Help for Canadians!!!

Hi all from Canada. Our dollar at moment is really in the tank at moment. and cruise prices for us have sky rocketed.

Anyone have any advice or ways to save $ if we still want to cruise?

anyone know of good discount sites? discount codes etc?

all help i can get

Our dollar at moment is really in the tank at moment. and cruise prices for us have sky rocketed. Anyone have any advice or ways to save $ if we still want to cruise? anyone know of good discount sites? discount codes etc?

Hi, we are not permitted to mention discount sites or travel agencies here.

We're in the same boat (oh, haha!!) but we still want to cruise and still will cruise. I think it's a matter of budgeting, saving, and perhaps waiting a little longer to cruise. We have been blessed to cruise almost every year for some years now but with our planned Baltic cruise on the horizon, we know we are going to have to tighten up. The airfare alone is killer. *sigh*

Hi all from Canada. Our dollar at moment is really in the tank at moment. and cruise prices for us have sky rocketed.

Anyone have any advice or ways to save $ if we still want to cruise?

anyone know of good discount sites? discount codes etc?

 

all help i can get

Yeah :( I just bought a tiny bit of US $ today :eek: Fortunately for us, we buy US $ regularly, in prep for our next cruise, so we have not yet felt the full impact of the current exchange rate. I'm now also really REALLY considering moving my current booking to an online agency that will give me onboard credit. Consider $100 US onboard credit costs $130 Cdn to buy, so that makes a big difference. If we can get US $300 OBC, that would otherwise cost us around $390 Cdn.

Also look at booking hotels using points (we did that for our last cruise, not a spectacular hotel but essentially free, instead of ~$400 Cdn). Join the loyalty programs the hotel chains offer, because sometimes you can accumulate enough points with them to get free or low-cost hotels for pre and post cruise.

When you are looking at cruise prices, get both the US $ cost and the Cdn $ cost from your TA or the cruise line. Sometimes the "spread" is enough to justify paying in US $. Other times, the advantage is to paying in Cdn $. Always check. Always. I can't emphasize this point enough :)

Good luck, there are loads of us in the same boat....

Hi all from Canada. Our dollar at moment is really in the tank at moment. and cruise prices for us have sky rocketed.

Anyone have any advice or ways to save $ if we still want to cruise?

anyone know of good discount sites? discount codes etc?

 

all help i can get

The dollar won't stop us from cruising. Most cruise lines will sell cruises in canadian dollars at a better exchange rate then bank will give you. Look for TA's that have rooms held in blocks .

Cannot help you much. Agree about our Canadian dollar. Last cruise we booked while we were in Australia. I could have just as easily booked it by calling them.

It was booked with RCI Australia in AUD dollars which were slightly below our dollar. Not only that, the cruise was 30 odd percent cheaper than it was showing on the US/Canada web site. Plus they gave us some extra OBC's that we were not expecting. Downside was the currency on board was US and the drinks were expensive. We did not drink much.

We are not cruising now. Did 3 in the Med and some in FLL when the dollar was strong. Now we are travelling to countries other than US and buying vacations in anything but USD currency. So, next month we are off to Greece and the Islands for and independent tour. May do the same again next year in Croatia. Hawaii, Florida etc. is out. Thailand is in.

Here is the link to a thread called welcome to tightwad cruising. Many people who manage to spend very little onboard have added their advice. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=785229. You can find it under the heading of Saving money on your cruise http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=71

Some of the cruise lines are digging in with higher prices and no last minute discounting. So I will add, do not be married to one cruise line. Hopefully you can find a cruise with a price you can live with and manage some of the additional expenses. You will still enjoy your cruise.

Recommendation: check out NCL.

They have been offering very good exchange rates this year; we used them back in March.

Not only was the cruise at a good rate, but we could, and did, buy on board credits at the same price, too. Our savings were into 3 figures.

Some Canadian TAs offered the same rate with NCL, too.

Give it a try.

Good luck.

We have found that most cruise lines allow you to pay in CAD $. This helps.

Our last cruise was with Celebrity and about 3 days from sailing we were able to pre-pay our gratuities for a slight discount, and in CAD $. This was a great saving.

Transferring your reservation to a TA that may offer a better OBC is a great idea.

We are wondering whether we should buy our spending money now or wait until later. I am thinking now is the better option.

Doesn't help at all with the cruise fares, but RCCL does have a really great deal that helps with on-board expenses, excursions, etc. The "Gifts and Gear" department will sell you on-board credit at a 10% exchange rate, which is really unbeatable. Once purchased, you can use it for booking excursions or making purchases (speciality dining, spa, drinks or whatever) OR you can withdraw cash from the casino to use to spend ashore. We just purchased $1,000 USD for $1,100 CAD for our upcoming trip which was such a blessing as the cash we picked up from the bank cost over 30% with fees.

(If you're interested, there's a thread called "Canadian Cruisers" on the RCCL board that has all the details.)

There are still deals out there. Princess and other lines have their cruises pegged at around 20% right now and as mentioned above some are still allowing OBC to be bought at 10%. Princess is 20%. We just paid around $1,900 Canadian PP for a 14 day Transatlantic in a balcony with a full drink package. That's not bad for a 14 day vacation with all your drinks and food. Also keep an eye out for Canadian Resident Specials. Get on cruise line's mail lists. They know they have lots of Canadian customers and the deals will be there.

Recommendation: check out NCL.

They have been offering very good exchange rates this year; we used them back in March.

Not only was the cruise at a good rate, but we could, and did, buy on board credits at the same price, too. Our savings were into 3 figures.

Some Canadian TAs offered the same rate with NCL, too.

 

Give it a try.

Good luck.

The Cdn dollar is not very good versus the US dollar but it's been pretty stable against the Euro if you look back over the years. NCL is currently offering 2015 sailings at roughly 1.11% and 2016 sailings at 1.19%.

I just put a deposit on a Feb 2016, 21 day canary island, med, B2B.

Air France has an air sale and it's about $1000cdn return from YVR to BCN. 4 days post cruise in Paris hopefully will be in the cards as well.

We booked our cruise this year just before peak season for it to be a bit cheaper, chosen a lower category stateroom and bought our US cash when our dollar before the big drop...that's about all we can do. :(

If you book trough NCL directly they offer Canadian rates at a better exchange rate than the back, or at least they did when I booked in March, Your rate is also guaranteed for anything you prepay such as excursions, gratuities and on board credit that you can purchase in advance.

I just put a deposit on a Feb 2016, 21 day canary island, med, B2B.

Air France has an air sale and it's about $1000cdn return from YVR to BCN. 4 days post cruise in Paris hopefully will be in the cards as well.

NCL just cancelled the cruise due to a charter and wants to give me a $50 OBC.

Who the heck charters the EPIC?

I have 7 days to think about cancelling my POA booking.

NCL just cancelled the cruise due to a charter and wants to give me a $50 OBC.

Who the heck charters the EPIC?

I have 7 days to think about cancelling my POA booking.

There one cruise line that had a ship on charter for 4 months in Asia.

HAL has good deals in CAD.

Yeah :( I just bought a tiny bit of US $ today :eek: Fortunately for us, we buy US $ regularly, in prep for our next cruise, so we have not yet felt the full impact of the current exchange rate. I'm now also really REALLY considering moving my current booking to an online agency that will give me onboard credit. Consider $100 US onboard credit costs $130 Cdn to buy, so that makes a big difference. If we can get US $300 OBC, that would otherwise cost us around $390 Cdn.

 

Also look at booking hotels using points (we did that for our last cruise, not a spectacular hotel but essentially free, instead of ~$400 Cdn). Join the loyalty programs the hotel chains offer, because sometimes you can accumulate enough points with them to get free or low-cost hotels for pre and post cruise.

 

When you are looking at cruise prices, get both the US $ cost and the Cdn $ cost from your TA or the cruise line. Sometimes the "spread" is enough to justify paying in US $. Other times, the advantage is to paying in Cdn $. Always check. Always. I can't emphasize this point enough :)

 

Good luck, there are loads of us in the same boat....

When checking out online ta's look for more than obc. Our online ta gives us a small obc, pre-paid gratuities, and a specialty dinner for two. happy searching