RCCL on board currency

[jasonv93]

Any idea if Royal Caribbean allows you to select the currency for further on board charges like gratuity etc?  Want to have it all be in Canadian currency to avoid the credit card fees. NCL allows this, so wondering about RCCL

[TeaBag]

We haven't sailed RCCL, but we sail Celebrity (same group) and on board currency is USD.  I understand your problem.  We keep a USD Visa and Amex for travel outside Canada.  You could get some US cash before you leave and use that for tips.  If you have booked your cruise through a TA and they give you OBC, I believe you can ask for it in cash the last day of the cruise and use that for the gratuities.  

Welcome to Cruise Critic....a great site!

Enjoy your cruise.

[MamatoJack]

My experience was that anything purchases on board was in USD, however you could prepay for things in CAD. Even if I don't choose to prepay the gratuities when I book, I'd often call before I sail and prepay them then. 

[broberts]

I believe Royal Caribbean onboard charges are US$. However unless directed otherwise it will convert to CA$ when charging Canadian cc. There is a fee involved, if memory serves 2.5%.

[K_e_short]

I just got back from a cruise and used my TD Visa.

 

I was not charged credit card fees on the US transactions. The only thing was the exchange rate.

 

Is that normal to have your credit card charge a fee for us transactions?

[Fouremco]

You are better off paying in USD, as cruise lines tend to use a disadvantageous exchange rate. Figure out what you might need for gratuities and any onboard purchases, then buy some USD before heading to your cruise.

[MamatoJack]

1 hour ago, K_e_short said:

I just got back from a cruise and used my TD Visa.

 

I was not charged credit card fees on the US transactions. The only thing was the exchange rate.

 

Is that normal to have your credit card charge a fee for us transactions?

 

Some cards don't charge additional fees but the ones I have do charge an additional percentage (I think it's 2.5% but I'd have to look) over the actual exchange rate. I factor that in when I calculate how much things will cost. 

[Magicat]

Royal uses USD.  The exchange rate is set by Miami and I cannot remember if it is per sailing or month.  We know this as we were exchanging cash (Canadian to US) when our dollar was $1.06 USD and they gave it to us at par.  That was the explanation they gave us.  

[K_e_short]

23 minutes ago, MamatoJack said:

 

Some cards don't charge additional fees but the ones I have do charge an additional percentage (I think it's 2.5% but I'd have to look) over the actual exchange rate. I factor that in when I calculate how much things will cost. 

 

Ah good to know.

 

I know Carnival allows you to pay off your bill in cash. I did that on the last night. Then other then the holds on your credit card you would have no fees or charges at all.

 

[lots-of-km2]

6 hours ago, K_e_short said:

I just got back from a cruise and used my TD Visa.

 

I relied on TD Visa for USD purchases for a number of years, until I came across Rogers World Elite MasterCard two years ago.  The Rogers card gives a 3% cash back reward on all USD purchases. It's a good deal  because it more than cancels out the forex fee of 2.5%, it has trip interruption and cancellation insurance, rental car CDW coverage and some other perks -- and there's no annual fee for the card.  

 

I'm not shilling for the card, I just think it's a really good product 🙂

[K_e_short]

8 hours ago, lots-of-km2 said:

 

I relied on TD Visa for USD purchases for a number of years, until I came across Rogers World Elite MasterCard two years ago.  The Rogers card gives a 3% cash back reward on all USD purchases. It's a good deal  because it more than cancels out the forex fee of 2.5%, it has trip interruption and cancellation insurance, rental car CDW coverage and some other perks -- and there's no annual fee for the card.  

 

I'm not shilling for the card, I just think it's a really good product 🙂

 

In June once I was fully vaccinated (or so I thought at the time), I decided to get the TD Visa Aeroplan card so that I could have some perks when I went back to travelling.

It gave me a bunch of aeroplan miles, free first piece of luggage, and a buddy pass (my son's plane ticket to and from Orlando was free).

I also get a free Nexus card renewal, free Uber Eats delivery for 6 months, and the insurance part as well.

It does have a fee but if I'm able to travel as much as I want to (hahaha - thanks omicron) it will pay for itself.

To be snobby we upgraded to business class for both flights and I might get used to that, so having aeroplan miles to upgrade is a bonus.

[Fouremco]

Back in the 1990's, I took a business trip to Vancouver with one of my employees, and noticed that she paid for everything with her TD credit card, even for purchases as small as a package of chewing gum. This was my introduction to the concept of credit card points, and I immediately applied for a card upon our return to Ottawa. Since then, I've kept a close watch on which cards provided the best potential benefits for me and have changed many times. FWIW, we've used the Rogers World Elite MasterCard as our primary card ever since it came on the market, but always have a valid VISA and AMEX card too. 

 

[lots-of-km2]

@K_e_short, that's an awesome bunch of perks!   And business class isn't snobby -- it's 's a nice flying experience, even sweeter when it can done as a last minute bargain. 

 

As for charges that credit cards levy onto people when they buy stuff in foreign currency:  they typically charge a 2.5% currency conversion fee, above and beyond the market exchange rate.  It's the bank's profit for doing the currency exchange -- they don't like to give stuff away.   When you see the CDN dollar conversion of your US spend on your credit card statement, that extra 2.5% is padded into the CDN dollar amount. 

[lots-of-km2]

5 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

Since then, I've kept a close watch on which cards provided the best potential benefits for me and have changed many times.

 

I'm tempted to move around like that, but worry that it will have an impact on credit rating.  Does it? 

[Fouremco]

17 minutes ago, lots-of-km2 said:

 

I'm tempted to move around like that, but worry that it will have an impact on credit rating.  Does it? 

No, I've always maintained an excellent credit rating. But when I said "many times", that's over a period of 25 year or so. It probably works out to one card dropped and another added every three years or so. I always pay my balances in full every month, so adding a card isn't viewed as risky.

 

Also, in some cases I've switched cards offered by the same financial institute. For example, I had the Rogers Platinum MasterCard for a number of years before switching to their World Elite MasterCard when they first offered it. As I was a known entity who always paid in full monthly, Rogers simply issued the new card. The same thing with RBC's WestJet card that I used for several years until I found that I was flying less and less with WestJet. I dropped that card but went with another RBC card just to get the 3¢ per litre saving at PetroCan. It does offer a very minor cash back benefit too, but I only use the card for gas purchases. Again, I was a known entity to RBC so there was no credit issue switching cards. 

[iancal]

Our RCI on board costs have been in USD.  

 

We always ask, no matter what cruise line, that our credit cards are charged in that same 'local" currency.  No different then we do with all charges incurred out of country.

 

Our credit card does not charge the typical 2.5-3 percent hidden admin fee on FX transactions. 

 

We make a habit of going to the purser's desk the day before disembarkation to double check this.

 

If we do not, we find that the cruise lines have a habit of converting our on board bill to CAD at a very unattractive (to us) exchange rate.   Princess was by far the worst in our experience.

[iancal]

On board currency can make a large difference.

 

We got off a 14 day Princess Fiji cruise in Sydney.  Three weeks later we were boarding a last minute 21 day RCI  OZ/NZ cruise.

 

The on board currency on Princess was AUD.   It parallels our CAD to a large extent.

 

The onboard RCI currency was USD.  At that time a 30 percent difference.  Compounding that was the fact that prices, same for same, on RCI were typically 20-30 percent higher.   

 

Bottom line was that on board charges were 40-50 percent higher.  Beer, wine, etc all cost 50 percent more when converted to CAD.

Edited January 6, 2022 by iancal

[iancal]

We use a no fee Home Trust card for fx transactions.  Pre covid anywhere from $10K-$20K per year. Sometimes more since we typically buy cruises from a US agency.

 

That translates into a $250-$500 saving in hidden credit card fx fees. 

[lots-of-km2]

2 hours ago, iancal said:

That translates into a $250-$500 saving in hidden credit card fx fees.

Not having to pay the forex fee can be significant.  And I've found that buying cruises on a site that takes competing cruise bids from multiple US agencies - in USD - does too. It all helps.  

Edited January 8, 2022 by lots-of-km2

[iancal]

21 minutes ago, lots-of-km2 said:

Not having to pay the forex fee can be significant.  And I've found that buying cruises on a site that takes competing cruise bids from multiple US agencies - in USD - does too. It all helps.  

Yes.  We purchased our most recent RCI cruise ( last minute OZ/NZ) by buying from RCI's Sydney call centre.   30 percent less than the best price our regular on line  US TA could give us. Unusual. 

 

During our last extended trip to Mexico we picked two late bookings..a 5 day AI in Playa and another 5 day AI in PV.  We bought it in GBP through an on line UK TA.   It pays to shop.

 

 

Edited January 8, 2022 by iancal

[lots-of-km2]

@iancal, that's a very interesting idea.  Thanks! Toying with the idea of doing OZ/NZ in 2023 or 2024, but until now I hadn't looked further afield than the US for pricing. 

[cruzn1974]

We have an upcoming sailing on Allure 01/30 and when I called to ask they said that we could talk to Guest Relations when onboard to covert the onboard charges to CAD but it would be at their rate (which I'm assuming will be even higher than the USD and corresponding 2.5% Visa fee)   

[Magicat]

On 1/6/2022 at 11:16 AM, Fouremco said:

Back in the 1990's, I took a business trip to Vancouver with one of my employees, and noticed that she paid for everything with her TD credit card, even for purchases as small as a package of chewing gum. This was my introduction to the concept of credit card points, and I immediately applied for a card upon our return to Ottawa. Since then, I've kept a close watch on which cards provided the best potential benefits for me and have changed many times. FWIW, we've used the Rogers World Elite MasterCard as our primary card ever since it came on the market, but always have a valid VISA and AMEX card too. 

 

Amex has a promotion going on to earn up to 90K Aeroplan points over the course of 1 year.  For a small fee of $599 for the card, it does seems tempting to ditch my Visa card.  

[lots-of-km2]

3 hours ago, cruzn1974 said:

We have an upcoming sailing on Allure 01/30 and when I called to ask they said that we could talk to Guest Relations when onboard to covert the onboard charges to CAD but it would be at their rate (which I'm assuming will be even higher than the USD and corresponding 2.5% Visa fee)   

 

Yes. You're much better off having your credit card company do the forex exchange, and to be explicit  from the get-go in asking for cruise companies to keep their on-board charges in USD.  Cruise companies' rates of exchange are worse, and if a passenger doesn't ask up front for on-board charges in USD only*, they've been known to take the 'initiative' themselves and convert to CAD without asking you.    

 

    *aside from cruises out of Australia, which may charge in AUS, not USD. 

[iancal]

We use these sites from time to time to verify that we are not paying those hidden admin charges.  It also depends what day and what time the charge is processed by visa.

 

https://usa.visa.com/support/consumer/travel-support/exchange-rate-

calculator.html

 

You input your visa admin fee. Typically either 0, 2.5, or sometimes as high as 3 percent.   

 

https://www.xe.com/

Edited January 10, 2022 by iancal