Question For Canadian Cruisers

[Paddy41]

I have been on 15 cruises and only four have been booked through TA's. I've never gotten a deal by booking with a TA, nor have I gotten any exchange rate deals by booking directly with Carnival other than the sale or ES rate I am booking it by. I simply do a rough calculation based on exchange rate and that is my base for the cruise costs. The current exchange rate for credit cards right now is 31%.

 

It truly sucks that the Canuck Buck is as bad as it is when there is no reason for it to be so bad. Our economy fared very well when you look at how many other G20 nations suffered during the last decade or more.

 

A low Canadian dollar means budget gets trimmed here and there by a bit.....less drinks a day and one less excursion...cannot sacrifice my pedicure.....

 

I phoned my TA and got a price quote for the cruise I wanted in Canadian dollars. The difference from what I saw online on the Carnival site was 30% more almost to the cent.

So I phoned Carnival and got a price quote for the same cruise in Canadian dollars. The person I talked to said, "You're not going to like it!" The difference from the US price was 41%.

 

Check it out yourself.

 

I also went to my online banking and started a transfer funds CAD to USD just to see what percent I would be charged as exchange. Did this yesterday. The rate was 34.4%.

[mum2bradley]

I used to book through a TA and their price was exactly the same as if I had booked through Carnival.

 

I am not looking forward to paying off the balance of this cruise!!

[familycruzinnewbie]

Regarding exchange there are buy rates and sell rates.

The sell rate is the rate that the bank sells you the USD for.

The buy rate is the rate they buy the USD for and give you back Canadian.

The spread is the difference between the two rates.

So if you want USD they are $1.34 each so you pay $1340 for $1000USD

But the bank only pays $1.27 to get them back. You cancel your trip and bring back the $1000USD and they give you $1270. You just lost $70.

[emmak8]

This is the worst exchange rate in many years.

[redflag216]

Yes, the exchange rate is very bad! I am definitely not looking forward to paying off the balance (sometime this week, unfortunately). My only saving grace is that I work for a bank and I can purchase u.s.d. for about 1.29-1.30. I never thought there would be a day when I would be excited about getting that rate lol!

[mjhouse2]

I caught a break..sort of...made the mistake of not checking the box to set the amount to pay towards a cruise. Wanted to only pay $200 ended up paying balance $900 about 2 months ago got an exchange rate of $1.23 so my silly mistake was a benefit. Now I wish I had made the mistake on all our cabins lol

[Paddy41]

Regarding exchange there are buy rates and sell rates.

The sell rate is the rate that the bank sells you the USD for.

The buy rate is the rate they buy the USD for and give you back Canadian.

The spread is the difference between the two rates.

So if you want USD they are $1.34 each so you pay $1340 for $1000USD

But the bank only pays $1.27 to get them back. You cancel your trip and bring back the $1000USD and they give you $1270. You just lost $70.

 

 

We use to have a retail store plus I was a teacher and trying to explain the above concept is not easy. You did a great job.

 

I booked a cruise awhile ago in CAD. Now I need to cancel. My deposit is, of course, in CAD. Do you know if I will get that exact amount back in CAD?