Payd Posted March 19, 2015 #1 Share Posted March 19, 2015 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovemylab Posted March 19, 2015 #2 Share Posted March 19, 2015 We've never had a problem booking onboard in Cdn dollars. Enjoy your cruise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Du vent dans les voiles Posted March 19, 2015 #3 Share Posted March 19, 2015 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Payd Posted March 19, 2015 Author #4 Share Posted March 19, 2015 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? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Du vent dans les voiles Posted March 19, 2015 #5 Share Posted March 19, 2015 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlbertaCruisers Posted March 19, 2015 #6 Share Posted March 19, 2015 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Payd Posted March 19, 2015 Author #7 Share Posted March 19, 2015 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? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Du vent dans les voiles Posted March 20, 2015 #8 Share Posted March 20, 2015 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koolforkatz Posted March 20, 2015 #9 Share Posted March 20, 2015 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. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex-Airbalancer Posted March 20, 2015 #10 Share Posted March 20, 2015 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: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Payd Posted March 20, 2015 Author #11 Share Posted March 20, 2015 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlbertaCruisers Posted March 20, 2015 #12 Share Posted March 20, 2015 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? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sprockie Posted March 20, 2015 #13 Share Posted March 20, 2015 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retired067 Posted March 20, 2015 #14 Share Posted March 20, 2015 I experienced the same thing in Dec. Price was higher when booked onboard vs online Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Payd Posted March 20, 2015 Author #15 Share Posted March 20, 2015 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poffles Posted March 20, 2015 #16 Share Posted March 20, 2015 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. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koolforkatz Posted March 20, 2015 #17 Share Posted March 20, 2015 ... 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 :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex-Airbalancer Posted March 20, 2015 #18 Share Posted March 20, 2015 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poffles Posted March 20, 2015 #19 Share Posted March 20, 2015 (edited) 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poffles Posted March 25, 2015 #20 Share Posted March 25, 2015 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 ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex-Airbalancer Posted March 25, 2015 #21 Share Posted March 25, 2015 (edited) 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Queen of Oakville Posted March 25, 2015 #22 Share Posted March 25, 2015 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Frances Posted March 25, 2015 #23 Share Posted March 25, 2015 (edited) 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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