Canadian dollar exchange

[robgvic]

Has anyone recently exchanged Canadian dollars for US dollars onboard the ship? I heard they give a very good rate to attract us?

[fishywood]

There have been reports on here of Princess offering a much better than par exchange rate for Canadians pre-purchasing onboard amenities or OBC for their booked cruises. I expect someone from Canada will report here shortly if that is still the case.

 

But the onboard exchange rate? Never less than horrid. Under no circumstances should you allow Princess to convert your onboard spend from $US to $CA or should you ever make a payment to you account in $CA while onboard.

[goofy559]

Has anyone recently exchanged Canadian dollars for US dollars onboard the ship? I heard they give a very good rate to attract us?

 

This used to be the case - you could prepay/prebuy tips, OBC and casino credit at the rate at which your cruise was booked. So, if you booked a cruise at 10% exchange, that would be the rate you would pay for the items mentioned above.

 

The rate if you booked a cruise today is 35%. You need to look at any cruises you might have booked and see what the rate is. I just saw you have one upcoming on the Star - you can prebuy up to 5 days in advance and prepay tips up to 2 days in advance. You can do this by "pretending" to buy OBC - if the rate is $110=10% $120=20% etc. Anything extra is refunded by cheque in US$

 

Onboard you will pay the going rate. These lower rates are only available in advance and do not apply if you prepay your excursions.

Edited November 2, 2015 by goofy559

[robgvic]

Thanks for the advice

[Mud_Shark]

If you booked after October 3rd, the current rate for all transactions pre-cruise is 1.35 (which is slightly worse than the official exchange rate but about the same as you would get through your bank.

 

Used to be great exchange, but now, no savings.

 

Don

[kenorus]

I just got off and recieved a rate of 1.20. It all depends when ylu booked.

[cruisewingman]

I just got off and recieved a rate of 1.20. It all depends when ylu booked.

 

You booked today? When is your sailing?

[kenorus]

No i booked in late september already took the cruise

[kmast151]

We are sailing on Royal in December. I just paid our beverage package and tips/gratuities in Canadian dollars. The 'rate' of exchange was 10% (way better than 30% +).

 

The excursions will, obviously, still be in U.S. dollars but it might be an idea to check out any beverage package, etc. that you can pre-pay in Canadian $$.

[avcruz]

We are sailing on Royal in December. I just paid our beverage package and tips/gratuities in Canadian dollars. The 'rate' of exchange was 10% (way better than 30% +).

 

The excursions will, obviously, still be in U.S. dollars but it might be an idea to check out any beverage package, etc. that you can pre-pay in Canadian $$.

 

I think we're on the same cruise. You're correct that the excursions onboard will be in USD, but if you pre-purchase OBC to pay those excursions, you'll only pay 10% exchange for those OBC, which you can then use to pay for the excursions. So once again a pretty hot deal. That's what we're doing for a couple of the islands.:)

[kmast151]

I think we're on the same cruise. You're correct that the excursions onboard will be in USD, but if you pre-purchase OBC to pay those excursions, you'll only pay 10% exchange for those OBC, which you can then use to pay for the excursions. So once again a pretty hot deal. That's what we're doing for a couple of the islands.:)

Thanks for the info. I will have to check this out. It appears we are on the same cruise - just over a month to go!

[h-sar]

I think we're on the same cruise. You're correct that the excursions onboard will be in USD, but if you pre-purchase OBC to pay those excursions, you'll only pay 10% exchange for those OBC, which you can then use to pay for the excursions. So once again a pretty hot deal. That's what we're doing for a couple of the islands.:)

 

I did the same. Booked Allure last week for Jan 2017 and was able to buy $1000 US OBC at $1100 CDN on my credit card. And, no I don't mind RCL having my money for over a year. Not like I'm making interest! Some Canadians getting off last week on RCL ships said they had the remaining OBC returned on last night in US cash ( You have to have a cash account to do this). Others have said remainder has gone back on credit card a few weeks after cruise.

[kmast151]

I did the same. Booked Allure last week for Jan 2017 and was able to buy $1000 US OBC at $1100 CDN on my credit card. And, no I don't mind RCL having my money for over a year. Not like I'm making interest! Some Canadians getting off last week on RCL ships said they had the remaining OBC returned on last night in US cash ( You have to have a cash account to do this). Others have said remainder has gone back on credit card a few weeks after cruise.

When I look at my Princess account, it appears that I can only buy OBC in Canadian dollars. Is it then converted to U.S. dollars at the rate of exchange at booking and shown this way on our on board account??

Thanks for your help.

[Reximus]

I have two cruises booked one at the end of November and one the beginning of January.

 

I was checking the OBC cost and it is different for each cruise. Now I understand from this message thread that it is tied to the exchange rate at time of booking.

 

I booked the November trip in September and can exchange canadian at 1.20 the other cruise I booked last summer, the exchange rate in canadian dollars is at 1.10.

 

I will definitely take advantage of this rate to add the OBC and pay for the tips.

 

:)

[avcruz]

When I look at my Princess account, it appears that I can only buy OBC in Canadian dollars. Is it then converted to U.S. dollars at the rate of exchange at booking and shown this way on our on board account??

 

Thanks for your help.

 

 

That's right. When I look at my cruise personalizer it reads ONBOARD CREDIT USD $500 then the next column shows Paid CAD $550.

[CruiseTomJr.]

Great info from everyone.

Decided to load some OBC's for our upcoming cruise the end of January.

We booked our cruise on September 5th/15, which from everyone's posts I garnered that the exchange rate would be 20%.

To my surprise, the OBC's in our cruise personalizer are being charged at 30%!

Cruise was charged through Princess's Vancouver office, any suggestions?

[kmast151]

That's right. When I look at my cruise personalizer it reads ONBOARD CREDIT USD $500 then the next column shows Paid CAD $550.

Thanks again - info helps greatly.

[goofy559]

Great info from everyone.

Decided to load some OBC's for our upcoming cruise the end of January.

We booked our cruise on September 5th/15, which from everyone's posts I garnered that the exchange rate would be 20%.

To my surprise, the OBC's in our cruise personalizer are being charged at 30%!

Cruise was charged through Princess's Vancouver office, any suggestions?

You will need to call. The rate you pay matches the exchange rate you paid for your cruise. Look at your booking. What does your fare end in. 80 or. 70? Firmer means obc at 20% Latter means obc at 30%

[avcruz]

Great info from everyone.

Decided to load some OBC's for our upcoming cruise the end of January.

We booked our cruise on September 5th/15, which from everyone's posts I garnered that the exchange rate would be 20%.

To my surprise, the OBC's in our cruise personalizer are being charged at 30%!

Cruise was charged through Princess's Vancouver office, any suggestions?

 

 

No, I believe the exchange rate in September was 30% and went up to 35% on October 8th. As the previous poster said, check if your fare ends in .70 and if so that means a 30% exchange rate.

[Valiamo]

I just booked and the exchange was $1.32 Cdn $ for each US$. I am hoping that the exchange will improve, and I can re-book and us my US credit card.

[Blueshirt01]

No, I believe the exchange rate in September was 30% and went up to 35% on October 8th. As the previous poster said, check if your fare ends in .70 and if so that means a 30% exchange rate.

Hi. New to CC. We are booked on NCL at the end of February & on my NCL account, I am able to purchase a $10 US On-Board Certificate for $11.59 CAD. What are these ¨certificates¨ for ? Besides using them for dining, shopping, excursions...etc. can I cash them at any point during my cruise? Can I get cash money for them at the casino/guest services & use the $$$ to buy gifts, eat at restos, buy drinks at ports of call ?

Do they credit these ¨certificates¨ to your account upon boarding ?

 

Any information from a fellow Canuck/cruiser would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

:confused::confused::confused:

[mmckm]

We have 2 cruises booked. One is in Apr. 2016 the rate is 10% we got. the other is in nov. 2016 and the rate is 20%. When we booked these thats was the rate Princess gave us. We will put enough on board credit on these cruises to cover drink packages, specialty dinning, tours, chefs table, ships tour, auto tips

and some for the casino. This will all be in canadian at the rates I was quoted and in US dollars on our OBC account. If you were to purchase one of these cruises now it would be in the current rate that Princess is charging around 35%. It's a great deal so we will be doing more these 2 cruises then we usually do. Hopefully after these our dollar will come back closer to par.

[CruisinFinsUp]

Hi. New to CC. We are booked on NCL at the end of February & on my NCL account, I am able to purchase a $10 US On-Board Certificate for $11.59 CAD. What are these ¨certificates¨ for ? Besides using them for dining, shopping, excursions...etc. can I cash them at any point during my cruise? Can I get cash money for them at the casino/guest services & use the $$$ to buy gifts, eat at restos, buy drinks at ports of call ?

Do they credit these ¨certificates¨ to your account upon boarding ?

 

Any information from a fellow Canuck/cruiser would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

:confused::confused::confused:

 

Hello and welcome to cc.

 

If you are sailing NCL - Norewigian - there is a different board for NCL questions. You posted this on the Princess Cruises section.

Some Canadians may have cruised both but you might have better luck posting on the NCL board.