Canadians: Do you book in CAD or USD.

[Shadow9612]

I would love to hear comments or suggestions on how to decide whether to create a new booking in Canadian or US dollars?

 

My thought process was to book in USD currency at times like this when Canadian dollar is low value, since you have the potential for savings if the Canadian dollar strengthens between reservation day and final payment date.

 

However, wondering if there are other considerations I'm not thinking of...

 

Thank ​you.

[Cruise Junky]

I have bookings right now in both. Only issue with booking in US is you don't really know what you'll end up paying.

[lienf]

Both. I recently booked a cruise in U.S. dollars because the U.S. Company I use had a deal that couldn't be booked in Canadian funds. It was $900 cheaper for the cabin than Celebrity's price when I checked with the current exchange rate. I would normally book in Canadian $ if it is equal.

[shubsens]

We booked through the Celebrity website and the transaction was in CDN dollars.

[disgirl]

I book in CAD. I like to know the amount so I can budget payments. With the exchange you never know..... especially if you book far out.

[DirtyDawg]

I check the rates offered in both currencies at today's exchange rate and pick the lowest. If I book in $U.S. I will usually just pay it in full and be done with it.

 

If you make the resevation in $U.S. today and the $CDN goes up by final payment you win, but if it goes down you loose. It is basically your first bet at the casino for the cruise.

[C 2 C]

I use an American Internet agency that gives more perks if cruises are booked in US$.

I'm gambling that the exchange rate will not vary too much and use a Chase Visa that does not charge exchange fees and gives us free hotel stays.

 

Onboard credits given by the agency normally amount to about 8% or 9%. That is more than I expect the exchange rate to vary.... fingers crossed.

[Hestia]

I book in Cdn dollars. I'm fairly confident that my price ends up at the same point post booking regardless of which currency it is in. I just keep an eye on the prices and call in when they dip.

[boblin]

I usually book with a large U.S. internet site. I book in $U. S. , pay with a $U.S. credit card and have my fin. guy inject my $U. S. account with money from my $U.S. trading account. That way I can delude myself that I pay no currency exchange. At the very least I assume my guy bought stuff when the $ Cdn was at a better level. Seems to work for me.

[LucasLounger1]

I got burned by booking in $USD. The price was better at time of booking, but the exchange by the time I paid it off was a killer. And I didn't know that since I paid in USD, the future cruise certificate that I purchased onboard (this was on Royal) would only be valid for $USD bookings.

 

I wouldn't book in $USD again.

[jayoldschool]

Both. Doing exchange rate calculations isn't difficult. I book on price and perks. Sometimes direct, sometimes through a US TA, and sometimes with the CDN TA. I booked on Sunday for next xmas, and the US TA was cheaper, with more perks and OBC. Easy decision.

[travelpig]

Hi, i have booked in both US and Canadian dollars. The US travel agency i booked with for my current cruise, transferred my booking from Celebrity in Canadian dollars. OBC from Celebrity and travel agency are in US funds. Canadian dollar bookings also will charge you in Canadian funds if you book excursions prior to your sailing.

[Anubi]

I book in Cdn dollars. I'm fairly confident that my price ends up at the same point post booking regardless of which currency it is in. I just keep an eye on the prices and call in when they dip.

 

We do this as well.

[RickT]

I look at the pricing in both Canadian and US $. Unless booking in US $ saves me significant money (5% or more) than I book in Canadian $ and don't worry about the exchange rate.

 

1) I have seen a few cruises where the exchange rate between Canadian and US $ is no where near real world. Last summer I booked a UK cruise in US $ because the Canadian price was approx 50% more than the US price.

 

2) Anyone who can accurately predict the currency fluctuation is too smart to be on these boards ;p

[cormike1]

I used a large U.S. TA for years for our cruises until our dollar got so crappy. I just book through the Cruise Ship company directly in CDN $'s and have my credit card do the exchange for the final bill.

[Shadow9612]

If you make the resevation in $U.S. today and the $CDN goes up by final payment you win, but if it goes down you loose. It is basically your first bet at the casino for the cruise.

 

LOL re casino.

 

My thinking is with the Canadian dollar so weak now, it would make more sense to book in US, since things can only get better for CAD $ (fingers crossed).

 

However, another point is, I normally make a future booking while on board to get the perks, and transfer to my travel agent in Canada. I believe that the currency can't be changed after booking.

 

Do you think that the CAD - vs - US pricing provided by celebrity on board would be equivalent to the foreign exchange rate of the day? I never thought to compare onboard pricing by celebrity to see if one currency is actually better independent of foreign exchange rates...

[Shadow9612]

Thank you to everyone so far for all of your insights!

[1982CruzStart]

We have cruises booked in both USD & CAD at the moment. As i am a numbers person i look at exchange rates charged by the cruise line compared to what we can get through our financial institution, look at the trends for our $, check out what our Canadian TA vs our US TA is offering and figure out what is the best deal based on where we think the CAD is going. A bit of a crap shot but so far have been pretty lucky.

 

We did make the mistake of not considering the issue of USD vs CAD when we booked on-board and are now stuck with a USD cruise cuz once you book on-board you can't change the currency. I am sure it will all work out regardless.

 

We have access to USD through our USD trading account so it does minimize the impact of the exchange rate.

 

It is important to look at what the cruise line is charging for exchange as you can be caught paying more in exchange if the cruise line hasn't adjusted for the improved $ or you can get a great deal if the cruise line hasn't changed the rate when our $ is falling. We got a super deal with Celebrity when our $ took that big dive a couple of years ago and we had booked a cruise before Celebrity made the big change to their rate.

[poffles]

I just booked one on in CAD. Current exchange they are using is pretty accurate or close enough and I like to know what I am going to pay. I am not confident things are going to swing in our favor anytime soon so makes sense for right now.

 

Another reason, if all things pretty equal at time of booking, I prefer not to have to do exchange on a credit card any more than necessary.