Pre-Payment of Excursions

[SWORRUB1]

I have opted to pay my on board account in US$.

 

I can pre-pay for grats, and Beverage packages in GBP , but not it would seem Excursions, anyone got any ideas?

[brian1]

I have opted to pay my on board account in US$.

 

I can pre-pay for grats, and Beverage packages in GBP , but not it would seem Excursions, anyone got any ideas?

Hi,you can prepay OBC and pay on the cruise.We done the same,when we contacted our Princess cruise guy at Southampton we got $1.538 to the GBP when the current rate is 1.46,this is locked in for the year.This makes our excursions in Alaska in Sept cheaper than private companies,which is a first for us as we always try and book private tours,cheers,Brian.

[bee-ess]

Hi,you can prepay OBC and pay on the cruise.We done the same,when we contacted our Princess cruise guy at Southampton we got $1.538 to the GBP when the current rate is 1.46,this is locked in for the year.This makes our excursions in Alaska in Sept cheaper than private companies,which is a first for us as we always try and book private tours,cheers,Brian.

 

Also I think you can gift yourself some OBC online at the same advantageous rate. We did it last year and it is a good saving if you can roughly estimate your OBC in dollars and then buy it in £ at a better rate. It was available in the gift section at least it was last year.

[SWORRUB1]

Good ideas, I notice that the AIBP confirms exactly that rate $56.35 and GBP36.63 which when I went to school, equates to an Exchange rate of $1.5384 =1GBP.

 

 

Excellent Stuff!

 

 

:)

 

Any ideas how long that this rate is valid for? Is it until end 2016?

 

Also tried OBC and that is GB16.25 for $25.00!

Edited May 31, 2016 by SWORRUB1
Thought of something else! and theres more!

[bee-ess]

Good ideas, I notice that the AIBP confirms exactly that rate $56.35 and GBP36.63 which when I went to school, equates to an Exchange rate of $1.5384 =1GBP.

 

 

Excellent Stuff!

 

 

:)

 

Any ideas how long that this rate is valid for? Is it until end 2016?

 

Also tried OBC and that is GB16.25 for $25.00!

 

Sorry, I Don't know how long it lasts. I just looked back and this time last year we bought $1100 and saved £120 against the then current rate. Then $100 cost £60 (1.66 rate). Well worth doing.

[brian1]

,Hi,we got 1.66 last year also for our christmas cruise.As I said its locked in for the year.Also our prepaid grats are at this rate.If there is any excess to pay on portfolio we use a Santander Zero credit card which gives money market rates with no fees.This card is no longer issued,but once had it they continue to renew it.I think Halifax do an equivelant,cheers,Brian. ps I didnt know you can now do this online,we had to phone our guy at Princess for the OBC.

[SWORRUB1]

,Hi,we got 1.66 last year also for our christmas cruise.As I said its locked in for the year.Also our prepaid grats are at this rate.If there is any excess to pay on portfolio we use a Santander Zero credit card which gives money market rates with no fees.This card is no longer issued,but once had it they continue to renew it.I think Halifax do an equivelant,cheers,Brian. ps I didnt know you can now do this online,we had to phone our guy at Princess for the OBC.

 

 

Thanks Brian I was so amazed at the answer that I didnt really read the bit about validity. Its super, can pay bits off now as I go along. I have a Halifax Clarity Card as you mentioned above, pay some into the account before you leave and it costs you nothing to extract cash all over the world! Worked in Tallin pefectly , and Bergen and Stavanger! If you have any credit left when you get back just use it to buy the groceries hahahahaha :D

[minikiss]

Good ideas, I notice that the AIBP confirms exactly that rate $56.35 and GBP36.63 which when I went to school, equates to an Exchange rate of $1.5384 =1GBP.

 

 

Excellent Stuff!

 

 

:)

 

Any ideas how long that this rate is valid for? Is it until end 2016?

 

Also tried OBC and that is GB16.25 for $25.00!

 

From past experiences the rates are set at the time of booking for that 1 cruise. If you were to book the same cruise 6 months later you May or May not get the same rate..... depend on a few factors which i'm not sure of. Like wise next time you book your next one your likely to get a different rate altogether.

The 1st one we took in 2010 the rate was $2 to the £. since then we have had slightly lower rates, but each time it's been a no brainer to add gift credit or pre pay as much as we could based on better than actual rates of exchange.

As to the excursions which was the OP question I like and prefer the way Princess work when it comes to booking them. ie billed only on the day of the tour.

I tend to gift credit enough to over the tour we have planned.

we were supposed to go zip lining in St Lucia but it got cancelled that morning due to heavy rain. no messing about with being credited back to the account the money for it. I think if I had pre paid the process would have been a lot messier if we had.

 

1 reason i'm not buying any from Carnival as i'd have to pay for it up front and i'm not keen on that.

 

I like the OP try and pre pay as much as I can as I like to have as little as possible to pay for when we return.

Last year I was in credit so had to ask for a refund.

Another thing Carnival don't do! :eek: if you gift credit in advance and don't spend it all they keep it. no way am I going to give my well earned money away:eek:

[brian1]

Hi,I dont know about Carnival but on Princess the rate is locked in each year.When you book the cruise is irrelavant.Any OBC prepaid by you is refundable.OBC given by Princess is not refundable but that is debited on your portfolio before any prepaid by you.We had $84 left over from our last cruise, we just added it to our next cruise.We also could have had it refunded if we chose.Cheers,Brian.