Equal benefits for non-americans!!!!

[Paulchili]

Paul,

 

That is so funny. We have a duo here in Australia who do similar skits each week either about our politicians or what has been happening in the news. They are John Clarke and Brian Dawes and are extremely funny.

 

Jennie

 

Jennie,

I am glad you enjoyed it and here is to hoping that you do NOT have to cancel any of your future cruises!

Paul

[ging466]

It is understandable that the A$ is tied to commodity prices. Somehow, the C$, which should also be tied to commodity prices (and is more important to cruisers as more Americans take the Alaska voyages and northern east coast voyages) is still lofty at 90 cents, instead of below 70 cents. Does anyone know why the C$ is the "sacred cow"?

 

Hi Mr Meow!

 

Thought u might find this interesting:

 

The Canadian dollar fell in value against its American counterpart during the technological boom of the 1990s that was centred on the United States, and was traded for as little as 61.79¢ U.S. on 21 Jan 2002, which was an all-time low. Since then, its value against all major currencies has risen due, in part, to high prices for commodities (especially oil) that Canada exports.

The CAD's value against the U.S. dollar rose sharply in 2007 due to the continued strength of the Canadian economy and the U.S. currency's weakness on world markets. During trading on 20 September 2007, it met the U.S. greenback at parity for the first time since 25 November 1976.

 

Inflation in the value of the Canadian dollar was fairly low since the 1990s, but had been severe for some decades before that. In 2007 the Canadian dollar rebounded remarkably, soaring 23% in value.

 

On 28 Sept 2007, the Canadian dollar closed above the U.S. dollar for the first time in 30 years, at US$1.0052. On 7 November 2007, it hit US$1.1024 during trading, a modern-day high after China announced it would diversify its US$1.43 trillion foreign exchange reserve away from the U.S. dollar. By 30 November, however, the Canadian dollar was once again at par with the U.S. dollar, and on 4 December, the dollar had retreated back to US$0.98, through a cut in interest rates by the Bank of Canada, due to concerns about exports to the U.S. The rate has since been fluctuating between US$0.9644 and US$1.0298, after starting 2008 at just under US$1.01. Since late July, however, the Canadian dollar has dropped considerably, reaching 89 U.S. cents by 07 October.

 

Since 84.2% of Canada's exports go to the U.S., and 56.7% of imports into Canada come from the U.S., Canadians are mainly interested in the value of their currency against the U.S. dollar. Although domestic concerns arise when the dollar trades much lower than its U.S. counterpart, there is also concern among exporters when the dollar appreciates quickly. The rapid rise in the value of the dollar increases the price of Canadian exports to the U.S. On the other hand, there are advantages to a rising dollar, in that it is cheaper for Canadian industries to purchase foreign material and businesses.

 

The Bank of Canada has no specific target value for the Canadian dollar and has not intervened in foreign exchange markets since 1998. The Bank's current position is that market conditions should determine the worth of the Canadian dollar.

 

On world markets, the Canadian dollar historically tended to move in tandem with the U.S. dollar. At times an apparently rising Canadian dollar (against the U.S. dollar) may be decreasing against other international currencies; however, during the rise of the Canadian dollar since 2002, it has gained value against the U.S. dollar as well as other international currencies.

 

In the economy of the Americas as a whole, the Canadian dollar plays a similar role to that of the Australian Dollar in the Asia-Pacific region.

 

Cheers

Ging466

[meow!]

That is a good article with good historical account. However, it still does not explain why the C$ is so "tough". If the C$ is to the US$ the same as the A$ is to Asian currencies, then as the latter (e.g. yen, rmb, etc.) did not depreciate against the US$, why did the A$ drop precipitously while the C$ didn't?

 

Anyone who has travelled to Canada knows that the buying power of C$ in Canada is perhaps worth 70 UScents in U.S. (from known brand car prices and camera prices, to unknown brand foodstuff prices), not to mention much higher sales tax plus GST (refundable for visitors). There is no rational reason why unlike the A$, the C$ does not sink below 70 cents (which will be good for American tourists as well as the local Canadian economy)!

 

P.S. We are leaving to catch our Nautica voyage, and intend to post a full report on it early November (after our journey which includes pre-/post- cruise on our own, and catching up with our jet lag sleep .. )

[harryh]

haryh,

if you can, please post your comparison of Azamara to O as I too am looking in that direction for 2010 & beyond.

BTW, which Azamara cruise are you taking?

 

Hi Paulchili

 

We will be on the April 2010 cruise, Singapore - Athens.

It will be our first Azamara cruise so can't help with a comparison, we decided to try A after reading mostly positive reports on CC.

[LHT28]

Anyone who has travelled to Canada knows that the buying power of C$ in Canada is perhaps worth 70 UScents in U.S. (from known brand car prices and camera prices, to unknown brand foodstuff prices), not to mention much higher sales tax plus GST (refundable for visitors).

 

You may be out of touch on a few things

The food prices in Canada are cheaper than some areas in the USA & the GST rebate for visitors was removed back in 2007

We purchased our laptop in Canada after checking out several stores in the USA as it was much cheaper here factoring in the exchange rate.

 

Back in the 60's our $ was worth more than the USD

[Wendy The Wanderer]

The $CDN is not very "tough" right now. Our economy right now is intensely resource-based, and the plummeting price of oil, based on lowered demand, has dropped our dollar this week below $.90 US. This certainly helps local manufacturing, tourism and our export balance with the US (our major trade partner). It doesn't help travelers like us.

 

Our economy is in relatively good shape, compared to the US. Real estate sales have *just now* started to sag a little bit, after booming for years (but not being a huge bubble.) Our banks are well-funded and conservative. We'll see how all that holds up. Meanwhile, I'm just glad I paid my latest cruise bill before the $$ went below 95 cents!

[2kiwis]

Instead of using scare tatics on Aussies and others buying cheap fares perhaps local travel agents would do do better by insisting that these international protection contracts with the cruise lines etc. are removed. In today's world these cruiselines are struggling to fill their ships so it must be in their best interests as well.

 

What makes these agents think that the paying public are going to be happy to pay $1000's more than Americans just so they can make more profit. If they are sucessful in their efforts to stop this practice people will just stop booking cruises. We were on a cruise where there was almost a riot when non-americans realised how much more they were paying.

 

Even before the advent of all these "cruise sales" Aussie and New Zealand wholesalers have been charging much more than American agents. For instance, we booked a cruise on board ship (as passengers are encouraged to do). We were supplied with a confirmed cost on board but when we got back to NZ and received the invoice from the wholesaler (as it has to come through them) they had added $1600 = for doing nothing!!!. Needless to say we complained bitterly and they had to withdraw that charge.

 

We have met many people on board who booked their cruises off-shore and were not turned away - So go on your cruise and have fun.

[Paulchili]

Everyone we know here in Australia, now book through a US TA.

 

That was certainly true in the past, but from what I read on the P&O Australia board, it may not be so in the future.

FWIW, everyone should be treated the same and pay the best price they can get (wherever the agent and client reside).

[Aussieafloat]

Instead of using scare tatics on Aussies and others buying cheap fares perhaps local travel agents would do do better by insisting that these international protection contracts with the cruise lines etc. are removed. In today's world these cruiselines are struggling to fill their ships so it must be in their best interests as well.

 

What makes these agents think that the paying public are going to be happy to pay $1000's more than Americans just so they can make more profit. If they are sucessful in their efforts to stop this practice people will just stop booking cruises. We were on a cruise where there was almost a riot when non-americans realised how much more they were paying.

 

Even before the advent of all these "cruise sales" Aussie and New Zealand wholesalers have been charging much more than American agents. For instance, we booked a cruise on board ship (as passengers are encouraged to do). We were supplied with a confirmed cost on board but when we got back to NZ and received the invoice from the wholesaler (as it has to come through them) they had added $1600 = for doing nothing!!!. Needless to say we complained bitterly and they had to withdraw that charge.

 

We have met many people on board who booked their cruises off-shore and were not turned away - So go on your cruise and have fun.

 

We booked with a US based agent and we were unaware that there could be a problem when it came time to board - mild panic attacks happening at the moment :eek: :eek:

 

Has anyone had an issue with boarding and if so how did they resolve it - assuming it can be resolved :(

[Paulchili]

We booked with a US based agent and we were unaware that there could be a problem when it came time to board - mild panic attacks happening at the moment :eek: :eek:

 

Has anyone had an issue with boarding and if so how did they resolve it - assuming it can be resolved :(

 

I think you should be just fine. This policy should not be retroactive.

However, what will happen in the future remains to be seen.

[Molliem]

There are a number of issues here. They seem to be discriminating due to home country. Possibly this is not fact but very misleading.

 

You should check and see if you can pay in US dollars to your TA. It would be easier to buy US $ over a period of time and average your cost. You would save money in the long run. Can you have a US $ savings account in Australi /New Zealand. Weca in Canada and it is a benefit.

 

Can you have US $ visa/Mastercard? If so use it to pay your TA etc. Seems here the TA pays Oceania by authorizing against our CC. And we get bonus miles for our next Oceania cruise air.

 

Checked Down Under Oceania rates some time ago and taking exchange/ no air etc the costs were close to our Canadian rates. You may check this on internet.

 

Whether you can buy trip via US or at home may be a TA issue Down Under. Sometimes TA's set rules or your Gov't may. You buy in your country of residence. No resrictions with Can/US.

 

Charging grats is done by most Cruises and is at a recommended amount. You have the right to add or reduce this charge while on board depending on you wishes. Some TA's provide a package including Grats as free and there must be a deal with Oceania and TA which provides this benefit.

 

Free air seems to be an option for Can/US only. This is a service we enjoy but many times, we can book directly with airlines and save money after Oceania provides a discount for not using their air. It should be made very clear Down Under by TA's and Oceania brochures etc that NO air service is provided by Oceania and price quoted is net of any AIR cost.

 

Oceania is our cruise line by choice and they do there best to give us value and service for our money. They are at times slow to respond to issues such as those in this thread. Possibly some one may wish to challenge our comments here by answering from fact how these issues could be better managed.

 

2Kiwis- are you on Nautica Mar 01/2010? If so, hope to meet you there.

 

Elwin, Canada