US versus Canadian Pricing

[luvcruisn']

Just a note re: differences in US versus Canadian pricing on cruises right now. I received a 3 day HAL sale notification in my e-mail today. Most of my e-mails from HAL show Canadian pricing and I cannot find the pricing in US dollars on HAL's site on my computer, although I have tried.

 

I compared the Canadian pricing that I was shown on the sale fares with a US travel site and found that the rates in Canadian dollars are at least 10% higher than the US rate. I used the government taxes/fees for the calculation, as I know many sites differ in their cabin prices, but the government taxes/fees remain the same for all. As the Canadian dollar is either at par with or higher than the US dollar, depending on where you change your currency from Canadian to US dollars, (such as a bank or a currency exchange place,) 10% is a very large difference.

[iancal]

HAL and other cruise lines set their exchange for long periods-3 months, sometimes more. If the currency experiences a great deal of fluctuation during that period rates are not adjusted.

 

We always get quotes from a Canadian TA in Canadian dollars and US dollers. We also get a USD quote from our US on line TA. The differences can be substantial from time to time.

[Captain Canuck]

we have tried shopping in Canada for cruises..go to all the cruise fairs when they come to town and are signed up for emails from the cruise specialist travel agencies...their prices are normally 20 to 50% more than we can get with one of the big cruise discounters in the states. cruise critic rules prohibit my giving names but they have full page ads in the cruise magazines.

 

only thing I can figure is that the us ones have lower profit margins and higher volume. or its the old retailers in Canada screw Canadian cause they can..ie car prices are higher here than in the us on cars MADE here.

 

from what I understand the hose the brits even worse

[Juanita462]

Our dollar has been very close to the US dollar and above for a while now but when I checked the HAL US price vs the Cdn price - it was 2080 more for the cruise in Cdn dollars - now, when I transferred 5000 Cdn to US dollars I made 365 on the deal - something wrong here - double profit. Not fair to not adjust the prices according to the dollar difference.

 

When I check prices with an online agency from the States - they always quote in US dollars but right now they will quote Canadian dollars charging less than the US amount.

[superoma]

Our TA always looks at the US price and the Canadian price and then has us booked at whichever is the most advantages for us. I actually have a US dollar Visa card from my Canadian bank which makes it even more convenient.

[DutchByAssociation]

This might help a little. As was previously mentioned the rates are locked in for a set period of time and anyone booked during that period is "locked in"

 

Should the market do a huge swing (let's say tomorrow the Canadian dollar tanked and was worth half of the US dollar) you would be locked in at the rate.

 

So depending on what the market does it can be good or bad vs. the locked in rate, but there is a protection there.

 

Alternative? I know a lot of Canadians that have a credit card or bank card set up in US dollars and just use that for booking cruises and other items that maybe use a similar system

 

Hope that helps a little, makes a little more sense

[boards]

We have a US charge card and book our cruises on it. Right now we are getting a few of exchange dollars we paid a few years ago back. Just a few.

[cruz chic]

Funny thing is that HALs rate has never been in favor of Canadians. Wonder how it happens to always be in favor for them. I book a lot of my cruises over a year out and I'm not willing to take the chance at what the rate will be that far in the future by booking in USD. Seems like HAL adjusts their rate once a year....always in their favor.

[MightyQuinn]

Our TA always looks at the US price and the Canadian price and then has us booked at whichever is the most advantages for us. I actually have a US dollar Visa card from my Canadian bank which makes it even more convenient.

That's our strategy as well. In most cases we book in US$ since it's a rare day when HAL prices in C$ are competitive. We got lucky just once, but it's always worth asking.

 

With C$ strength relative to US$, we're wondering if we'll use our C$ FCD before it expires. :eek::eek:

[tcook052]

Funny thing is that HALs rate has never been in favor of Canadians.

 

I wouldn't say never as back when our Dollar sucked and was .62 cents to the U.S. Dollars HAl and other cruise lines used better .70 or .75 exchange rates to encourage Canadian cruisers to book which I think it did.

 

Times, and rates, change and it's more advantageous to book in USD for now. I just checked a Westerdam sailing I've been considering and the min. inside solo pricing was USD899 & CAD939 so if I want I can book in USD and make out a little better provided the dollars stay roughly on par. Nothing saying HAL has to use the hourly flaoting exchange rate quoted in the nightly business report as I'm quite sure everyone else, including my bank, uses very different rate to make money.

[ger_77]

Just a note re: differences in US versus Canadian pricing on cruises right now. I received a 3 day HAL sale notification in my e-mail today.

 

Hi, it's Gerry from Saskatoon - can you forward that email to me? We haven't received it an I'd like to see if our Baltic cruise has gone down at all. My email is still the same: ger underscore 77 at yahoo dot com. We're going to be on the Rotterdam again at the beginning of August - I can't wait and my excitement is building every day as it has in the past.

 

Where are you planning on cruising to next? Anything for this coming summer? Hope to hear from you soon!

 

Smooth Sailing! :):):)

Gerry

[kazu]

I wouldn't say never as back when our Dollar sucked and was .62 cents to the U.S. Dollars HAl and other cruise lines used better .70 or .75 exchange rates to encourage Canadian cruisers to book which I think it did.

 

Times, and rates, change and it's more advantageous to book in USD for now. I just checked a Westerdam sailing I've been considering and the min. inside solo pricing was USD899 & CAD939 so if I want I can book in USD and make out a little better provided the dollars stay roughly on par. Nothing saying HAL has to use the hourly flaoting exchange rate quoted in the nightly business report as I'm quite sure everyone else, including my bank, uses very different rate to make money.

 

I have to agree. It's a matter of timing sometimes. When I booked our South America cruise HAL had not yet adjusted it's Cdn rate (and we were way down). So, their old rate was very favourable. They were about to adjust the rate in a few days. By booking when I did, we did save a good amount with HAL by booking in Canadian dollars. You just have to know the rates, compare and decide.

 

Normally we book in US$ (mostly works out for the best) and buy our FCC's in US$ . But I always check the Canadian prices vs the US.:)

 

And, we are lucky, we have a choice in which currency we want to buy our cruise in IMO:)

[hawkeye3d]

Last time I looked ( a few weeks ago) the CAN$ prices were 14% higher than the US$ prices and that was when the CAN$ was trading at $1.04 US. You can call HAL and they will give you a quote in either US or CAN although the price difference is a “complete mystery to them”

My on line TA has prices in both currencies AND they are adjusted to reflect the current exchange rate and that should put to bed the “exchange rates set far in advance” theory. With international banking being mostly electronic there’s just no excuse for not reflecting the current exchange rate.

For the technically minded what HAL does is a DNS lookup on the IP that you connect to their site with and if it’s a Canadian one you get Canadian pricing. As I mentioned you can always call HAL or for more fun just spoof your IP so you look like you are coming from the US and you will get prices in US$

[iancal]

I think that we have only bought one cruise out of the last five in CAD from a Canadian TA. USD prices, and a US on line TA have historically been our best option.

[cruz chic]

I wouldn't say never as back when our Dollar sucked and was .62 cents to the U.S. Dollars HAl and other cruise lines used better .70 or .75 exchange rates to encourage Canadian cruisers to book which I think it did.

 

Times, and rates, change and it's more advantageous to book in USD for now. I just checked a Westerdam sailing I've been considering and the min. inside solo pricing was USD899 & CAD939 so if I want I can book in USD and make out a little better provided the dollars stay roughly on par. Nothing saying HAL has to use the hourly flaoting exchange rate quoted in the nightly business report as I'm quite sure everyone else, including my bank, uses very different rate to make money.

I guess I should have said 99.9999999% of the time it is in HAL's favor. Like one other poster said there is no excuse for HAL not chaging it's rate more often.

[ger_77]

just spoof your IP so you look like you are coming from the US and you will get prices in US$

 

For the technically challenged, how do you spoof your IP? We used to be able to get US$ prices, but for the last 6 months or so, only CDN. I'd love to be able to access HAL's site with US prices listed. I usually go to travelocity or expedia and check theirs, but they're not always accurate either.

 

Smooth Sailing! :):):)

[hawkeye3d]

Just google ip spoofing software and you will see what's available. Some offer 14 day trials etc and the final costs, somewhere around $30US. There are other ways to do this but they are too complicated IMHO.

[luvcruisn']

With C$ strength relative to US$, we're wondering if we'll use our C$ FCD before it expires.

 

I have the same problem; I bought a Canadian FCD a few years ago, and don't know how I'm going to use it up, as you have to pay for the cruise in Canadian dollars if you use the Canadian future cruise deposit.

[sarge98]

Only information at this time. Just checked on my computer, as of 5-11-11, that site had $Canadian- .97.6 American. Two days ago .04 difference. Now whatever the cruise lines dogood luck to all.