CaribFrog

I paid for my spring break cruise in Canadian dollars which I booked in January 2015 (before our dollar tanked). Pre-paying my gratuities today with our dollar around the 72 cent mark, would I be getting the exchange rate that was in effect at the time of booking or the current exchange rate (which is much less favourable).

 

I had the same issue. I called RCI directly and was told what price my gratuities were locked in at the time of booking (about $1.23 CDN / $1 USD or $15.91 per day). I called my travel agent and prepaid them (our cruise is in a couple days). If I had waited to pay them at the end of our trip on our Seapass it would have been at $1.41 CDN / $1 USD or $18.26 per day.

 

Call RCI's 1800 number and find out......

I am not on board, but know this answer... Drink packages are the same price pre purchased online or on the ship. Never offer discounts. The price quoted does not include gratuites. Add 18% to the total...

 

 

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Thanks Lynn

 

That is about what I figured but there is a lot of contrary comments on other threads about higher charges on board versus prebuying.

 

I also saw comments about coupons or discount prices on the Ultimate packages - one can only hope

Quick question about drink package prices for those on board right now

 

What is the price for a Premium Package they are advertising onboard? Does that include gratuities?

 

Did they offer a discounted Ultimate Package at anytime during the cruise?

 

Thanks and have a great time!

So to add to the confusion, and hopefully someone can clear it up for me......

 

I've read somewhere on this forum but not on this thread, that if you buy your package while still in the originating port - the taxes (VAT) of that state/city will be added to the purchase price. If you purchase after sailing (and maybe from a 'table's setup in public areas on day 1 that are processed later) the VAT is not added. Some commented that they were successful in getting these VAT charges reversed while at sea.

 

I've seen pictures of one of the tabes the ship had setup, posted in that same thread, that showed the Premium package price as $49 USD plus gratuities ($57.82) just as the pdf of onboard purchase showed

 

Either way as a Canadian that has to pay $81 CDN to prebuy the package ($49 + 28% gratuity +40% exchange) I will wait until onboard to see if I can find one of those 30% off the Ultimate packages!

[quote name='rnr4thatsme']Is the rate that you're able to buy OBC at the same as when you booked your cruise? My TA said I would have to pay the 40 cents on the dollar, but when I booked it last year, the dollar was much stronger....[/QUOTE]

Have not been on this forum for a bit - just saw your question.

No the rate for OBC is different than the rates for gratuities etc. The gratuities rate is determined by the rate at the time you buy the cruise. The OBC rate changed on January 7th to $1.40 CAD per $1.00 USD.

If you have not paid your gratuities up front you should still be able to now at whatever the rate was at the time of booking (Mine was $15.91 CAD per person per day, current rate would be $18.31 CAD per person per day)

The exchange rate only gets adjusted quarterly for cruise pricing, dining, shore excursions etc. The rate for OBC appears to be an annual event.

 

I read about the $1.10 exchange rate in December when I first found out about Cruise Critic. We bought $1000 worth of OBC in December - just to see if the rate was correct - we paid $1100 CDN for $1000 USD. WHOO HOO.! I was waiting until closer to he cruise to buy more.......

 

On about January 13th I read the rate had gone up - yup $1.40 CDN per $1.00 USD. WOW - seems high but that's the way the Canadian dollar is now.....

 

I then read that your gratuities are locked in at the rate at the time of the booking and quickly phone RCI and out TA to confirm. If I waited to pay by credit card at the end of our cruise I would have paid about $1.45-$1.50 CDN per $1.00 USD. As it is, our rate was locked in at $15.91 per day per person or about $1.23 CDN per $1.00 USD. So glad I found out about that before we cruised.....

 

As it is we're still going to buy another $1000 USD of OBC before our cruise - giving us an effective rate of $1.25 CDN per $1.00 USD ($2500 CDN for $2000 USD of OBC). This should allow us to pay for drink packages, excursions, casino money and possibly walk of the cruise with a little USD cash in hand at a rate that our bank just cannot match!