Canadian cruisers!!

[Ourusualbeach]

Maybe it was a mistake then but when I cruised in Dec 2014 I had paid $12.95 Cdn, not the Cdn exchange of $12.95. So that's why I jumped at the chance to to prepay in Cdn, to save myself a bit on the exchange.

Maybe it was some sort of promo then?

 

No mistake. We paid gratuities in CDN at less that what they would have been when we sailed in 2014. It all had to do with the exchange rate that was in place when the cruise was booked.

[Ourusualbeach]

Can you cancel/refund your prepaid gratuities, if you decide to pay on board? (not sure if this has been answered before)

 

If it's before final payment then I know for sure you can have them removed. After final I'm not sure.

[moopetguy]

Maybe it was a mistake then but when I cruised in Dec 2014 I had paid $12.95 Cdn, not the Cdn exchange of $12.95. So that's why I jumped at the chance to to prepay in Cdn, to save myself a bit on the exchange.

Maybe it was some sort of promo then?

 

No mistake. We paid gratuities in CDN at less that what they would have been when we sailed in 2014. It all had to do with the exchange rate that was in place when the cruise was booked.

 

For my Oasis sailing in November 2014, I prepaid my gratuities at $82.80 CAD per person (7 nights) -- the equivalent of approximately $11.83 CAD per person, per night.

[hancogran]

Just looked at my copy of our Booking Confirmation for our Brilliance transatlantic in May of 2015. For 14 nights, gratuities were 153.75 Canadian each. That works out to 10.98 Canadian per day! That was definitely a bargain. Mind you we booked this cruise a bit more than a year in advance so our Canadian dollar was looking good then. :)

[Funbobby68]

Looks like drink packages are at 1.37 exchange rate ..... Did it go down

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[CaribCruiser54]

Apparently they are offering discounts for the drink packages for platinum crown and anchor and up , from what I read on another thread they don't promote it and you have to ask , and the discount rate varies from ship to ship .......every little bit helps

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

I contacted C&A a couple of weeks ago to ask about possible drink pkgs. I was told couldn't confirm, varies not only by ship but could vary between cruise dates. Appropriate discounts are supposed to be loaded onto sea pass embarkation day and an explanatory placed in stateroom to explain all C&A discount entitlements. I bought OBC to supplement the $300 I got for booking this cruise, hopefully that will cover 2 pkgs 🍹🍷🍻

[CanadaRob]

Update on taking the OBC out. On jewel last week with a cash account, casino wouldn't give me cash, informed me it was a policy change from 5 months ago. Got my voucher went to dinner came back and cashed it out via a machine right next to the cashier. She gave me my 550 and said congratulations...

[A&L_Ont]

If RC actually reviews their exchange rate every 2 weeks like some have said, it should be changing soon as our dollar is going up.

[Ourusualbeach]

If RC actually reviews their exchange rate every 2 weeks like some have said, it should be changing soon as our dollar is going up.

 

With reports of it being 1.5 I'm thinking that they don't want the business any more unless they are going to make money on it. It will be interesting to see where it goes from here...both our $ and Royals rate.

 

Less than a week until we get to use up the last of our 1.10 funds.:)

[constable145]

If RC actually reviews their exchange rate every 2 weeks like some have said, it should be changing soon as our dollar is going up.

 

 

They might review their rate every 2 weeks. It doesn't mean they'll change it every 2 weeks. There is money to be made.

[LuCruise]

If RC actually reviews their exchange rate every 2 weeks like some have said, it should be changing soon as our dollar is going up.

 

I noticed that too, as they just slightly lowered the prices of things . For example, an excursion that I'm watching just dropped from $117 to $115 (but when I booked it back in September it was about $100), and the character meal just dropped a touch (but again, still way up from last year when it was only $11 vs $13.70 today).

Edited March 7, 2016 by LuCruise

[jtdlmc]

Just off Freedom yesterday. We had no issues at all with getting cash from the casino and also Guest Services. Four of our party withdrew OBC from Guest Services on two occasions each. I went to put some OBC onto my son's account at Guest Services and they also asked me if I wanted any cash??? It must vary from ship to ship because everything I had read has said you cannot get cash from Guest Services other than on the last day. We all had cash accounts and no fees were charged or even mentioned.

 

Also, all of our OBC was on one persons account (three cabins all had the same issue) even though we called separately and used our own credit cards for our own OBC. We had to go to Guest Services and transfer OBC to the correct person. The cards left in our cabins were correct in that they had each person as having their own OBC. I asked why it was all put on one persons acc't even though we had cards stating that each person had their own and they just said Accounting does it however they want!

Edited March 7, 2016 by jtdlmc

[hancogran]

Wrong thread.. sorry!:p

Edited March 7, 2016 by hancogran

[southnam]

I noticed that too, as they just slightly lowered the prices of things . For example, an excursion that I'm watching just dropped from $117 to $115 (but when I booked it back in September it was about $100), and the character meal just dropped a touch (but again, still way up from last year when it was only $11 vs $13.70 today).

 

I wish they would go back to not charging for the character meals. Nickel and Diming on RCCL will suck.

[bluemeansgo]

I wish they would go back to not charging for the character meals. Nickel and Diming on RCCL will suck.

 

noob here. What's a character meal? I can only think that it's a meal similar to a Disney breakfast with Winnie the Pooh kind of thing.

 

Either that, or a meal with people of distinguished character. :lol:

[moopetguy]

noob here. What's a character meal? I can only think that it's a meal similar to a Disney breakfast with Winnie the Pooh kind of thing.

 

Either that, or a meal with people of distinguished character. :lol:

 

You have the right idea :) It's a breakfast in the MDR during which DreamWorks characters (from Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, etc.) come around. There's a little song and dance number (i.e. music plays, the characters dance) and invite the kids to come over and dance with them. Then they visit each table for photos and usually give out some small gift such as stickers or a "Shrek ears" headband.

 

In my experience, a 7-day itinerary has 3 breakfast opportunities and different characters visit during each one (usually 3-4 characters per breakfast).

[SensFan11]

You have the right idea :) It's a breakfast in the MDR during which DreamWorks characters (from Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, etc.) come around. There's a little song and dance number (i.e. music plays, the characters dance) and invite the kids to come over and dance with them. Then they visit each table for photos and usually give out some small gift such as stickers or a "Shrek ears" headband.

 

In my experience, a 7-day itinerary has 3 breakfast opportunities and different characters visit during each one (usually 3-4 characters per breakfast).

 

I'm not thrilled by them charging for character meals, but it does have one advantage...it means there's space available to those who really want to go.

 

When it was free, in my experience, all the character breakfasts would fill up by day 2, but then several guests would just not show up (overslept?). It seems to me it's now easier to get a booking, and they have fewer no-shows.

[LuCruise]

I'm not thrilled by them charging for character meals, but it does have one advantage...it means there's space available to those who really want to go.

 

When it was free, in my experience, all the character breakfasts would fill up by day 2, but then several guests would just not show up (overslept?). It seems to me it's now easier to get a booking, and they have fewer no-shows.

 

I was planning on waiting to book the character breakfast until we were on board (so I could use my OBC bought at the 1.1 exchange) but when I checked last night, I noticed that the first meal is no longer being offered (i.e. I assume it is now sold out) so thought I should go ahead and book it. But yeah, I can see those that have bought it will show up (vs when it was free)

Edited March 7, 2016 by LuCruise

[SensFan11]

I was planning on waiting to book the character breakfast until we were on board (so I could use my OBC bought at the 1.1 exchange) but when I checked last night, I noticed that the first meal is no longer being offered (i.e. I assume it is now sold out) so thought I should go ahead and book it.

 

That's certainly the risk. We're sailing next week and I've held back booking any excursions or specialty dinners just so I can use by OBC (also bought at 1.1). Main difference is, I think it's unlikely the one excursion we want will sell out in advance (we'll book it as soon as we board), and we have pretty good flexibility on the dinners.

 

For the character breakfasts, they're more of a 'limited availability' kind of thing...if you really want to make sure you have it, by all means book it in advance!

[son3cruisers]

Just off Freedom yesterday. We had no issues at all with getting cash from the casino and also Guest Services. Four of our party withdrew OBC from Guest Services on two occasions each. I went to put some OBC onto my son's account at Guest Services and they also asked me if I wanted any cash??? It must vary from ship to ship because everything I had read has said you cannot get cash from Guest Services other than on the last day. We all had cash accounts and no fees were charged or even mentioned.

 

!

 

This is so great to hear! Thank you so much for reporting back! So many of us are waiting....

[Cruise Junky]

Checking Gifts and Gear this morning the exchange looks to be around 1.41 :rolleye

 

Beringer white zin was $36 us and $51 Canadian. Nice 5x markup on that puppy. Who in their right mind pays that for white zin ? Blech

[southnam]

Just wondering for those who follow pricing closely. How close is the correlation between Canadian currency and the price we pay for cruising. If our money gets strong will we see drop in prices?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Virtopia]

Checking Gifts and Gear this morning the exchange looks to be around 1.41 :rolleye

 

Beringer white zin was $36 us and $51 Canadian. Nice 5x markup on that puppy. Who in their right mind pays that for white zin ? Blech

 

 

That is ridiculous. I just bought a bottle at the LCBO for $12.95.

[jtdlmc]

Checking Gifts and Gear this morning the exchange looks to be around 1.41 :rolleye

 

Beringer white zin was $36 us and $51 Canadian. Nice 5x markup on that puppy. Who in their right mind pays that for white zin ? Blech

 

I just transferred some CND into my US acc't through TD Bank and it was $1.36, so looks like they are trying to make up some of the money they lost with the $1.10 rate :eek:

[A&L_Ont]

That is ridiculous. I just bought a bottle at the LCBO for $12.95.

 

Isn't that the price of a glass in US funds on the ship?