Credit card conversion fees

[jefa]

Bill B, my first cruise I checked the box to let my bank deal with the exchange, yet Princess ignored that and converted it for me, I was $147 down so I wrote Princess asking for a refund of that, and never got it.

[Bill B]

Jeffa,

 

To answer your question, it seems they do not take any personal checks. From my 'Cruise Personaliser' -

 

"We accept U.S., Canadian, British and Euro currencies, and traveler's checks. American Express/Optima®, Diners Club/Carte Blanche®, Discover® Network, the JCB Card®, MasterCard® and Visa® are also accepted. Those paying by traveler's checks or cash will be required to leave a cash deposit with the Purser's staff at the beginning of the cruise."

[iancal]

I would advise against having your charges converted by Princess. I would strongly advise you to double check these instructions once you are on the ship. In our experience this choice does not always get communicated to the Purser's Desk.

 

We stopped using our CIBC Visa card and ATM card for foreign transactions and ATM withdrawals quite some time ago. We go tired of paying the 2.5 percent uplift that they charge on these transactions. We switched to a Chase Bank Canada card (Amazon or Marriott) which DO NOT add the 2.5 percent.

 

Just checked a foreign visa transaction on the Chase card against the on line FX rate. It was correct to the third decimal point. We travel frequently and often travel on the web in foreign currencies. The Chase card saves us a considerable amount of money over our CIBC Visa each year.

Edited October 10, 2016 by iancal

[Lucky TGO]

We are going to use a Canadian CIBC Visa card on our upcoming cruise. Shall we let our credit card do the conversion or Princess? Thanks for any feedback.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Let the CC do the conversion it will costs you less.

Tony

[jefa]

Jeffa,

 

To answer your question, it seems they do not take any personal checks. From my 'Cruise Personaliser' -

 

"We accept U.S., Canadian, British and Euro currencies, and traveler's checks. American Express/Optima®, Diners Club/Carte Blanche®, Discover® Network, the JCB Card®, MasterCard® and Visa® are also accepted. Those paying by traveler's checks or cash will be required to leave a cash deposit with the Purser's staff at the beginning of the cruise."

 

Thanks for that, I'll just have to try and find a branch of my bank and cash a cheque before I board.