Canadian cruisers!!

[bluemeansgo]

It's an online bank. Used to be ING Direct.

 

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And now it's Scotia Lite

[Z3r0]

I have a TD borderless account, and just looked at the rates tangerine has and they're better. I dont get a free USD with tangerine but they are better. Does anyone here have both accounts, and it is easy to transfer USD back and forth between them?

 

I would be more concerned about sending USD to tangerine and I would just use the US Visa from TD for transactions.

 

Thanks.

[tinkertwo]

I have a TD borderless account, and just looked at the rates tangerine has and they're better. I dont get a free USD with tangerine but they are better. Does anyone here have both accounts, and it is easy to transfer USD back and forth between them?

 

I would be more concerned about sending USD to tangerine and I would just use the US Visa from TD for transactions.

 

Thanks.

 

I have both Tangerine and a bricks and mortar bank. I'm retired staff from bank so my U.S. rate is really good however after I buy it I always transfer it to Tangerine. Its very easy to do. We have TFSA's as well as Savings and U.S. Savings with Tangerine. So so very easy to do. Don't be concerned at all.

 

The interest they paid when it was ING made it worth while but since Scotia has taken over the interest rates are very low. We only keep the accounts there now because there is no fees involved and it keeps vacation money and other savings separate from our everyday banking.

[danicolie]

I noticed today that RCCL adjusted the price of the beverage packages slightly. I assume this is due to the strengthening of our dollar recently. Approx $4 savings per day. Factor in gratuities and that's a savings of over $30 per per person for the week. We already purchased our beverage packages a few weeks ago when we were offered the 20% discount but I read in another thread that they will let you cancel and rebook at the lower rate. A discount on the discount! Love it!

[deepcman]

Three weeks ago RCL was charging 10% exchange rate to purchase on board credits. Today I called and the new rate is 40%. I told them I could buy my USD at the bank for less than that.

 

I could never figure out why their exchange rate was 35%if you prepaid tips and only 10% if you bought the refundable OBC. Someone probably finally caught on.

[A&L_Ont]

Three weeks ago RCL was charging 10% exchange rate to purchase on board credits. Today I called and the new rate is 40%. I told them I could buy my USD at the bank for less than that.

 

I could never figure out why their exchange rate was 35%if you prepaid tips and only 10% if you bought the refundable OBC. Someone probably finally caught on.

 

The rates changed to 40% more than three weeks ago.

 

Edit: I just checked the thread, it went up January 12th.

Edited April 25, 2016 by A&L_Ont

[Ourusualbeach]

The rates changed to 40% more than three weeks ago.

 

Edit: I just checked the thread, it went up January 12th.

 

Really wish it was only 3 weeks ago. Who would have thought that wedge referring to this past January as the good old days.:)

[Funbobby68]

Didn't see a price drop on drink packages ? Other than a few of our sailing have the sale price

 

 

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[vegas82]

I didn't notice a price change for the drink packages either, we leave in a week, hoping to see it as the dollar goes up!

[tinkertwo]

our oasis internet package went on sale for 20% off for our November sailing. It was 97 Canadian for an 8 night sailing. considering what we paid on DCL I'm happily impressed.

no drink package discount yet. :(

[mattR]

Filling out my cruise contract information and they ask how you want your Credit Card Charged. I am using a Presidents Choice Mastercard what would be better to have RCI charge me their conversion rate or to have them just apply the fees to my card in $US? I am taking a Mediterranean cruise I'm thinking that charges on the ship will be in $US ?

[Virtopia]

Filling out my cruise contract information and they ask how you want your Credit Card Charged. I am using a Presidents Choice Mastercard what would be better to have RCI charge me their conversion rate or to have them just apply the fees to my card in $US? I am taking a Mediterranean cruise I'm thinking that charges on the ship will be in $US ?

 

Curious about this as well as I'll be going on a Mediterranean cruise in the fall.

[CanadaRob]

Filling out my cruise contract information and they ask how you want your Credit Card Charged. I am using a Presidents Choice Mastercard what would be better to have RCI charge me their conversion rate or to have them just apply the fees to my card in $US? I am taking a Mediterranean cruise I'm thinking that charges on the ship will be in $US ?

Let it charge in USD and let your bank credit card do the conversion with their other conversion fee

 

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[hancogran]

Let it charge in USD and let your bank credit card do the conversion with their other conversion fee

 

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This is what we do too. Don't let RCI do the conversion! Also make sure you HIGHLIGHT where you mark that you want your credit card company to do the conversion. They tend to "miss" it at times! :rolleyes:

[constable145]

Filling out my cruise contract information and they ask how you want your Credit Card Charged. I am using a Presidents Choice Mastercard what would be better to have RCI charge me their conversion rate or to have them just apply the fees to my card in $US? I am taking a Mediterranean cruise I'm thinking that charges on the ship will be in $US ?

RCI charges a percentage in addition to their inflated exchange rate. Banks for the most part just charge their inflated exchange rate.

 

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[moopetguy]

The PC Financial MasterCard credit cards have a 2.5% foreign currency conversion fee that's on top of their exchange rate at the time of the purchase transaction. That said, I expect it would always still be lower than RCI's exchange rate, so you should have RCI charge your card directly in USD. I generally find that a "retailer" exchange rate at the point-of-sale is higher than a bank or credit card issuer's rate, which in turn is generally higher than a currency exchange counter due to the markups that they build into the rate.

 

There are some credit cards that charge a lower (or zero) foreign currency conversion fee, so that only the exchange rate applies. For example, the Chase Amazon.ca Rewards Visa credit card does not charge any foreign currency conversion fee. The Tangerine Money-Back MasterCard charges a 1.5% foreign currency conversion fee. I'm sure there are other examples out there of low- or no-fee cards with respect to foreign currency conversion.

 

Onboard charges are in USD.

[Clarea]

... There are some credit cards that charge a lower (or zero) foreign currency conversion fee, so that only the exchange rate applies. For example, the Chase Amazon.ca Rewards Visa credit card does not charge any foreign currency conversion fee. The Tangerine Money-Back MasterCard charges a 1.5% foreign currency conversion fee. I'm sure there are other examples out there of low- or no-fee cards with respect to foreign currency conversion....

I believe the Capital One card is another example.

[hancogran]

I have a Sears Mastercard (Scotiabank) and there is no currency conversion fee on any foreign exchange transactions, including U.S. . This is what we use when we travel. ;)

[SensFan11]

The PC Financial MasterCard credit cards have a 2.5% foreign currency conversion fee that's on top of their exchange rate at the time of the purchase transaction. That said, I expect it would always still be lower than RCI's exchange rate, so you should have RCI charge your card directly in USD. I generally find that a "retailer" exchange rate at the point-of-sale is higher than a bank or credit card issuer's rate, which in turn is generally higher than a currency exchange counter due to the markups that they build into the rate.

 

There are some credit cards that charge a lower (or zero) foreign currency conversion fee, so that only the exchange rate applies. For example, the Chase Amazon.ca Rewards Visa credit card does not charge any foreign currency conversion fee. The Tangerine Money-Back MasterCard charges a 1.5% foreign currency conversion fee. I'm sure there are other examples out there of low- or no-fee cards with respect to foreign currency conversion.

 

Onboard charges are in USD.

 

If you elect for Royal Caribbean to convert on board charges to Canadian dollars, they charge a 3% fee over and above the exchange rate. This is a very poor rate.

 

As mentioned above, most Canadian credit cards charge a 2.5% fee...better, but still a significant premium.

 

Along with the amazon.ca credit card, there's two other cards I know of that charge 0% currency conversion fees: the Marriott Rewards Visa (Chase Bank of Canada) and the Rogers Platinum Mastercard (Rogers Bank of Canada).

 

Also - as noted above, be sure to highlight and talk to the agent at check in that you DO NOT want Royal Caribbean to convert currency. Even then, after taking these steps, it happened to me once. As an extra precaution, I now also visit guest services on day two to confirm that they will not be converting currency. They have told me that if a mistake was made at check in (which is apparently fairly common), they can correct it on board, provided you catch it before the charge your credit card!

[KiwiGal117]

We have the Marriott Rewards Visa, as indicated above, no currency exchange fee charged. From Chase.

[mattR]

Where is the best place to buy pounds and euros? I was talking to a friend and he said it was best to buy from a currency exchange place like you see in the malls? He said that they just charge a flat fee and not a % so if you are getting more then just a little bit of money it is better to go with them? He also said that his bank did not stock euros so he would have had to pay for shipping the euros to the bank. What is your experience with this?

[Eggfrmr]

I have read through about 100 out of the 300 posts on this thread. Due to all this reading I have discovered that our cruise was booked in USD last year for an Oct this year cruise. The dollar has climbed since our booking ( only $200 deposit paid so far) and since pre-paying gratuities and drink packages. My question is should I call and cancel, and rebook with CDN $ or should I leave it as it stands? I do not want to lose my cabin I have booked.

 

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[Clarea]

Where is the best place to buy pounds and euros? I was talking to a friend and he said it was best to buy from a currency exchange place like you see in the malls? He said that they just charge a flat fee and not a % so if you are getting more then just a little bit of money it is better to go with them? He also said that his bank did not stock euros so he would have had to pay for shipping the euros to the bank. What is your experience with this?

The best place we have found is at an ATM in that country. If you use a card like the Capital One debit card, there is no foreign transaction fee and ATM fees are refunded up to $30 per month.

[hancogran]

The best place we have found is at an ATM in that country. If you use a card like the Capital One debit card, there is no foreign transaction fee and ATM fees are refunded up to $30 per month.

 

We always use either our TD debit card or Sears Mastercard to get funds from an ATM in the country we are in...either pounds or Euros. For us, we still pay the ATM fee so perhaps it might be worth checking into the Capital One debit card that Bob mentioned previously. :) I didn't realize ATM fees were refunded.

[hancogran]

I have read through about 100 out of the 300 posts on this thread. Due to all this reading I have discovered that our cruise was booked in USD last year for an Oct this year cruise. The dollar has climbed since our booking ( only $200 deposit paid so far) and since pre-paying gratuities and drink packages. My question is should I call and cancel, and rebook with CDN $ or should I leave it as it stands? I do not want to lose my cabin I have booked.

 

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Have you priced your cabin in Canadian funds from RCI website today? I think at this point, that's what I would do. Change the currency so it shows the prices in CAD and see if it's going to be cheaper. Keep in mind if you cancel and rebook, you will be rebooking at the current rates. It might be to your advantage or it could also go the other way, if the cruise fare has increased considerably since you originally booked.