Currency £ v $

[Louand66]

Just noticed the £ is at 1.40$.

 

Does this make much difference on the ship and also in the caribbean.

 

I assume you pay everything in us dollars ?

 

Many thanks

 

 

[wowzz]

34 minutes ago, louand47 said:

Just noticed the £ is at 1.40$.

 

Does this make much difference on the ship and also in the caribbean.

 

I assume you pay everything in us dollars ?

 

Many thanks

 

 

All it means is that when you convert £ into USD you get slightly more for your money,and your credit card bill will be slightly smaller. But in reality, the odd cent here or there means nothing.

Make sure you do not let the ship do the exchange for you when you pay your bill at the end of the cruise. Their FX rate is poor.

[2BACRUISER]

I always pay my ships account in the currency its issued in with my credit card and let the credit card company do the conversion, i usually get a rate that i'm happy with. As said above do not let the ship convert your bill to sterling the rate is always to their benefit not yours!! 

[Louand66]

So do i need to tell them to do it in the issued currency or will they do this automatically.

 

[wowzz]

34 minutes ago, louand47 said:

So do i need to tell them to do it in the issued currency or will they do this automatically.

 

They normally ask if you want it to be converted,  and you just decline.

[Reina del Mar]

Just choose the issued currency and decline ship converting as their rate is not usually as good.

 

Also make sure you have a Credit Card which does not charge ‘transaction fees’. 

(Not sure whether I am allowed to mention any..but there are several.)

[wowzz]

Oh for the days when you got over $2 to the £1 ! 

[caribill]

21 hours ago, louand47 said:

So do i need to tell them to do it in the issued currency or will they do this automatically.

 

 

It used to be a question in the Personalizer. I do not know if it still is.

 

No matter what, it does not hurt to confirm at the Customer Service Desk during the cruise that they cforrectly know your choice.

[sandancer]

It’s a good idea to check half way through the cruise that they have followed your request. We’ve had instances in the past that despite us telling them to bill us in $ and let our cc company convert, they have ignored it and done the conversion. We are in the fortunate situation of having one of those cards with no foreign exchange charges. I don’t think any cruise critic guidelines will be broken by mentioning credit card companies, only applies to travel agents I think. 

Edited May 11, 2021 by sandancer

[wowzz]

30 minutes ago, sandancer said:

It’s a good idea to check half way through the cruise that they have followed your request. We’ve had instances in the past that despite us telling them to bill us in $ and let our cc company convert, they have ignored it and done the conversion. We are in the fortunate situation of having one of those cards with no foreign exchange charges. I don’t think any cruise critic guidelines will be broken by mentioning credit card companies, only applies to travel agents I think. 

Good advice, but, in my experience the cruise lines do not actually process a payment until the end of the cruise, they merely place a hold on your card, so they can be sure your card is valid.

Edited May 11, 2021 by wowzz

[CCFC]

Up to $1.41.5 now.

[wowzz]

1 minute ago, CCFC said:

Up to $1.41.5 now.

$2 here we come!

Mind you, that means petrol shoots up in price, and FTSE dividends fall!

[sandancer]

29 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Good advice, but, in my experience the cruise lines do not actually process a payment until the end of the cruise, they merely place a hold on your card, so they can be sure your card is valid.

Agreed. It was when checking that they were actually doing what we requested that we discovered they were converting to sterling so we were able to have it adjusted. I should also mention that it was not a Princess cruise. 

[caribill]

19 hours ago, sandancer said:

It’s a good idea to check half way through the cruise that they have followed your request. We’ve had instances in the past that despite us telling them to bill us in $ and let our cc company convert, they have ignored it and done the conversion. We are in the fortunate situation of having one of those cards with no foreign exchange charges.

That is only part of the cost of having Princess do or not do the conversion.

a) Princess uses a poor (for you) exchange rate if they do the conversion.

b) Princess charges you 3% for the convenience to you of doing the conversion at a poor rate.

c) Your own bank may or may not have a foreign transaction charge which can be as high as 3%. Note this is a foreign transaction charge, not a foreign currency exchange charge, so whether or not Princess does the conversion does not affect a fee your bank might charge. (And sandancer has a card without this fee.)

 

Also, when using a credit/debit card in a foreign country, the merchant may try to make you let them do the currency conversion. If you let them, it will be at a poor exchange rate for you. I always insist the charge be made in the local currency and let my bank do the conversion.

 

Same if using a debit card at a foreign ATM machine. Do not let the machine do the conversion to your currency.