Currency and costs

[turtlemichael]

On Summit last week my partner and I, together with our friends, booked a future cruise. Our intention was to use the one agent, Canadian, like we did this cruise because they are from Canada and have a good ta there.

 

The future cruise lady on board misunderstood our intention which was to be charged in US Dollars rather than Canadian. From my point of view it was to avoid a further currency conversion before it hit my credit card in Aussie dollars.

 

We noticed the mistake when we got the confirmation and asked her to change the currency to US dollars which she happily did. However, the $900 US dollars has hit my credit card as $1210.59 Australian. The original charge in Canadian dollars, for the same cruise deposit, was $1396.00 Canadian dollars and that hit my card as Australian $1601.90. While that $1601.90 has been immediately reversed, and I am not out of pocket, is this really telling me that if I or anyone else pays in Canadian dollars they will be substantially out of pocket on the exchange rates Celebrity uses or is there some other point I am missing?

 

Michael

[Susan-M]

Michael...you are right - it's best to have them bill in U.S. $$.

 

This is similar to allowing Celebrity to convert your charges for on-board expenses to the currency of your credit card. If we don't stipulate on our registration form that onboard expenses are to be billed in U.S. dollars to our credit card, they will gladly convert them to our currency (Cdn) at a very high exchange rate. Good thing you caught this...it's quite a savings!

The exchange rate from Cdn to U.S. is approx. $1.21 - and $900 U.S. should have translated to approx. $1100. not $1396. Cdn.

[BrendaJ]

I noticed the same thing when I booked a shore excursion on-line last week. Celebrity automatically converted it to Canadian and charged 30% exchange, when the actual exchange rate was more like 16%.

 

On board in two weeks, I will definitely ask them to bill us in U.S. I have indicated as much in my on-line documents, but will confirm while on board, just in case.

[LHT28]

Most cruiselines charge $1.40 exchange rate so best to have them bill in US $$ Get your TA to check the rate the cruiseline charges.

 

Then you have the Credit card companies that add anywhere from 1-3% on top of the daily exchange rate.:eek:

[Susan-M]

Then you have the Credit card companies that add anywhere from 1-3% on top of the daily exchange rate.:eek:

 

I found that my PCF Master Card gave really good exchange rates on purchases - $1.423 Cdn/Euro in late Sept., vs. my debit card at 1.458, plus $3. transaction fee for cash withdrawals.

Both were far better rates than when I bought cash here prior to the trip....I should have listened to the advice of others on that one!

[Susan-M]

I noticed the same thing when I booked a shore excursion on-line last week. Celebrity automatically converted it to Canadian and charged 30% exchange, when the actual exchange rate was more like 16%.

 

 

Brenda - when I booked a shore excursion on line, Celebrity billed in U.S. $$. I wonder if it has to do with who you booked your cruise through? ( I booked with an on-line agency from the U.S.)

[LHT28]

Brenda - when I booked a shore excursion on line, Celebrity billed in U.S. $$. I wonder if it has to do with who you booked your cruise through? ( I booked with an on-line agency from the U.S.)

You can ask your TA to book in US funds.

The only problem with booking with US TA you may not be protected if they go belly -up or take off with your money!

http://www.tico.on.ca/consumers.html

[Susan-M]

You can ask your TA to book in US funds.

The only problem with booking with US TA you may not be protected if they go belly -up or take off with your money!

http://www.tico.on.ca/consumers.html

 

Good point! The one I booked with is covered by TICO, but many are not.

[LHT28]

Good point! The one I booked with is covered by TICO, but many are not.

I am surprised if a U.S. based agency is covered by the Ontario Travel Registrar.

You can check your TA to see if they are covered at the TICO site

http://tico.asicanada.net/source/custom/search.cfm

[Susan-M]

I am surprised if a U.S. based agency is covered by the Ontario Travel Registrar.

You can check your TA to see if they are covered at the TICO site

http://tico.asicanada.net/source/custom/search.cfm

 

travelocity.ca and expedia.ca are covered ... they have Ontario registration.

[dmk]

This difference in price between US funds and CAD for the price of a cruise has been an irritant to me for the past 18 months.There is no reason that Celebrity can't bring their exchange rate of CAD to one that is more current. The CAD has been higher than the rate Celebrity is giving for over 18 months now.

I would like to phone or write to someone at Celebrity who is in a position to make decisions. Would you say it would be the CEO. Anyone else? If it is the CEO, I would appreciate thhis mailind address. I have his email address but that doesn't seem an appropriate way of going about it.

I think if more Canadians wrote, it might receive more attention. Who else is game? My fellow Canadians it is time to get off our Laissez-Faire backsides and do something.

[Susan-M]

DMK - It would be good to hear Celebrity's perspective on this and why they surcharge so much (a cash grab...but they will probably have another reason that doesn't sound quite as offensive.) I don't think Celebrity is alone in this either, and it's been this way for years.

 

But I think you always have the choice of Celebrity charging in U.S. or Cdn $$ (at least we have). If it gets to the point where they don't provide a choice, I'll be on the letter writing campaign.

[turtlemichael]

DMK - It would be good to hear Celebrity's perspective on this and why they surcharge so much (a cash grab...but they will probably have another reason that doesn't sound quite as offensive.) I don't think Celebrity is alone in this either, and it's been this way for years.

 

But I think you always have the choice of Celebrity charging in U.S. or Cdn $$ (at least we have). If it gets to the point where they don't provide a choice, I'll be on the letter writing campaign.

 

A couple of comments. Maybe it is not surprising that Celebrity chose to charge us in Canadian $ because we were using a Canadian agent. Therefore, if you have the option to use US dollars, as we did, you have to positively say so.

 

The cost to me was nearly $400 just on the deposit. On full payment it would be in the low thousands. As much as I love Celebrity I can think of better ways to spend that money than give it to the stockholders.

 

Final comment. If anyone can find on the website the details of Celebrity's policy in this respect, they should say so. This is a big and expensive trap for new players. It is really hard to justify such large price differences.

[BrendaJ]

I thought perhaps they charged me in Canadian dollars because something in my on-line profile (or a cookie they've put on my computer) indicates that I am Canadian. Plus, yes, we did book this one with a Canadian package company (Encore). Our next cruise is booked with an American travel agent; I'll have to wait and see what happens for that one.

[Susan-M]

Brenda: did Encore charge you in Cdn or U.S. $ for the cruise?

[Roland4]

Being a TA in Canada I can maybe shed a little light on this. If the booking is made through a wholesaler, like Encore, it is quoted in CAD unless you specifically ask your TA to book in US. If the booking is made directly with the cruise line, they will quote in both US and CAD if asked by the agent. The exception is Carnival who book ONLY in US. Up until the beginning of the summer, the lines were using a rate of $1.40, but most now use something in the area of $1.30. It is actually to your advantage to book in US if you can buy US yourself for less than $1.30. Keep in mind that you may have to insist that your TA book in US. Administratively, dealing with bookings in US$ is much messier than a simple credit card transaction in CAD. Also, once the booking is made in US it must be completed in US. You can't switch currencies mid-transaction unless you cancel and rebook.

 

For those in Canada on this board (and there seem to be a lot of us!) it can be easier, if you travel the US a lot, to get a US$ credit card. Most of the major banks offer them, as well as US$ bank accounts. You can purchase US for your account over a longer period of time and dollar-cost average your rate down in the current low rate environment. Using a US$ card will also make life much easier for your TA when you INSIST they book in US.

[BrendaJ]

Susan - Encore's prices are all in Canadian dollars. Their prices seemed to be right on par with Celebrity's - perhaps a bit higher, but I insisted my travel agent match Celebrity's price.

[Susan-M]

Roland....thanks for the clarification on that; I think it will be helpful to a lot of people.

 

When I've booked through a Canadian TA, I've been offered U.S. or Cdn, with the recommendation from them that we choose U.S.$$ They've never mentioned the difficulty of processing a U.S. transaction.

 

Your recommendation of having a U.S. credit card is a good one, and I do have one, but there is no easy way to pay it as I don't keep a U.S. bank acccount any more (the monthly fees were more than I could justify paying for it.) If you have any recommendations for U.S. bank account/credit card...I would be happy to hear it.

 

Brenda's charge for shore excursions in Cdn $ (with high exchange rates) highlights one of the problems with having an initial booking in Cdn $.