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Pre-buying OBC with Princess this morning. USD to AUD rate

silverwillow
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silverwillow

silverwillow

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We saw on the buying OBC post with Royal Caribbean that someone had mentioned that they received the credit at a dollar for dollar exchange rate between USD and AUD with Princess. We jumped on that and rang Princess and unfortunately that is no longer the case but they are selling $500 USD for $550 AUD we saved $730 in the end by buying $4000 USD (it cost us $4400AUD). We are prepared to take the risk and will only lose out if the USD increases to 91 cents again and of course we will win further if it falls even lower. Down side is we had to pay now and we put it on our credit card but we are sailing in the next few months so that's not an issue for us. We get Kris flyer points on our credit card so we always pay by credit card anyway which means the credit card fee we incur is a non issue for us.

 

That was this mornings experience. We don't usually spend that much onboard credit but its a 28 night around the Greek islands and Mediterranean and we have booked around $1800 worth of ships tours and will also have around $1100 in gratuities to pay. Who knows we may even get change at the end of it but I doubt it.

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GUT2407

GUT2407

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We saw on the buying OBC post with Royal Caribbean that someone had mentioned that they received the credit at a dollar for dollar exchange rate between USD and AUD with Princess. We jumped on that and rang Princess and unfortunately that is no longer the case but they are selling $500 USD for $550 AUD we saved $730 in the end by buying $4000 USD (it cost us $4400AUD). We are prepared to take the risk and will only lose out if the USD increases to 91 cents again and of course we will win further if it falls even lower. Down side is we had to pay now and we put it on our credit card but we are sailing in the next few months so that's not an issue for us. We get Kris flyer points on our credit card so we always pay by credit card anyway which means the credit card fee we incur is a non issue for us.

 

That was this mornings experience. We don't usually spend that much onboard credit but its a 28 night around the Greek islands and Mediterranean and we have booked around $1800 worth of ships tours and will also have around $1100 in gratuities to pay. Who knows we may even get change at the end of it but I doubt it.

 

 

Boy the lines are offering some good exchange rates at the moment.

 

There was some advice elsewhere about using a multi currency card to have any left over credited to, but I never seem to have any left over, but then have a wifey.

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stki

stki

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We saw on the buying OBC post with Royal Caribbean that someone had mentioned that they received the credit at a dollar for dollar exchange rate between USD and AUD with Princess. We jumped on that and rang Princess and unfortunately that is no longer the case but they are selling $500 USD for $550 AUD we saved $730 in the end by buying $4000 USD (it cost us $4400AUD). We are prepared to take the risk and will only lose out if the USD increases to 91 cents again and of course we will win further if it falls even lower. Down side is we had to pay now and we put it on our credit card but we are sailing in the next few months so that's not an issue for us. We get Kris flyer points on our credit card so we always pay by credit card anyway which means the credit card fee we incur is a non issue for us.

 

That was this mornings experience. We don't usually spend that much onboard credit but its a 28 night around the Greek islands and Mediterranean and we have booked around $1800 worth of ships tours and will also have around $1100 in gratuities to pay. Who knows we may even get change at the end of it but I doubt it.

 

I also bought $1000 USd for $1100 so rate is about .90. This is for our Princess cruise in Dec. I didnt have to pay now, it went onto my Invoice and I pay at final payment time which is Sept. WIN WIN , as far as I am concerned, as I cant see the dollar going back up, anytime soon.

 

Tanya

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GUT2407

GUT2407

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I also bought $1000 USd for $1100 so rate is about .90. This is for our Princess cruise in Dec. I didnt have to pay now, it went onto my Invoice and I pay at final payment time which is Sept. WIN WIN , as far as I am concerned, as I cant see the dollar going back up, anytime soon.

 

Tanya

 

That's even better not paying till September.

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silverwillow

silverwillow

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That's even better not paying till September.

 

We are past final payment which must be why we had to pay it now.

 

Does anyone know what currency Golden Princess will be working on when it sails in oz? I am wondering if it's worth considering obc for our cruise on her.

Edited by silverwillow
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MicCanberra Holiday Sharing Rare

MicCanberra

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We are past final payment which must be why we had to pay it now.

 

Does anyone know what currency Golden Princess will be working on when it sails in oz? I am wondering if it's worth considering obc for our cruise on her.

 

I do not know but would assume USD. What does the Diamond do when it sails here?:D

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By The Bay

By The Bay

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We are past final payment which must be why we had to pay it now.

 

Does anyone know what currency Golden Princess will be working on when it sails in oz? I am wondering if it's worth considering obc for our cruise on her.

That's a good question. So I logged into my cruise Personalizerand for our Golden Princess cruise on 18 October 2015 and the folio charges are listed as AUD$.

Edited by By The Bay
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GUT2407

GUT2407

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That's a good question. So I logged into my cruise Personalizerand for our Golden Princess cruise on 18 October 2015 and the folio charges are listed as AUD$.

 

2015 Any Princess ship here for a season is Aus$ and grats included in price, those only here for a cruise or six so probably Emerald, Ocean as part of World cruise and any others will be USD with auto grats.

Edited by GUT2407
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GUT2407

GUT2407

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Does anyone know if the Golden Princess will undergo any 'Aussification' prior to its Melbourne based cruises I.e. Australian powerpoints. Dawn Princess I know has one in each cabin.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

No Ausification, Dawn, Sun and Sea were because they are based here year round the others only do a season ( even if every Season)

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MicCanberra Holiday Sharing Rare

MicCanberra

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Does anyone know if the Golden Princess will undergo any 'Aussification' prior to its Melbourne based cruises I.e. Australian powerpoints. Dawn Princess I know has one in each cabin.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

What do you mean by aussification?

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possum52

possum52

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I also bought $1000 USd for $1100 so rate is about .90. This is for our Princess cruise in Dec. I didnt have to pay now, it went onto my Invoice and I pay at final payment time which is Sept. WIN WIN , as far as I am concerned, as I cant see the dollar going back up, anytime soon.

 

Tanya

I also bought Princess OBC yesterday for the same rate for our cruise on the Diamond in March to Singapore. We have also prepaid our grats and shore excursions with not too bad an exchange rate.

 

Leigh

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MicCanberra Holiday Sharing Rare

MicCanberra

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I also bought Princess OBC yesterday for the same rate for our cruise on the Diamond in March to Singapore. We have also prepaid our grats and shore excursions with not too bad an exchange rate.

 

Leigh

 

Good score, :D

I think some cruise lines may be worried that if they do not offer incentives to keep cruising, we Aussies will pull out and cancel our cruises due to the falling AUD. The same would apply for the Canadians which also have a falling CAD.:D

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GUT2407

GUT2407

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I am grateful for this topic being raised thanks :).

 

Thanks By the Bay I am surprised that Golden will be in AUD. Diamond is USD. Good for us though we won't be worrying about the exchange rate. :)

 

 

Pretty certain Oct '15 to April '16 she's in Aus$

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MicCanberra Holiday Sharing Rare

MicCanberra

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I am grateful for this topic being raised thanks :).

 

Thanks By the Bay I am surprised that Golden will be in AUD. Diamond is USD. Good for us though we won't be worrying about the exchange rate. :)

 

Interesting that one changes while the other doesn't.

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GandM-nq

GandM-nq

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Just took advantage of this 'currency swap' for my upcoming Princess cruise in June. Had to buy multiples of $550AUD to $500USD lots. Way better than the current exchange rate. And like STKI said, I doubt the $AU will get back above .90 anytime soon so a big plus! Credit card used. Classed as a purchase. Lady on the other end of line said there will be a 1.5% credit card surcharge, but when she processed the sale, no credit card surcharge appeared. No surcharge on my credit card statement either.

 

Good news is if I have any left over OBC, it will be refunded to my credit card at the then current USD to AUD exchange rate. Another win right there if the $AUD stays low, though I am not sure if I will have any left overs.

Edited by GandM-nq
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MicCanberra Holiday Sharing Rare

MicCanberra

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Just took advantage of this 'currency swap' for my upcoming Princess cruise in June. Had to buy multiples of $550AUD to $500USD lots. Way better than the current exchange rate. And like STKI said, I doubt the $AU will get back above .90 anytime soon so a big plus! Credit card used. Classed as a purchase. Lady on the other end of line said there will be a 1.5% credit card surcharge, but when she processed the sale, no credit card surcharge appeared. No surcharge on my credit card statement either.

 

Good news is if I have any left over OBC, it will be refunded to my credit card at the then current USD to AUD exchange rate. Another win right there if the $AUD stays low, though I am not sure if I will have any left overs.

 

Good work, enjoy your cruise and your OBC.:D

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