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Canadians Cruising This year


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Our dollar is a cruise killer right now. We're going in mid-Feb on a cruise booked a year earlier, so not suffering too badly.

 

But I think we will not book any more cruises for the foreseeable future, because the exchange rate is so awful. It breaks your heart to take $800 to the currency exchange and get $600 back.

 

It's Canada's 150th birthday this year. Free admission to every national park. A dollar is still a dollar if we stay home, and there's lots to see and do here. That's probably my plan.

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We find that cruise prices are up and our dollar is of course down. We have been avoiding any US dollar based trips, including most cruises. Instead of going to Florida etc. we have spent the last three winters in SE Asis-Thailand, Vietnam, etc. Beaches beautiful, people very friendly. We can spent 2-3 months there for what 3-4 weeks would cost us in the US. The only downside is the long flight.

 

Our last 'cruise' in Europe was a last minute Med cruise at bargain rates. We were at the end of our DIY cruise of the Greek Islands. The price of the cruise and the price of the one way air home made it a no brainer for us even with USD pricing. We simply flew to Athens and then used local ferries to go from island to island staying a few days on each island. Much less expensive than the then current Med cruise prices. And more enjoyable.

 

No doubt we will do more cruising if the pricing improves however for the past few years AI's and land travel have been much more attractive to us. Once we started looking we found that there are many attractive alternatives to USD based cruising and USD based vacations.

Edited by iancal
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  • 1 month later...

For those wanting to snowbird to Asia cheap this coming winter, the Celebrity Millennium 15 day Vancouver-Yokohama is a good way. If you go for Inside GTY (seems to be available in the evening ~ after 7p PT), it's C$815 inc taxes and fees. Add ~C$60 to get from Yokohama to Narita by N'EX and ~C$150 air fare from there to Bangkok.

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Tough to spend the $$ but I really have to for my sanity. It is my favourite way to vacation.

Tried MSC because of their actual 2 for 1 pricing and am also looking at going inside or inside promenade to allow myself to feed my habit...

From Edmonton was cheaper to fly to San Juan than Miami last year and also cheaper to fly into Newark or Houston than Miami-depending on months. The problem with cape Liberty or B'more is that its still winter.

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Some good tips. Ty all who have posted!

 

For our cruise next week on the Freedom of the Seas big adjustment for us budget wise was going from our usual balcony or suite to an inside Family Promenade. Got it during kids sail free so for 4 of us came out to just over $2000 usd for the 8 day cruise. Beyond that paid for all our air using mileage points. Cruise from Fort Lauderdale but flying into Miami because cost and timing was better. Booked our hotel in Miami last June and got a great deal on Hotwire; Best Western Premier Miami Airport for $85 total. My folks are going with us and they did not try booking their hotel until a few months ago and now hotel prices are through the roof. After the cruise we are spending a week in Orlando with my folks hosting us in their timeshare so that saves more money. Renting a van and I checked prices every week and canceled/rebooked whenever there was a price drop.

 

We have a cruisenext certificate for NCL but have been hard pressed to find the right cruise that we want to do and fits our budget and schedules. Like others have noted so many other options that right now at least can work better for Canadians.

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  • 4 weeks later...

We have essentially stopped cruising in favour of independent land trips to countries on our bucket list that have a more favourable exchange rate. For us that has meant SE Asia and Central/South America.

 

We did a South America cruise last month as part of a longer land trip. The only reason we booked it was because Princess had a short sale for Canadian residents that essentially made our dollar at par. It was also one of the few times that we have ever booked a cruise with a Canadian TA.

 

We are avoiding all US travel. Lots of other places on our bucket list.

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  • 2 weeks later...
For all fellow Fellow Canadians who want to cruise this year. Seems the cruise rates have gone way way up. Due to our bad dollar. What are some ways you may be still cruising this year? what type of cruise you doing and what ways are you looking to save? or are you biting the bullet and willing to pay triple the price, lol

 

Between solo rates and 35.5 cents on every dollar cruising has become expensive. On the other hand a coach trip to Ireland last year made cruising seem a bargain. Airfare and cost of meals is very high - and I bought nothing like the quality of cruise food. Have one cruise with final payment coming up soon and did book another that I could "live with the price" for 2018. The 30% off sale does help and there may be a 50% off before final payment. I am a senior so will continue travelling while I can. Wish there were sailings from the west coast for Mexico as there used to be.

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Wow .. good to know to be able to pay in CAD! Thanks for sharing :)

I travel Royal Caribbean and always book in CDN $ - website can be set up for quotes in CDN $ - then I can call RCI, book on line, or call a TA.

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Until our loonie gets a bit better in the exchange rate, I'm going to stick to the cruise lines that let you pay in CDN$ such as RCI & Celebrity.

 

I am looking at excursions for my Hawaii trip on RCI. Because of the dollar - ship excursions priced in CDN dollars are proving cheaper than booking private companies in AM $. Thought that was an interesting discovery.

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  • 2 weeks later...
We find that cruise prices are up and our dollar is of course down. We have been avoiding any US dollar based trips, including most cruises. Instead of going to Florida etc. we have spent the last three winters in SE Asis-Thailand, Vietnam, etc. Beaches beautiful, people very friendly. We can spent 2-3 months there for what 3-4 weeks would cost us in the US. The only downside is the long flight.

 

Our last 'cruise' in Europe was a last minute Med cruise at bargain rates. We were at the end of our DIY cruise of the Greek Islands. The price of the cruise and the price of the one way air home made it a no brainer for us even with USD pricing. We simply flew to Athens and then used local ferries to go from island to island staying a few days on each island. Much less expensive than the then current Med cruise prices. And more enjoyable.

 

No doubt we will do more cruising if the pricing improves however for the past few years AI's and land travel have been much more attractive to us. Once we started looking we found that there are many attractive alternatives to USD based cruising and USD based vacations.

 

 

Did you write any reviews of you land trips , Greek islands,Vietnam and Thailand and anywheres? I would be interested in knowing more about it.

We might be doing the same soon. Cruising is way too expensive for us Canadians.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

We decided to limit ourselves to one cruise per year because of the cost. We also try to book on web sites that provide fares in Canadian dollars. That way we know what the total cost will be even on installments.

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  • 6 months later...

We are sailing in March.

Being retired, I had time to research the best cruise for us.

Got a 10 day Southern Caribbean cruise for $2900.00 CDN per couple taxes in with over $400.00 OBC & Prepaid gratuities with a real good cruise line.

We booked an interior and then got upgraded to a balcony.($1400.00 upgrade for free)

Also, we are flying in 3 days early to Florida and flying home same day we return from cruise.

So, I researched different combinations of flights and wound up saving $600.00 ($150.00 x 4) by flying into Tampa (vs Orlando, FLL or Miami) and flying out of Fort Lauderdale (home port).

I think we got a good deal.

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  • 1 month later...

For us, the main issue is the cost for flights (Toronto to Miami or Fort Lauderdale).

 

We have one cruise next year March break. Want to fly direct but know it will be super expensive.

 

We also have another booked last week in Aug. Cruise was a good one price but again direct flights are over $500 pee person (we are 4). We're looking at either driving to Buffalo but savings aren't that much when you consider gas and hotel. Other option is to fly out of Detroit. Kit thrilled with a 4.5 hr drive only to fly but it may be oy best option financially.

 

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk

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We have never cruised before. I have gone and booked three cruises for 2018 (7 day Western Caribbean, 10 day Eastern Caribbean, 14 day European).

Hope we like cruising. Commitments made.

 

LOL. When you commit, you commit! I certainly hope you do enjoy cruising. Which cruise lines/ships?

 

There's a wealth of knowledge on these cruise Critic boards. I learned so much, and hope you do too!

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LOL. When you commit, you commit! I certainly hope you do enjoy cruising. Which cruise lines/ships?

 

There's a wealth of knowledge on these cruise Critic boards. I learned so much, and hope you do too!

 

 

I have been studying CC for some time and have learned enough to be hooked already!!

 

We are on Norwegian Dawn for Western Caribbean in 3 days, and Cruise and Maritime for a small ship (Columbia) British cruising experience in July, then Norwegian in the Caribbean on a different route.

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  • 2 months later...

Just booked a Sunwing/NCL cruise package for March '19 . The price ,at just over 1700 Cdn , isn't bad as it includes air , balcony cabin , taxes and transfers . Normally we would book the air on our own or through the cruise line and give ourselves an extra day or two down south . Plus this package doesn't include the Norwegian drink package which is currently included in regular bookings . Oh and the cabin is unassigned .That's the trade-off we have made.

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  • 2 weeks later...

We have cruises planned for October 2018 and February 2019. I have been using cruise line web sites that quote all their prices in Canadian dollars. I also prepay for as much as possible as once onboard the charges will show in U.S. dollars. Excursions can be expensive so we cut them out to keep costs down.

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Wow, I hear you fellow Canadians. I remember when I had my first cruise started cruising in 2012. When we were close to par. The last cruise I went on was a Canada at par deal with NCL. We got a good deal for a MSC cruise out of Miami Dec 8 and I was discouraged about the high cost of Miami hotels/airfare.

We found airfare to Fort Lauderdale was cheaper and we got at Fort Lauderdale hotel--Ramada Plaza for two nights , for 100 dollar CAD a night (book two nights..get a discount).

My ideal hotel would be in the Art Deco area of Miami, but until the CAD strengthens, I can't afford it

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