Onboard charges

[lizboyle]

I just got my cruise tickets from Princess and they mention charging your onboard account in your own currency or in US$. I am confused! Which currency should I nominate to charge - GB pounds or US $? What are the advantages of charging in US $? I notice something about a 3% charge? Can someone please clarify and point me in the right direction? I understand all purchases will be in US$ onboard but if my bill is say, $1000 does this mean it will be converted to £ by the credit card company and charged 3% for doing so?

[dmackay46]

Thanks lizboyle. Just received my tickets yesterday too and was going to post that question. The form does not really make itself clear!:confused:

[Billy and Charlie's Mum]

I think from what I have read on other threads it is recommended that you leave the charge in $US and get your bank to convert. It is cheaper. It will be interesting to find out definitely because we will be travelling on Coral Princess in Feb and that will be in US$.

 

Maybe someone could clarify definately for us.......

[paul929207]

From what I have read, the Princess exchange rate is not very good. You will do better if the charge is in US$ and your bank converts to GB Pounds.

[ssbeagle]

When we travel we try to use our credit card as much as possible. It is a much better exchange rate through the credit card company than anywhere else. Princess deals in American $ so you would most likely get the best deal using your credit card and letting them convert to pounds.

[caribill]

Which currency should I nominate to charge - GB pounds or US $? What are the advantages of charging in US $? I notice something about a 3% charge? Can someone please clarify and point me in the right direction? I understand all purchases will be in US$ onboard but if my bill is say, $1000 does this mean it will be converted to £ by the credit card company and charged 3% for doing so?

 

As you indicated, onboard charges will be in US $. Princess does give the (default) option of converting that for you at an exchange rate it picks (plus the 3% surcharge) to GBP which would then be the amount submitted to your credit card company. Some credit cards will add an additional fee because the charge was made outside of the country.

 

Normally, it is better to keep the charges in US $ to submit to your credit card company. Then your credit card company will do the conversion (normally at a reasonable exchange rate) and may or may not add its own fees (shop for a credit card that does not charge fees for this).

 

If you pick to keep the $$ option, you must be vigilant or find that it was converted to GBP by Princess anyway.

a) Don't just tick the box to keep it in US $, highlight the tick with a coloured marker.

b) Verify at the Purser's desk that the computer knows you want to keep it in US $.

c) Some people have reported success by going to the Purser's desk the last evening and having the credit card swiped and the account paid off at that time in $.

[katiepe]

Not always so lucky..

On our last cruise the CAD$ was just a bit higher than the US$(something that only seems to happen every 30 years or so;) )so I thought -great -at least my credit card will be billed, at the very least, at par.

Not so. When my bill arrived it was quite a bit higher than anticpated-the exchange amount. I called Princess Accounts and was told that even though I had checked off US that because my credit card was not a US$ credit card I was still going to be charged the 3% and their exchange rate. I did try and argue the point but to no avail.

If someone has had a different experience please let me know as I am booked to sail in December and would like to know if the information I was given was incorrect.

[jimpod]

We normally ask that they leave the account in dollars but on the last 2 cruises they converted it. You need to check what your bank will charge you. We are booked on the Crown for the 5th Septmeber and have put some dollars on our on board account - got 2 dollars to the pound so maybe that's something you could explore. Just phone Princesss and ask what the exchange rate is for your particular cruise. Seems they have different rates depending on when you booked.

[h3rjp]

DO NOT get princess to do the currency conversion. They will offer a crappy exchange rate and then charge you an extra 3% for the prividge:

 

Do as the other poster suggested and highlight you choice with a highlighter pen. Also take a photocopy of the form before you leave home. We asked them not to convert the charge (they did anyway) and having a copy of the form made it much easier to dispute. Still took 2 months to get resolved though.

[MTElkwhistle]

pay in us$ the rate thet give you on the ship is always poor.

 

When did you book? it is possible to pre buy room credit at $2:£1 if that was the rate when you booked. An incredible saving.

Not for me unfortunately as it was 1.4 when we booked.

 

Look after the Grand as we will be on her in July, I'm just a bit north of you BTW