Canadian cruisers!!

[Ourusualbeach]

So would that mean if my exchange was 10% at the time of my deposit, that I can add gratuities now at only 10%?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Unfortunately no.

 

The exchange rate for OBC was 1.10 until last Jauary. There are different exchange rates for different things. This exchange rate has nothing to do with what your gratuities are.

 

The exchange rate for gratuities hasn't been that low since bookings from several years ago. I think you will find that if you call Royal and ask them what your gratuities would be they will be in the 1.26 to 1.29 range

[willing292]

Unfortunately no.

 

 

 

The exchange rate for OBC was 1.10 until last Jauary. There are different exchange rates for different things. This exchange rate has nothing to do with what your gratuities are.

 

 

 

The exchange rate for gratuities hasn't been that low since bookings from several years ago. I think you will find that if you call Royal and ask them what your gratuities would be they will be in the 1.26 to 1.29 range

 

 

Based on my experience, the rate of exchange used to calculate my gratuities, has been the same rate as that used on the date I paid my deposit. This has nothing to do with OBC or shore excursions..

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Edited December 13, 2016 by willing292

[gi_pam]

Interesting, that does seem right, I think the exchange rate was about 1.29 when we booked, which is what I paid for gratuities today.

 

I paid the gratuities first, then asked him about buying OBC. He actually started to say that buying the OBC was at the same exchange rate that I booked at, then sort of said, "wait, can I put you on hold?" When he came back he told me the 1.40 exchange for OBC.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[willing292]

I sure hope our money improves soon.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Ourusualbeach]

Based on my experience, the rate of exchange used to calculate my gratuities, has been the same rate as that used on the date I paid my deposit. This has nothing to do with OBC or shore excursions..

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

I agree with you, however I think that the person that you reponded to was referring to the 1.1 rate for OBC and not what the rate that they were charging for gratuities.

 

I had some of those cruises booked where I paid less in CDN than they were in US as well, however those were several years ago. From comparing notes on roll calls it seemed like the rate for gratuities was adjusted every 3 months which coincides with the exchange rate that Royal releases in their quarterly reports.

 

My upcoming Harmony cruise in March which was booked when itineraries were released in March 2015 has my gratuities at 1.26. Unless the OP has moved their cruise forward several times they would be talking about a cruise booked after March 2015 in which case the gratuities would be at least 1.26 if not more.

[trev71]

I sure hope our money improves soon.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

Oil prices are slowly rising so that is a bonus. I see Bank of Canada today has

a rate of 1.3140 CAD

[southnam]

Going for my nexus interview tomorrow. Anything that I should know in advance?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Ourusualbeach]

Going for my nexus interview tomorrow. Anything that I should know in advance?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

If you applied by paper application they will ask you every country you have visited in the last 5 years.

[tomko2]

Going for my nexus interview tomorrow. Anything that I should know in advance?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Our Nexus Interviews took about 20 minutes and that included fingerprinting and eye scan for both of us.

 

Kathy

[A&L_Ont]

If you applied by paper application they will ask you every country you have visited in the last 5 years.

 

We did on line and they asked us as well.

 

Edit: Ken you put your new passports numbers on your Nexus account?

Edited December 28, 2016 by A&L_Ont

[A&L_Ont]

Going for my nexus interview tomorrow. Anything that I should know in advance?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

There is some waiting time between the interviews, at least for us. Take something to keep you occupied in between. We were a family of three and the whole process took just over an hour.

[Ourusualbeach]

We did on line and they asked us as well.

 

Edit: Ken you put your new passports numbers on your Nexus account?

 

Done the morning I picked the passports up.:)

 

Edit. Caught us off guard as we didn't have to list them on the paper application. Pretty comical as we were trying to remember all the islands we had been to. (Toby blurted out Cozumel). Walked out and remembered a couple more.

Edited December 28, 2016 by Ourusualbeach

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Our Nexus Interviews took about 20 minutes and that included fingerprinting and eye scan for both of us.

 

Kathy

We went to 1000 island office , in Ontario , Toronto office was about 40 km closer but who wants to drive across the GTA to get there

had Appointments for 9:00 and 9:15 am, got to the office about 8:45am , we were finished by 9:10 am

[A&L_Ont]

Done the morning I picked the passports up.:)

 

Edit. Caught us off guard as we didn't have to list them on the paper application. Pretty comical as we were trying to remember all the islands we had been to. (Toby blurted out Cozumel). Walked out and remembered a couple more.

 

LOL, it's hard to remember Cozumel is actually Mexico. :D We had a big list from memory as well, from the Caribbean as well as Europe. The US Customs agent might have been friendliest agent that we ever met.

[Ourusualbeach]

We went to 1000 island office , in Ontario , Toronto office was about 40 km closer but who wants to drive across the GTA to get there

had Appointments for 9:00 and 9:15 am, got to the office about 8:45am , we were finished by 9:10 am

 

We are just east of Toronto and did the same thing. We were also able to get appointments within a week as opposed to waiting 2 months. Four of us done in about 30-45 minutes.

[southnam]

We drove down to Thousand Islands location from Ottawa as there were no appointments for the 5 of us together in Ottawa. Got there at 11:30 am but our appoints were not until 12:30 - 2:15. First guy (Canadian Border services) said wait but then the other guy said bring everyone in and they will just do us all before lunch. 2 adults and 3 kids done in about 30 minutes. The two guys (USA and Canadian) literally are at two computers a few feet from each other. The only question asked by Canadian was address and occupation. The US guy asked me my full name. That's it. Everyone but my 5 year old got their retina scan as well as finger prints. They gave me a "no retina" sticker to put on his card when it comes.

So how does it work if we all have the retina scan except my youngest? We ended up going to Watertown after. Wished I had the nexus pass already as the wait was over 20 minutes. Looking forward to using it for flight and cruise.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[moopetguy]

Everyone but my 5 year old got their retina scan as well as finger prints. They gave me a "no retina" sticker to put on his card when it comes.

So how does it work if we all have the retina scan except my youngest? We ended up going to Watertown after. Wished I had the nexus pass already as the wait was over 20 minutes. Looking forward to using it for flight and cruise.

 

It's an iris capture, not "retina" :) Just like how we shouldn't call a cruise ship a "boat" :)

 

In general, the non-iris sticker means instead of going to a NEXUS machine with the iris camera, you can proceed to the "special services" desk with a CBSA officer for "manual" clearance. Obviously a minor wouldn't approach the special services desk without a parent/guardian, so you can go with your 5 year old up to the desk.

[southnam]

It's an iris capture, not "retina" :) Just like how we shouldn't call a cruise ship a "boat" :)

 

In general, the non-iris sticker means instead of going to a NEXUS machine with the iris camera, you can proceed to the "special services" desk with a CBSA officer for "manual" clearance. Obviously a minor wouldn't approach the special services desk without a parent/guardian, so you can go with your 5 year old up to the desk.

Thanks. Would I just go to special services or can our entire family of 5 go?

 

Sent from my BlackBerry Dtek50

[North of 60]

As luck would have it, there's no roll call yet, maybe it's too early. I was testing the prices, cheapest i can get is $336 per night w/ hhonors discount. If Holiday is at least 20% cheaper then i will take Johor out of the equation. They don't have a rail system from the airport like, Tokyo no?(assuming you've been there too)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Another option to consider is Batam Indonesia.

It is a one hour ferry ride from Singapore, and the prices at the hotels are great.

[moopetguy]

Thanks. Would I just go to special services or can our entire family of 5 go?

 

Your entire family should be able to approach the special services desk since you have a member who is non-iris capture. However, CBSA can change the rules whenever they want so I cannot guarantee this will always be the case :)

[monctonguy]

Wondering what most Canadian cruisers do when in Cozumel for exchange? Do you use USD or to do get some peso's with your CAD or?

 

I know last Jan when I was there, it was a better exchange rate to use my CAD credit card to buy items using their peso's than it was for me to exchange to USD and use that......I think our dollar now is actually even better against the peso, but can anyone confirm or give some recent examples of some costs there of what they are charging in USD or peso's?

Edited January 6, 2017 by monctonguy

[Ourusualbeach]

Wondering what most Canadian cruisers do when in Cozumel for exchange? Do you use USD or to do get some peso's with your CAD or?

 

I know last Jan when I was there, it was a better exchange rate to use my CAD credit card to buy items using their peso's than it was for me to exchange to USD and use that......I think our dollar now is actually even better against the peso, but can anyone confirm or give some recent examples of some costs there of what they are charging in USD or peso's?

 

Everywhere we've been in Cozumel gladly takes US$.

[Ourusualbeach]

Tip for a bit better exchange rate for OBC.

 

While the glory days of calling and buying OBC in advance at $1.10 have long gone there is a way to save a bit and get OBC at $1.25.

 

When you book a next cruise on board you have the option to take instant OBC which is the same as the deposit for a cruise. If booking your next cruise in CDN they charge an exchange rate of 1.25.

 

I booked a next cruise that had a $100 deposit, I was charged $125 CDN and I received instant $100 US OBC. I can cancel the cruise and lose the deposit but since I already received the OBC it doesn't matter.

 

You could book 2 cabins on a longer cruise in a suite, $500 depisit per cabin and you would receive an instant OBC of $1000 US and your card would be charged $1250 CDN. Savings of about $150 CDN over the bank rate plus you get your credit card points on the transaction.

 

Technically you never even need to cancel the future cruise, just keep moving the date out a year at a time so if you ever decide to go on a longer cruise in a suite your will save $500 per cabin as a bonus.

[monctonguy]

Everywhere we've been in Cozumel gladly takes US$.

 

Yes I know that.....what I am trying to figure out is if its better to exchange my Cad to USD to purchase while there......OR, just use my CAD credit card as our currency is doing well against the Mexican peso right now.

 

For example, if something is $10 USD, that really costs me about $13.50 CAD with exchange....but if that was 150 peso's, it would only cost me about $9CAD....so I would be better off using CAD to Peso's.....

[Fouremco]

Yes I know that.....what I am trying to figure out is if its better to exchange my Cad to USD to purchase while there......OR, just use my CAD credit card as our currency is doing well against the Mexican peso right now.

 

For example, if something is $10 USD, that really costs me about $13.50 CAD with exchange....but if that was 150 peso's, it would only cost me about $9CAD....so I would be better off using CAD to Peso's.....

In my experience, you are always going to be better off making your purchase in local currency. Every conversion has an associated cost, so better to have a peso-CAD single conversion than a peso-USD, USD-CAD conversion. Also, a lot of merchants gouge when setting the USD rate. That's not a knock on Mexican merchants, as Canadian merchants do exactly the same thing here. Just look at the number who will only take USD at par, or at best for a very measly exchange rate.

 

Make sure that you credit card issuer will convert directly from foreign currency to CAD. Some now convert foreign to USD to CAD.