Canadian $ at Par promo appears to be over.

[RickT]

Princess was running a Canadian $ at Par promo which was originally scheduled to end on March 1st but got extended until April 1st.  I was alerted to this promo from a post by a fellow cruiser (Thank You!) and while I was disappointed that it only applied to a select number of cruises I took advantage and found a nice Med cruise for DW and I.  I haven’t cruised Princess in a number of years choosing other lines due to their itinerary and price.  This promo has brought me back and assuming I like what Princess is currently offering I see two cruises in 2024 that are of interest (even without the At Par Promo). 
Hoping other Canadians were able to take advantage of this.  Keeping my fingers crossed that it will return again soon!

[Anubi]

We tried but our cruise wasn't one of the lucky ones.  😞  

[sunviking90]

I am still seeing a link to Canadian $ at par on my Princess homepage. Perhaps it’s a different selection now? It shows 123 itineraries.

[RickT]

59 minutes ago, sunviking90 said:

I am still seeing a link to Canadian $ at par on my Princess homepage. Perhaps it’s a different selection now? It shows 123 itineraries.

Can you post the link?   I had a list and booked one and today when I look at the same cruise it’s 35-40% higher.  Perhaps the sale is still on and my particular itinerary has jumped in price?

[sunviking90]

7 minutes ago, RickT said:

Can you post the link?   I had a list and booked one and today when I look at the same cruise it’s 35-40% higher.  Perhaps the sale is still on and my particular itinerary has jumped in price?

It seems to be pretty select itineraries now that I’ve looked through them.

https://www.princess.com/cruise-search/results/?promos=RL2

 

 

[RickT]

13 minutes ago, sunviking90 said:

It seems to be pretty select itineraries now that I’ve looked through them.

https://www.princess.com/cruise-search/results/?promos=RL2

 

 

Thanks.  All itineraries show “pricing not available”…. 😩

[pink845]

I wish the Excursions would also be Canadian at Par.  But they are NEVER. When one enters the Cruise Personalizer, tips are in CDN dollars, but those excursions are in USD.  

[sunviking90]

3 hours ago, RickT said:

Thanks.  All itineraries show “pricing not available”…. 😩

Sorry to hear that. When I looked about half had pricing, but further down the page I saw the same message. Maybe check back Monday?

[AE_Collector]

1 hour ago, pink845 said:

I wish the Excursions would also be Canadian at Par.  But they are NEVER. When one enters the Cruise Personalizer, tips are in CDN dollars, but those excursions are in USD.  

They may show in Canadian $ but at par or at 1.35 exchange rate? I assumed that everything from onboard purchases, gratuities and port fees would be converted at the normal (lately) 1.35 rate.

[Steelers36]

6 hours ago, sunviking90 said:

I am still seeing a link to Canadian $ at par on my Princess homepage. Perhaps it’s a different selection now? It shows 123 itineraries.

Agree.

[westcoastBC]

I too saw the pricing not available so I called Princess and the agent booked for me.

Saved $1,000. on a cruise I was booking anyways.

Some days are better than others.

[Happiest when cruising]

1 hour ago, westcoastBC said:

I too saw the pricing not available so I called Princess and the agent booked for me.

Saved $1,000. on a cruise I was booking anyways.

Some days are better than others.

That is so fantastic. Congratulations on your savings. 

[warren buffet]

Just now, westcoastBC said:

I too saw the pricing not available so I called Princess and the agent booked for me.

Saved $1,000. on a cruise I was booking anyways.

Some days are better than others.

might i ask how much you paid for the base fare and what date ship?   I want to look up on the us site and see if the price really is at par?     why would princess have best available rates 35 percent off those offered to everyone else for other 1 country?  it does not make economic sense from their financial perspective to do that.  All other companies i have seen only do such a thing for local residents within 300 miles of where the entertainment is happening. whether a cruise, concert or theme park.    I could see princess deciding to treat canadians the same as us citizens for ports leaving from the USA to fill the ships but not 35 percent better?       I am quite sure the average canadian wage from work is also close to 35 percent higher to make up for the currency difference. that is how supply and demand in fairly free economies work.    just like wages in  los angeles, new york, san fran are higher than in south dakota.        it's similar for vancouver vs edmonton right?

[westcoastBC]

I was looking at this cruise for some time and the conversion was within $4.00. using ROE1.35.

It was a legit promo. My point in telling was don't give up, I thought all cabins for the promo were gone but as a last ditch effort I called Princess. 

[pink845]

I, as well, today saw the italicized red words "Pricing is not available on certain ships and destinations" at the moment under the CDN at Par.  Then, the website promptly ejected me. I tried to enter again and the words "We are experiencing technical issues and please try again this evening" appeared.  Really! What that means is "WE ARE INCREASING OUR PRICING" AND "ADDING IN NON REFUNDABLE FARES"  AND "PAY TO CHOOSE YOUR CABIN fees" AND of course, Escape completely with us and lay open your wallets for our Pricy Beverage Packages, should you so choose.

[XLVIII]

We were able to book a ‘Canadian resident rate’ today through our TA for a 7 day Mexico cruise departing from LA next January. BC Balcony with drinks, wifi and grats for less than $2300usd. Terms of the rate said it was good til the end of May. 

[White123]

Booked cruise in US dollars.  I saw nothing in cdn at par that worked for me

[macmax]

8 hours ago, White123 said:

Booked cruise in US dollars.  I saw nothing in cdn at par that worked for me

That's fine if you have a usd cc and are able to pay in usd. If not, your cc will convert the charge to cad and add 2.5% service fee.

[Steelers36]

44 minutes ago, macmax said:

That's fine if you have a usd cc and are able to pay in usd. If not, your cc will convert the charge to cad and add 2.5% service fee.

There are a number of cards available in Canada that do not add the surcharge.  Still, for a traveling Canadian, it is best to have a USD bank account, and USD credit card.  Those who don't have steady supply of USD can elect when to purchase in bulk and keep in the USD account.  Better yet, would be to have US investments as there are plenty of organizations and ETF's available to us in Canada that Canadian markets just don't have.  There is also at least one Canadian online bank that pays 2% for USD savings accounts.

[RickT]

Went to the website today using a new device and saw a number of cruises available with Canadian $ at par…. Only issue was I couldn’t upgrade to the Premium or Plus fares.   May give my vacation planner a quick shout. 

[RickT]

Called and indeed the “Canadian $ at Par” promo is alive.  Seems the website is messed up.  I confirmed pricing on a new cruise and while I was at it repriced my Med cruise that was booked during the promo (saved a couple hundred dollars).  

[lx200gps]

1 hour ago, RickT said:

Called and indeed the “Canadian $ at Par” promo is alive.  Seems the website is messed up.  I confirmed pricing on a new cruise and while I was at it repriced my Med cruise that was booked during the promo (saved a couple hundred dollars).  

Seems like it from my end here as well, no mention of the At Par Promo at all on the web site that I can find. I did receive an Email yesterday from a Princess CVP (who we've never used as we have a dedicated TA) and the title of her Email was "Canadians save on popular cruises with rates at par with US!" Unfortunately, the only link on her Email was to a Facebook page which also has no mention of the promo.

[RickT]

@lx200gps It’s still on the Princess website for me but shows prices unavailable.  I also saw an add on FB which did show prices but gave an error message when you clicked to book.  Seems like the same list of itineraries they originally had.  Hopefully it gets expanded to include Australia and New Zealand. 

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, lx200gps said:

Seems like it from my end here as well, no mention of the At Par Promo at all on the web site that I can find. I did receive an Email yesterday from a Princess CVP (who we've never used as we have a dedicated TA) and the title of her Email was "Canadians save on popular cruises with rates at par with US!" Unfortunately, the only link on her Email was to a Facebook page which also has no mention of the promo.

 

1 hour ago, RickT said:

@lx200gps It’s still on the Princess website for me but shows prices unavailable.  I also saw an add on FB which did show prices but gave an error message when you clicked to book.  Seems like the same list of itineraries they originally had.  Hopefully it gets expanded to include Australia and New Zealand. 

I can confirm that when looking at Princess voyages on 3rd party booking engine, the Canadian-At-Par Fare Codes are still active for an unknown number of sailings.  That said, I am not sure if one elects that option, that available perks are included.  For example, right now PCL is offering $150/pp in OBC when doing "normal" booking in North America.  If you elect the C-A-P offer, I don't think you get the OBC.  OTOH, the C-A-P can save much more than $150.

[RickT]

@St 4711 I think you’re right about the OBC.  That said I rebooked CAP and my fare went down almost $500 (had already booked CAP with $100 OBC).  Thanks for the tip about 3rd party booking.  Tried one of our airline websites and they didn’t even have the CAP pricing.  Will check a couple others.