Princess pricing in USD

[luski]

Curious if there is a workaround for a Canadian user….I’d like to see Princess pricing in USD as I’d prefer to pay in that currency, but the website will only show CDN prices. Obviously I could use a TA, take my chances with the credit card exchange rate or call Princess but thought to explore online options first before taking our PC south of the 49th. Many thanks in advance. 

[Thrak]

Have you considered using a VPN? There a lot of them out there. The one I use is not free but I believe you can get a free trial of Nord VPN. You may well want to check out a free trial and see if using a US IP lets you get what you want.

[blizzard44ca]

VPN if you want to routinely see them (and book) without phoning in.

 

If you just want to check prices, you can divide by 1.35 (current Princess exchange rate) to find out what the US price is.  You can always check the exchange rate by checking how much it costs to purchase OBC. (Right now costs $135 CAD to buy $100 US)

[luski]

Thanks blizzard44ca and thrak. As you can guess I’ll do anything to use USD CC to avoid getting hosed on exchange, but it appears outside of VPN and simple mathematics Princess sees Canadians differently than RCCL, Carnival and the others. 

[Steelers36]

On 7/14/2023 at 1:19 AM, luski said:

Curious if there is a workaround for a Canadian user….I’d like to see Princess pricing in USD as I’d prefer to pay in that currency, but the website will only show CDN prices. Obviously I could use a TA, take my chances with the credit card exchange rate or call Princess but thought to explore online options first before taking our PC south of the 49th. Many thanks in advance. 

Yes, a VPN can do it I imagine (I am soon to get one myself for various reasons).  It is quite maddening that PCL won't give us a country flag so we can choose what to see (many travel sites do this).

 

Anyway, we can book in USD with PCL - you need to call in and have a res agent or CVP do it.

A US-based TA can also book us in USD (of course) as that is their "home" currency.  Another advantage is that many of them give cash discounts off the cruise fare that you won't get in Canada.

 

You can also see USD prices by using a 3rd-party booking engine that is a US agency organization.  Note that some general travel reservation sites have Canadian and US webpages, so make sure you specifically get into the US one - or set the appropriate country and currency flag.  

 

My top two US TA's have booking pages for self-service that not only give me USD, but show me all eligible cruise fares and not just the one on Princess.com.

 

Hope you find a suitable solution.

[Steelers36]

On 7/14/2023 at 1:19 AM, luski said:

before taking our PC south of the 49th.

Oh, one other important point.  As a Princess past customer, you want to be logged in to their website for booking and other purposes.  Even if you are in the USA - literally or figuratively - the system is going to show you CAD because that is your profile.  You would need to have a US home address in profile in order to see USD.  When we are in FL for Winter I can see USD on Princess.com if I do not log in.  And even that doesn't always work because cookies can keep things going the way they last were. 

 

It's a PITA for sure, but converting from CAD back to USD gets you approximately close.  That's because PCL doesn't always just multiply by 1.xx for some strange reason (.35 right now) - they fiddle around with the cents up and down somewhat after doing the conversion.  Also, I figure they convert each individual line item (these are hidden) that makes up the port taxes instead of converting the bottom line, so that one is always off some pennies.

[Steelers36]

11 minutes ago, luski said:

Thanks blizzard44ca and thrak. As you can guess I’ll do anything to use USD CC to avoid getting hosed on exchange, but it appears outside of VPN and simple mathematics Princess sees Canadians differently than RCCL, Carnival and the others. 

I just have my agency's booking page open, along with Princess.com when I am shopping and get the "true" cruise fares that way.  Good luck.

[luski]

Steelers36, totally agree with you. I look at ***** as an equivalent site but like you can’t understand the method behind PCL pricing.