Book in Canadian or US currency?

[ashpam]

Hello,

 

Looking to book a cruise, wondering which is the better currency to book in - Canadian or US?

 

I am Canadian and am the one reserving the cabin, boyfriend is American and is wanting to pay for the cruise at final payment.

 

Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

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[CVU]

Log in as CDN$ for you and then log in as US$ for him and see the difference.

 

We have some booked now in US and CDN so it is a tough one. The US ones were booked a long time ago.

[davidsmum]

apart from checking out the pricing in both currencies one of the benefits to booking in $CDN is that you can currently purchase OBC at $1.10, saving you a tremendous amount of money for any purchases you may make on board. Lots of info on this thread about it. you can even withdraw $US to use in port to pay for excursions etc.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2159570

 

we booked our next cruise 18 months out in $CDN and the rate at the time was $0.91us.....would have meant a HUGE price increase for us if we had booked in $US.

 

hard to know what the dollar will do in the coming months.

Edited August 9, 2015 by davidsmum

[Hoopster95]

apart from checking out the pricing in both currencies one of the benefits to booking in $CDN is that you can currently purchase OBC at $1.10, saving you a tremendous amount of money for any purchases you may make on board. Lots of info on this thread about it. you can even withdraw $US to use in port to pay for excursions etc.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2159570

 

we booked our next cruise 18 months out in $CDN and the rate at the time was $0.91us.....would have meant a HUGE price increase for us if we had booked in $US.

 

THIS ABOVE!!!! .......

 

Depending on your travel agent, some travel agents change their perks to you if you book CAD$ vs. US$ so be aware of their offers, but for the most part try to book and pay for in CAD$. You can then call Royal Caribbean "Gifts & Gear" Dept for on-board pre-paid credit at 10 cents on the dollar. All your drinks, extra dinners, tips, excursions, etc all at 10 cents on the dollar instead of 35 cents from your credit card exchange!

 

Good luck and have a great cruise :D

[Kamloops50]

I would book in Canadian . Not knowing what the dollar is going to do introduces at lot of stress as the final cost will be unknown . If you book in CDN the price won't change . He can later call and pay with USD .

[sarahleebones]

Book.in.canadian.

[Ourusualbeach]

I would book in Canadian . Not knowing what the dollar is going to do introduces at lot of stress as the final cost will be unknown . If you book in CDN the price won't change . He can later call and pay with USD .

 

This^^^

 

Even with your BF paying if the CDN$ continues on its current free fall he will benefit with the exchange.

[ashpam]

Thank you everyone for the comments and advice!

 

Will definitely be taking advantage of Royal's exchange rate on the OBCs.

 

Now the hard part of just waiting for the cruise. [emoji4]

 

 

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[robtulipe]

Thank you everyone for the comments and advice!

 

Will definitely be taking advantage of Royal's exchange rate on the OBCs.

 

Now the hard part of just waiting for the cruise. [emoji4]

 

 

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You can only do so if your cruise booking is in $CAD. ;)

[robtulipe]

I would book in Canadian . Not knowing what the dollar is going to do introduces at lot of stress as the final cost will be unknown . If you book in CDN the price won't change . He can later call and pay with USD .

 

If American BF wants to pay in $USD and not have his credit card convert the final billing from $CAD to $USD I believe they will have to cancel and rebook at the then cruise fare for their cabin category.

If this is done after the final payment date penalties may come into play.

We typically book close to or after the final payment date so we pay total amount due so we know what our final cost is immediately. With the falling $CAD we have been booking exclusively in $CAD since last Fall and this saved us lots on the five cruises we did last Winter.

I booked our next two cruises, which are B2B ones in October, just yesterday and we actually paid less in $CAD for both than the price would have been in $USD without even factoring in the exchange. We are cruising with American friends and we actually booked same two cruises for them in $CAD as this saved them substantially.

[xcell]

If she books in cdn and price drops due to a better dollar exhange (highly doubt it) and it's way before final payment, will they adjust the cruise price?

 

Right now it looks to be a 1 to 1.28 exchange (harmony) or does it change from ship to ship? ?

 

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[Kamloops50]

Stays the same for all ships. Australian ships might use a different exchange rate for Canada.

[TOCruisers]

If she books in cdn and price drops due to a better dollar exhange (highly doubt it) and it's way before final payment, will they adjust the cruise price?

 

I am very curious about this as well since I booked a cruise a year ahead for the first time @ 1.30 range. In theory you could ask for the price drop or cancel and rebook as the rate drops before final payment .

Right now it looks to be a 1 to 1.28 exchange (harmony) or does it change from ship to ship? ?

 

From my observation, rates vary by the ship by category and by time frame. For example, I just booked an Oct cruise after final payment period in CAD slightly less than USD. Other category of the same cruise, CAD was higher than USD but much less than the prevailing exchange rate.

 

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Op, I want to book my cruises in CAD as my CAD CC comes with various insurance coverage (I do not need medical). However if your BF earns some income in USD and has a US based CC with insurance coverage, it may be better off to book in USD at the moment as CAD is so low and US TAs seem to give more perks, OBC etc.