Princess Converting without authorization

[peterv]

That's not completely true. I travel on a UK Passport and when they do screw up, they charge me in Canadian as that's my residence. It's not based on Passport.

 

I agree with you as well, since I have to use my US passport when cruising from the US, I have been charged in sterling, as that is the country of issue of my credit card, and my residence. They may use something to determine if the account should be converted, but it is definitely not the passport. I have since made a trip to the pursers desk during the cruise to make sure it will not be converted and it has not been.

 

As an aside, you do not need to wait for your CC statement as the printout shows the currency and amount it will be charged in. At least it did the first and only time it happened to me.

 

Cheers,

Peter

[peterv]

Just for some added information, I have an Express check-Out Form in front of me, and it states.

 

Currency Conversion Details: If the card you are using is a MasterCard or Visa issued outside of the US and which is not billed in US dollars, then the full amount of the onboard account will be converted by Princess Cruises, to the currency of the card at the current exchange rate at the time the onboard account is charged to your credit card. The rate will include a 3% currency conversion service charge. If you do not wish your charges to be converted by Princess Cruises, please ensure you tick the box overleaf. If you opt for your charges not to be converted or if your card was issued in the US your charges will be processed in US dollars. Choice of currency conversion is final.

 

Bold text was by Princess.

 

Cheers,

Peter

[fti]

First time I've heard of this. Is it new? I was on the Golden in '05 and my cc was charged in US and my bank converted it to Cdn. I guess this is just another way of them making even more $$?

 

Exactly - that is it. They are in total control of the exchange rate. I had heard about this in a travel magazine then first experienced it in London at a hotel I won through priceline a couple of years ago. Even though I had prepaid to priceline, I was given the option at check in to check a small box if I did not want the hotel to convert the bill to my home currency. I checked the box. I trust they charged Priceline's credit card in British pounds.

 

It should be illegal for a company to do this and it is a shame that Princess stoops so low in this way.

[drakes2]

CDN GUY: I see you are sailing on the CB in November. Can you let us know how things worked out for you, assuming you are paying in US funds? HAVE A TERRIFIC CRUISE. I'm envious, but then again, I'll be on the Crown 4 months from today.

Exactly - that is it. They are in total control of the exchange rate. I had heard about this in a travel magazine then first experienced it in London at a hotel I won through priceline a couple of years ago. Even though I had prepaid to priceline, I was given the option at check in to check a small box if I did not want the hotel to convert the bill to my home currency. I checked the box. I trust they charged Priceline's credit card in British pounds.

 

It should be illegal for a company to do this and it is a shame that Princess stoops so low in this way.

[phillipahain]

I still have as proof a FINAL onboard account sheet which says

 

We have charged your Credit Card $xxx

 

Hooray we thought at last they have taken notice of the ticked box / the DO NOT CONVERT /This is a USA $ Credit Card written all over the page

 

We had also checked with Pursers Desk twice during the cruise and they assured us the onboard account was flagged DO NOT CONVERT

 

But no when we got the statement from our US$ account the charge was made by Princess in Sterling

 

It was then converted back to $ by the bank

 

Yes we got things sorted afterwards but since then we dont trust Princess an inch and settle manually the evening before disembarkation

 

What beats us is we can make deposits/final payments/future cruise credits from the self same CC and the charge is ALWAYS in $

[drakes2]

I guess I'll just stand there the night before and have them manually swipe the card while I close my onboard account. Maybe if enough of us complain, they will finally get it right. I know on my last cruise, I paid in US Cash and they gave me my final statement the night before. It was not in my mailbox the morning of debarkation.

I still have as proof a FINAL onboard account sheet which says

 

We have charged your Credit Card $xxx

 

Hooray we thought at last they have taken notice of the ticked box / the DO NOT CONVERT /This is a USA $ Credit Card written all over the page

 

We had also checked with Pursers Desk twice during the cruise and they assured us the onboard account was flagged DO NOT CONVERT

 

But no when we got the statement from our US$ account the charge was made by Princess in Sterling

 

It was then converted back to $ by the bank

 

Yes we got things sorted afterwards but since then we dont trust Princess an inch and settle manually the evening before disembarkation

 

What beats us is we can make deposits/final payments/future cruise credits from the self same CC and the charge is ALWAYS in $

[HMSDingy]

It's not new, and you must be one of the random few lucky ones; either that or perhaps you used a US based credit card?? Its been a real mess for our global friends, and the best advice is that given by Phillipahain: Pay off your onboard account manually on the last night using your credit card of choice and ensure your account is charged to your card in $US; your bank can do the conversion for a much smaller fee.

 

 

I have a US$ credit card and that is the one I have registered on the Princess website. That way the charges are in US$ and I can pay with my US$ account.:D

[Ellan Vannin]

This has happened twice to me and on both occasions I have contacted Princess's customer service on my return to the UK and they have refunded the commission and corrected the exchange rate by virtue of a cheque.

 

 

According to customer services "Senior Management" and been informed of this problem to prevent it happening in future:D

[phillipahain]

Well they have not done anything to correct matters in last 5 years so dont hold your breath !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[m steve]

I was afraid that Princess would make me a queen and since I was a Jewish prince.

[bee-ess]

I am from the UK and travelled on Diamond in JUly. I write in big letters on the form 'PLEASE DO NOT CONVERT' and they didn't. Maybe I was just lucky.

[phillipahain]

Bee ees

 

I think you were indeed lucky

judging by our experience because we always wrote US Dollar CC DO NOT CONVERT to Sterling

[Ellan Vannin]

I also doubt very much that anything will change because it is a nice bit of extra cash for them.

 

However, as I said before they have refunded the conversion charge and corrected the exchange rate between my card and their rate straight away after writing to them not that they have a lot of choice as they are in breach of Visa and Mastercard rules:).

 

The moral is dont let it spoil the cruise and dont let them get away with it!

[drakes2]

Could you not pay your credit card in US funds before the onboard charges appear. At least that way, your bank can dispute the charges with Princess. Has this ever been done in the past? I think it takes a few days before the charges appear anyway.

I also doubt very much that anything will change because it is a nice bit of extra cash for them.

 

However, as I said before they have refunded the conversion charge and corrected the exchange rate between my card and their rate straight away after writing to them not that they have a lot of choice as they are in breach of Visa and Mastercard rules:).

 

The moral is dont let it spoil the cruise and dont let them get away with it!

[Ellan Vannin]

drakes2, There is nothing to stop you doing that although personally I would not want to queue at the pursers desk on the last day/morning to pay.

 

This conversion without authority is quite a common practice in parts of Europe and elsewhere, often the retailers loses all ability to speak English when challenged:)

[cdnguy]

CDN GUY: I see you are sailing on the CB in November. Can you let us know how things worked out for you, assuming you are paying in US funds? HAVE A TERRIFIC CRUISE. I'm envious, but then again, I'll be on the Crown 4 months from today.

This problem has just never been an issue with us. This upcoming cruise will probably be the fouth cruise we've taken where the tick on the little box has been required. If I remember after my CB cruise on Nov. 4 I'll report back. Maybe we're just lucky after reading some of the comments here. Just watch, after the precautions I go through in my previous post that I go through, I'll be flagged for sure this time. :D

[drakes2]

CDN GUY: I'm sure you'll be fine with your on board charges. Don't worry about forgetting to report a post though, I'll remind you. Let's hope this thread still isn't going strong by November.

This problem has just never been an issue with us. This upcoming cruise will probably be the fouth cruise we've taken where the tick on the little box has been required. If I remember after my CB cruise on Nov. 4 I'll report back. Maybe we're just lucky after reading some of the comments here. Just watch, after the precautions I go through in my previous post that I go through, I'll be flagged for sure this time. :D

[ehogan]

Just returned from the Golden. Following the advice on this board, I ticked the "do not convert" box, highlighted a note stating I did not wish conversion and mentioned it to the Princess rep at check in. She said the form goes "into my file" so it would be best to remind the purser's office.

 

I wasn't willing to take a chance, so I put a cash deposit onto my card and retrieved the balance the second to last night of the cruise (your responsibility to get your balance from the purser's desk - they do not credit you or send you a check). As an experiment, I charged a $10 item on the last night to see how they would handle it. I received my credit card statement today (Cdn credit card denominated in US dollars) and lo and behold Princess did it right - the $10 charge was charged in US dollars and not converted!

 

Maybe things are looking up!

[drakes2]

ehogan: Thanks for posting your experience regarding the conversion. Smart thinking on your part to charge a small item on your Cr. card. Didn't you get a statement for the $10.00 charge before disembarking. I would have thought that if you purchased anything after closing your account, you would get a statement delivered to your cabin in the morning.

Just returned from the Golden. Following the advice on this board, I ticked the "do not convert" box, highlighted a note stating I did not wish conversion and mentioned it to the Princess rep at check in. She said the form goes "into my file" so it would be best to remind the purser's office.

 

I wasn't willing to take a chance, so I put a cash deposit onto my card and retrieved the balance the second to last night of the cruise (your responsibility to get your balance from the purser's desk - they do not credit you or send you a check). As an experiment, I charged a $10 item on the last night to see how they would handle it. I received my credit card statement today (Cdn credit card denominated in US dollars) and lo and behold Princess did it right - the $10 charge was charged in US dollars and not converted!

 

Maybe things are looking up!

[ehogan]

Yes, we did get a statement showing the $10 owing, but I wanted to let it ride onto the credit card so see what would happen. Also, I didn't want to stand in the horrible line for the purser on the last evening and next morning.

[terrierjohn]

Anyone with a USA passport will be charged automatically in $

 

If you have a Canadian or non USA passport then Princess system is set up IRRESPECTIVE of the ticked box to charge you in the currency of your passport

 

Canadians/Europeans/Aussies /Kiwis have all posted in threads on this forum on the same topic

Phillipa, It's the currency of your credit card that determines whether Princess "could" convert it for you, not your passport.

[jasper19]

hi

 

maybe a bit of a silly question, but i have been reading this post and have a question...

 

where is the "box" that you have to check to have princess not convert?

 

i just completed our cruise personalizer that asked for cc info and did not see that option there (and I did look specifically after reading this post!).

 

does it come with the cruise documents that we do not have for our Dec 2, Dawn cruise?

 

thanks

jasper

[Gibby]

hi

 

maybe a bit of a silly question, but i have been reading this post and have a question...

 

where is the "box" that you have to check to have princess not convert?

 

i just completed our cruise personalizer that asked for cc info and did not see that option there (and I did look specifically after reading this post!).

 

does it come with the cruise documents that we do not have for our Dec 2, Dawn cruise?

 

thanks

jasper

 

It is on the boarding pass!

[vickie_bernie]

This is a bee in my bonnet too. But I am more angry about the negative billing.

 

We will charge you this much.... unless you tell us not to. That is not right.

 

What if....

- they charged you for the water bottle in your room unless you asked them to remove the charge because you didn't use it

- they charged you say $500 for bar drinks and you have to see them if you didn't drink that much and get the credit

- they booked you an excursion in every port and you had to go to them and return the tickets you didn't use (which I heard they did sort of in one of the European ports, everyone got two tickets for transfers to the town at a cost each, if you didn't want them you had to return them to the excursions desk, if you didn't your account was charged)

- they gave everyone the soda card and if you didn't want it you had to return the sticker the first day for a credit

 

This is just another way that Princess can get more money out of us by charging us the conversion fee unless we say no!

 

great to see such a good thread here, hopefully Princess will read and listen.

[NSWP]

On Monday night 30/8, last night of RP trip..we swiped our credit card at Pursers desk..only way to ensure they do not rip you off with their charges.

 

Cheers:rolleyes: