'm quite sure our Canadian dollar was not at or above par with the US dollar a year ago. Just saying....

[nbsjcruiser]

Vacation Junkie.. thanks for the information, but maybe, just maybe the "problem" is that you have a credit card on file.

 

What I didn't hear is that you went to Guest Services to try and get cash - did you? It's pretty common to be charged 5% in the Casino - but did you try @ guest services?

 

You are right.Once you put a cc down you get charged the 5% because it is no longer a cash account.

[ladysail2]

Take a look at the link I posted above. I definitely bought CDN$ above par for our March trip.

 

 

http://www.bankofcanada.ca/rates/exchange/monthly-average-lookup/

 

There's the link showing the US dollar closing against our dollar from Feb - June 2014....the US dollar closed above ours every month. It's an average, but we wouldn't jump from 90cents to over the $1 mark without it saying so.

There's no point in arguing the point....I don't intend to seem that way. I just can't believe that I missed a golden shopping opportunity!!

 

Back to cruising....:D

[ladysail2]

The Canadian $ was above par for Appx. the first 9 months of 2011.

 

http://www.oanda.com/currency/historical-rates/

 

I was looking at averages and not the daily rate. It did fall below par for alot of days in those months. I sure don't remember that it was useful for us average users. Perhaps for quick-as-lightening investors who could take advantage of the rate at a particular moment. It did hover around the 98 and 99 cent mark for closing rates on alot of days. It's all good back then, not so much now. :(

Hopefully it will come back up again over the 90-cent mark before too long.

[ladysail2]

I just made the payment a few days ago.

 

I was looking at a cruise that I booked just yesterday. Gratuities for a 4-day cruise came out to $13.11 a day. A cruise that I booked quite a while ago come out to $11.83 a day. Hmm...they must convert from the US daily rate.

It certainly isn't below the US rate, that's for sure. It is being converted at 110%....okay, not so bad, taken that the gratuity rate is $12/day US....

Interesting...:)

[ladysail2]

Just to compare some more. Using the booking I made yesterday, since it's so fresh. I logged out of RC, changed to the US site....and 'bought' the same cruise...it's being converted at 114% of the US rate. That's pretty good.

That leads me to believe that they're not changing the exchange rate as it fluctuates on the market, that would be hard to keep up with. So it makes sense that other expenses tied to the booking rate would change for others.

 

Oh well, all this makes my head hurt. But I'm glad I looked into it. I'll keep a better eye on things if our dollar goes up, and see what RC does. I certainly won't complain, as we are getting a really good deal. I think it's one of the few cruise lines that lets us book in Canadian $$, the only one that I've cruised with anyway. :D

[copter]

I bought my car used in the US when our dollar was above par. I believe that was in November 2010 or 2011 (it is a 2010 model so it wasn't in 2007).

Edited February 13, 2015 by copter

[Ken at the beach]

Just to compare some more. Using the booking I made yesterday, since it's so fresh. I logged out of RC, changed to the US site....and 'bought' the same cruise...it's being converted at 114% of the US rate. That's pretty good.

That leads me to believe that they're not changing the exchange rate as it fluctuates on the market, that would be hard to keep up with. So it makes sense that other expenses tied to the booking rate would change for others.

 

Oh well, all this makes my head hurt. But I'm glad I looked into it. I'll keep a better eye on things if our dollar goes up, and see what RC does. I certainly won't complain, as we are getting a really good deal. I think it's one of the few cruise lines that lets us book in Canadian $$, the only one that I've cruised with anyway. :D

 

 

The exchange rate is only changed quarterly and that rate is reported in every quarterly earnings update. That's why gratuities were a bit less than the IS rate for a cruise you booked a while ago but at a 10% premium on the one that you just booked.

 

The rates for the cruises can vary quite a bit and do not follow the same currency conversion rates.

[Ken at the beach]

You may have, but according to the Bank of Canada's closing rates for the Can $ vs the US $, our dollar closed at about 90Cents to their 100cents for most of Feb and March 2014.

When the Canadian dollar goes above the US dollar it's practically a national holiday.

 

I can give you the link if you want. I'm quite sure our Canadian dollar was not at or above par with the US dollar a year ago. Just saying....

 

I know that it was lower in 2014 I was talking about in the first 9 months of 2011. Our $ was actually up to 1.05 US and after the bank fees i came out a couple cents ahead in converting to US.

[ladysail2]

I know that it was lower in 2014 I was talking about in the first 9 months of 2011. Our $ was actually up to 1.05 US and after the bank fees i came out a couple cents ahead in converting to US.

 

Yes it was. I was looking at average monthly closings. If one looks at the daily closings, it certainly was ahead most of the time. I know I was shopping in the US within the first 9 months of 2011, but I must have hit the days when we dropped below 100%. Even at exactly par, our cc's don't give a good exchange rate and they charge their fees which doesn't show a good outcome when the bill comes in. I'll have to go back and take another look at those months.:D

[CaribCruiser54]

Not sure I understand how you could pay less in CAD that it would be in US$. My TA is checking right now but the quote he gave me in CAD is 10% more than the US$ amount would be and I thought that was a bargain. Now two people have said they paid less in CAD than they would have paid in US$ or am I not 'getting' it?

 

Amounts are all over the place. I finalized my cruise payment today

and was charged $91.78 CAD pp for 7 night cruise.