When Will RCI catch up?

[Magicat]

The Canadian dollar has almost reached parity with the US dollar yet cruises paid for in Canadian Dollars is still significantly more. When will a price reduction happen??

[Dialemic]

The Canadian dollar has almost reached parity with the US dollar yet cruises paid for in Canadian Dollars is still significantly more. When will a price reduction happen??

When you write congress. :cool:

[Magicat]

Thanks! Who's your congressman?

[Yuridog]

You are absolutely right. It is ridiculous that the price is arbitrarily inflated, as the exhange rate is now Canadian Dollar0.99651 to US Dollar1.00350

 

Interesting... I had no idea that was the situation.

[Tinkerbellcgy]

The Canadian dollar has almost reached parity with the US dollar yet cruises paid for in Canadian Dollars is still significantly more. When will a price reduction happen??

 

When RCI decides it doesn't need to rape and pillage us Canadians anymore.

[crusinmama06]

Over on the Carnival board they are singing the praises of being "On Par"...so does that mean that Carnival is allowing the exchange rate while RCCL is still keeping the prices raised? That's seriously strange.

 

If that's the case, I would call RCCL and tell them that you are booking a cruise with a Carnival brand ship (like Princess) since they honor the exchange rate. Might be a little bluff but see what they say...lol.

[Omishjoe]

Easy to fix, tell your TA that you want to pay the US$ rate. Mine did it, saved a bunch! They just billed our credit card in US$. About $700 less for the 4 of us in a JS.

[dirtgirl]

I have read they only adjust the exchange rate a couple of times per year at RC. I gave up and got a US MasterCard, and use it for my cruise and Seapass account.

[JanineM]

This is the time for Canadians living in Canada to open up a US $ account and start socking away some cash for future vacations. Who knows how long there will be parity, but if you have a US $ account with a Visa you can just use that to pay for things like cruises, hotels, etc. My mother has had one for years, and in the down years (like for the last 38 or so!) it has really paid off.

 

Sometimes it takes years for manufacturers and service providers to correct imbalances in currency. Up until about 3 years ago I bought all of my department store makeup in Canada, because it was the same price in $CA as it was in $US. So that expensive lotion was $45 US and $45 Cdn. Unfortunately most of that stuff was altered.

 

I wonder if some of these corporations don't have currency options as they do oil options and that affects when they alter currencies? Just a question ...

[newkim]

Just book your cruise in US$ as you have the option to do either. I also have a US$ credit card as I can convert money at a better rate that is offered by the credit card companies. You should even look at booking with a US travel agent as I have found that the prices that they offer are even better than any agency that I have found in Canada. I have saved for 2 cabins as much as $3200 for a 1 week cruise to as little as $800. Whatever the amount is has always covered everything we have spent on board.

[1stXcruisers]

Before you look at canceling and re booking you might want to check the prices. We booked our cruise for Feb.24/08 in July and the cost came to $1700 CD. If we canceled and re booked it would now be $1681.18 US. With the 2-3% the credit card would charge (we don't have a US dollar credit card) I think we are better off staying with our original booking. I did send an e-mail to see if it might be possible to get an OBC, but after rechecking the prices I doubt if that's going to happen.

 

Looking forward to buying US dollars at almost par (banks are still making 2-3 cents).

 

B&R

[eetonaee]

We have used *****.com for our last 4 cruises paying the US price.

 

We pay with our Canadian credit card and there has been no problems.

[Elaine0138]

When RCI decides it doesn't need to rape and pillage us Canadians anymore.

 

Thank your lucky stars you aren't British we pay way more than you guys over the pond.

[scorpiomum]

agree with Elaine 0138 - i have to pay in euros and its worth a lot more now that the US$$ has dropped but when i called there was nothing they could do. (I have to book through the UK office). They said that i could only book in US dollars so wouldnt be able to even cancel and rebook. would have been a lot cheaper if i could.

[Magicat]

We booked direct with RCI and we would have to cancel our existing reservations. Would hate for us to lose our rooms we have because of a glitch. Guess we should have booked in US funds. Oh well, now it's a heads up for anyone else booking a cruise.

[Lynnees]

I have been booking in US dollars for some time now. Wouldn't even consider booking in Cdn anymore. The price difference on our upcoming Mariner cruise is ridiculous. Depending on the tupe of cabin it is as much as 15%. Now that's what I call gouging.

 

M

[uksimonusa]

RCI only change their exchange rate once a year, when the US$ gets weaker throught the year, it becomes more expensive for people paying in non US funds, however, if the US$ ever became stronger as the years went on, the price difference would be reversed.

 

I have a lot of friends and family, in the UK, that I book cruises for, because normally it's cheaper, and you can cancel without penalty up until final payment date.

[BobBeaSea]

Best for Canadians to book in U.S. dollars, it's going to take a while for RCI to catch up, if they ever do. RCI isn't doing anything wrong it's just that they are caught, like so many other businesses with the rapid exchange rate movement. They are under no obligation to change their Canadian pricing, competition will ultimately sort out this mess but, for now, we just have to find ways around the problem.

[ckrobyn]

I have never booked in US dollars before....until my last cruise on the AOS.

I booked onboard for my B2B this February and the Loyalty Ambassador said I had no choice but to book in US dollars onboard - so I did. Little did I know that it was going to be the right thing to do! Now I hear that I was misinformed, and that you can in fact book in CDN dollars onboard. Either way - glad it worked out the way it did.

 

Major US retailer WalMart is planning to reduce the price on certain items in Canada - I'm sure others will follow. It's about time!!!!