Princess exchange scam for non-US citizens

[chucklet]

We travelled on the Emerald Feb 14th-24th and were surprised to find a 3% surcharge on our on-board account to convert from US to Canadian funds especially after we specified on embarkation forms that we to make payment in US funds ( on our VISA card). The statement arrived late to our cabin, on dis-embarkation day, and we didn't have time to go to the purser to straighten the matter out. We contacted our agent once home and she had Princess reverse the charges. I would rather have VISA do the conversion at no charge rather than pay the 3 %. It is really more a matter of principle, but our on-board charges for a family of 5 was over $3500 including shore excursions (and wine).

[jake165]

I recall a few years ago when our dollar was in the range of 65 cents, Princess treated CAD as 75 cents on the dollar. I'm not talking about a 7 day discounted cruise but a 21 day Au-Asia cruise tour. I would say the word "scam' is a bit of a stretch, just my opinion. Regards Jake

[c-to-sea]

There are a few threads on this subject throughout the site. Conversion

by the cruise line (not only Princess) is the default. However, the election

on the boarding pass to have the billing processed in US$ is often

overlooked unless it is pointed out at time of boarding. We even go so far

as to confirm the election with the purser's desk once onboard before

the last day of the cruise.

While I can't say that this is done deliberately, I cannot understand what

Princess and other lines are thinking by upsetting customers for a few

extra dollars by not paying more attention to what has been requested.

[Putterdude]

All of the lines do it, it seems. One way to avoid it is to get a US dollar credit card from a US Bank. Then there is no conversion charge. One of the easiest cards to get is probably one from MBNA which I now believe is a sub of Bank of America. But be sure to get a US one; then when you get your credit card bill you only have to go to your bank and buy a US dollar draft or money order and you have saved the 3% conversion fee. Works for me!

[antsp]

No need to get a us credit card, just tick the box on boarding , all sorted

[bubbadog]

as with anything else,you have to watch where your money goes,it should'nt be that way but it is:rolleyes:

[rc51]

No need to get a us credit card, just tick the box on boarding , all sorted

 

or just visit the pursers desk after dinner on the last night and pay manually.

[GSDsky]

Got off the same Emerald on the 24th and paid on the 23rd.

Hey 3% is 3% but when the exchange was $1.10 cdn to a US buck it made a huge difference.

Once we hit a Dollar twenty all will be good...:)

[Philip217]

Don't give Princess too much credit for this one.

Every mass market cruise line has some version of this policy.

 

Most American Credit Cards now charge you an extra 3% conversion fee if you purchase something in a currency other than US$.

 

Go to any bank in the world and exchange currency. The same thing happens.

If it's a scam as you say, then it is a world-wide scam.

 

Looks more to me like business as usual.

[caribill]

Most American Credit Cards now charge you an extra 3% conversion fee if you purchase something in a currency other than US$.

 

 

CapitalOne charges 0% for foreign currency conversion

WAMU charges 1%

[britsbest]

Scam is a little harsh !

 

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[Atomica]

I always go to the Purser's desk to get a copy of my onboard account statement a few days into the cruise, and again before the last day, to make sure everything's on the up-and-up, and that they noted the 'Charge me in US Dollars & do not convert' box I checked on the boarding pass. This turned out to be a good move on our Golden Princess cruise, as for some reason we never recieved a printed statement at all, even on disembarkation.

[Coastaljen]

OK I am confused as usual.

 

I was told by people on this board..not by a travel agent, that the ship I booked through Princess for July 09 will be AUS dollars. Therefore they will bill me for gratuities and shore excursions (the only two expenses I normally have) in AUS, and then my credit card would charge me the 3% conversion fee my credit card normally charges.

 

Is that how it will work?

[kruisey]

As I have written before .when I sign my credit card approval for Princess I tick the small box and always write charge in USA dollars.

I have never had any trouble with this.

My account is brought to my cabin always billed in USA dollars.

This is no scam by Princess for if you do not tick the box letting them know not to convert to your own currency they will. Like evry other business they will charge for that conversion. :cool:

[Colo Cruiser]

As I have written before .when I sign my credit card approval for Princess I tick the small box and always write charge in USA dollars.

I have never had any trouble with this.

 

 

Thought the OP already said they did this??? :confused:

[Atomica]

OK I am confused as usual.

 

I was told by people on this board..not by a travel agent, that the ship I booked through Princess for July 09 will be AUS dollars. Therefore they will bill me for gratuities and shore excursions (the only two expenses I normally have) in AUS, and then my credit card would charge me the 3% conversion fee my credit card normally charges.

 

Is that how it will work?

 

Yes. For the Australia sailings, the onboard currency is AUS $$. I would guess that there will be a checkbox at the bottom of your boarding pass, asking you if you'd like them to keep the charges in AUS, letting your credit card company do the conversion (at the given rate of the day), or if you want Princess to convert AUS to your card's native currency (at their pre-set rates).

[cdnguy]

Yes. For the Australia sailings, the onboard currency is AUS $$.

I wonder if that's only on the Sun Princess? I'm just back from an Australian/ New Zealand cruise on the Sapphire and we were charged US $, as requested. We have a US $ CC.

[LEESRE]

Just back from CB and yes we did check the box NOT to convert and we even wrote in large letters PLEASE DO NOT CONVERT BUT LEAVE IN US DOLLARS.

And guess what they were about to convert till I went to see the purser.

The purser said to me Oh! sometimes when they input the information they are not very thourough.

Remember to check everyhting!!!!!!!!!!

[cabana]

lets see a few thousand pax times say 50 bucks or so is a nice little profit. How can they always forget , I think it's called Sometimers. I have checked the box , written on the slip, talked to the pursers desk and still they seem to work it out that I get the extra percent everytime. It took a few months to get the money back last time.I thiink it would be cheaper for them just to bill me the correct amount up front but not everyone will chase them down . I for one am tired of the whole ripoff thing, see I didn't say scam.

[Coastaljen]

It isn't all ships from Australia. I took the AUS/NZ sailing of Celebrity in December, and it was USD.

 

The Sun Princess is marketed here by Princess and there by P & O... or something. I would have never known except for these boards. It appears as any other Princess cruise when I booked it, but now I know it is AUS from these boards, there is no anytime dining, and some of the outlets are AUS. How in the heck do people cruise without cruise critic?

[brimarl]

I checked the box to leave in US dollars..pointed it out on boarding..checked part way through the cruise twice..and they still did the conversion..went to the pursers desk and they said they posted to the credit card company in US dollars and tried to say the credit card company wanted it in CDN dollars..couldn't explain why the shipboard account already had the statement regarding converting and the 3% charge..scam may not be harsh enough a word..why do they continually annoy their customers this way!

[HighFlyer]

I call it a SCAM because even though I:

 

-checked the DO NOT convert the charge to Canadian (ie. leave it in USD)

-highlighted the said checkmark

-circled the checkmark with numerous large circles

-underlined the checkmark numerous times

-wrote "DO NOT CONVERT US CHARGES TO CANADIAN DOLLARS"

 

they still did it. I'm just going to call Amex and let Princess do the explaining.

[phillipahain]

Its a SCAM that I have repeatedly warned about

 

We even have a Dollar Bank Account and Credit card but they have still converted to £s on board Princess despite ticking the box and going to Pursers desk

 

hence NOW we ALWAYS go to pursers desk the evening before disembarkation and insist on a MANUAL swipe of the credit card .........that way its charged correctly in dollars

 

Any other way is a lottery and a 3% gain to Princess plus a poor exchange rate and nothing but hassle to get it altered afterwards

[terrierjohn]

I checked the box to leave in US dollars..pointed it out on boarding..checked part way through the cruise twice..and they still did the conversion..went to the pursers desk and they said they posted to the credit card company in US dollars and tried to say the credit card company wanted it in CDN dollars..couldn't explain why the shipboard account already had the statement regarding converting and the 3% charge..scam may not be harsh enough a word..why do they continually annoy their customers this way!

I agree entirely, I have experienced all the above; however on my last cruise I checked once with the pursers desk and the agent filled in a seperate sheet and entered some data on the computer and everything went OK. But just ticking the box has never worked for me.

[Philip217]

If I ever thought that a cruise line - or any other business - was intentionally being dishonest with me, I would refuse to do business with them.

 

There are plenty of cruise lines out there.

You should take your business elsewhere.