Warning for canadian online bookings

[ryan77]

I should have known better, but last night I booked a cruise using Norwegian Canadian site that shows prices in CAD. The problem is that only afterwards I logged onto the US site and there was a huge discrepancy in prices when you factor in the exchange rate. In the end I lost about $700. I called them this morning to get them to try cancel and rebook in USD but with the cruise being about 3 weeks away, I was told there was nothing that could be done even though the payment was made only 10 hours ago.

[lisamacaroni]

Oh wow!!! I really thought that was the cheapest way. Curious to know if that is the case with calling and booking directly with NCL. I just did this myself 2 weeks ago for a cruise in August. I hope it was a fair price.

 

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[Orleanscruiser]

I should have known better, but last night I booked a cruise using Norwegian Canadian site that shows prices in CAD. The problem is that only afterwards I logged onto the US site and there was a huge discrepancy in prices when you factor in the exchange rate. In the end I lost about $700. I called them this morning to get them to try cancel and rebook in USD but with the cruise being about 3 weeks away, I was told there was nothing that could be done even though the payment was made only 10 hours ago.

 

I agree Ncl should post the exchange rate they use on their Canadian website

Iwould call NCL ask to speak to a supervisor and get today's exchange rate and pay in Canadian currency , By the way how do you to the USA website ,I try and get redirected to CDA site

[hawkeyetlse]

In the past NCL Miami had an unwritten policy that you could cancel any booking within 24 hours with no fee (even last-minute bookings that are paid in full upon booking and deep into the cancellation penalty phase). This has saved me on more than one occasion! Maybe things have changed, or they have special rules for CAD bookings, but I would call back and ask about this explicitly. Escalate to a supervisor if necessary.

[mking8288]

Also, call quick and check with your credit company's customer service about free cancellation within 24 hours of booking.

 

With "non-cancellable" airline and hotel booking confirmations, it has been possible to cancel at no charge within 24 hours - since NCL's HQ is Miami, FL-based, it's a FTC rules that apply here (if I am not mistaken). Good luck & let us know how it go.

 

(U.S. Federal Trade Commission ... on buyer's remorse, governing inter-state sales transactions)

[hawkeyetlse]

I agree Ncl should post the exchange rate they use on their Canadian website

I don't actually feel like checking right now, but I'm pretty sure the cruise fares on the Canadian site are not just the US fares with a certain exchange rate applied. Just like the prices in the UK, or in euros in Continental Europe, are not straight conversions from the fares in USD. The fares on the German site are not even the same as the ones on the French site, even though both are in euros. The US and Canada are distinct markets for NCL (although obviously closely linked markets), and the prices are set more or less independently in each market. So you should shop around before booking, even though they have tried to make this harder with website redirection based on location detection.

[ryan77]

I agree Ncl should post the exchange rate they use on their Canadian website

Iwould call NCL ask to speak to a supervisor and get today's exchange rate and pay in Canadian currency , By the way how do you to the USA website ,I try and get redirected to CDA site

 

I used my US based work VPN , but any other free vpn extension in the Chrome browser would work.

[snowcones]

If this helps, I do a mock purchase on an NCL gift card which then gives the current exchange rate.

Today $100.00 USD = $133.89 CAD

 

 

 

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[ilovetotravel1977]

I created a post similar to this a couple of weeks ago. I, too, have vpn and wanted to see why the cdn prices havent been dropping with the better exchange rates. Sure enough, US prices didnt match the CDN prices...

 

I just wish they would keep the US pricing on the website.

[DirtyDawg]

If this helps, I do a mock purchase on an NCL gift card which then gives the current exchange rate.

Today $100.00 USD = $133.89 CAD

 

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I can buy U.S this afternoon for 127.7.

[DirtyDawg]

I created a post similar to this a couple of weeks ago. I, too, have vpn and wanted to see why the cdn prices havent been dropping with the better exchange rates. Sure enough, US prices didnt match the CDN prices...

 

I just wish they would keep the US pricing on the website.

 

I recall a few years ago when our dollar was dropping vs. the greenback, NCL was slow in adjusting their Canadian dollar prices up. Now they are slow in adjusting them down. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

 

I like to win all the time so I have a U.S. VPN.