Canadian - Booking Next Cruise on Board

[Payd]

We are booked to travel with Celebrity this November and I am wondering about booking a 2016 cruise while on board.

 

My question is: Will we be able to book on board in Canadian dollars and make the deposit in Canadian dollars?

 

On our last cruise the future cruise desk had an incredible line up. I'd be sad to wait in line, book the cruise and then find out I can't do it in my currency.

 

 

Any Canadians have experience in this?

 

TIA

 

payd

[lovemylab]

We've never had a problem booking onboard in Cdn dollars. Enjoy your cruise!

[Du vent dans les voiles]

We are booked to travel with Celebrity this November and I am wondering about booking a 2016 cruise while on board.

 

My question is: Will we be able to book on board in Canadian dollars and make the deposit in Canadian dollars?

 

On our last cruise the future cruise desk had an incredible line up. I'd be sad to wait in line, book the cruise and then find out I can't do it in my currency.

 

 

Any Canadians have experience in this?

 

TIA

 

payd

 

Yes we booked three weeks ago on the Equinox and in canadian dollars.

 

Josée

[Payd]

Thanks to both of you for the information. Very good news.

 

 

Another question:

 

I have pre-purchased on board credit and want to buy shore excursions. Can I reserve in advance without paying until on board?

[Du vent dans les voiles]

Thanks to both of you for the information. Very good news.

 

 

Another question:

 

I have pre-purchased on board credit and want to buy shore excursions. Can I reserve in advance without paying until on board?

 

Sorry Payd I don't have an answer for your second question.

For sure someone will know.

Have a fun cruise!

 

Josée

[AlbertaCruisers]

Thanks to both of you for the information. Very good news.

 

 

Another question:

 

I have pre-purchased on board credit and want to buy shore excursions. Can I reserve in advance without paying until on board?

 

No, to pre-reserve shore excursions you have to pay in advance as well. If your reservation is in CDN your shore excursions will be in CDN as well, but I see the exchange for the OBC purchase seems much better than the shore excursion exchange for some reason. Also, yes, we book onboard Celebrity in CDN, just make sure you are really clear on that and when they give you the invoice it will say CDN right on it, so just confirm.

[Payd]

Thanks Alberta cruiser. I don't know how often shore excursions are sold out. The sailing we are on has a large group that we aren't a part of, but it sounds like they might be planning private group excursions. We might just take our chances and book the excursion as soon as we board.

 

Which part of Alberta are you from?

[Du vent dans les voiles]

Just want to let you know that on our recent cruise the onboard exchange rate was 7%!

My husband says that they probably have currency hedging, some kind of insurance policy that smooth currency variation.

[koolforkatz]

A email alert told me this morning that two cruises I've been watching jumped in price in Canadian funds only. It looks like Celebrity is starting to adjust their exchange rate. We booked a 2016 cruise about a month ago in Cdn. $ with about a 9-10% exchange difference to U.S. pricing. This morning the price jumped 13% higher; the U.S. pricing remained the same. :(

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Exchange is moving more then that

Book a cruise Feb 4, taxes in USD was $103, we paid $113 cad

Now it is $131 cad :eek:

[Payd]

By the time we go the dollar could be even worse, which is why we wanted to pre-buy the obc. Even if we have to pay the 5% premium in the casino to cash out.

 

We started a USD account years ago when we were at and above, that account is depleting though.

 

I do wonder if that will change our travel plans. More AI rather than cruising...

 

At least with Celebrity we can book and pay in CAD, very attractive compared to Carnival.

[AlbertaCruisers]

Thanks Alberta cruiser. I don't know how often shore excursions are sold out. The sailing we are on has a large group that we aren't a part of, but it sounds like they might be planning private group excursions. We might just take our chances and book the excursion as soon as we board.

 

Which part of Alberta are you from?

 

 

Sorry, we don't usually do ship excursions any more so I'm not sure if the sell out.

 

Edmonton. You?

[sprockie]

When we were on the Constellation in Feb of this year, I priced a 2016 Caribbean cruise for the 4 of us with the future cruise dept.. I came back to my cabin and looked it up on the Celebrity website and priced the same category and it was $1000 + cheaper on the website.

[retired067]

I experienced the same thing in Dec. Price was higher when booked onboard vs online

[Payd]

We usually don't do ship excursions either. In San Juan we haven't found a private operator that will get us back from the rain forest on time. After renting a car there and driving in January I will choose the ship excursion.

 

Just moved to Edmonton about a 18 months ago. Deep south - Callaghan.

[poffles]

A email alert told me this morning that two cruises I've been watching jumped in price in Canadian funds only. It looks like Celebrity is starting to adjust their exchange rate. We booked a 2016 cruise about a month ago in Cdn. $ with about a 9-10% exchange difference to U.S. pricing. This morning the price jumped 13% higher; the U.S. pricing remained the same. :(

 

This sucks. I sail in two weeks and have been watching celebrity rate and it was at 85 cents which is great compared to the real current rate so was going to book in CAD on board ... based on you saying this here I looked now and it seems to be around 75 cents ... I could cry. The cruise I'm booking will be over a year out so thinking now it would be better to book in US given the rate may get better. If it doesn't I would likely cancel cause it's getting to be such an extra cost.

 

Have to do the math and rethink the currency to book in, and at the cost of the cruise a few cents difference in the rate makes a big difference.

 

:(

[koolforkatz]

... based on you saying this here I looked now and it seems to be around 75 cents ... I could cry.

 

:(

 

We have been spoiled with parity or thereabouts for the past while. This is a hard adjustment :(

[Ex-Airbalancer]

I think the next couple of years we may just visit friends we have made on cruises , good thing we have made friend from California and Arizona

Couch surfing is us:p

[poffles]

Now that I'm home and could look at the prices I noted for the trip I was going to book - US vs CAD - the CAD price is only different by a few dollars, but when I do the US price that shows as having gone down????? So the exchange is different but only because it's based on the fact that the US cost is lower by 150 pp ... that is so odd! (I compare by selecting Canadian vs United States when I load the Celebrity site.)

 

Even though the CAD price listed is what I was looking to pay, I still feel cheated somehow :( It's almost as if the spring special, though showing applied in both scenarios, is padded to the base CAD price so that it really isn't coming off cause that would seem to be the difference. Be interesting to see what it is when I sail.

 

Goes to show how a person really needs to look closely and consider options. It might seem petty and too much work but it really does make a difference in the bottom $$$.

 

And I'm still crying !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Edited March 20, 2015 by poffles
typos

[poffles]

Wanted to correct my calculation ... it looks like the rate Celebrity is currently using for CAD pricing is 80 cents and not 75 as I thought.

 

Not sure what to do when I book on board next Saturday as I'm booking for a trip April 2017 which gives plenty of time for the dollar to do a lot of up and down. Do I book in US and hope the dollar gets better by then or just accept the 80 cents in case it gets worse ... :(

 

What to do what to do ...

[Ex-Airbalancer]

How do you pay for your trip ? With a CC?

I prefer to pay in Canadian dollars that way atleast I can get some point on my cc, also the travel insurance that goes along with it

Without paying the 2.5% fee

Edited March 25, 2015 by Airbalancer

[Queen of Oakville]

We generally prefer to pay for our trips with USD. We had a terribly inexperienced Reservation Agent and she messed up our reservation in more than a few ways.

 

But we wanted to pay in USD (with a USD credit card) but she had a hard tiem booking us in USD - not sure why. She was really making a mess of it all and we were getting ancy, so she said she would work it out with a supervisor and then have the paperwork show up in our cabin.

 

It eventually did, but I did not review it in great enough detail, and while she sorted out the currency issues, she never applied the booking promo to our ressie - in fact no perks at all. Fortunately, when it was transferred to my TA, he sorted it all out.

 

She also put DH and I in select dining and put the kids in traditional - late seating :confused:

 

But to answer your question - you choose CAD or USD. But make sure you check your paperwork to make sure the right currency was used, or you'll be hit with currency exchange on your CAD credit card.

[Christine Frances]

Wanted to correct my calculation ... it looks like the rate Celebrity is currently using for CAD pricing is 80 cents and not 75 as I thought.

 

Not sure what to do when I book on board next Saturday as I'm booking for a trip April 2017 which gives plenty of time for the dollar to do a lot of up and down. Do I book in US and hope the dollar gets better by then or just accept the 80 cents in case it gets worse ... :(

 

What to do what to do ...

 

The deposits for onboard booking are only $200. See if you can do two bookings, one in each currency and then closer to sailing you can cancel the least beneficial one.

 

To avoid the long lines I usually go to the Future Cruise office the first or second day as they are not as busy or rushed. That way I have all documentations in hand and have time to go over them and ask questions if necessary.

Edited March 25, 2015 by Christine Frances