Warning about Canadian dollar conversion - Did not ask for it, but it was done

[Ralph-o]

On our last cruise (Mariner March 8/09), the invoice showed our account converted to Cdn$, but the amount posted to my Visa was in USD & converted by the bank.

 

Ralph

[cyukuk]

I had to stand in the line up at Guest Relations this morning to settle an issue that should not have become an issue.

 

 

You may not have settled it at all !! Watch your statements carefully, I have had assurances from the Chief Purser down that it would all be actioned and it was NOT !!!

 

Then you are into a correspondence with RCCL, most of whom THINK they know how the system works but as we all know very few do . Very frustrating and shouldn't happen, I now settle in cash every time.

 

Luv

Cy

:)RC(hump)

[karcruiser]

All of the major Canadian banks have credit cards that are in US dollars. Mine is through Bank of Montreal (no fees) but the other banks have them as well. I just picked up an application at one of their branches and applied for it the same way I would any other credit card.

 

 

To the OP - the same thing happened to me on my Serenade cruise. Only problem was my invoice made no mention of them making the conversion so it wasn't realized until I checked my credit card statement online once I was home. The cruiseline said it was Mastercards error - Mastercard stated it was the cruiselines error. It was corrected when my husband called RCCL and emailed the agent a PDF copy of the mastercard statement that clearly showed the cruiseline had billed us in Cdn dollars. He did all this with her on the phone and two days later our credit card statement showed a credit.

 

We could have had Mastercard correct it as well but it would have taken several weeks.

 

Thanks for your post - on the last morning of our cruise last week we realized that we had been charged in Canadian even though we had clearly paid with a US BMO Mastercard. We asked at Guest Services but they were of no help whatsoever, told us that they had never seen that before, etc. Now I will call RCCL and try and get it sorted out. It is not a lot of money, but it's principle, this cruise was the main reason I got a US card in the first place! Thanks again.

[Toddcan]

Does this only apply if you have a $US credit card? I booked my cruises with my Canadian Visa, and my CC was charged in $CDN, so the bank does no conversion from US to CDN at all.

 

Now, when it comes time to settle my on board account, I have the option of them converting it to $CDN or $US? I don't see the problem..

 

Case 1: I let RCI convert to $CDN.

My $1,000 $US that I spent onboard is converted to, say, $1,200 CDN. My credit card statment shows a charge of $1,200 $cdn. No problem.

 

Case 2: RCI charges me $US for onboard spending

My $1,000 $US that I spent onboard is converted to, say $1,200 CDN by my bank. My credit card statment shows $1,000 US converted to $1,200 CDN.

 

The only difference between the two cases is if the % rates are different enough to make a significant difference. IF that's the only problem, I know I "pay" someone to covert my money.. either RCI (case 1), or my bank (case2). Personally, I don't have a problem with RCI taking the money since I have to spend it anyways.

 

Am I missing something?

[HorrorFan]

 

Am I missing something?

I understood that RCI tacks on an addtional conversion fee over and above the actual exchange rate. But I may have misunderstood.

At any rate, I used a cash account on my last cruise and it worked out fine. (My onboard account never gets THAT large anyway).

[gemz]

I contacted BMO Mastercard, who I have the US Dollar Credit Card with, and was told RCI posted the Canadian converted amount.

 

Called RCI and the woman told me to fax my credit card statement to her and she would have it corrected. She shows on her system the correct USD amount.

 

Since I apparently had the change done at Guest Relations on Saturday morning, could there still be a time delay in making the correction?

 

Should I just dispute the charge with Mastercard? The RCI rep on the phone didn't seem very understanding of the situation, she seemed a bit confused.

 

Very disappointed in them.

[jalakim]

On our last two cruises we used our USD credit card. Both time we made it clear at check in and both times our invoice showed conversion. Both times I went to customer relations to make sure they got it right and both time was assured they corrected the mistake....guess what...Surprise....my card was charged in Canadian and then converted back to US..which cost me 100.00 each time. The first time all it took was one phone call to RCL. The last time it took 5 phone calls, 4 faxes and two months to get it fixed!!!!

[orientodyssey]

I am a Canadian and I do have a US credit card. When I went on Alaska or Carribiean cruises, I prefer my onboard bill to be charged in US cash.

 

Thanks for many warnings on the CC board regarding this, I always double check with check-in agent upon boarding, and request a print out of the bill the night before the last day to double verify everything.

 

On my last RCCL cruise in Dec 07, despite my repeat checking (including asking for a print out of the bill the night before the last day, which was still in US dollars), I noted the bill they presented to me on the morning of the disembarkation day still converts our charge into Canadian.

 

It seems their system goes on automatically. Despite what you ask them to do, once the computre recognizes you as a Canaidan citizen, your bill will be automatically converted to Canadian Dollars using the ship rate.

 

It is actually will cuase quite much loses, if you have a large onboard bill. First of all, the ships rate to covert US to Cad$ is not that favorable. Second the Cad$ amount is now charging to your US$ credit card, which means when you receiving the credit card statment, the amount will be re-convert again into US$ using Credit card's rate. In my cases, after this senseless double conversion, I noted an initial $1000 bill will result in a payment of around $1230.

 

It seems the only solution is to pay US cash the night before the last cruise day. In RCCL's case, I went down to the front desk on the disemarkation day and waited in line for a long time. The staff had no problem to accept US cash for the initial charging amount. They do seems to have difficulty to charge our bill in US$ directly to my US$ card though, as it seems their computer will automatically convert the amount into CAD$ any way. I do not want a surprise after my return, or spending lots of time on the phone to clarifying the matter, so I just paid cash.

 

BTW I had a wonderful time on MOS and loved the vessel.

[gemz]

I faxed my documentation over a week ago and the representative reviewed it with the manager and realized the error and they are crediting my Mastercard. If they had done things properly in the beginning they'd avoid wasting their time reviewing the documentation and then posting credits to credit cards! That would improve their efficiency.

[rool]

I was worried about this situation on our recent cruise with $/€ conversion after reading threads like this. I was also worried about duplicate credit card/ pre auths which happened to me when I made my final payment back in January and RCI did nothing to sort it.

 

I solved it by choosing to settle in cash and took a few hundred US$. I watched the account on the TV and settled the account every few days. They tried to take my card at check in but I just stated I had chosen to pay cash and it was accepted.

 

For me it worked perfectly and will do this again in future.

[Dr. Cocktail]

I view the little "check box" as one views Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny - sometimes happy, sometimes disappointing and entirely imaginary!

 

As a veteran of many cruise lines and holding a U.S. dollar credit card, I agree with rool's post - the only way to avoid being dinged is to pay your balance in cah in US dollars.

 

There's no need to pay it off daily - simply ask guest relations on the last night of the cruise and pay the amount - if your balance is then zero, there will be nothing to go on your card.

 

Yes, I know this is one of the reason many of us got U.S. credit cards in the first place but as none of the cruise lines can get it right, face reality and avoid hassles.

[gemz]

Our original intentions were to pay it off in cash but spent some in St. Maarten and bought a watch onboard so the cash remaining didn't cover the amount. Won't do the credit card anymore since they don't seem to know what they're doing.

[cinnamon]

On our last 2 cruises we have been 'overcharged' by RCCL because despite several times asking for the credit card to be charged in dollars they always muck it up. We have been specific at check-in, asked during the cruise, stood in line at Guest Relations before departure and still they get it wrong. We have had to resort to contacting them in the UK on return and they have refunded our card with the amount it has cost us. That amount of work must cost them more than they make from the original mistake but not enough people complain about it to make them change.

 

We are sailing on 2nd May and will be once again trying to insist on them charging dollars. Our credit card charges us no fee and a very good rate of exchange.

[sassy12]

I'm wondering if there possibly will/would be a problem when we go to Australia in December with the credit card conversion from Australia to US. Has anyone had experience with this?

[nosmothj]

Put down pay in cash on last day go down pay with visa in US dollars, that way you have control. As some have said this happens all the time as it does not seem the cruise lines care what you do. They make more doing the conversion.

[lovemylab]

Put down pay in cash on last day go down pay with visa in US dollars, that way you have control. As some have said this happens all the time as it does not seem the cruise lines care what you do. They make more doing the conversion.

 

When doing this, do you have to make a cash deposit?

[nosmothj]

When doing this, do you have to make a cash deposit?

 

I don't think so as I remember. I just told them a cash account. We always pay with cash anyway never like that extra fee they charge.

[karcruiser]

Thanks for your post - on the last morning of our cruise last week we realized that we had been charged in Canadian even though we had clearly paid with a US BMO Mastercard. We asked at Guest Services but they were of no help whatsoever, told us that they had never seen that before, etc. Now I will call RCCL and try and get it sorted out. It is not a lot of money, but it's principle, this cruise was the main reason I got a US card in the first place! Thanks again.

 

Well, it's a month later, but today I noticed that RCCL had credited my US Mastercard with the difference in conversion. Took a little while but I'm pleased with the outcome.

[loman]

Just bring a wad of american dollars and pay off the account in full before

going to your cabin on the last evening. No line ups and very smooth transaction. Thats what i did after reading about this problem on these very informative forums.I had an excellent week on the Serenade of the Seas and had no issues at all.

[gemz]

Bumping an old thread to again warn Canadians and non-US passengers who hold USD credit cards that Royal Caribbean STILL cannot get this right.

 

Just got our USD Mastercard statement and after many "confirmations" with the pierside checkin lady, pursor staff prior to disembarking, and Royal Caribbean 1-800 people after coming home to NOT convert our Seapass amounts to CAD but to let it charge in USD to a USD card.

 

2 years after this same problem on the Liberty they still can't get it right.

[Host Jacquelyn]

 

2 years after this same problem on the Liberty they still can't get it right.

 

I had this problem back in 2002, so the problem goes waaaaaaay back. I spoke to several individuals, waited in multiple lines, and even had it in writing that they would not convert, but they did anyway.