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Why are you charged in U.S. dollars ?for Australian Excursions?


Whiteknight51
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I would like to know why PRINCESS CRUISES, charges you for 'Off Ship Excursions' in U.S. Dollars, whilst we are still in Australa. Yet in the 2014 Booklet issued by Princess Cruises says that ALL PRICES WILL BE CHARGED IN AUSTRALIAN DOLLARS. BUT in 2015- U.S.Dollars will be charged??

 

Our on board Credit of $400 Dollars, for our drinks etc - should be in Australian Dollars, and not in U.S. dollars.

 

I would be very interested in getting your feed back on his matter, as most of our cruise in within Australian Waters.And we only go across to Indonesia for 1 day.

 

whiteknight51. 10/16 /2014. Sydney,Australia. Cruising on the Diamond Princess on Nov.16,2014 from Sydney.

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The Australian based Princess ships charge $Aud, the one's that only visit short term charge $US. Or more accurately every ship [to the best of my knowledge] charge excursions in the on board currency.

 

I imagine it would be very complex to charge shore tours n $Aus, and Drinks, purchases, tips, specialty dining etc in $US.

 

You do know I hope that your on board spending will be in $US.

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I believe the Dawn, Sun and Sea are based in Australia year round. All onboard expenses are charged in Au$. The Diamond is not based in Australia, and all charges are in US$.

 

Last year we sailed from Rome to Sidney on the Ocean Princess. Everything onboard was US$

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Yes probably because Diamond Princess is based for only a few months in Australia

You may want to consider doing your own thing in most of the Australian ports on this cruise, you aren't going to see to much more with an expensive ship arranged tour than you can on your own, except the Margret River wineries possibly

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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This issue has gotten a bit cloudy, and I guess the information in Princess brochures (and from travel agents) is just as muddled for Australian customers as in the USA.

 

When Sun Princess, Dawn Princess, and Sea Princess were permanently transferred to near year-round sailing from Australia onboard currency was changed to $AUS.

 

But with the growth of the Asian market, Princess now has five ships (Sun, Dawn, Sea, Diamond, and Sapphire Princess) bouncing back and forth between Australia, Asia and the South Pacific islands. And they will be joined by a sixth ship Golden Princess in Fall 2015.

 

So I guess Princess thought they could keep it simple by leaving Sun, Dawn and Sea onboard currency as $AUS and leaving Diamond, Sapphire and Golden (when she arrives) onboard currency as $US, no matter where a particular cruise sails to. Unfortunately what I assume the OP is dealing with--having inquired and being told that onboard currency on Princess Australia ships is $AUS but ended up booking Diamond Princess which will always use $US--is just going to keep on happening.

Edited by fishywood
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  • 2 years later...

Hi Everyone, Newbie to the cruise critic and hope my post is permitted.

 

Being from the land down under I am curious if Australian Based Ships from US Companies (Such as RCI) will ever consider charging AUD rather than US dollars for their onboard costs.

 

I understand most of the companies are US based, however companies such as Princess, Carnival and P&O now charge AUD.

 

Travelling to Europe and America you expect to pay an exchange rate but travelling in Australia, NZ and the Pacific Island it would make more sense to charge AUD or NZD to take the confusion out of payments. Many people will be very surprised at the end of the cruise when their on board spending of $USD2000 has suddenly increased to $AUD2500.

 

Thanks for allowing me to have my say and look forward to any responses.

Regards Mimi

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Look on the bright side. If given a choice between $400 Aus or $400 US....the US has more value. The $400 US would be worth over $500 in Aussie dollars. So count your blessings.

 

Hank

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