Question for Canadians Adding Princess Plus to Existing Reservation…..Conversion Rate

[Lady Arwen]

Today we added Princess Plus package to our existing 12 night Regal Princess cruise in 2023.  $50.00 U.S. per day per person is $1200.00 US total for 12 nights.  The price for us to pay in Canadian was $1393.00.  This is approximately a 16% exchange rate, which is much lower than the actual exchange rate.  How can Princess offer us such a crazy low rate?  Has anyone else experienced this?  This amount was charged to our credit card immediately and is showing on our reservation as paid, so all is well.  Thank you Princess!

[mom says]

From what I remember, Princess doesn't alter their exchange rates daily, so that might account for the discrepancy. But that's still a big difference. Consider yourself lucky.

[Lady Arwen]

53 minutes ago, mom says said:

From what I remember, Princess doesn't alter their exchange rates daily, so that might account for the discrepancy. But that's still a big difference. Consider yourself lucky.

Yes, considering that at our bank today that amount would convert to $1636.00. 

[VibeGuy]

Princess sets an annual exchange rate to convert sales in CAD to sales in USD when they hit the balance sheet.    Sometimes that’s great for Canadian passengers and sometimes it results in Canadians paying more.  

[Lady Arwen]

True, but the rate we were given has not been this low in years.  I was just curious if any other fellow Canadians had this experience.  Certainly, no complaints here.

[dog]

23 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

True, but the rate we were given has not been this low in years.  I was just curious if any other fellow Canadians had this experience.  Certainly, no complaints here.

I think it was an error.

did you put it in your credit card yet?

I checked for my cruise and got message to contact TA or Princess- cannot do it online right now.

 

 

[ceilidh1]

It could have something to do with how/when you booked. If you booked through a TA they may have had group holds that "grandfather" in the perks at the time the holds were secured. My sailing coming up had this - it was LESS expensive for me to sail with Plus than to book with Standard - and they even applied it to the third person. I just booked this one about 2 months ago but was still able to get the better, grandfathered Plus package!

[Lady Arwen]

16 minutes ago, dog said:

I think it was an error.

did you put it in your credit card yet?

I checked for my cruise and got message to contact TA or Princess- cannot do it online right now.

 

 

Yes, my card was charged within minutes of my transaction.  It’s also showing in Manage my Cruise and everything is listed.  I also think it could have been converted incorrectly.

[Lady Arwen]

3 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

It could have something to do with how/when you booked. If you booked through a TA they may have had group holds that "grandfather" in the perks at the time the holds were secured. My sailing coming up had this - it was LESS expensive for me to sail with Plus than to book with Standard - and they even applied it to the third person. I just booked this one about 2 months ago but was still able to get the better, grandfathered Plus package!

Nope, booked with my CVP in August.

[VibeGuy]

The rate they use doesn’t necessarily have much relationship to the actual exchange market.    The corporate treasurer makes a recommendation and if it’s justifiable on the surface, it gets adopted.   It’s just part of the deal. 
 

Princess knows year to year (in normal times) how much CAD they’ll need to pay for things in Vancouver and Victoria and to a lesser extent in Maritime Canada and Quebec.  There’s some value to them in holding CAD natively (that isn’t subject to currency fluctuation) even if they’re technically buying it at a discount when it comes to revenue impact. 

[Lady Arwen]

1 hour ago, VibeGuy said:

The rate they use doesn’t necessarily have much relationship to the actual exchange market.    The corporate treasurer makes a recommendation and if it’s justifiable on the surface, it gets adopted.   It’s just part of the deal. 
 

Princess knows year to year (in normal times) how much CAD they’ll need to pay for things in Vancouver and Victoria and to a lesser extent in Maritime Canada and Quebec.  There’s some value to them in holding CAD natively (that isn’t subject to currency fluctuation) even if they’re technically buying it at a discount when it comes to revenue impact. 

Makes sense, thank you.

[sunviking90]

I just looked at our upcoming cruise to price the princess plus and the rate is exactly what the exchange was (1.35) when we booked. You got a great deal!

[GOLDENBONNY]

I don't get it. What web site you paid in Can? princess.com is  in US and we got charged 800 US with regular visa rate exchange (don't let me started how bad it is now)

[Steelers36]

On 12/11/2022 at 1:20 PM, Lady Arwen said:

Today we added Princess Plus package to our existing 12 night Regal Princess cruise in 2023.  $50.00 U.S. per day per person is $1200.00 US total for 12 nights.  The price for us to pay in Canadian was $1393.00.  This is approximately a 16% exchange rate, which is much lower than the actual exchange rate.  How can Princess offer us such a crazy low rate?  Has anyone else experienced this?  This amount was charged to our credit card immediately and is showing on our reservation as paid, so all is well.  Thank you Princess!

 

On 12/11/2022 at 4:43 PM, Lady Arwen said:

Nope, booked with my CVP in August.

 

I don't recall exactly when PCL increased the exchange rate for CAD fares to 1.35, but might have been by August.  Are you aware of the rate when you booked?  It most certainly was nothing close to 1.16.

 

I did a bit of sleuthing and besides on Caribbean voyage (a relocation from PE to Galveston), all of Regal's 12-night voyages in 2023 are in the British Isles area with a number of different itineraries. 

 

One example in late June, the Inside prices are $1198/$1798/$2098 in USD for Std/Plus/Premier.  This all makes sense (in terms of the upcharges - $600 and $300.  It SHOULD be a pretty straight-forward to CAD - you'd think.  Also, from same voyage, a BB runs $2168/$2768/$3068.

 

So, the CAD quotes seem to align fine for Standard and Plus, are are way out of whack for the Premier.  Instead of a $25/day upcharge, I am seeing over $40/day. 

 

Who knows how you got that rate or why?  I often think I can figure out the math as to what is going on, but your amazing price in CAD, coupled with the big over-charge for Premier, makes me wonder what is going on with the pricing for these voyages.  If I was actually interested in taking one, I'd be asking someone at Princess to explain the pricing.  But, I always book in USD with a US agency, so this CAD wackiness would not affect me. 

 

I wonder what the cost would have been if it was someone doing it in USD.

 

Conclusion - don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

 

[Lady Arwen]

11 hours ago, GOLDENBONNY said:

I don't get it. What web site you paid in Can? princess.com is  in US and we got charged 800 US with regular visa rate exchange (don't let me started how bad it is now)

Canadians are always quoted in Canadian dollars by our CVP.  It’s also quoted in Canadian dollars on Princess.com. because we’re logged in from Canada.

[Steelers36]

29 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

Canadians are always quoted in Canadian dollars by our CVP.  It’s also quoted in Canadian dollars on Princess.com. because we’re logged in from Canada.

True, but any Canadian guest can ask a Princess agent, or independent TA, to book a cruise in USD.

Edited December 13, 2022 by Steelers36

[Lady Arwen]

2 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

True, but any Canadian guest can ask a Princess agent, or independent TA, to book a cruise in USD.

Absolutely you can.  We just choose to pay in Canadian.  Thanks for pointing that out for other Canadians who may be interested paying in US dollars.