How many CDNs are still cruising with the low dollar

[PumpkinPatches]

With the low dollar and costing more to cruise, how many are still cruising and how many are staying home till the US dollar falls against the CDN dollar, and what's causing this? Any advice on what your doing to not spend as much in US dollars and can you book all of your packages in CDN dollars.

 

With the CDN dollar being so low, DH and I downgraded from a Cat 06 oceanview stateroom w/ the classic bev package to a Cat 12 (lowest stateroom category) without the classic bev package.

 

This change alone saved us $2000 USD (soooo $3000 CDN?) on our Med cruise in May. We don't drink much, and our cruise is super port-intensive so I don't think that losing the classic bev package is a bad idea. Even by buying drinks separately we will still spend less than if we kept the stateroom w/ the classic bev package.

 

We're very happy with our decision and are VERY excited about our upcoming cruise knowing that the exchange rate will not kill us :p

[richstowe]

Yesterday I posted "We are taking break from cruising until March '17 , possibly longer . " Today I booked a 7 day MSC Divina cruise from Miami for that time period. Large balcony (120 sq feet balcony - wow) in a good location . Cost ? 1500 for BOTH of us plus port charges and a further 150 teacher reduction so actually 1350 .

 

Will it compare to Celebrity ? Maybe not. It won't be a inside cabin at that price .;) I'm confident it will be close enough .

[Cruise Junky]

With the CDN dollar being so low, DH and I downgraded from a Cat 06 oceanview stateroom w/ the classic bev package to a Cat 12 (lowest stateroom category) without the classic bev package.

 

This change alone saved us $2000 USD (soooo $3000 CDN?) on our Med cruise in May. We don't drink much, and our cruise is super port-intensive so I don't think that losing the classic bev package is a bad idea. Even by buying drinks separately we will still spend less than if we kept the stateroom w/ the classic bev package.

 

We're very happy with our decision and are VERY excited about our upcoming cruise knowing that the exchange rate will not kill us :p

 

I'm thinking of downgrading to an ocean view. There are some decent deals on Connie for 2017. About $1,200 Cdn pp to drop. And I could keep the drink package. Definitely worth thinking about.

[hammo]

Us Aussies are also feeling the $$$$ pain - big time - 68c US doesnt put a smile on your face when converting to US$

. We have 2 cruises this year with Celebrity , but now have decided to book with NCL in October as the pricing was much more in line with our $'s demise. Just an inside cabin now , but the beverage package still included , so a good deal. "Escape" may not be "Equinox" but I can almost feel a :) again.

[NOSaints1]

Anyone know when the currency supposed to rebound by? I'm feeling the cruise fever.

[chrismakris]

Anyone know when the currency supposed to rebound by? I'm feeling the cruise fever.

 

They're talking up to 18 months.

[ERLEC]

I booked a Celebrity cruise for Jan2017 in US$ few weeks ago. Price was much better in US$ from my online TA. Got a concierge class balcony with 2 perks (drink & 300$obc) for 669$/person. That's a group purchase price but impossible to beat this... Was over 1300$/person with Celebrity directly.

[richstowe]

Anyone know when the currency supposed to rebound by? I'm feeling the cruise fever.

 

They're talking up to 18 months.

Yes but other theys are talking about a 60 cent dollar and 5 years before it returns to the mid eighties level .

So which they should you believe ? :confused:(Not which one do you want to believe ;))

[NOSaints1]

Maybe it's kind of like predicting the weather, can't always believe.

[Max Bet]

I just bought the classic 3 bottle wine package for our upcoming Pacific Coastal and my credit card exchange rate was 1.49! It ended up being just under $200 Canadian for 3 "cheap" bottles of wine! Seriously considering using rum runners for the first time ever.

[Oceangoer2]

I just bought the classic 3 bottle wine package for our upcoming Pacific Coastal and my credit card exchange rate was 1.49! It ended up being just under $200 Canadian for 3 "cheap" bottles of wine! Seriously considering using rum runners for the first time ever.

LOL...rum runners vs vino vaulters? Long way up to hoist your bottles. FYI...during prohibition, my DIL's grandfather was a prestigious RR from the Maritime provinces to the US east coasters (and beyond probably). Seemed to do quite well (according to books and newspaper accounts). Maybe a retro occupation with our low Cdn $$s? The dollar is trading today at 1.478 so it's up a little.

Edited January 21, 2016 by oceangoer2

[mvaughan]

I'll be drinking all the rum runners I can being from the Maritimes and depressed about the dollar!

[Max Bet]

LOL...rum runners vs vino vaulters? Long way up to hoist your bottles. FYI...during prohibition, my DIL's grandfather was a prestigious RR from the Maritime provinces to the US east coasters (and beyond probably). Seemed to do quite well (according to books and newspaper accounts). Maybe a retro occupation with our low Cdn $$s? The dollar is trading today at 1.478 so it's up a little.

 

Rum Runners are plastic flasks that you fill with your own booze to sneak on the ship in your carry-on.;)

[Oceangoer2]

Rum Runners are plastic flasks that you fill with your own booze to sneak on the ship in your carry-on.;)

That may be today's description...not during the 20's/30's. Anyway, thought your drink was wine? You can bring 2 bottles on with you ... don't have to hide (unless you prefer rum?).

[Quitwhin'n]

Yesterday I posted "We are taking break from cruising until March '17 , possibly longer . " Today I booked a 7 day MSC Divina cruise from Miami for that time period. Large balcony (120 sq feet balcony - wow) in a good location . Cost ? 1500 for BOTH of us plus port charges and a further 150 teacher reduction so actually 1350 .

 

Will it compare to Celebrity ? Maybe not. It won't be a inside cabin at that price .;) I'm confident it will be close enough .

 

I tried Divina a couple of years ago and it was fine. The ship is beautiful and the price was unbelievable. I only paid $770(total for2!) for a balcony that was absolutely humongous. The only problem, no lounger and the sun only hit it during peak afternoon (huge overhangs) so I honestly didn't use it a whole lot. I enjoyed the bars especially the duelling piano shows. Entertainment was more on the theatrical show side with cirque style performers. Throughout the week we saw repetition with the same performers in different shows doing similar acts but it was so well executed we didn't mind. Entertainment staff were more visible with a couple of theme nights. The downfall was definitely food, you won't starve but it was definitely subpar to Celebrity especially presentation and overall quality. If you are a foodie, you are probably not going to like it. Hopefully things have improved. There will also be a lot more kids given their kids sail free promos and being March. They also had more fees for things we usually don't pay for on Celebrity, room service, ice cream to name a few. Overall, I would go again especially for the savings. Someday I want to try the Yacht Club, it's supposed to be fantastic. I just can't get past the I can book 3 weeks in a regular balcony for the same price, mentality.

[Quitwhin'n]

My plan for the falling loonie is to forgo cruising and travel to Australia, South Africa and other countries with similar downward currency trends. I am seeing great deals on air travel so there may be some savings there. Anyone wanna home swap, lol?

[richstowe]

I tried Divina a couple of years ago and it was fine. The ship is beautiful and the price was unbelievable. I only paid $770(total for2!) for a balcony that was absolutely humongous. The only problem' date=' no lounger and the sun only hit it during peak afternoon (huge overhangs) so I honestly didn't use it a whole lot. I enjoyed the bars especially the duelling piano shows. Entertainment was more on the theatrical show side with cirque style performers. Throughout the week we saw repetition with the same performers in different shows doing similar acts but it was so well executed we didn't mind. Entertainment staff were more visible with a couple of theme nights. The downfall was definitely food, you won't starve but it was definitely subpar to Celebrity especially presentation and overall quality. If you are a foodie, you are probably not going to like it. Hopefully things have improved. There will also be a lot more kids given their kids sail free promos and being March. They also had more fees for things we usually don't pay for on Celebrity, room service, ice cream to name a few. Overall, I would go again especially for the savings. Someday I want to try the Yacht Club, it's supposed to be fantastic. I just can't get past the I can book 3 weeks in a regular balcony for the same price, mentality.[/quote']Thank you for your post . As far as the food , I don't doubt it might be a step down from Celebrity particularly the MDR . On the plus side , I've looked at a few UTube videos of the buffet and it looks great especially if you like a European 'flavor" . I do . :)

[RickT]

Currently in Miami. Just spent $950 US for 5 nights. When I factor in meals and exchange rate cruises are still looking pretty good.......

 

And yes$950 for 5 nights in Miami is a good deal.

[mvaughan]

Currently in Miami. Just spent $950 US for 5 nights. When I factor in meals and exchange rate cruises are still looking pretty good.......

 

 

 

And yes$950 for 5 nights in Miami is a good deal.

 

 

I think we still got good value for our upcoming cruise. Won't do any extras but will still enjoy ourselves.

[Moose12345]

We booked an Alaska cruise almost a year ago, when the dollar was still good. The trip is paid, and I've already paid for the excursions. We got a really good deal with prepaid gratuities, drink pkg., and OBC, so I think it will be a cheap trip as far as exchange goes! :D

After this trip, it will have to be a very good deal for us to book another right now!

[Cruise Junky]

I just booked HAL instead of Celebrity. Similar itinerary but HAL's is far superior and 12 days instead of X's 10. Saved $1,685 CDN over Celebrity's price. And it's on HAL's brand new ship. Time to look elsewhere with Celebrity's crazy prices and lacking itineraries. If anyone wants to compare itineraries we booked September 2017 Amsterdam to Rome vs Sillouette's Amsterdam to Barcelona. $1685 will buy me a lot of drinks :)

[Gran2five]

I just booked HAL instead of Celebrity. Similar itinerary but HAL's is far superior and 12 days instead of X's 10. Saved $1,685 CDN over Celebrity's price. And it's on HAL's brand new ship. Time to look elsewhere with Celebrity's crazy prices and lacking itineraries. If anyone wants to compare itineraries we booked September 2017 Amsterdam to Rome vs Sillouette's Amsterdam to Barcelona. $1685 will buy me a lot of drinks :)

 

We've received some literature on that ship - beautiful ship.

[Cruise Junky]

We've received some literature on that ship - beautiful ship.

 

Yea, I think so too. She reminds me a bit of an S class ship.

[chrismakris]

Another side effect of the CDN dollars slide is in price drops. My current Oct 10th sailing has seen a $400US price drop per person in a balcony, but yet the price is still the same for me because of the drop in value.

 

With the exchange rate it works out to $1000 CDN total extra for the two of us.

[Payd]

We will go ahead with our booked travel, but do plan to readjust.

 

We are doing San Francisco and Fort Lauderdale in May, Oregon in August and a cruise out of San Juan in December. We are also booked for a Panama Canal cruise in April 2017. By then I expect we will have used our US bank account savings.

 

Almost a year ago I pre purchased OBC of $1000 for our November 2015 cruise. Who knew what a good idea that would be. We came home with about 850 of it.

 

So we will have to adjust our planning after that - or suck it up and pay the premium. Very sad given that we have reached a place where we have paid off our house, kids will be finished post secondary and we have more travel dollars...those dollars just won't stretch as far.

Edited January 26, 2016 by Payd