Canadian to US

[TheCount]

Did the exchange calculation, means approx. $1.376 CDN per $1.00 US

Done at the bank or by credit card company would be in the $1.45 CDN to $1.49 CDN range per $1.00 US.

Savings of approx 8-10 cents per dollar.

Worth it versus giving it to the bank or the CCard companies.

[Elusive_Cruiser]

We are in exactly the same situation. I really only bought the OBCs because of the excellent exchange rate and plan to bring back most if not all of it. I have read so many conflicting reports re drawing money mid cruise, the general consensus is it cannot be done. I think it depends very much upon each ship and the purser. There doesn't seem to be a Celebrity rule across the board as I have already found out when we were all recently fighting for our quoted OBC price which they upped substantially when they were processed. If you are refused cash you can always get some at the casino where they charge 5% commission. We also have a nice chunk of non refundable OBCs and these are used first so I don't really mind if we lose a few dollars. May I ask what your back up plan is?

 

The backup plan was/is to just use purchased USD from local bank and credit card. More expensive alternative to pulling out our OBC, but a plan nonetheless. I'm rethinking this, however. If required to pay the 5% to cash out, this is still a better deal than credit card exchange, for certain.

[Ruthk]

I am on the Eclipse right now and there were several myths from these posts.

 

Firstly, this cruise was booked in US dollars and paid for with my US charge card. Several had stated I could not buy OBC in Canadian money using a CDN charge card since my cruise was paid in US. That is not the case. I booked it over the Internet and a $25.US unit cost me something like 30.65CDN.

 

Next, I can get the balance of unused OBC that I bought. On the last day, what has not been used comes right back to me in US cash, or it goes back on my credit card, whichever way I want it.

 

And not that this is part of this post, but everything has been wonderful on this sailing. The main dining room food is better than last year, the staff is excellent, drinks are served quickly and the ship is still lovely. And all those people that groaned about taking away formal nights, well there were so many people on the first chic night - I think it was more formal than ever! And the casually dressed were fine. It is just as it should be - wear what you want! Cheers.

[Bornbeau]

Do you know if you can take out the cash from the OBC you bought from Guest Relations during the cruise

[Ruthk]

She told me to go to the casino to take out OBC during the cruise

[Oceangoer2]

I am on the Eclipse right now and there were several myths from these posts.

 

Firstly, this cruise was booked in US dollars and paid for with my US charge card. Several had stated I could not buy OBC in Canadian money using a CDN charge card since my cruise was paid in US. That is not the case. I booked it over the Internet and a $25.US unit cost me something like 30.65CDN.

 

Next, I can get the balance of unused OBC that I bought. On the last day, what has not been used comes right back to me in US cash, or it goes back on my credit card, whichever way I want it.

 

And not that this is part of this post, but everything has been wonderful on this sailing. The main dining room food is better than last year, the staff is excellent, drinks are served quickly and the ship is still lovely. And all those people that groaned about taking away formal nights, well there were so many people on the first chic night - I think it was more formal than ever! And the casually dressed were fine. It is just as it should be - wear what you want! Cheers.

Nice post - and good to hear re 'formal' or non. And thanks for explaining your experience with the OBC return - important to hear first hand. It has been posted it may not be the same policy on all ships.

[richstowe]

Just booked for Spring '17 in Cdn funds . The exchange rate is 132.5 . Not great but certainly better then 1.40 plus 2.5 CC charge . So once again we are booking direct as we have for our last 4 cruise . This exchange rate savings is greater then any additional perks given by the TA's .

 

I also managed to get a "free" bottle of wine . Woo hoo . :p

[mvaughan]

For ****s and giggles I looked at booking a cruise in Canadian and in USD on the celebrity site. It would appear celebrity is giving Canadians a break as if you book in USD and convert to Canadian the price was almost $1000 more.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[homers mom]

For ****s and giggles I looked at booking a cruise in Canadian and in USD on the celebrity site. It would appear celebrity is giving Canadians a break as if you book in USD and convert to Canadian the price was almost $1000 more.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

I think they have to give us poor Canucks a break as we probably make up a huge percentage of their passengers trying to escape our winter weather. I really believe that they don't depend on the price of the cabin to make money, it's all the extras like the casino, drinks, excursions etc where the real profits lie

[richstowe]

I think they have to give us poor Canucks a break as we probably make up a huge percentage of their passengers trying to escape our winter weather. I really believe that they don't depend on the price of the cabin to make money, it's all the extras like the casino, drinks, excursions etc where the real profits lie

They depend on the cabins to be FULL ! Once the cabin is sold , then they can concentrate on profits . The cruise industry needs high occupancy rates to break even and even higher rates to make acceptable profits . Yes the extras have a high profit margin but it means nothing without a pretty full ship .

[mvaughan]

They won't make more off me!

[homers mom]

They depend on the cabins to be FULL ! Once the cabin is sold , then they can concentrate on profits . The cruise industry needs high occupancy rates to break even and even higher rates to make acceptable profits . Yes the extras have a high profit margin but it means nothing without a pretty full ship .

 

Totally agree with you ship needs to be full. I watched a documentary on this exact issue a while ago. Ship needs to be full in fact they even get it over 100 percent on occasion if there are extra people in cabins that can accommodate either two but have bunks to sleep 4. But that still boils down to the fact that the fuller the ship, the more people there are to spend money, and this was clearly admitted....it was a spokesperson for RCCL

[richstowe]

Totally agree with you ship needs to be full. I watched a documentary on this exact issue a while ago. Ship needs to be full in fact they even get it over 100 percent on occasion if there are extra people in cabins that can accommodate either two but have bunks to sleep 4. But that still boils down to the fact that the fuller the ship, the more people there are to spend money, and this was clearly admitted....it was a spokesperson for RCCL

I believe many ships sail at more then "full" . I sailed a summer cruise on Carnival Glory at 120% occupancy . :eek:

Great for them , less great for us . :( Needless to say , lots of kids .

Edited January 29, 2016 by richstowe

[Elusive_Cruiser]

Hoping some recent Equinox pax can pipe in with their experience with both pulling out cash mid-cruise and cashing out at the end.

 

As it is our intent to pull cash out as we go, I will definitely report back. Since our cruise is virtually AI, other than internet, for which we have X onboard credit to use, we will have no additional onboard charges. We will definitely make this a cash account when we check in. With $1K of purchased OBC, no reason not to. Have our backup plan in case we cannot draw cash as we go!

 

I went to Guest Services to pull out some cash from my OBC that I purchased. I was told that I needed to go to the casino, and that they would charge me a 5% service charge. She told me whatever was left will be given to me on the last day (with no service charge). When I checked in I made sure I had a cash account. I've received a notice in my cabin that I need to go finish setting up my account!! Guess I now have my cash for '18 cruise!

[Bornbeau]

Seeing I started this thread, thought I might pass along my experience. We just got back from 14 night Ultimate Carribean Cruise on Feb 21. We had purchased onboard credit and although we were not able to get cash at guest relation we were able to get cash at the casino for a 5% charge. We were told that any thing left over from our refundable credit would be refunded back to our charge card on the last day of the cruise. As we asked for the cash we were told that they prefer to refund it back to our charge card but if we wanted they would give us the cash on the last day of the cruise which is what they did.

[bones43]

Seeing I started this thread, thought I might pass along my experience. We just got back from 14 night Ultimate Carribean Cruise on Feb 21. We had purchased onboard credit and although we were not able to get cash at guest relation we were able to get cash at the casino for a 5% charge. We were told that any thing left over from our refundable credit would be refunded back to our charge card on the last day of the cruise. As we asked for the cash we were told that they prefer to refund it back to our charge card but if we wanted they would give us the cash on the last day of the cruise which is what they did.

I have difficulty understanding why one can not receive cash for OBC that you purchased yourself without paying another 5 %. Can someone please explain .

[InnerChild]

Thank you for reporting back. I'd much rather take cash on the last day.

[I Love Carbs]

I'm new to this about purchasing onboard credit before sailing. Just want to confirm that one OBC is equivalent to $25 US? Celebrity Cruise website doesn't provide the dollar amount for what one OBC is equivalent to. And I have seen $25 US mentioned in many of the posts here.. and i just need some confirmation.

 

I just checked Celebrity Cruise website and one shipboard credit can be purchased for $35.50 CAD.

[homers mom]

I'm new to this about purchasing onboard credit before sailing. Just want to confirm that one OBC is equivalent to $25 US? Celebrity Cruise website doesn't provide the dollar amount for what one OBC is equivalent to. And I have seen $25 US mentioned in many of the posts here.. and i just need some confirmation.

 

I just checked Celebrity Cruise website and one shipboard credit can be purchased for $35.50 CAD.

 

Hello, sorry to tell you but you literally missed the boat. A couple of months ago when ourCAD was really low Celebrity was selling OBC's at 30.60CAD for USD25. A lot of us Canucks managed to catch the deal and scored well, but they quickly realized the exchange rate was so wrong they changed it almost immediately.

[Cruise Junky]

Hello, sorry to tell you but you literally missed the boat. A couple of months ago when ourCAD was really low Celebrity was selling OBC's at 30.60CAD for USD25. A lot of us Canucks managed to catch the deal and scored well, but they quickly realized the exchange rate was so wrong they changed it almost immediately.

 

I got mine for $27.50 :)

[Elusive_Cruiser]

[quote name='Bornbeau']Seeing I started this thread, thought I might pass along my experience. We just got back from 14 night Ultimate Carribean Cruise on Feb 21. We had purchased onboard credit and although we were not able to get cash at guest relation we were able to get cash at the casino for a 5% charge. We were told that any thing left over from our refundable credit would be refunded back to our charge card on the last day of the cruise. As we asked for the cash we were told that they prefer to refund it back to our charge card but if we wanted they would give us the cash on the last day of the cruise which is what they did.[/quote]

This was exactly my experience on the Equinox. As I checked in as a cash account, they gladly handed over the remaining OBC in cash on the last day.