Drink prices on sailings from Australia - AUD or USD?

[wallflower07]

Hi

 

I'd read online that all prices on HAL are in USD even for sailings from Australia. Does anybody know if this is the case for drinks prices on board? Does anybody know roughly how much a soda / specialty coffee / mocktail is on board?

 

It looks like if we buy a drinks package from the website before we sail, that might be in AUD, so I'm wondering if its a better deal than it looks.

 

Thanks

[FOPMan]

Ships' prices onboard are posed in US dollars for food/beverage, the spa, and pretty much every other guest-facing service. It would be complicated to reprint menus and retrain staff on different pricing 

[crystalspin]

58 minutes ago, wallflower07 said:

I'd read online that all prices on HAL are in USD even for sailings from Australia. Does anybody know if this is the case for drinks prices on board? Does anybody know roughly how much a soda / specialty coffee / mocktail is on board?

 

It looks like if we buy a drinks package from the website before we sail, that might be in AUD, so I'm wondering if its a better deal than it looks.

Hi and welcome to Cruise Critic!

 

I think you will get a better answer on the ANZ board, here:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/564-australia-new-zealand-cruisers/

[lyndarra]

I have cruised on HAL in Australia, where I live, and USA. All prices on board (including grats) are USD even in Oz.

[erewhon]

We have cruised several times from Sydney Australia and Auckland New Zealand on Holland America Line ships, the currency on board has always been the US$. 

[VMax1700]

3 hours ago, wallflower07 said:

It looks like if we buy a drinks package from the website before we sail, that might be in AUD, so I'm wondering if its a better deal than it looks.

Welcome to Cruise Critic Hal board.

Drinks prices are in USD so it may be a good deal to pre purchase the Have it All package which includes 15 drinks per day, up to $11 menu price (*), the Surf wifi package and shore excursion credit (amount depends on length of cruise).  It is priced in the currency of your booking, so should cost you AUD 75 to 80 per day per person.  It can be good value as it covers speciality coffee etc as well as the alcoholic drinks.

(*) 18% gratuity is added to the menu price of drinks, however if you have the HIA package the gratuity is automatically paid as part of the package.  If you purchase a drink above the $11 limit then you pay the difference in price + 18% grat.

 

Also note that HAL is quite generous with its exchange rate for pre paying onboard gratuities.  I have found a good saving by prepaying the grats on the website as pre cruise the grats are offered in currency of booking, whereas onboard the grats are USD.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[rodndonna]

As another non-American cruiser with a crappy currency rate (I think your Aus$ rate is worse than our Canadian$ - yikes) - I would agree with Vmax -

 

Look into HIA which is priced less than the beverage package itself. When we book in Canada, the rate we pay for HIA are converted to Canadian (if we book Canadian$) and the exchange is better than we will get an our own. Also - as VMax says - The same applies to pre-paying gratuities, better to have them apply and convert to our currency for prepayment. 

 

[lyndarra]

11 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

Also note that HAL is quite generous with its exchange rate for pre paying onboard gratuities.  I have found a good saving by prepaying the grats on the website as pre cruise the grats are offered in currency of booking, whereas onboard the grats are USD.

 

Agree. I always prepay grats.

 

Edited October 15, 2023 by lyndarra
cat walked across keyboard

[leerathje]

15 hours ago, wallflower07 said:

Hi

 

I'd read online that all prices on HAL are in USD even for sailings from Australia. Does anybody know if this is the case for drinks prices on board? Does anybody know roughly how much a soda / specialty coffee / mocktail is on board?

 

It looks like if we buy a drinks package from the website before we sail, that might be in AUD, so I'm wondering if its a better deal than it looks.

 

Thanks

 

It's the same for any departure, whether from US, Europe, Canada or Austrailia. On board, all sales are in US dollars. (Including your winnings and losses in the casino!)

 

L.

 

Edited October 15, 2023 by leerathje

[Henk123]

Your final bill will be in USD and your credit card company will make the exchange 
in the currency of the owner's country

[wallflower07]

Thanks all. We don't really drink alcohol so the have it all package wouldn't be a good deal for us. Just likely to consume a few specialty coffees and the odd soda here and there.

 

How good is the exchange rate for prepaying grats? My card gives me the mastercard rate with no extra fees or conversion charges which I always thought was pretty good...I would have thought the cruise ships used an unfavourable rate for the conversion. Is it better than the mastercard / visa mid rate if you don't pay any extra fees?

[VMax1700]

I have found the exchange rate much better by a substantial amount.  Worth saving!  You can check the amount online.  

Have you a cruise booked?  If so, log into the website and go to Already Booked > Manage My Bookings > Flights & Planning > Pre Pay Crew Appreciation.  It shows you the amount at the bottom of the page.

If you have booked through a travel agent then they should be able to tell you the amount.

 

Sorry, I am presuming you are in Australia!  There will be no exchange rate as you will pre pay the grats in AUD.

Edited October 16, 2023 by VMax1700

[dawnvip]

22 hours ago, Henk123 said:

Your final bill will be in USD and your credit card company will make the exchange 
in the currency of the owner's country

Not sure if this is always the case. Although I haven't seen it offered on cruise ships yet, many vendor's credit card systems ask at time of sale if you want the sale amount in home currency (bad idea, poor rate) or local currency (better idea, CC daily rate). 

 

Luckily, I happen to have no-forex fee CC from Canada as well as a US account card, so am covered for most transactions!