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NJ&Ozzie

NJ&Ozzie

Posted
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Did you book your cruise in US$ or CDN$?

 

If you booked it using your TD US$ visa then you cannot prepay your tips in CDN.

 

If you booked in CDN then it is still best to buy the US$ OBC and pay your tips in US$ on board. If you pay ahead of time Royal is currently using about a 30% exchange rate.

 

Hey,

Haven't booked cruise as yet. So it may depend on pricing of cruise at the time as to whether it is better use Cdn or US card. Wish I'd bought more USF when our dollar was higher!!!

Cheers,

NJ :)

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Ourusualbeach

Ourusualbeach

Posted
Posted
Hey,

Haven't booked cruise as yet. So it may depend on pricing of cruise at the time as to whether it is better use Cdn or US card. Wish I'd bought more USF when our dollar was higher!!!

Cheers,

NJ :)

 

Unless you find something that is significantly lower in US $ then it is better to book in CDN$ to ensure that of our $ drops any further you don't get hit with any additional fees converting CDN to US. The added bonus of being able to buy the US$ OBC also helps soften the blow.

 

Have fun hunting for that cruise.:)

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  • 2 weeks later...
barnoner

barnoner

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I remember a discussion re how to book in Cdn $. I was on phone the other day with RCL and they asked which airport we would use. Since we are between Toronto and Buffalo we can use either. So if they put in Buffalo they only give American prices but if they input Toronto we can book in Cdn dollars.

 

Just FYI

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retird

retird

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I remember a discussion re how to book in Cdn $. I was on phone the other day with RCL and they asked which airport we would use. Since we are between Toronto and Buffalo we can use either. So if they put in Buffalo they only give American prices but if they input Toronto we can book in Cdn dollars.

 

Just FYI

 

Why would they ask you which airport you would use. the only thing that matters is that you have a Canadian address.

 

Unless you are using choice air, they do not need to know how you are getting to the ship. I have never been asked that question. I always book direct through RCI in Canadian funds and always take advantage of the low exchange rate for OBC.

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Ourusualbeach

Ourusualbeach

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Why would they ask you which airport you would use. the only thing that matters is that you have a Canadian address.

 

Unless you are using choice air, they do not need to know how you are getting to the ship. I have never been asked that question. I always book direct through RCI in Canadian funds and always take advantage of the low exchange rate for OBC.

 

I was thinking that they were booking air through Royal as well as the cruise.

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TOCruisers

TOCruisers

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Does anyone know if the max to take out of the casino per day is $500 per person or per stateroom?

 

On Allure in Oct-Nov I was told the max is $500 per day for cash account. For non cash account the max is much higher, $2000 ? per day. We connected our accounts so I assume it was $500 per stateroom. I had no problem to withdraw the max amount a few times. I am keeping the extra for the next cruise.

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JessyCruises "Live from...." Rare

JessyCruises

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On Allure in Oct-Nov I was told the max is $500 per day for cash account. For non cash account the max is much higher, $2000 ? per day. We connected our accounts so I assume it was $500 per stateroom. I had no problem to withdraw the max amount a few times. I am keeping the extra for the next cruise.

 

 

Thanks! We are boarding the Oasis on Saturday. We have a substantial about of OBC as we really have no idea what we are going to do for excursions etc and wanted to make sure we had enough to cover it all. Whatever we don't spend onboard we will just bring home and stick it in our USD account . I will report back and let you all know if we come across any issues.

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DrewFoundLander

DrewFoundLander

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This is a very long thread so the information below is already posted I apologize for the repeat.

 

Just back from Nov 10th Anthem 12 night, this cruise was booked in CAD funds.

 

Prior to cruise we purchased $3000 ($500 six times) for a total cost of $3300 CAD. Amazed? I was! Once we arrived in our room the account feature on the TV showed a balance of $3000 USD and it decreased as we used it but always showing the balance.

 

On board we paid for 2 beverage packages (much cheaper than prepaying in CAD online).

 

Gratuities of $12.95 USD per person came from the balance.

 

Went to casino each day to withdraw a few hundred dollars, $500 is the max per day. I did this until there was only enough left in the account to cover gratuities, speciality dining, photos, onboard purchases. There was never a service fee for taking this cash at the casino.

 

Doing this saved us 23-25% on exchange rates at our local bank. Being able to take our cash at the casino also provided for in port and onboard spending as well as occasional tips to our servers/staff etc. It also saved us money on shore excursions and all onboard spending. Not to mention we did not have to travel with a pile of cash.

 

On the last day of the cruise, with only a few dollars left in the pre purchased OBC, I went to guest services, added my Visa to the account and spent the balance at the logo store. Any amount I went over was simply charged to my Visa.

 

I had been reading this with the same interest as many of you, somewhat in disbelief, however now that I've done it for myself I had to report back. This is an amazing way to save hundreds or more.

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Ourusualbeach

Ourusualbeach

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Thanks! We are boarding the Oasis on Saturday. We have a substantial about of OBC as we really have no idea what we are going to do for excursions etc and wanted to make sure we had enough to cover it all. Whatever we don't spend onboard we will just bring home and stick it in our USD account . I will report back and let you all know if we come across any issues.

 

Looking forward to hearing how things go on your sailing. We will be boarding Oasis in just over 3 weeks.

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molly2kit

molly2kit

Posted
Posted

We just spent 2 weeks on Oasis Nov 7 to 21. We had quite a bit of pre purchased OBC. We could withdraw 500$ per day at the casino, they tried a few times to charge 5% but as soon as we said it was a cash acct there was no problem and we got the full amount. We could not withdraw cash at guest services until the last day of each cruise.

 

Maybe each ship is slightly different in the way they administer the withdrawals but it certainly made the currency difference a lot easier to take.

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Ourusualbeach

Ourusualbeach

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As soon as the OBC is posted to your account you can take it all out at Guest Services. OBC usually shows up on day 2.

 

Wow. Seems like each ship certainly is doing things a bit differently regarding getting cash from guest services. Just to keep everyone confused it probably depends on who is working as well.

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retird

retird

Posted
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You do not need to withdraw the cash at the casino. If you have prepurchased OBC, you can withdraw at guest services.

 

We just got off the Navigator and Guest Services would not advance me money from my OBC until the last day of sailing. They said I had to withdraw it at the Casino at a 5 % charge. I also spoke with a supervisor at guest Services and received the same answer. I still saved 25% over what it would have cost me at the bank, so I was still happy.

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A&L_Ont "Live from...." Rare

A&L_Ont

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We just got off the Navigator and Guest Services would not advance me money from my OBC until the last day of sailing. They said I had to withdraw it at the Casino at a 5 % charge. I also spoke with a supervisor at guest Services and received the same answer. I still saved 25% over what it would have cost me at the bank, so I was still happy.

 

I had a CC on my account and did not withdraw cash from the casino. We had $1000 OBC, and used $600 of it. The second to last day at 4:30pm I went to GS and asked to cash out my OBC. I made the comment that I thought I'd come today VS the joining the long line tomorrow. The agent behind the counter agreed and cashed out my account with no fee.

 

On Allure in March the would not do it until the last day, so I was at GS at 7:20 am. There is no way I want to wait in that line. I guess each ship is different.

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Magicat

Magicat

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As stated before, each ship is different. We were on the Serenade 3 weeks ago and were able to take out $500 at the casino with no service charge on our cash account. The OBC showed on our account on Day 2 of the cruise. The casino cashier did check our account to ensure it was a cash account so no 5% fee was charged.

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cantellu

cantellu

Posted
Posted

This is an insane deal for CDN passengers.

 

For $1100 CDN I get $1000 US OBC.

AS another person stated. I will buy my drink packages and excursions when I get on board with the OBC instead of pre-purchase in CND dollars online. The online price is converted using a much higher exchange rate...

 

Stephen

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