FCC Currency Change From US to AUD

Was that on Sea Princess? If so, it's because it's classed as being based in Aus, hence no gratuities.

Yes it was. But we booked and paid from New Zealand with Princess Australia.

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Is the DSC the same as Gratuities?

 

Different terms used by different cruise lines.

Only in cruises that start and/or finish in Australia have the Gratuities built into the cruise costs, possibly only for those who book and pay through Australia or New Zealand.

Thank you.

Some more information to add to this thread. Long story but we ended up with some additional (refundable) onboard credit.

I checked the personalizer and saw that it was 1 to 1 US to AUD. I alerted my TA and she called Princess.

They told her that's the way it was done. After a long discussion with Princess about losing money on this without the proper conversion, my TA gave up and asked for a refund of the OBC.

Military OBC, Shareholder OBC, and Future Cruise Deposit OBC are granted in

If you look at the details for Shareholder OBC, the form states "The onboard credit for Carnival Cruise Line, Costa Cruises, Cunard and Princess Cruises is determined based on the operational currency onboard the vessel." The form lists OBC for North American Brands as US$250, US$100, or US$50 and for Australia Brands as A$250, A$100, or A$50 depending on the length of the cruise. So the Shareholder OBC is clearly not converted based on the exchange rate.

If you look at the PDF form for the Military OBC, it states $50 USD/AUD, $100 USD/AUD, and $250 USD/AUD depending on the length of the cruise. So this form also states the Military OBC is granted in either USD or AUD and is not converted based on the exchange rate.

The Future Cruise Deposit Form does not clearly state whether the OBC is in the currency booked or the onboard currency.

Purchased OBC, including OBC purchased by your travel agent, should be different than OBC provided by these Carnival Corporation and Princess promotions.

 

Purchased OBC, including OBC purchased by your travel agent, should be different than OBC provided by these Carnival Corporation and Princess promotions.

Totally agree but that is not what was on my Personalizer. It was 1 for 1.

We were on the Diamond Princess out of Sydney in February and March of this year. It is a 1:1 conversion for FCD - OBC. It's that way because "it is Princess policy" per the supervisor at Corporate that we spoke with about the matter.

So who out there has received refundable on board credit, not showing in your personalizer before the sailing, but once on the ship, was it converted?

I have seen posted that loyalty(cruise pts above 21) credit, given on the ship by Princess is converted.

Sailed the England to New York segment of the world cruise on the Sea Princess in 2017 and ALL US$ OBC was converted to A$. Will be on the same segment this year and expect the same to happen.

I believe that with the Shareholder and Military OBC the amounts given are fixed amounts by currency. For example if you are on a cruise using US dollars you get $250 USD if you are on a cruise using Australian dollars you get 250 Australian Dollars. Seems that was in the description of the benefit.

Would not be surprised if that is norm for other Princess provided OBC's such as those involved in sales and FCC.

I am still wondering--Since I will be on B2B back cruises in March where the currency will be in A$ and all of the credit I should be getting in US$ so I will have less spending power than I would if it were converted to the current rate of exchange (That happened on 3 B2B cruise two years ago). Ok- Will I be able to buy FCC in A$ while aboard and then use them on US based cruises and get OBC in US$? Only seems fair :-)

In post#33 I relayed that all US$ OBC were converted to A$ on the Sea Princess last year on the England to New York segment, ALL means ALL-FCC, military, shareholder and loyalty.

I fail to understand why cruisers are talking about pre paying gratuities. CCL ships based in Australian and using AUD on board do not have the 'optional' daily charge as the staff are paid the minimum Australian wage by law

We alway give a tip to the staff we 'use' but there is no daily c harge

Just a note our loyalty obc of $50US is always given as $AUD66

I fail to understand why cruisers are talking about pre paying gratuities. CCL ships based in Australian and using AUD on board do not have the 'optional' daily charge as the staff are paid the minimum Australian wage by law

 

We alway give a tip to the staff we 'use' but there is no daily c harge

 

Just a note our loyalty obc of $50US is always given as $AUD66

As we had booked our Oz-Fiji cruise here in the US and paid in USD, we had gratuities added to our on board account. As per the reason for this thread, our FCD was exchanged at 1:1, but the gratuities were charged at current exchange rates. The 13.50 USD per day per passenger came across at around 18AUD per day. Talk about having your cake and eating Princess! At least our TA OBC credit of $350USD did get converted ago AUD at the correct exchange rate, or I might have had a word with customer services, or the future cruise director.

I fail to understand why cruisers are talking about pre paying gratuities. CCL ships based in Australian and using AUD on board do not have the 'optional' daily charge as the staff are paid the minimum Australian wage by law

 

We alway give a tip to the staff we 'use' but there is no daily c harge

 

Just a note our loyalty obc of $50US is always given as $AUD66

curious...as I recently spoke to a staff member(my room attendant, May, Alaska sailing) who had worked on an Australian based Princess ship and they told me their pay is the same as any other ship not sailing in Oz.

As we had booked our Oz-Fiji cruise here in the US and paid in USD, we had gratuities added to our on board account. As per the reason for this thread, our FCD was exchanged at 1:1, but the gratuities were charged at current exchange rates. The 13.50 USD per day per passenger came across at around 18AUD per day. Talk about having your cake and eating Princess! At least our TA OBC credit of $350USD did get converted ago AUD at the correct exchange rate, or I might have had a word with customer services, or the future cruise director.

Princess told me and my TA it depends how your TA "buys" the OBC...and my TA said she will handle it if they don't convert her purchase even wrote what Princess told her in her travel notes on my booking for follow up.....but Diane's situation has me wondering..

Thanks for you info as u have answered my question. I have pre-paid grats, just easier in my opinion....don't want to see that hotel charge every day on my account.

From doing some research I do know on my sailings a 10 & 28 day that the pricing for the cruise on Princess Australia was on par with US,UK pricing, which I found very interesting, since we in No. American + those in the UK etc...are being charged the grat. and those booking thru PA are not.

It is what it is...but I do find it curious....

At least our TA OBC credit of $350USD did get converted ago AUD at the correct exchange rate, or I might have had a word with customer services, or the future cruise director.

Was this correct on your personalized or did it not get converted until you boarded the ship?

Was this correct on your personalized or did it not get converted until you boarded the ship?

The TA credit did not show up on cruise personalized. It only showed up on our stateroom account after we boarded.

The TA credit did not show up on cruise personalized. It only showed up on our stateroom account after we boarded.

And was it properly converted?

And was it properly converted?

The TA OBC was credited at current rates. The FCD deposit from Princess did appear on our cruise personalizer, but was credited at 1 for 1

The TA OBC was credited at current rates. The FCD deposit from Princess did appear on our cruise personalizer, but was credited at 1 for 1

Interesting and so confusing how Princess does it.