For Canadians booking online with RCCL compare prices in USD & CAN - for my cruise CAN$ price was charging 60% exchange

[Traveller1212]

I recently booked online with RCCL - I noticed that if I switched to Canada the price was much higher than if I stayed as US - even when booking as US I could select Canada (BC) as my location - my credit card charged me 38% exchange, if I had booked in CAN$ the website was charging 60% exchange   😡😡

Edited April 7, 2023 by Traveller1212
error

[Traveller1212]

SORRY… corrected heading to say ‘for my cruise CAN$ price charged a 60% exchange rate’ 

Edited April 7, 2023 by Traveller1212

[Russ Lomas]

8 hours ago, Traveller1212 said:

SORRY… corrected heading to say ‘for my cruise CAN$ price charged a 60% exchange rate’ 

Just tried it on a cruise we have booked and it is coming back at a difference of 37%

[LuCruise]

Yikes...we like to book in CAD so excursions and cruise planner items are also in CAD and we know the price at booking time (since pay at final payment), but that's a huge mark up on the exchange.  Guess it depends though as I just did a check on our next March break cruise and the USD converted to CAD would be $500 more than our CAD price.

Edited April 8, 2023 by LuCruise

[Tiggerontheseas]

20 hours ago, Traveller1212 said:

I recently booked online with RCCL - I noticed that if I switched to Canada the price was much higher than if I stayed as US - even when booking as US I could select Canada (BC) as my location - my credit card charged me 38% exchange, if I had booked in CAN$ the website was charging 60% exchange   😡😡

 

Hey neighbour!  That's crazy.  I wonder if it was some sort of glitch?  The cruise we booked a few months ago worked out at a fairly normal exchange rate.

[Fouremco]

I always compare cruise prices on the US and Canadian websites when considering a booking, and I've never seen more than a very minor difference in pricing. Moreover, it sometimes is cheaper booking on the Canadian site. Today, I looked at the price for an Alaskan cruise, with Royal charging an exchange rate of 1.375, just slightly higher than Visa and MasterCard's rate of 1.353 today. While this would result in paying an extra $37.53 CAD by booking on the Canadian site, that's an insignificant amount when you consider that if the Canadian dollar drops between now and final payment, you might end up paying quite a bit more if you book on the US site.

 

Cabin pricing is dynamic, with sales, promos, bookings to date in any category, and fluctuating exchange rates affecting what you will pay for a cabin. Unless you compare the identical category of cabin on the same day that you book, you won't have an accurate price comparison. Also, don't discount webpage glitches, especially if the price seems wonky.

 

[Tree_skier]

Just did one on a cruise I was looking at...

 

 

US$ price.
 

 

CAD$

 

 

It appears to be a glitch...  The Summer and Balc Suite NRD amounts appear not to to converting on the Canadian dollar invoice.

Edited April 8, 2023 by Tree_skier

[Traveller1212]

22 hours ago, Traveller1212 said:

I recently booked online with RCCL - I noticed that if I switched to Canada the price was much higher than if I stayed as US - even when booking as US I could select Canada (BC) as my location - my credit card charged me 38% exchange, if I had booked in CAN$ the website was charging 60% exchange   😡😡

Sorry, I need to correct/clarify - I should have posted…. Please check your cruise pricing in both USD & CDN as it seems that some discounts aren’t being calculated properly in CDN $ - for my solo cruise the difference was $250CDN

(saying the website was charging 60% exchange wasn’t accurate)

thanks for your comments which made the situation clearer for me 🙂 

 

[LobsterStalker]

2 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

Just did one on a cruise I was looking at...

 

 

US$ price.
 

 

CAD$

 

 

It appears to be a glitch...  The Summer and Balc Suite NRD amounts appear not to to converting on the Canadian dollar invoice.

Nothing on this pages adds up far as I can see .... Your subtotals are showing a negative value , you have a NRD discount of $(-)2814. The whole thing looks wonky !

[Fouremco]

2 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

It appears to be a glitch...  The Summer and Balc Suite NRD amounts appear not to to converting on the Canadian dollar invoice.

Even if you ignore the Canadian website and focus on the US pricing, I can see no logical way to arrive at the Total Price of $776.26 USD using the amounts shown for the base Cruise Fare, the Discounts (either individually or in combination), and for the Taxes & Fees.

 

27 minutes ago, LobsterStalker said:

The whole thing looks wonky !

Indeed it does!

[Tree_skier]

49 minutes ago, LobsterStalker said:

Nothing on this pages adds up far as I can see .... Your subtotals are showing a negative value , you have a NRD discount of $(-)2814. The whole thing looks wonky !

 

20 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

Even if you ignore the Canadian website and focus on the US pricing, I can see no logical way to arrive at the Total Price of $776.26 USD using the amounts shown for the base Cruise Fare, the Discounts (either individually or in combination), and for the Taxes & Fees.

 

Indeed it does!

Yeah it does look nuts...

 

Here is again but this time broken out by individual guest.  This seems to make more sense but doesn't show what is likely a glitch in with the conversion of the discounts.

 

CDN$

 

 

US$

 

The way the discounts are applied appears to be really strange.  In this example it almost appears as if the CDN$ price is intentionally inflated and greater discounts are offered but it is still a rip off based on current exchange rates.

[Fouremco]

1 hour ago, Tree_skier said:

The way the discounts are applied appears to be really strange.  In this example it almost appears as if the CDN$ price is intentionally inflated and greater discounts are offered but it is still a rip off based on current exchange rates.

Yes, a strange mix of exchange rates, but the bottom line is the overall exchange rate is 1.53 on a day when Visa and MasterCard are charging only 1.35. That's definitely a rip off in my books.

[Tree_skier]

1 minute ago, Fouremco said:

Yes, a strange mix of exchange rates, but the bottom line is the overall exchange rate is 1.53 on a day when Visa and MasterCard are charging only 1.35. That's definitely a rip off in my books.

Yeah it's always a bit of a crap shoot with the exchange rates.  I have booked cruises in both currencies.  I'm Canadian but live in the US but have money and some income from Canada so depending on how I plan on paying for it I have sometimes booked in CDN$.  In all honesty I think I have lost more than I have won playing the FX game.  I just book them all in US$ now and eat whatever exchange rate differential I need to when transferring money from Canada.

 

If you have an interest in a US based US dollar acct. that is easy to transfer money back forth at good rates I recommend TD.  I have a TD/Canada trust account that I have had for a very long time as well as a US TD account based in the US. It's a bit of process to set up but once it is  you can easily xfr money back and forth at the most favorable exchange rates and do it without the typical dollar amount restrictions that forex exchange usually places on xfrs.  Having a US$ Visa card can be handy as well for Canadians who travel a lot.

[latebuyer]

I booked my cruise in canadian a year ago and the exchange rate has dropped since then. When i paid my tips in canadian it worked out a dollar cheaper for the canadian rate price. Still what annoys me is there are often better sales on the US site, so i’m inclined to pay in US if i don’t book so early.