Using USD gift cards on Australia cruises?

[Torfamm]

Does anyone have any experience with using US Dollar gift cards to pay for onboard charges, shore excursions, or the purchase of onboard credit for cruises with charges in Australian Dollars? I’m curious about how they handle the currency conversion.  One poster on a roll call said they think that USD gift cards are accepted at an even exchange rate but a representative from customer service said they are certain the exchange rate would be closer to actual value.
 

An even exchange rate would be shockingly bad but if that’s true, I’d like to know before I consider a transaction that may lose me as much as 1/3 of the value of a gift card.

[Expat Cruise]

When we did our last cruise, all OBC were exchanged USD 1 to AUD 1.  So our FCD Credit, Booking Credits, Stock Credit all go only 2/3's value. Even worse was Princess up all the prices on the ships. So what was $100 on a US cruise was 150 AUD, and our USD$100 credit was worth only AUD$100.   

 

We did not convert cash so not 100% sure, and the official statement from Princess Cruises does not help; "Can the Princess Cruises Gift Card be used on cruises in which the onboard currency is not based in US Dollars?
A: Princess Cruises Gift Cards will be redeemable onboard Princess cruise ships in which the onboard currency is not based in US Dollars.  The amount of the Gift Card will be converted to the shipboard currency at the foreign exchange rate posted at the Passenger Services Desk."  Which means Princess is free to set the rate as they see fit.

[jwattle]

3 hours ago, Expat Cruise said:

When we did our last cruise, all OBC were exchanged USD 1 to AUD 1.  So our FCD Credit, Booking Credits, Stock Credit all go only 2/3's value. Even worse was Princess up all the prices on the ships. So what was $100 on a US cruise was 150 AUD, and our USD$100 credit was worth only AUD$100.   

 

We did not convert cash so not 100% sure, and the official statement from Princess Cruises does not help; "Can the Princess Cruises Gift Card be used on cruises in which the onboard currency is not based in US Dollars?
A: Princess Cruises Gift Cards will be redeemable onboard Princess cruise ships in which the onboard currency is not based in US Dollars.  The amount of the Gift Card will be converted to the shipboard currency at the foreign exchange rate posted at the Passenger Services Desk."  Which means Princess is free to set the rate as they see fit.

The difference is that the shareholder OBC, FCD OBC, etc., are "gifted" from Princess. Gift cards are purchased. That is how it was explained to me by guest services, and makes complete sense. Not necessarily lovely, but logical.

[Expat Cruise]

12 hours ago, jwattle said:

The difference is that the shareholder OBC, FCD OBC, etc., are "gifted" from Princess. Gift cards are purchased. That is how it was explained to me by guest services, and makes complete sense. Not necessarily lovely, but logical.

Shareholder's benefit is not a gift, it is the result of owning the cruise line. FCD are also not gifts, they are a contract to give the purchaser a future value in exchange for cash today. 

 

The fact that the exchange rate for the cards is whatever Princess Cruises sets it at is a red flag. 

[Torfamm]

16 hours ago, Expat Cruise said:

When we did our last cruise, all OBC were exchanged USD 1 to AUD 1.  So our FCD Credit, Booking Credits, Stock Credit all go only 2/3's value. Even worse was Princess up all the prices on the ships. So what was $100 on a US cruise was 150 AUD, and our USD$100 credit was worth only AUD$100.   

 

We did not convert cash so not 100% sure, and the official statement from Princess Cruises does not help; "Can the Princess Cruises Gift Card be used on cruises in which the onboard currency is not based in US Dollars?
A: Princess Cruises Gift Cards will be redeemable onboard Princess cruise ships in which the onboard currency is not based in US Dollars.  The amount of the Gift Card will be converted to the shipboard currency at the foreign exchange rate posted at the Passenger Services Desk."  Which means Princess is free to set the rate as they see fit.

I get that they can choose the exchange rate they offer just like any other business and wouldn’t expect it to be great, only fair. Offering a 1:1 exchange of USD to AUD makes the notoriously bad exchange rates at hotel front desks look fantastic.  It is very disappointing.

OBC received at booking is listed as USD on my booking confirmation and travel summary. I find it pretty misleading that they don’t share what the AUD value will be for USD OBC. I only caught it because I went to book a shore excursion before that and saw the AUD cost total was being pulled from USD OBC at 1:1. I had time to cancel the transaction and pay with a credit card.

 

As for the shareholder benefit, at least CCL is clear about it being AUD on Australia sailings in amounts identical to USD amounts on US sailings. Mine just showed up on my travel summary and is marked as AUD.

[DeeTO]

On 5/14/2023 at 5:20 AM, Torfamm said:

Does anyone have any experience with using US Dollar gift cards to pay for onboard charges, shore excursions, or the purchase of onboard credit for cruises with charges in Australian Dollars? I’m curious about how they handle the currency conversion.  One poster on a roll call said they think that USD gift cards are accepted at an even exchange rate but a representative from customer service said they are certain the exchange rate would be closer to actual value.
 

An even exchange rate would be shockingly bad but if that’s true, I’d like to know before I consider a transaction that may lose me as much as 1/3 of the value of a gift card.

I don’t know how USD gift cards work on Aus D cruises but only discovered today that I can’t use my USD gift cards to pay for my cruise fare booked in CAD$. I thought they would just convert amount using their exchange posted in personalizer for buying OBC but no go!!! 
I will have to add it onboard to my account in order to use it.