Canadian cruisers!!

[Magicat]

Barnoner: not to far, just on the other side of the Hammer! How are you getting to Quebec? Sorry everyone for derailing the subject of this thread.

 

This will be the first time we are using a cash account. Too bad we're on MTD and we paid our Gratuities with our cruise. Might have been able to save the exchange. I wonder what the maximum OBC you could purchase? Can you purchase $10,000 ($500 at a time) and then cash out at the end of the cruise essentially making over $1500? Just a question for inquiring minds.

[Ourusualbeach]

There is no $500 limit in the casino in our experience. This was true on Adventure in April (self/dh and 4 friends - total $3000 obc in 3 cabins) Freedom in March (son and 9 friends - total $10,000 obc in 5 cabins) and Indy in August (friends -$4000 obc in 2 cabins). We have definitely made great use of this offer. Just for the sake of information, not one of us paid a service charge in the casino but I had also made sure everyone knew to set up a cash account. I had to remind the cage person once that I had a cash acct and should not be charged. Also have friends sailing later this month in 4 cabins and they have also taken advantage of this offer. I almost want to book another cruise just to get the deal again:)

 

Thanks for the info. Yet another thing with this OBC that varies by ship.

[Ourusualbeach]

Barnoner: not to far, just on the other side of the Hammer! How are you getting to Quebec? Sorry everyone for derailing the subject of this thread.

 

This will be the first time we are using a cash account. Too bad we're on MTD and we paid our Gratuities with our cruise. Might have been able to save the exchange. I wonder what the maximum OBC you could purchase? Can you purchase $10,000 ($500 at a time) and then cash out at the end of the cruise essentially making over $1500? Just a question for inquiring minds.

 

I purchased $2500 in one transaction after I asked the rep what the limit was and was told the only limit is what your credit card would approve.

 

It won't take long to spend that with the 4 of us with not booking anything in advance.

[hancogran]

There is no $500 limit in the casino in our experience. This was true on Adventure in April (self/dh and 4 friends - total $3000 obc in 3 cabins) Freedom in March (son and 9 friends - total $10,000 obc in 5 cabins) and Indy in August (friends -$4000 obc in 2 cabins). We have definitely made great use of this offer. Just for the sake of information, not one of us paid a service charge in the casino but I had also made sure everyone knew to set up a cash account. I had to remind the cage person once that I had a cash acct and should not be charged. Also have friends sailing later this month in 4 cabins and they have also taken advantage of this offer. I almost want to book another cruise just to get the deal again:)

 

On our transatlantic on Brilliance, we were limited to $500 a day (each) from the casino. I guess maybe different ships have different rules. Our account was set up as a cash account and we never paid any 5% service charge. I made sure to tell the casino cashier when we made our first withdrawal that it was a cash account and once she swiped my Seapass card, she could likely see that.

 

When we purchased our OBC through Gifts and Gears prior to our cruise, we were told by one of the reps that there would be a 5% charge to withdraw it from the casino. I think if your account is backed by a credit card then I can understand the 5% but basically if you're set up as a cash account then it's your own money you're withdrawing. :) I know some people have reported being charged the 5% even with a cash account but that shouldn't be happening.

[kgd]

[quote name='son3cruisers']That's correct! :)[/quote]

[php]Quote:
Originally Posted by kgd View Post 

What an interesting topic of discussion.

 

If I were to take out an OBC of $1,000 U.S., from what I have read on this post, I assume it will cost me $1,100.00 CDN and that is what would be charged on my credit card now. Assuming that I did not spend a single $ on this cruise (except for the daily gratuity charge), am I correct in thinking that I can go to guest services on the last night of the cruise and receive $1,000.00 cash in U.S. Funds.

 

Bill and Denise

Windsor, Ont.

 

That's correct! [/php][/php]

 

Thanks for your response to our question. Sounds too good to be true. This is certainly a "no brainer" As I see it, one should put as much as possible on their OBC cash account. Unless I am missing something, upon returning back to Canada, one simply converts the U.S. funds back in to CDN funds and they will make 15-20% depending on what the bank charges for the conversion.

 

 

 

Bill and Denise

[Bob7]

[php]Quote:
Originally Posted by kgd View Post 

What an interesting topic of discussion.

 

If I were to take out an OBC of $1,000 U.S., from what I have read on this post, I assume it will cost me $1,100.00 CDN and that is what would be charged on my credit card now. Assuming that I did not spend a single $ on this cruise (except for the daily gratuity charge), am I correct in thinking that I can go to guest services on the last night of the cruise and receive $1,000.00 cash in U.S. Funds.

 

Bill and Denise

Windsor, Ont.

 

That's correct! [/php][/php]

 

Thanks for your response to our question. Sounds too good to be true. This is certainly a "no brainer" As I see it, one should put as much as possible on their OBC cash account. Unless I am missing something, upon returning back to Canada, one simply converts the U.S. funds back in to CDN funds and they will make 15-20% depending on what the bank charges for the conversion.

 

 

 

Bill and Denise

This had gotta be the best 'Canadian' thread ever. We're on the Navigator in a few months. To avoid a possible 5 % credit card fee, would it be best to buy the $1000 US OBC with $1100 CAN cash after boarding, and then take back the $1000 US from guest services the last night?

Also, we have the Amazon.ca Visa card which does not charge a foreign currency transaction fee, just the exchange rate, which we'll use for our shipboard account, so perhaps we could have the ship credit the card with the $1000 US?

-Bob

[Ourusualbeach]

This had gotta be the best 'Canadian' thread ever. We're on the Navigator in a few months. To avoid a possible 5 % credit card fee, would it be best to buy the $1000 US OBC with $1100 CAN cash after boarding, and then take back the $1000 US from guest services the last night?

Also, we have the Amazon.ca Visa card which does not charge a foreign currency transaction fee, just the exchange rate, which we'll use for our shipboard account, so perhaps we could have the ship credit the card with the $1000 US?

-Bob

 

The OBC MUST be purchased through gifts and Gear or C&A AHEAD of your cruise and not on board.

 

The OBC will be on your account and all purchases including gratuities (unless prepaid) will be charged against your account thereby depleting your OBC. Any remaining OBC can either be refunded to your CC or in cash at guest services the last evening/day.

Edited September 6, 2015 by Ourusualbeach

[CVU]

RCL will be reading..... and I wonder how soon this little perk will end........:rolleyes:

 

RCL is inconsistent most of the time, so I can see different ships doing it differently.

Edited September 6, 2015 by CVU

[son3cruisers]

[php]Quote:
Originally Posted by kgd View Post 

What an interesting topic of discussion.

 

If I were to take out an OBC of $1,000 U.S., from what I have read on this post, I assume it will cost me $1,100.00 CDN and that is what would be charged on my credit card now. Assuming that I did not spend a single $ on this cruise (except for the daily gratuity charge), am I correct in thinking that I can go to guest services on the last night of the cruise and receive $1,000.00 cash in U.S. Funds.

 

Bill and Denise

Windsor, Ont.

 

That's correct! [/php][/php]

 

Thanks for your response to our question. Sounds too good to be true. This is certainly a "no brainer" As I see it, one should put as much as possible on their OBC cash account. Unless I am missing something, upon returning back to Canada, one simply converts the U.S. funds back in to CDN funds and they will make 15-20% depending on what the bank charges for the conversion.

 

 

 

 

Bill and Denise

 

Yes, that is the case. There is profit to be made.

Myself, I plan to spend all the $2500 we have put on our account but if there was left over, and I put it back on my CANADIAN credit card, it would be in USfunds exchanged to Canadian, ( plus the conversion fee Royal uses) . So yes, a little bit of a profit.

Or, taking the U.S. Cash to a Canadian bank, when you get home and converting back.

Edited September 6, 2015 by son3cruisers

[Hoopster95]

Great info this morning... thanks to everyone!

I'm doing my very first cash account in a few days, I bought a ton of obc for excursions etc.....

 

For those of you with cash account experience, does my obc/cash account show up the second I'm on board? I want to hit the CL or excursion desk to book all my excursions with the obc and also all my specialty dining. Thx :)

Edited September 6, 2015 by Hoopster95

[Ourusualbeach]

Great info this morning... thanks to everyone!

I'm doing my very first cash account in a few days, I bought a ton of obc for excursions etc.....

 

For those of you with cash account experience, does my obc/cash account show up the second I'm on board? I want to hit the CL or excursion desk to book all my excursions with the obc and also all my specialty dining. Thx :)

 

Ours showed up on day 2 last March. Your excursions will show a charge as soon as you book them however the dining won't show on up your account until after you have dined.

[hancogran]

Great info this morning... thanks to everyone!

I'm doing my very first cash account in a few days, I bought a ton of obc for excursions etc.....

 

For those of you with cash account experience, does my obc/cash account show up the second I'm on board? I want to hit the CL or excursion desk to book all my excursions with the obc and also all my specialty dining. Thx :)

 

Ours didn't show up until day 2.. but it was "there". We had the amenity cards in our cabin showing how much OBC we had but it didn't show up on the TV screen until the next day. I am sure we used our SeaPass cards right away so they will let you charge stuff even though it takes a day for it to show up on your account. As previously posted in this thread, you're allowed to charge $500 on a cash account before they require any payment but I'm sure the excursions desk or whoever will be able to verify that you have the credit.

[Hoopster95]

Ours showed up on day 2 last March. Your excursions will show a charge as soon as you book them however the dining won't show on up your account until after you have dined.

 

Ours didn't show up until day 2.. but it was "there". We had the amenity cards in our cabin showing how much OBC we had but it didn't show up on the TV screen until the next day. I am sure we used our SeaPass cards right away so they will let you charge stuff even though it takes a day for it to show up on your account. As previously posted in this thread, you're allowed to charge $500 on a cash account before they require any payment but I'm sure the excursions desk or whoever will be able to verify that you have the credit.

 

Thx to both of you.... I'll be bringing my amenity invoice regardless as I purposely have huge amount of obc for reasons of big dollars needed for specialty excursions (ie. Helicopter in Kona, etc) so I'll want to book more than $500 excursions on day 1. I'll prob email the CL tomorrow on board and see if he/she has time to respond. Thx again :)

Edited September 6, 2015 by Hoopster95

[goodml]

RCL will be reading..... and I wonder how soon this little perk will end........:rolleyes:

 

RCL is inconsistent most of the time, so I can see different ships doing it differently.

 

Lol we've been saying that since February and here we are. Somehow they must have missed this thread so far.

[Ourusualbeach]

Lol we've been saying that since February and here we are. Somehow they must have missed this thread so far.

 

Most likely is that they know about this and are purposely keeping the exchange rate low to encourage us to keep booking and spending on board. Just a guess but I think that the vast majority of OBC that they sell is spent and a small portion is actually cashed out.

 

This has gone on for too long for them not to know about it.

Edited September 7, 2015 by Ourusualbeach

[Ourusualbeach]

Thx to both of you.... I'll be bringing my amenity invoice regardless as I purposely have huge amount of obc for reasons of big dollars needed for specialty excursions (ie. Helicopter in Kona, etc) so I'll want to book more than $500 excursions on day 1. I'll prob email the CL tomorrow on board and see if he/she has time to respond. Thx again :)

 

Good plan. Please post how you made out. I will be wanting to do the same thing this December on Oasis

[TOCruisers]

Just FYI as I am sure a lot of you already know.

 

Most credit cards charge 2.3% foreign exchange charge. We have started using a Sears MasterCard for US expenses as they do not apply this charge. There are a few others but this is the one we use.

 

.....Also, we have the Amazon.ca Visa card which does not charge a foreign currency transaction fee, just the exchange rate, which we'll use for our shipboard account, so perhaps we could have the ship credit the card with the $1000 US?

 

I am considering getting one of these cards for Europe as using the CC will be the best conversation rate from Euro to CAD. May I ask why you pick one and not the other. I thought of getting Sears but I am little concerned if they may close down the Canadian stores and cancel the card, which happened to my Target RBC card.

 

My theory for this "benefit" is that there must be a substantial reduction in Canadian cruisers. Most cases, we are still paying the 30%+ higher cruise fares. Because of insurance benefits, I want to pay cruise fares in CAD CC where possible.

[Bob7]

I am considering getting one of these cards for Europe as using the CC will be the best conversation rate from Euro to CAD. May I ask why you pick one and not the other. I thought of getting Sears but I am little concerned if they may close down the Canadian stores and cancel the card, which happened to my Target RBC card.

 

My theory for this "benefit" is that there must be a substantial reduction in Canadian cruisers. Most cases, we are still paying the 30%+ higher cruise fares. Because of insurance benefits, I want to pay cruise fares in CAD CC where possible.

I picked the Amazon.ca card b/c I didn't know there was any other card that did not charge the 2.5 % foreign transaction fee. Chase Bank administers it. I wondered if they would make up the transaction loss by using an exchange rate worse than it should be, but I compared their exchange rate on my statement on the same day with the regular bank rate, and the bank employee rate, and the USA/CAN cross border exchange place, and the Visa rate was very good, a small fraction of a percent above the bank employee rate.

[Bob7]

You can spend up to $500 on a cash account before being asked to pay it down but if you have $1000 OBC then you could spend $1500 before being asked to put any more money on your account"

 

You can also add a credit card to your file near the end of the cruise to avoid the line at guest services the last day to settle your account.

Re: the term cash account, I thought that was when you embarked and did not want to offer a credit card, and instead gave a cash deposit of several hundred bucks to set up your shipboard account. Are you also using 'cash account' to also refer to pre-purchasing an OBC?

 

So for our upcoming Navigator cruise we will have 3 OBC's, $100 from RCL's Wild15 promo, $100 from our TA's promotion, and the pre-purchased OBC at 1.10 %. The question is, when I spend on the ship, which OBC will the ship deduct that from? If they take it off the pre-purchased OBC, the other 2 OBC's could end up being wasted b/c they are non-refundable.

[Ourusualbeach]

Re: the term cash account, I thought that was when you embarked and did not want to offer a credit card, and instead gave a cash deposit of several hundred bucks to set up your shipboard account. Are you also using 'cash account' to also refer to pre-purchasing an OBC?

 

So for our upcoming Navigator cruise we will have 3 OBC's, $100 from RCL's Wild15 promo, $100 from our TA's promotion, and the pre-purchased OBC at 1.10 %. The question is, when I spend on the ship, which OBC will the ship deduct that from? If they take it off the pre-purchased OBC, the other 2 OBC's could end up being wasted b/c they are non-refundable.

 

Even without any OBC Royal does not require any prepayment of a cash account and will allow charges of up to $500 before you are asked to make a payment on your account.

 

In my experience the non- refundable OBC has always been used up first.

Edited September 7, 2015 by Ourusualbeach

[robtulipe]

Even without any OBC Royal does not require any prepayment of a cash account and will allow charges of up to $500 before you are asked to make a payment on your account.

 

In my experience the non- refundable OBC has always been used up first.

 

That has always been our experience also. ;)

[monctonguy]

So I just rebooked my Nov cruise from USD to CAD, due to a great price drop! On top pf that, I was then able to purchase OBC and take advantage of the 10% exchange rate.

 

So, cpl questions. I did not receive anything from Royal about the OBC purchase. Should I or is this normal?

 

Secondly, will my account now be considered a "cash" account because of the OBC sitting on there?

[jtdlmc]

So I just rebooked my Nov cruise from USD to CAD, due to a great price drop! On top pf that, I was then able to purchase OBC and take advantage of the 10% exchange rate.

 

So, cpl questions. I did not receive anything from Royal about the OBC purchase. Should I or is this normal?

 

Secondly, will my account now be considered a "cash" account because of the OBC sitting on there?

 

Call back and ask for an email confirmation of the OBC purchase. The confirmation does not show the US$ amount of your OBC only what you paid in CND$.

 

No, you can still set your account up with a credit card if you want.

Edited September 7, 2015 by jtdlmc

[Cruisin'Kim]

I booked my OBC directly through C & A and received an Amenities confirmation minutes after buying it, I'd give them a call and ask for an email confirming.

[jtdlmc]

I am considering getting one of these cards for Europe as using the CC will be the best conversation rate from Euro to CAD. May I ask why you pick one and not the other. I thought of getting Sears but I am little concerned if they may close down the Canadian stores and cancel the card, which happened to my Target RBC card.

 

My theory for this "benefit" is that there must be a substantial reduction in Canadian cruisers. Most cases, we are still paying the 30%+ higher cruise fares. Because of insurance benefits, I want to pay cruise fares in CAD CC where possible.

 

I have a TD US$ credit card. No transaction fees on that. I also have a TD US$ bank account that I transfer money into every month and use to pay any balance on the cc.