Hi Canadians- yet another currency story

[dirtgirl]

I unfortunately have become well-acquainted with fighting for what is rightfully mine.:rolleyes:

 

I used to deal with a Canadian TA whose company is associated with Aeroplan, and the points were put in my account right after I left the ship. Unfortunately, that TA was horror show otherwise, so I switched to a US TA, who is a friend.

 

You can still get Aeroplan points up to 6 months after your cruise, but you have to wait for 2 months after your cruise to see if they show up. So, you have a 4 month window to send a letter to the Vancouver address on their website. Photocopy your cruise docs and seapass, and send that in with a letter. They are months behind, so expect to wait at least 4 months to hear from them.

 

They don't seem to have an email or a fax number to use. Just the most horrific voice mail I have ever encountered, and a mailing address in Vancouver to send your proof of cruising.:rolleyes:

 

And yes, they will double-ding you with a US$ credit card - I know because they did it to me, and I was charged for 2 currency conversions. It took 3 months to resolve that one.

 

With the cash account, is the $500 limit attributable to cruises of any length? I have a 4 day cruise coming up, and I was wondering whether to set up a cash account, and bring my US CC to pay it off. I doubt my Seapass will exceed $500 for that one (on 7 day cruises, it sure does)!

[CruseKrazy]

Are you from outside the US? When you do the online Checkin on RC's webpage (must be done no later than 3 days before the sail date), there are 2 boxes to choose from on your Setsail Pass that you print out at the end. One of them is to select to be billed in US, the other is to be billed to the currency of your card. They charge an extra 3% over the banks, so they try to sneak that on you instead of following your wishes to be billed in US (if that is what you want, and trust me, you do, if you want to save money).

 

Select the US box, and photocopy it! Also, go to Guest Relations during your cruise to see what you are being charged in, and attempt to correct it before the end of the cruise. Otherwise, if you want to fight it, the cc company will need proof of your transaction dispute when you get home.

 

Thanks Dirtgirl and everyone else. I finally understand the issue. I will set up my sea pass account accordingly and if necessary, fight the good fight on an upcoming Majesty cruise in April.

 

We've had a tough winter here. Don't want to see the rebated fuel surcharge clawed back in currency conversion charges on top of this! :cool:

[CVU]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=430391&page=4

There is a lot of information on this CC site.

 

Here is another one---

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=706013&page=2

From this CC site-

"Their fax number is 1-604-295-4244 but they do not like giving it out."

[CVU]

Sorry, those sites are on Aeroplan and getting your miles etc.

 

Good luck and happy cruising!

[robtulipe]

With the cash account, is the $500 limit attributable to cruises of any length? I have a 4 day cruise coming up, and I was wondering whether to set up a cash account, and bring my US CC to pay it off. I doubt my Seapass will exceed $500 for that one (on 7 day cruises, it sure does)!

We were told this for 7, 12 and 14 night cruise. I believe that $500 is the amount that RC has decided they are willing to extend credit up to on your seapass account. Higher than that they want you to put some $ down or give them a CC#.

[jan18]

Thanks for the tips about paying in US$. We're first time cruisers and I wasn't sure what it meant about the different payments. I'm going back and changing my payment method - thanks again.

 

Jan

[signman]

If your card is in USD then you shouldn't select either option A or B, as it only pertains to non US cards. Just put a big X thru it.

[dirtgirl]

If your card is in USD then you shouldn't select either option A or B, as it only pertains to non US cards. Just put a big X thru it.

 

 

I didn't select either option, but wrote on it to bill me in US$ as it was a US cc. They billed me in CAD anyway.

[Lynnees]

If your card is in USD then you shouldn't select either option A or B, as it only pertains to non US cards. Just put a big X thru it.

 

Not true - they know you are Canadian - they have no idea that your cc is in US dollars. They will charge you in Canadian dollars if your don't let them know you want to pay only in US dollars.

[kingsgirl]

I had the exact same thing happen on Serenade last year and it's not a fun way to end your vacation when you receive your bill and it's been converted into Canadian when you highlight, circled, and wrote in capitals "DO NOT CONVERT TO CANADIAN FUNDS" on the sheet.

 

So is the recommended rule of thumb to go to the purser's desk the day the second day of the cruise and make sure they realize you want your account in US funds and not Canadian to avoid this hassle?

[lovemylab]

When I received my final bill there was no mention anywhere of it being settled in CDN funds. Mine just stated the USD amount and indicated that it had been charged to my mastercard (and the last 4 numbers of the credit card were showing). It was only a few days later when I checked my account online that I noticed I was billed in CDN funds.

 

I was able to get it resolved fairly quickly. I called RCCL once and mastercard once. Both blamed the other and mastercard told me I could submit a form to dispute the charge. My husband then called RCCL emailed the agent he was speaking with a copy of our mastercard statement. He stayed on the phone with her until she received it so he could point out the error. We received a credit for the difference from RCCL within two days. I never did fill out the forms from mastercard. This all happened the end of November.

 

This morning I checked my online banking and noticed that yesterday I received another credit on my mastercard relating to this issue. RCCL resolved the issue back in November but now it seems that Mastercard has decided to credit me as well although it's for a different amount.

[IandY]

I had the exact same thing happen on Serenade last year and it's not a fun way to end your vacation when you receive your bill and it's been converted into Canadian when you highlight, circled, and wrote in capitals "DO NOT CONVERT TO CANADIAN FUNDS" on the sheet.

 

So is the recommended rule of thumb to go to the purser's desk the day the second day of the cruise and make sure they realize you want your account in US funds and not Canadian to avoid this hassle?

 

I'm the one who started this thread and I did exactly as you have just indicated. Didn't matter. On the second day of our recent cruise I went to Guest Relations and found that they had changed my instructions. I had it corrected so that my Credit card company would do the conversion as per my SetSail instruction. Then, the 2nd last day, went back to Guest Relations and wouldn't you know it, RCI went ahead and changed it again so that they would be converting the currency. They seem very determined on this!

[kingsgirl]

I'm the one who started this thread and I did exactly as you have just indicated. Didn't matter. On the second day of our recent cruise I went to Guest Relations and found that they had changed my instructions. I had it corrected so that my Credit card company would do the conversion as per my SetSail instruction. Then, the 2nd last day, went back to Guest Relations and wouldn't you know it, RCI went ahead and changed it again so that they would be converting the currency. They seem very determined on this!

 

I have one word for them them.

 

Those B******S!

 

Still love RCI but this is insane.

[HorrorFan]

Ok, so...could someone please help me get this straight once an for all?

 

1) When I go, I should initially set my account as cash. RCI automatically gives you a $500 limit, correct? Then if you DO NOT exceed that limit, you can go the the desk at the end of your cruise, pay by Canadian $ credit card, and everything is ok, correct? No RCI conversions on that type of transaction?

 

2) If you think you may be close to your limit before the cruise has ended, you can go to the desk and pay the balance with a Canadian $ credit card, and start over, again paying up the rest at the end, in the same way?

 

Would doing this avoid the RCI conversion issues?

[robtulipe]

Ok, so...could someone please help me get this straight once an for all?

 

1) When I go, I should initially set my account as cash. RCI automatically gives you a $500 limit, correct? Then if you DO NOT exceed that limit, you can go the the desk at the end of your cruise, pay by Canadian $ credit card, and everything is ok, correct? No RCI conversions on that type of transaction?

 

2) If you think you may be close to your limit before the cruise has ended, you can go to the desk and pay the balance with a Canadian $ credit card, and start over, again paying up the rest at the end, in the same way?

 

Would doing this avoid the RCI conversion issues?

Yes!

[If only]

Why not just check your account dailty on the TV that way you can see if they are converting it or not.

[robtulipe]

[quote name='If only']Why not just check your account dailty on the TV that way you can see if they are converting it or not.[/quote]
Because RC only convert the billing to $CAD at the end of the cruise when they do the automatic billing, usually against your wishes and instructions. You account charges will show as $US during the cruise.

[m&pcruizin]

I have been following this and find it rediculous that RCCL cannot keep it straight and follow their customers wishes. On our previous cruises we have not bothered to keep the charges in US funds because of the low CAD at the time, but from now on I will keep this in mind.
The question I have now is how do you book in US funds? We have always booked through a TA and were never aware of the option to book in anything other than CAD. But after reading this, I checked the $ difference for our next cruise we are about to book and the it totalled about $300. I would appreciate any answers before we book and loose out.
BTW, we are taking our BIL & SIL with us for their first cruise so it would save us both.

Thanks

[HorrorFan]

[quote name='m&pcruizin']I have been following this and find it rediculous that RCCL cannot keep it straight and follow their customers wishes. On our previous cruises we have not bothered to keep the charges in US funds because of the low CAD at the time, but from now on I will keep this in mind.
The question I have now is how do you book in US funds? We have always booked through a TA and were never aware of the option to book in anything other than CAD. But after reading this, I checked the $ difference for our next cruise we are about to book and the it totalled about $300. I would appreciate any answers before we book and loose out.
BTW, we are taking our BIL & SIL with us for their first cruise so it would save us both.

Thanks[/quote]
If you book through a TA, ask to book in US $. Its that easy.
I just booked our next cruise, initially in Canadian $. Then looked online, and went back to the TA and told her to rebook in US $ We saved slightly over $900. That is, if the Canadian $ stays in its present range until final payment, and every indication is that it will. Anyway, it has to drop 14% before I start losing.
Oh, and robtulipe, thanks for confirming that for me. Now I know what to do. :)