Is Princess ripping off canadians?

[DanJ]

Also, as a side point, I always put a deposit on my account in cash and pay the account off at the end. I've never left a credit card so I guess that would solve the whole end of the cruise exchange rate issue...Should I recommend to others in my group to pay off their accounts in us cash instead of using the credit card?

 

I have paid off my account on previous cruises, if the casino hasn't taken it all by then LOL. Now I have a credit card that gives me Air Miles, so I let the charges go through. (I even took a cash advance in the casino. The Miles I got for that were more than worth the 3% charge to do the advance.) If you are concerned about getting hit by these various service charges, then go ahead and pay it off during the cruise.

[mr green]

Mr Green, first cruise in 1955, second 1996. Why the long wait between 1 and 2? :confused:

 

I sailed to Canada to seek fame and fortune in '55.:rolleyes: Joking aside 'Home Lines' did much for cruising as we know it to-day. While few passengers were 'cruisers' as we are to-day, the ship organized some entertainment, wine was free at lunch and dinner, and drinks were TAX FREE, at 10c a shot! Even I, with my fifty pounds to take me to the 'New World' could drink. In the '60s she became a cruise ship, as opposed to the task of moving people. Homeric had a fire in '73, and was followed by Homeric II, which was I believe the first ship to have a retractable roof over the swimming pool. Home Lines was purchased by HAL in the '80s, and Homeric became the old Westerdam, I sailed on her a few years ago, and had a great cruise. I had a better 'cruise' on the origional Homeric, than a few that I have taken in the past 10 years. Built in 1932 as SS Mariposo, she was a U.S. Navy troop ship in 1941, sold in 1953 she had a re-fit, was 18,563 tonnes, 641 feet long, and carried 1,200 passengers. If she were still around I would sail on her again! :) john

[cdncruzer]

thefourofusandallourfriends-congrats on getting the price available in USD!

As SuiteCruiser mentioned...price quoted was for a 2007 cruise.................it seems sooooo far away! Anyway there's the difference I guess! And yes it came direct from princess.com site.

 

Regardless...we are booked! In 2002 on our very first cruise the rate was an atrocious 1.62....looking back @ that rate hurts but there is absolutely no regrets as far as the cruise goes! You always remember your first!

[the4ofusandallourfriends]

Thankyou everyone....we did lose our Group booking status though...it was an either or thing...oh well, I doubt we would have had any amenities matching what we saved with the exchange.

 

Now I'm getting butterflies....this will be my first time on Princess.

[Lynnees]

I know I'm late jumping in late on this one, but we paid in U.S. dollars for the cruise we're about to take on the Tahitian Princess.

 

We had to tell they we were willing to leave from Buffalo, which of course, we intended to do anyway. We couldn't pay in U.S. dollars though if we said we would be leaving from Toronto.

 

We are leaving from Buffalo anyway. I've made our own arrangements from Buf to LAX and we will be using Princess Air from LAX to Papeeta.

Besides it's a whole lot cheaper to leave from Buffalo.

[CruisinFinsUp]

I phoned Princess directly. Princess insists on charging 1.25 currency exchange (instead of the current 1.14 rate). I've asked if we can pay in US Funds (which NCL has always complied with) and Princess says they can't. This will result in each room paying over $200 more, than their American counterparts. Has anyone gotten around this?

 

Hi,

We booked our upcoming cruise directly with Princess. They asked us - "do you want us to bill your credit card in CDN or US"? We asked the amounts, did the math and said "US" - the billings all came thru in US.

No problems what so ever.

 

But reading all this here, I'll be very careful onboard to ensure our account is billed in US - I've already given my credit card for express checkin = maybe I'll phone Princess again and request US billing for the onboard account be noted on the file.

 

Yes the credit card company's exchange rate is 1-2% higher than the market exchange rate, but when you exchange cash at the bank, there is also a markup built into the rate or a service charge added, same as when you buy travellers cheques. No matter how you exchange money, there is always a cut for the bank. You should just know how much the cut is, and make sure you are happy with how much you are paying. ;)

[the4ofusandallourfriends]

The inconsistencies frustrate me to no end :(

[DanJ]

 

But reading all this here, I'll be very careful onboard to ensure our account is billed in US - I've already given my credit card for express checkin = maybe I'll phone Princess again and request US billing for the onboard account be noted on the file.

 

Check the cruise personalizer on the Princess website. There may be a check box on there for what currency to bill the credit card in. I can't remember.

[edYYZ]

Last year, we had no problem with booking in USD. However, I learned that if you want to pay in a particular currency, they must also hold the cabin in the same currency (I was booked in CAD but when I wanted to finalize and pay in USD they had to release and rebook the cabin, which might cause you to lose the spot if there's someone waitlisted). I have no idea if Princess has changed it so this year you have to pay in CAD. We have never booked Princess air, which might be another reason why.

 

Anyone cruising soon, do be aware of the onboard form and that check box (I still don't know where). We were surprised to have everything converted to CAD and only found out we had to opt out at the beginning when we went to the Purser's desk at the end of the cruise. What an unpleasant surprise!

[iancal]

I have the SAME issue with Princess and after reading countless posts believe that they do this on purpose to knowingly increase revenue. The polite expression would be cheating their passengers.

 

I indicated on the Cruise Personaliser that I wanted to be billed in American dollars, ie NOT have my US dollar ship account changed into my home currency amount.

 

Sure enough, when I asked for a copy of my bill on the second last day..they had billed me in Canadian funds and at an exchange rate that was 4 points higher than Visa.

 

Fortunately, thanks to Cruise Critic positing that I had read, I did think the check prior to disembarkation. The Purser's desk treated me like it was my fault. This really put me off (it was our first Princess cruise) and this Never have an issue with actual cruise purchase, always buy on line and so far it has always been with a US based agency in US currency. Have since noticed that some retail stores ask the same question (Target for one). If you answer yes, you get charged in Cdn. at a high rate

[mississauga]

Anyone cruising soon, do be aware of the onboard form and that check box (I still don't know where). We were surprised to have everything converted to CAD and only found out we had to opt out at the beginning when we went to the Purser's desk at the end of the cruise. What an unpleasant surprise!

 

The box that you have to check is on the card that you authorize for all your on board charges to be billed to the credit card you have provided. The box is in the upper right hand corner of the card. Even if you do this, double check at the purser's desk the night before disembarkment to see that they have not converted your charges to your country of residence. On our last cruise, even though we checked the box, my folio was not converted but DH's was so I will follow my own advice for our upcoming April cruise and make a visit to the purser's desk on last night. ( before the line-ups......don't bother on the morning of disembarkment as you will be in line for more than an hour)

[newkim]

....we are on the Sapphire on Saturday and want to have our OB accounts settled in US$. I will check the proper area on our documents to have this done as I have a US$ credit card and can purchase US$ at a favourable rate through work. We have booked our cruise with a US agent and paid in U$ for this cruise.

We booked with the same US agent last year and had no problems booking in US$ and flying with Princess Air from Toronto either. OB account was settled in US$ last year without any problems and our future cruise credits were also booked in US$. So all worked out fine last year and I am expecting the same outcome this year too. I have a Canadian TA who will also book Princess in US$ but she can't beat the prices my US agent can find.

So I don't think your problem is with Princess but rather your TA that doesn't know their way around the system.

[DanJ]

You don't have to wait until the last night to check the account. And my experience has been that any time after noon hour or so on the last day, the pursers desk is pretty well lined up. I got a print out of mine on the second last day.

[phillipahain]

Its the onboard accounts system ONLY where one encounters the crazy problem of them converting to the currency of YOUR PASSPORT /nationality

 

You can tick the box , you can write on the form .....charge in US Dollars

 

You can even see the Pursers assistant and write to the Purser as we did and be 100% assured the account will be charged in US Dollars

 

You can get a final statement as we did stating that our credit card has been charged xxx US Dollars

 

However you get home and find your credit card/ US Dollar Account has been charged in Sterling or Canadian or Australian .......which is what we have had following our departure from Island Princess Feb 15th

 

Captains Circle have now been alerted and the matter is now going to be investigated at high level so watch this space

[Moose Tracks]

DH and I are in the "other boat". Back in December we booked our first Princess cruise for 2007. Our TA made the booking and came back saying Princess had processed it in USD. I checked the Princess website and saw they were charging an exchange of 1.25 (at that time I could buy USD for around 1.18) so said to our TA to leave it as USD and paid the deposit in USD. Now their exchange rate for 2007 has dropped to 1.15 so unless the USD drops/CAD rises so I can purchase at 1.15 to pay off the balance owing toward the end of 2006, I'll be out money. Not worth trying to change the booking at this time for less than $100 difference (my luck the booking would get messed up). Guess, sometimes it doesn't pay to book early. Oh well, you win some, you lose some...still looking forward to trying Princess.

Lynn

[Cruise Junky]

We've never had a problem with our onboard account being in US, but they wouldn't ever let us book a cruise and pay in US dollars. We've always had to pay in Canadian at an unfavorable rate. We used the same US based on-line agency for our Celebrity cruise...everything was in US....went to book a Princess cruise (both times booking our own air) and they had to convert it to Canadian pricing...Sucks!!

[RDR]

It appears to me that Princess has made on adjustment with regards to their online prices. Price in USD is listed $999.00..... @ rate of 1.15 = $1148.85CAD... which is exactly what their online prices are showing. However this wasn't the case 2-6weeks ago when the rate was @ 1.25!

 

We booked through a TA and will pay in CDN funds but that doesn't mean I'll stop checking for price changes!

 

We have always received favorable exchange rates on our Mastercard in the past with a previous cruise line so thanks for the heads up on Princess's policy. We will be sure to keep an eye out for it!

 

I am a loyal Princess customer. I do find the rates charged for Canada to be frustrating. For example I checked a cruise today for the Grand Panama Canal at $2048USD for 18 days. When I logged on from Canada the price was shown at $2560CDN. From my calculation that's 25% whereas the current exchagne rate is more like 15%. This adds up when you include airfare, etc. through Princess. I wish they would be more responsive to the going exchange rate as many US firms are.

[vaccardi]

I don't know if this is the case, but our companies (not travel related) cost of doing business in Canada is higher. Therefore our prices are adjusted accordingly.

[phillipahain]

I dont think the cost of doing business has anything whatever to do with the differing charges ........sadly its quite simply Princesses crafty way of extracting money from non US customers

 

The Australians do the same complaining about the situation as do the Brits who are forced to book through Princess UK

 

Even if Brits want to book cruise only .......all that Princess will do is offer a air allowance off the price and no way does what they offer cover the cost of airfare nor does it mean the UK cruise only price match those offered in the USA

[C 2 C]

We have the same problem on Celebrity where Americans pay a deposit of $450 pp and Canadians $698 CDN$. We have a Vancouver TA who takes payments in US$ or CDN and we also use a US TA. If you want to get contacts email me.

[Cruise Junky]

I don't know if this is the case, but our companies (not travel related) cost of doing business in Canada is higher. Therefore our prices are adjusted accordingly.

 

Please explain how it costs Princess more for me (Canadian) than you (US) to cruise on a ship? When we're both paying in US$?

[C 2 C]

Please explain how it costs Princess more for me (Canadian) than you (US) to cruise on a ship? When we're both paying in US$?

 

Cruise prices are the same except where a TA wants to gouge. Everyone can check cruiseline prices online and book wherever they want. It's the exchange that causes pain. I think cruiselines hedge their currency and are locked in for a period of time.

[Cruise Junky]

So does anyone have a solution to this for us Canadians? Checking Princess's website, before I log in prices are $2,099, I log in and it recognizes me as Canadian price goes to $2,623...that's 25% exchange rate - a good 8 - 10% over current rates. Checking with one of the big on line agencies...same thing happens, as soon as I enter my Princess number price jumps 25%. Thats insane. How do brick and mortar agencies handle this? Do we lie and say we've never cruised with princess before?

[cdncruzer]

I just contacted my TA yesterday. We received a price reduction on the cost of our cruise as Princess has adjusted the CAD exchange rate from their 1.25 to a much better 1.15 for all 2007 cruises.

 

It wasn't a huge amount but, hey, it'll pay for a few more Bahama Mama's!!

[Cruise Junky]

I just contacted my TA yesterday. We received a price reduction on the cost of our cruise as Princess has adjusted the CAD exchange rate from their 1.25 to a much better 1.15 for all 2007 cruises.

 

It wasn't a huge amount but, hey, it'll pay for a few more Bahama Mama's!!

 

Great, a much better deal - thanks for posting that.