Low CDN dollar how many CDNs are still cruising

[NOSaints1]

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.

[CruiserRob]

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.

 

For the first time since we started cruising - and a 62 cent dollar, we have switched from balconies to insides :mad:

 

Robert

[macandlucy]

Or, as others have said, you can wait til you find a smoking hot deal and travel in an inside cabin.

 

At 1.33, and with NCL very nicely kicking back 10%, and going with an inside instead of a balcony, I got the best deal on any cruise I have ever had on any Spring break cruise.

 

the deals are out there, but I think you have to watch for them even more carefully now, with our tanking loonie.

[willise]

We have our April Escape cruise at par. After that, it will be a while before we go again. Losing upwards of 40% on the dollar is just too steep a price to pay.

 

All inclusive deals, particularly in Cuba, are just too much of a deal when compared to cruising at this point.

[heathrj]

We paid for flights and hotels back in August, so at least our exchange rate wasn't too bad at that point. Our cruise was locked in at We've booked our Belize excursion through the cruise line since the great exchange rate offered has made the 'cruise tour' surcharge not so bad. I doubt we'll be travelling to the US for a while though after this trip!

[Paddy41]

Book through a travel agent in Canadian dollars. Exchange rate at 11% so put on some onboard credit through your TA. In December I asked my TA to get me $500US in onboard credit and it came to $555.56CAD. You can't ask for more than that. Book your excursions online and you'll also get this great rate. (Carnival's rate is 30%. TA was told she could not book the onboard credit for me but I could do it online. Went onto my booking and chose the credit and found out they charged me the going exchange rate. Ticked!) (Celebrity: $300US onboard credit cost $306! Best deal anywhere. Shhh! don't tell) But you must book in CAD to get these deals.

[ilovetotravel1977]

We're thinking it might be nice to see our own country while the dollar isn't good. We've never been out West, might be a good time to spend some time and money there for a change.

[rochelle_s]

I'm still cruising thanks to Casinos at Sea but the value of our dollar will certainly have an influence on my gambling budget.

 

 

Rochelle

[Jane Don]

I am done cruising until the dollar is decent again. I booked a great deal on a Cuba vacation at the second highest rated family resort at less than 2000 CAD for 3 of us, AI and includes airfare and transfers.

 

The way I see it, with the downgrade of the food in complimentary venues, the low value of our dollar and the a la carte style of the new NCL, we will suffer the subpar Cuban cuisine and experience the remarkable Cuban culture. I also find NCL's pricing about double what it was last year at this time.

 

I started investigating vacations out east for summer. Maybe Halifax and PEI. I am not even planning my usual Florida getaway for next year.

[ilovetotravel1977]

I started investigating vacations out east for summer. Maybe Halifax and PEI. I am not even planning my usual Florida getaway for next year.

 

Lots to do here in Nova Scotia, Halifax in particular! PEI has lots as well :)

Edited January 17, 2016 by ilovetotravel1977

[FSNA5861]

With the canadian dollar dropping drastically, the final payments for my upcoming cruises is increasing by 47% as of 15 Jan 16. These cruises were booked through a US TA and although the rates were pretty good back then, I had to cancel two cruises that were booked for Nov 16 due to a much higher cost in CAD which makes them no longer affordable.

 

Although we have 4 FCC on hand, we will not make further bookings until the CAD recovers against the USD.

 

Our dollar is directly affected by a drop in prices for commodities such as oil and natural resources.

 

We certainly hope that the CAD will gain in value as we truly enjoy cruising.

[Mr and Mrs C]

We will still cruise, make sure to book in Canadian dollars when booking your cruise.

Just got back off the 10 day Gem, we enjoyed the cruise but did not spend much money at all when shopping in the ports and before the cruise in NY compared to what we would normally spend.

[sebas030]

We are sailing in 6 days because we booked 1 year ago and it was paid in full ( gratuities also ) a few months ago when the $ exchange was still acceptable....

 

My gf wants to sail again in 10 or 12 months...but it will not happen unless the CAD goes up significantly.

 

I guess we will visit the western part of Canada next year.

 

Cruising will resume IF the CAD goes up OR if Ncl does a special exchange rate for us poor Canadian...

[xcell]

My next cruise is on March and then...none unless I find a good deal. Not sure what I'm going to do without a vacation (first world problems).

 

I was watching my cruise history and I started to cruise when the loonies was an all time low... funny it ends as when it started...

 

Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk

[Paddy41]

 

My gf wants to sail again in 10 or 12 months...but it will not happen unless the CAD goes up significantly.

 

I guess we will visit the western part of Canada next year.

 

Cruising will resume IF the CAD goes up OR if Ncl does a special exchange rate for us poor Canadian...

 

Are you reading the previous posts? (see post #7) NCL IS giving Canadians a special exchange rate. If you book in Canadian dollars you will pay only 11% more than the US price quoted! What more do you want? $2,000US = $2,220CAD. At the bank today: $2,000US = $2,907CAD.

 

However, a visit to western Canada is an even better idea. For myself, I'd love to see PEI.

Edited January 17, 2016 by Paddy41
add on

[Canagirl]

Are you reading the previous posts? (see post #7) NCL IS giving Canadians a special exchange rate. If you book in Canadian dollars you will pay only 11% more than the US price quoted! What more do you want? $2,000US = $2,220CAD. At the bank today: $2,000US = $2,907CAD.

 

However, a visit to western Canada is an even better idea. For myself, I'd love to see PEI.

 

Those rates are gone if you book now. I booked through NCL in CDN$ and any extras (OBC, pre-paid DSC, etc.) now cost 1.33 - still better than the bank, but the 1.11 rates are gone for anyone booking now.

 

As for the fare, NCL now gives Canadians 10% off the base fare only. Taxes, gratuities on the promos, etc. are charged at 1.33. Better than bank rate, but not as great as before.

 

The only way to get a better price is to find an agent with a group booking.

 

If you price a cruise in US$ on the NCL site and then go to one of the Canadian sites, you can do the calculations and see the taxes being calculated at 1.33.

[xcell]

Those rates are gone if you book now. I booked through NCL in CDN$ and any extras (OBC, pre-paid DSC, etc.) now cost 1.33 - still better than the bank, but the 1.11 rates are gone for anyone booking now.

 

As for the fare, NCL now gives Canadians 10% off the base fare only. Taxes, gratuities on the promos, etc. are charged at 1.33. Better than bank rate, but not as great as before.

 

The only way to get a better price is to find an agent with a group booking.

 

If you price a cruise in US$ on the NCL site and then go to one of the Canadian sites, you can do the calculations and see the taxes being calculated at 1.33.

 

 

Not true... I got my march cruise for 1.08...

 

There's also a July cruise almost at par...mind you the cruise is pretty expensive for a balcony of 4 (BD - around $5300 CDN) but USD is $5200

[Canagirl]

Not true... I got my march cruise for 1.08...

 

There's also a July cruise almost at par...mind you the cruise is pretty expensive for a balcony of 4 (BD - around $5300 CDN) but USD is $5200

 

Yes, if you find a group booking - but you won't get a rate like that for non-group bookings.

 

NCL put out a memo to travel agents advising of the new pricing structure for Canadians.

[xcell]

Mine was single. .. so was the July. ...

 

Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk

[Canagirl]

Mine was single. .. so was the July. ...

 

Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk

 

I'm not sure if you booked through NCL or elsewhere. If you booked through NCL, that is great - either for some reason they are having a promotion for Canadians/resident rate, etc. for that cruise. However, as a standard rate for Canadians booking any cruise as in the past - those great rates are gone.

 

If you booked outside of NCL, a group booking is as described in oseberle's post. You wouldn't necessarily know it was a group booking other than the fact that the price is better. It doesn't mean you would personally have to book more than one cabin.

 

If you're flexible it pays to look around for these as NCL has changed their rates for Canadians and if you can't find a cruise with special pricing you will be charged under their new policy.

 

You can do a dummy booking on NCL in U.S. dollars and look at the taxes. Then do a dummy booking on a Canadian site. If the taxes on NCL = about 1.33 on the Canadian site, it is using NCL's new Canadian rate and all extras will be charged at 1.33 (I think NCL updates their rate about every 3 months. So I don't know if they will raise this again - hopefully not!)

 

If you can find a cruise with a better rate - definitely book it if it works for you. The agency likely has a group booking giving you a better rate than if you booked with NCL directly.

Edited January 17, 2016 by Canagirl

[OzCanuck]

Not true... I got my march cruise for 1.08...

 

There's also a July cruise almost at par...mind you the cruise is pretty expensive for a balcony of 4 (BD - around $5300 CDN) but USD is $5200

 

But when did you book? In my experience in the past 4 years it is the NCL rate at the time of booking that determines all your pre-cruise pre-paid expenses/payments. Once onboard it just flips over to USD charges.

[Lady Arwen]

We booked Breakaway for May last spring and got it at 1.07. Prepaid our gratuities and bought $800.00 in OBC at that rate. Booked our air with Westjet at the same time and guess what.....fare went down by about $100.00 as of Friday.....go figure! We were able to get an aft balcony as an amazing price.

 

Booked HAL's new ship for November 3 months ago. Got a great price for a 10 day, but we had to book a large inside cabin instead of a balcony. Paid $2000.00 for both of us, all in. Air was booked through HAL for additional $1048.00. Checked prices yesterday and a standard inside is now about $3400.00!

 

After these two cruises, who knows. If the CA dollar is still low, we might just stay in Canada for awhile.

[Macadian]

We bit the bullet and are off on a cruise in February. Current exchange rate made it painful to be sure and it will be our last cruise for a while for the forseeable future. We usually book at least one cruise in advance however we will not do so as the current exchange rate is no longer sustainable, at least for us. It's not just the cost of the cruise, but such as cost of insurance, travel etc are also impacted. I don't see much changing for the better in the next year at least, and probably longer so "staycations' looks like the plan. It is what it is...

Edited January 17, 2016 by Macadian

[mugtech]

I see this as a great opportunity to convince my wife we should take the Gem cruise to Canada this year, when her US $ will buy more in Halifax, help out our neighbors of the north.

[Macadian]

I see this as a great opportunity to convince my wife we should take the Gem cruise to Canada this year, when her US $ will buy more in Halifax, help out our neighbors of the north.

 

Agreed! Surprised more of our southern cousins don't take advantage of the current Canadian Peso....lol. If I didn't laugh, I would cry....:)

Edited January 17, 2016 by Macadian