Canadian cruisers!!

[Clarea]

... I have $300 OBCs that I received when booking, but she said I couldn't use those toward my gratuities, so I still have those.

OBC can be used for gratuities, unfortunate they gave you wrong info.

[tomko2]

FYI, I'm going on the Oasis in March, and I called last Friday to prepay my gratuities. The RCI agent quoted me a Canadian charge for this ($15.91/night per person, plus tax), and I paid with Visa in Canadian dollars.

 

I have $300 OBCs that I received when booking, but she said I couldn't use those toward my gratuities, so I still have those.

 

To the best of my knowledge, the OBCs can't be used in advance to pay for gratuities but definitely they can be used for gratuities onboard as these are charged directly to your Sea Pass Account.

Edited January 26, 2016 by tomko2

[freedom750]

To the best of my knowledge, the OBCs can't be used in advance to pay for gratuities but definitely they can be used for gratuities onboard as these are charged directly to your Sea Pass Account.

 

This is accurate information. OBC can only be used while On Board. It can be used for gratuities, shopping, drinks, excursions, pretty well anything (not sure of the casino as that's not one of my hobbies). You can't use if to book excursions, drink pkgs, gratuities, etc until you are registered and on the ship.

[Funbobby68]

With the Canadian dollar creeping up slightly , wondering if any one has call to see if royal has adjusted the exchange rate at all

[monctonguy]

I haven't checked, but I am guessing its going to have to go up a lot more and stay there before they will change it. I just checked my bank and at 1.4383 it hasn't changed much.

 

Its a real killer for US travelling and spending.

[Ourusualbeach]

With the Canadian dollar creeping up slightly , wondering if any one has call to see if royal has adjusted the exchange rate at all

 

The exchange rate only gets adjusted quarterly for cruise pricing, dining, shore excursions etc. The rate for OBC appears to be an annual event.

[Clipper123]

So DW is now looking at a NCL cruise for 2017 and I was over checking out that board. From what I can see by posts over there they are giving OBC at $1.11 and to book is at about $1.38.

Edited January 29, 2016 by Clipper123

[patreke]

So DW is now looking at a NCL cruise for 2017 and I was over checking out that board. From what I can see by posts over there they are giving OBC at $1.11 and to book is at about $1.38.

 

I actually booked a NCL for 2017 last week. On my cruise planner, I can buy OBC at 1.33 the rate which is the rate the cruise was at.

 

I just hope once you are locked in, you are locked in and it doesn't reset. Of course with the specials they have going right now I won't need a lot of OBC.

 

I really enjoy Royal but with the dollar the way it is, price is king right now.

[jtdlmc]

So DW is now looking at a NCL cruise for 2017 and I was over checking out that board. From what I can see by posts over there they are giving OBC at $1.11 and to book is at about $1.38.

 

I actually booked a NCL for 2017 last week. On my cruise planner, I can buy OBC at 1.33 the rate which is the rate the cruise was at.

 

I just hope once you are locked in, you are locked in and it doesn't reset. Of course with the specials they have going right now I won't need a lot of OBC.

 

I really enjoy Royal but with the dollar the way it is, price is king right now.

 

I'm DW - that's why I'm looking at NCL. They are offering an Ontario resident rate (prob all provinces) and the pick two offers would make it a pretty reasonable cruise considering the state of our dollar. I had said less than a month ago that we wouldn't be cruising again but that is enticing! Only thing is I only have today and tomorrow before the current sail is done :(

[JessyCruises]

I'm DW - that's why I'm looking at NCL. They are offering an Ontario resident rate (prob all provinces) and the pick two offers would make it a pretty reasonable cruise considering the state of our dollar. I had said less than a month ago that we wouldn't be cruising again but that is enticing! Only thing is I only have today and tomorrow before the current sail is done :(

 

 

Are you seeing the Canadian resident rate at ncl.com? I am looking at a couple different sailings in 2016/17 and it does not appear to make a difference when I put in a province. Maybe it is not available with my sailings

[jtdlmc]

Are you seeing the Canadian resident rate at ncl.com? I am looking at a couple different sailings in 2016/17 and it does not appear to make a difference when I put in a province. Maybe it is not available with my sailings

 

You have to call to get the Canadian rate, but the US rate did change for me when I put in the province on the website. I called yesterday and the CSR told me the rate was $1.25 but when I did the figuring myself the rate came out to $1.27 which is a great rate!

[CaribFrog]

The exchange rate only gets adjusted quarterly for cruise pricing, dining, shore excursions etc. The rate for OBC appears to be an annual event.

 

I read about the $1.10 exchange rate in December when I first found out about Cruise Critic. We bought $1000 worth of OBC in December - just to see if the rate was correct - we paid $1100 CDN for $1000 USD. WHOO HOO.! I was waiting until closer to he cruise to buy more.......

 

On about January 13th I read the rate had gone up - yup $1.40 CDN per $1.00 USD. WOW - seems high but that's the way the Canadian dollar is now.....

 

I then read that your gratuities are locked in at the rate at the time of the booking and quickly phone RCI and out TA to confirm. If I waited to pay by credit card at the end of our cruise I would have paid about $1.45-$1.50 CDN per $1.00 USD. As it is, our rate was locked in at $15.91 per day per person or about $1.23 CDN per $1.00 USD. So glad I found out about that before we cruised.....

 

As it is we're still going to buy another $1000 USD of OBC before our cruise - giving us an effective rate of $1.25 CDN per $1.00 USD ($2500 CDN for $2000 USD of OBC). This should allow us to pay for drink packages, excursions, casino money and possibly walk of the cruise with a little USD cash in hand at a rate that our bank just cannot match!

Edited February 2, 2016 by CaribFrog

[Trinitron27]

I just heard on the radio this morning that Air Transat Pilots may go on strike as of February 28th, 2016 if a contract isn't reached with the airline. That sucks for me as I am flying on Feb 26th and returning on March 5. I might be able to get there, but not get back. Of course, i could think of worse places to be stuck. Just a heads up to anyone flying with Transat at the end of the month.

[rnr4thatsme]

I read about the $1.10 exchange rate in December when I first found out about Cruise Critic. We bought $1000 worth of OBC in December - just to see if the rate was correct - we paid $1100 CDN for $1000 USD. WHOO HOO.! I was waiting until closer to he cruise to buy more.......

 

On about January 13th I read the rate had gone up - yup $1.40 CDN per $1.00 USD. WOW - seems high but that's the way the Canadian dollar is now.....

 

I then read that your gratuities are locked in at the rate at the time of the booking and quickly phone RCI and out TA to confirm. If I waited to pay by credit card at the end of our cruise I would have paid about $1.45-$1.50 CDN per $1.00 USD. As it is, our rate was locked in at $15.91 per day per person or about $1.23 CDN per $1.00 USD. So glad I found out about that before we cruised.....

 

As it is we're still going to buy another $1000 USD of OBC before our cruise - giving us an effective rate of $1.25 CDN per $1.00 USD ($2500 CDN for $2000 USD of OBC). This should allow us to pay for drink packages, excursions, casino money and possibly walk of the cruise with a little USD cash in hand at a rate that our bank just cannot match!

 

 

 

Is the rate that you're able to buy OBC at the same as when you booked your cruise? My TA said I would have to pay the 40 cents on the dollar, but when I booked it last year, the dollar was much stronger....

[LuCruise]

I just heard on the radio this morning that Air Transat Pilots may go on strike as of February 28th, 2016 if a contract isn't reached with the airline. That sucks for me as I am flying on Feb 26th and returning on March 5. I might be able to get there, but not get back. Of course, i could think of worse places to be stuck. Just a heads up to anyone flying with Transat at the end of the month.

 

I know. I heard this on the news this morning too. :eek:

 

Our Air Transat flight isn't until April 9th, but still, I'm quite worried as sometimes strikes go on and on (and Air Transat flights seem unstable even without any strike issues). Never again will we book wtih them.

 

On the positive side, there seem to be many other flights that go from our home city or Toronto to Fort Lauderdale....BUT...I really didn't want to have to shell out another $3600 to buy from another airline. :(

 

Worrisome for you too as your return flight may be affected.

Fingers crossed they come to an agreement.

[son3cruisers]

Is the rate that you're able to buy OBC at the same as when you booked your cruise? My TA said I would have to pay the 40 cents on the dollar, but when I booked it last year, the dollar was much stronger....

 

You would pay the current rate. Not the rate at time of booking.

[Magicat]

Ok, so called on Monday to purchase more OBC for our up coming cruise in March. I was resigned to the fact that I would be paying the exchange of 1.41 that the CSR at Royal quoted me. But when she entered my credit card she said her computer froze then showed the old 1.10 rate for the OBC. It was fantastic. So I tried to add another $500 but the rate came up as $705 CND. Dang! So I am going to call back today to see what rate comes up. At least I was able to get $1000 for $1100.

 

Has anybody else have this happen? I'll report back with what I come up with today.

[Clarea]

Ok, so called on Monday to purchase more OBC for our up coming cruise in March. I was resigned to the fact that I would be paying the exchange of 1.41 that the CSR at Royal quoted me. But when she entered my credit card she said her computer froze then showed the old 1.10 rate for the OBC. It was fantastic. So I tried to add another $500 but the rate came up as $705 CND. Dang! So I am going to call back today to see what rate comes up. At least I was able to get $1000 for $1100.

 

Has anybody else have this happen? I'll report back with what I come up with today.

Finally, the glitchy Royal IT system does something in favor of guests! :)

[Ourusualbeach]

Ok, so called on Monday to purchase more OBC for our up coming cruise in March. I was resigned to the fact that I would be paying the exchange of 1.41 that the CSR at Royal quoted me. But when she entered my credit card she said her computer froze then showed the old 1.10 rate for the OBC. It was fantastic. So I tried to add another $500 but the rate came up as $705 CND. Dang! So I am going to call back today to see what rate comes up. At least I was able to get $1000 for $1100.

 

Has anybody else have this happen? I'll report back with what I come up with today.

 

Very nice!

 

Worked for $1000 but not for $500. I'd be trying for another $1000. Good luck and let us know.:)

 

Did you call gifts and gear or C&A?

Edited February 3, 2016 by Ourusualbeach

[phabric]

I called C&A and the rate is $1.41 CDN to buy $100US OBC.

[Alaska Newbie]

We booked on FOS for a 6 night cruise next January and our booking rate in Canadian was 1.25 so that seemed good.

[SensFan11]

I just heard on the radio this morning that Air Transat Pilots may go on strike as of February 28th, 2016 if a contract isn't reached with the airline. That sucks for me as I am flying on Feb 26th and returning on March 5. I might be able to get there, but not get back. Of course, i could think of worse places to be stuck. Just a heads up to anyone flying with Transat at the end of the month.

 

Another reason why travel insurance may be a good idea. I just checked my policy - it would cover me and my family for a 'flight delay', and they would reimburse me for the out of pocket cost to purchase a flight home.

[robtulipe]

I was checking prices on our next cruise this morning and saw our I-OV gty had gone down $36CAD because of a special saving offer. A quick call to C&A got us that saving.

I called our friends who have the same IOV gty for that sailing and they called they got that discount also. They also found out when doing so that they had been assigned a connecting deck 3 Cat. G-OV cabin right under the theater at the front of the ship, which of course they didn't like, so were able to go back into the I-OV gty pool with that lower price. They certainly wouldn't have given up a balcony if that was what they had been assigned. Only OV now showing is one FO (Family) and there are still lots of balconies showing available. ;)

The same special saving offer in USD was only $25 as I looked it up for other friend who are on same cruise but live in the US, so the CAD discount offer was actually higher being at the effective rate of 1.44 which is nice when getting a discount because our cruise was booked in CAD at a 1.26 rate. ;)

Every little bit helps to pay for the next cruise. :D

[Funbobby68]

Called and checked rare today 1.41 ....... We have till may , and the dollar is over .71 today so fingers crossed something changes

[The Sunset Glow]

Funny in a sad way.....