Question for fellow Canadian Cruisers on RCL

[sexyaznboy]

I had a response to an earlier post where the poster warned me that Royal Caribbean might try to bill my Sea Pass in Canadian dollars (which I have linked to my CC) and having the credit card company change it back into US dollars so that I'm double billed for the conversion.

 

Is this a problem? I'm now worried they will charge me like an 18% service charge at RCL, I do not see any indication on the RCL site that they will bill me in Canadian dollars just because I'm Canadian. Is there a way I can find out for sure that I will be billed in US dollars? (as the Canadian dollar is near par).

 

Thanks

[dirtgirl]

I was that poster. The double conversion was because I was paying witha US$ Mastercard, and they disregarded my wish to be billed in US$.

 

If you pay with a CAD credit card, they may still attempt to get away with charging you in CAD even though you request to be billed in US. They charge an additional 3% over and above what banks charge to do this. It gives them a tidy little profit.

 

The line at the Purser's desk on the Vision was filled with angry Canadians on debarkation day. They even said at the desk that the CAD was less than the US$ (this is when it was $1.10).

 

Monitor your onboard account by the TV (Radiance class and above), or go to the Purser's desk on Vision class or below. I tried to fix it on the Saturday, but Sunday I was still billed in CAD.

[CruseKrazy]

I recall from dirtgirl and others, the problem occurs if you have a US dollar credit card and instruct RCI to bill your on board account in US$.

 

Because you are Canadian, RCI will automatically bill you in Canadian dollars even if you instruct them otherwise. Your CC company then converts this amount back to US dollars so you end up paying the currency conversion surcharge twice.

 

If you use your regular $Can credit card on board, you should not have a problem. The level of the Can and US currencies is incidental to all this and is factored in at the daily exchange rate.

 

Clear :confused:

[Lynnees]

I recall from dirtgirl and others, the problem occurs if you have a US dollar credit card and instruct RCI to bill your on board account in US$.

 

Because you are Canadian, RCI will automatically bill you in Canadian dollars even if you instruct them otherwise. Your CC company then converts this amount back to US dollars so you end up paying the currency conversion surcharge twice.

 

If you use your regular $Can credit card on board, you should not have a problem. The level of the Can and US currencies is incidental to all this and is factored in at the daily exchange rate.

 

Clear :confused:

 

Not completely true. The will charge your Canadian CC is US dollars if you make them. My advise is to take 2 copies of your agreement that you sign, outline both of them in marker, have the person who signs you in sign one copy which you keep and then give the other copy to him/her. Make yourself very clear (without being rude of course) that you insist you account be charged in US dollars only. Check it out at the purser's desk on your last day.

 

This is what I did in November and I was charged in US dollars on my Canadian cc.

 

It doesn't matter that the dollar is nearly par. If you allow RCL to convert they will charge you 3% then your cc company will charge you another 2.5%. Don't let it happen.

[sexyaznboy]

Why would a Canadian credit card be charged in US dollars and a US dollar credit card be charged in Canadian dollars? Should it not be the other way around?

 

I booked through a website travel cruise agency who billed me in US dollars.

 

I have recently entered in my CC information (Canadian credit card) on RCL website. I do not see anywhere about an option of paying the Sea Pass account linked to my CC in US vs Canadian dollars. It has always been my assumption that they will bill everything in US dollars...thats the way it worked for my first two cruises on Carnival and Celebrity.

 

Where is this agreement that I have to make a copy and bring with me? My cruise is not until May and obviously would like this issue settled before I go...thanks for everyone's advice, especially dirtgirl, who brought this very important issue up.

[smoothy]

Why would a Canadian credit card be charged in US dollars and a US dollar credit card be charged in Canadian dollars? Should it not be the other way around?

 

 

They can't see if the card is a CAD or USD one, all they can see is that the card is issued by a Canadian bank and that you have a Canadian address (so they default to billing you in CAD). If you have a USD card (or if you want the charge to go through on your CAD card in USD and let the bank do the swap) you can ask them to do the bill in USD. Last trip I took on Celebrity, there was a part on the paperwork where you ticked a box to indicate you wanted charges in USD, sorry DW has the papers stashed somewhere so I can't give you the exact wording/page of the tickbox.

[Mydnite]

I have a plan, I have a US $ account and will be really p****d off if they try and charge me in sterling, so I will take out a lod of cash, then register the card for the accunt and then pay it off in dollars on the last night.

 

 

I have also read, but I do not know if it is true, that any cards swiped and actually charged while on board will be in dollars, so if that turns out to be true, with the sales slip saying US dollars then I may do that instead on the last night.

 

I did set up a poll a while ago to assess the number of people that asked to be billed in US$ (who were not from the US) on their paperwork, but were billed in a different currency and those who were billed in US $, the overwhelming majorty that asked to be billed in US $ were billed in their own currency.

[lovemylab]

I also paid with a US$ Mastercard and RCI charged me in CDN$. My final bill didn't indicate which currency I would be billed in (it simply showed the amount oweing and then indicated that it would be charged to my credit card). It wasn't until I got home and checked my Mastercard statement online a few days later that I noticed the error.

 

I had it corrected very quickly. My husband called their 1-800 number and emailed the rep he was speaking with a copy of our mastercard bill (which clearly showed that we were charged in CDN$) and we received a credit within a few days. Unfortunately others haven't been so lucky.

 

Dirtgirl - did you ever get your charges reversed?

[dirtgirl]

I also paid with a US$ Mastercard and RCI charged me in CDN$. My final bill didn't indicate which currency I would be billed in (it simply showed the amount oweing and then indicated that it would be charged to my credit card). It wasn't until I got home and checked my Mastercard statement online a few days later that I noticed the error.

 

I had it corrected very quickly. My husband called their 1-800 number and emailed the rep he was speaking with a copy of our mastercard bill (which clearly showed that we were charged in CDN$) and we received a credit within a few days. Unfortunately others haven't been so lucky.

 

Dirtgirl - did you ever get your charges reversed?

 

 

No. My last communication with Mastercard was Dec. 14th. They said that they were investigating it, and if found in my favour, I would be reimbursed. If they were to refuse my request, they said that they would mail me the reasons why. Problem is, when I eventually had my folio sent to me, it was in US$. Somehow, my Mastercard was changed to read CAD anyway. RC neatly has my account in US, but my Mastercard bill was in CAD.:rolleyes:

 

You cannot print out your SetSail Pass until after final payment, and it must be done within 3 days of sail date. I think it used to be 24 hours prior to sail, but they recently changed that.

 

I think it is time to question them again.

 

To the OP, before you go on your cruise, you must complete the Online Check in on the RC website. Once you print your SetSail Pass, there is a choice of 2 boxes to tick. In one box you can have them charge to the currency of your card. The other box you can have them charge you in US. We (as in other travelers as well) are habitually being charged in CAD regardless of what box you tick.

[kingsgirl]

On your Set Sail Pass, click that you want to pay in US funds. Highlight it. Circle it.

 

Someone suggested I do this and I wrote "DO NOT CONVERT TO CDN FUNDS" and they still converted it.

 

To avoid this, try and pay off your account with US cash or pay it off the night before with a credit card. I just heard about being able to pay it off on the credit card a few weeks ago - will do this myself in May!

 

Happy sails!

[sexyaznboy]

Sorry for my stupidity, I'm looking at my account on the RCL website, and I've set up my onboard expense account and given my CC number and authorized for me and my travel companion. It does not give any option there on that page whether to be billed in US or Canadian funds. As my cruise is in May, they said that when the set sail pass is ready to print, they will inform me. Is it THEN that I have to choose US or Canadian funds? And to kingsgirl, why would it help to pay off my account with CC when I already have authorized my onboard account to be charged to my CC beforehand? Wouldn't this be irrelevant in terms of whether they choose to bill me in US or Canadian during the cruise? I mean for sure I'm going to the service desk on the first day to confirm and on the last day also. It seems very shady...and don't want to be screwed.

[dirtgirl]

Sorry for my stupidity, I'm looking at my account on the RCL website, and I've set up my onboard expense account and given my CC number and authorized for me and my travel companion. It does not give any option there on that page whether to be billed in US or Canadian funds. As my cruise is in May, they said that when the set sail pass is ready to print, they will inform me. Is it THEN that I have to choose US or Canadian funds? And to kingsgirl, why would it help to pay off my account with CC when I already have authorized my onboard account to be charged to my CC beforehand? Wouldn't this be irrelevant in terms of whether they choose to bill me in US or Canadian during the cruise? I mean for sure I'm going to the service desk on the first day to confirm and on the last day also. It seems very shady...and don't want to be screwed.

 

 

The only place where you can request to be charged in US$ is on your SetSail Pass, and you can't print that out until final payment. All you need to board the ship are your passport and your Setsail Pass. Photocopy it indicating your currency of choice.

I believe that Kingsgirl was referring to having cash system set-up when you board the ship. You don't give them a cc number, and you can have $500 worth of purchases before you have to pay anything. Some people do that, then on the last night (when all their purchasing is done - make sure you are done drinking;) ), you go to the Purser's desk (or Guest Relations, as it is called as well), and pay it off on your CC, asking to be charged in US right there.

[robtulipe]

This is why for our last RC two cruises this Canadian set our seapass account as a cash one (no CC info given) which you can charge up to $500 before you have to make a payment. I will be doing the same for our upcoming Hawaii Radiance cruise. I imagine if you and your partner kept separate onboard account you could charge $500 each before needing to make a payment. We had a large onboard credit for our last cruise and took no ship's tours so our acount never even got close to this amount. Then you can make a cash payment or have RC swipe your card in $US to partially or fully pay off your onboard account to avoid being billed in $CAD. If you do a CC payment at the purser's desk on the last evening onboard, you get a receipt for payment in $US and circumvent the automatic billing process.

For one of my earlier cruises this year RC billed my card in $CAD even though I had ticked off and highlighted that it was to be billed in $US. I called them and they credited my CC without me having to send them anything.

This is how Page 9 of our last eDocs read. All you have to do is cheak the Cash/Travellers Cheques box to do the above.

 

Charge Account & Cruise Ticket

RESERVATION ID: *********

SHIP NAME:

SAILING DATE: STATEROOM: ****

Please be advised Traveller Cheque Cards from any credit card company

are not accepted, for the purpose of settling onboard charges on the

SeaPass account.

Onboard Charge Account: I will pay by (check one):

Cash/Travellers Cheques MasterCard Visa

America Express Diners JCB Discover

Card Expiration Date: _______ / _______ (month/year)

Card Number: ______________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

Name as it appears on credit card or responsible for account

Members in your party authorized to sign on this account

1. ________________________________ Stateroom #____________

2. ________________________________ Stateroom #____________

3. ________________________________ Stateroom #____________

By signing below the guest hereby authorizes us to charge the credit card

account indicated above for all charges made to the onboard charge

account or the guest will settle all charges made to the onboard charge

account in cash/travelers check and, regardless of the method of

payment, to be personally liable for such charges.

X ______________________________________________________

Cardholder or guest signature responsible for onboard account

For Non-US Issued MasterCard or Visa Card Holders

If you use a MasterCard or Visa Card issued outside of the US which is

billed in any of the following currencies: AUD, CAD, CHF, DKK, EUR, HKD,

JPY, MXP, NOK, SEK, GBP, Royal Caribbean International offers a service

where the full amount of your charges are converted, at your election, to

the currency of your card by our conversion agent, Global Card Services,

Inc., using the exchange rate in effect at the time the amounts are

charged to your card.

Currency Conversion Authorization (Please check one of the

following options.)

A. I choose to pay my onboard charges in the currency of my card.

I.e.: I choose to use Royal Caribbean International currency conversion

program. (See terms below.)

This currency conversion transaction is based on wholesale exchange

rates collected from Bloomberg plus a 3 percent international currency

conversion fee. My choice to have charges billed in the currency of my

card is final. I accept that the exchange rate used will be the rate in

effect at the time the amounts are charged to my card without further

consultation.

B. I choose to have my credit card issuer convert my onboard charges

to the currency of my card in lieu of participating in the Royal Caribbean

International currency program. (See terms below.)

If I opt for my charges to be converted by my credit card issuer, or if my

card is not billed in one of the billing currencies listed, my charges will be

processed in the onboard currency (USD) and the issuer of my card may

charge a service fee for currency conversion.

X________________________________________________

Guest Signature(s)

[buckanear]

have the person who signs you in sign one copy which you keep and then give the other copy to him/her. Make yourself very clear (without being rude of course) that you insist you account be charged in US dollars only. Check it out at the purser's desk on your last day.

 

The problem with this is that the default setting on the computer is to not convert the money. If you want RCCL to convert it, then we change it in the system. So make sure to ask the agent to double check the box. I know it well meaning to ask the check-in agent to sign something, but it's not fair to hold them responsible for something that they didn't do. The conversion switch happens because of something from the ship.

All compaints with documents ultimately end up back at the ship and/or pier who handled it, and it would be a shame if someone's job were jeopardized because they signed a document guaranteeing something that they no control over because someone insisted that they sign it before they board the ship.

It's always a good idea to have the check-in agent double check.

[sexyaznboy]

Carol and Bob, thanks SO much for your insight, I'm still new to cruising and did not know about the 500 dollar policy. I think I will follow your advice and do the cash account thing then. I'm so glad you guys helped me understand. I have a gut feeling that RCL makes money charging us in Canadian dollars and conveniently ignores requests to bill in US dollars. If so that is one sneaky practice. I'm going to my account and taking off my CC information. Oh but what about ordering shore excursions, how do you suggest I do that beforehand? Would they bill me in US or Canadian dollars?

[robtulipe]

Sorry for my stupidity, I'm looking at my account on the RCL website, and I've set up my onboard expense account and given my CC number and authorized for me and my travel companion. It does not give any option there on that page whether to be billed in US or Canadian funds. As my cruise is in May, they said that when the set sail pass is ready to print, they will inform me. Is it THEN that I have to choose US or Canadian funds? And to kingsgirl, why would it help to pay off my account with CC when I already have authorized my onboard account to be charged to my CC beforehand? Wouldn't this be irrelevant in terms of whether they choose to bill me in US or Canadian during the cruise? I mean for sure I'm going to the service desk on the first day to confirm and on the last day also. It seems very shady...and don't want to be screwed.

If you make the payment by having the purser's desk bill you CC in US$ to pay off your onboard account, say on the last evening, you get a receipt for payment in US$ and your account balance is now zero and this circumvents or stops the automatic CC billing where there is a possibility that RC will convert your account balance owing to $CAD with their 3% conversion fee. You can still use your onboard card later that evening and let automatic CC billing pay that off since the amount will be small since your major onboard expenses like shore excursions, etc will have been paid off by the manual billing done earlier.

[robtulipe]

Carol and Bob, thanks SO much for your insight, I'm still new to cruising and did not know about the 500 dollar policy. I think I will follow your advice and do the cash account thing then. I'm so glad you guys helped me understand. I have a gut feeling that RCL makes money charging us in Canadian dollars and conveniently ignores requests to bill in US dollars. If so that is one sneaky practice. I'm going to my account and taking off my CC information. Oh but what about ordering shore excursions, how do you suggest I do that beforehand? Would they bill me in US or Canadian dollars?

Even if you have given RC your CC# as part of your online Set Sail procedure, you still have to show you CC and confirm this is what you what done when checking in at embarkation. All you have to do is tell the check in agent you want it to be a cash account, mark the Cash/TC square and do not present your CC. Your onboard account will now be a cash one. IMO you are correct about your gut feeling.

For shore excursions booked before you board, you have the choice of doing it in $US or your home country currency. You can actually see what your cost will be in each and from what I've seen it's better to do this in $US also. I wouldn't book excursions before the cruise since RC bills your CC immediately and if you cancel or make changes it involves foreign currency transactions with conversion fees for both the billing and refund.

If there is an excursion you really want, just book it the first day onboard. Your CC gets billed at at one rate (exchange plus conversion fee) and refunded at a different, usually much lower rate. Just look at the back of your CC statement and it will state what the currency conversion fees are. Just double it to see what you lose on a billing and refund procedure. When excursions are booked onboard they are billed to your onboard account and any changes like cancellations are refunded to the same account. You only pay the balance at the end of the cruise.

Just to show you the difference between my CC rate and RC's, I just booked a cruise in $US which RC wanted 5% more in $CAD. My $CAD CC billed me only 1.5% more so I saved 3.5% for this cruise for four people in two cabins.

[CVU]

On your Set Sail Pass, click that you want to pay in US funds. Highlight it. Circle it.

 

Someone suggested I do this and I wrote "DO NOT CONVERT TO CDN FUNDS" and they still converted it.

 

To avoid this, try and pay off your account with US cash or pay it off the night before with a credit card. I just heard about being able to pay it off on the credit card a few weeks ago - will do this myself in May!

 

Happy sails!

 

Yes, we just got off a cruise and paid the bill the night before with our CC and it was in US$$. First time we tried it.

 

Otherwise, we have been in that line for each cruise complaining that it was converted. We have highlighted the tick and had them sign our form that it would be in US$$. Didn't help....so maybe we have it figured out now.

[sexyaznboy]

If I click on Cash Account though, can I pay by credit card the evening before the end of my cruise? I wouldn't want to bring that much cash on board. I maybe do not understand the concept of a cash account, does that mean you pay in cash only?

[buckanear]

No, you can elect to use a cash account and then use a cc to pay your bill off.

You may have to put a deposit down before you can charge though.

[robtulipe]

Sexyaznboy, I just cheaked the prices for the shore excursions for my May Radiance Hawaii cruise and they are the same whether in $US or $CAD. I guess RC is seeing that both dollars are at par and is pricing their excursion to reflect that. I still would not book before embarkation as explained in my previous post. If you want to book before embarkation, you must do so more than 10 days out. This is what RC's web site states.

 

Excursions can be reserved online up to 10 days before your sail date. For Example, if you are sailing on August 15, 2007, you can make Shore & Land Excursion reservations until August 4, 2007. If you're sailing in less than 10 days, you will need to make your reservations onboard.

[sexyaznboy]

Sexyaznboy, I just cheaked the prices for the shore excursions for my May Radiance Hawaii cruise and they are the same whether in $US or $CAD. I guess RC is seeing that both dollars are at par and is pricing their excursion to reflect that. I still would not book before embarkation as explained in my previous post. If you want to book before embarkation, you must do so more than 10 days out. This is what RC's web site states.

 

Excursions can be reserved online up to 10 days before your sail date. For Example, if you are sailing on August 15, 2007, you can make Shore & Land Excursion reservations until August 4, 2007. If you're sailing in less than 10 days, you will need to make your reservations onboard.

 

Perhaps I'm just being paranoid, I mean in the form you posted on line, it clearly states that you want your CC company to do the conversion. I am not quite sure if I click on cash account, if you can use your Sail card to buy with it up to 500 dollars, then you pay with CC at the end, what is the difference as long as you check in at first to make 100% sure that your CC is being billed in US dollars. My first two cruises I did not have the problem of them billing me in Canadian dollars, I just think it would be easier to have them bill my account in US dollars and pay it off at the end. Such shenanigans.. LOL

 

I'll probably end up keeping my CC on line, and make sure at the beginning and at the end that they bill me in US and bring an extra copy of my contract!

 

Hey Rob, are you doing the May 13th on Radiance to Hawaii too??? Are we on the same cruise?

[kingsgirl]

Sorry for my stupidity, I'm looking at my account on the RCL website, and I've set up my onboard expense account and given my CC number and authorized for me and my travel companion. It does not give any option there on that page whether to be billed in US or Canadian funds. As my cruise is in May, they said that when the set sail pass is ready to print, they will inform me. Is it THEN that I have to choose US or Canadian funds? And to kingsgirl, why would it help to pay off my account with CC when I already have authorized my onboard account to be charged to my CC beforehand? Wouldn't this be irrelevant in terms of whether they choose to bill me in US or Canadian during the cruise? I mean for sure I'm going to the service desk on the first day to confirm and on the last day also. It seems very shady...and don't want to be screwed.

 

Paying off the seaboard account with a CC the last night was suggested as a way to avoid the conversion charges. It was just a suggestion someone gave to me earlier in the week on the boards. I haven't personally tried it so I can't vouch for it.

 

You can always just go down there and say, I just want to make sure my account is put on my credit card in US dollars, the night before and everything should be okay.

[dirtgirl]

Paying off the seaboard account with a CC the last night was suggested as a way to avoid the conversion charges. It was just a suggestion someone gave to me earlier in the week on the boards. I haven't personally tried it so I can't vouch for it.

 

You can always just go down there and say, I just want to make sure my account is put on my credit card in US dollars, the night before and everything should be okay.

 

That didn't work for me....

[kingsgirl]

That didn't work for me....

 

Which part?