Conversion of shipboard account

Hi, I have always chosen to have my bank do the currency conversion of my shipboard account.

Just wondering what others do?

hi, i have always chosen to have my bank do the currency conversion of my shipboard account.

Just wondering what others do?

b.a.n.k.

Usually I let my bank do it, but I found out before a previous cruise that the exchange rate for buying on board credit is set at the rate that it was when you booked the cruise, so if your currency has taken a dive against the US$ since booking (which in my case has happened before) you can buy on board credit for yourself in advance of the cruise at a better rate than your bank or letting Princess do it at the end of the cruise.

I'm not sure if this is still true, I have to check for my upcoming cruise. I certainly hope so.

Most of the time our account and home currency are US$, but when not, I have my bank do it.

Dynamic Currency Conversion by merchants is almost always a ripoff unless the merchant is somehow locking a rate favorable to customers. Know the rates quoted on XO or similar services and compare - since the card brands settle at the wholesale rate (even when some issuers add 1-3% for the privilege), they're usually the best rates a consumer can get.

Even more galling is when you do a DCC conversion and your issuer still tags the transaction as foreign because the merchant address is foreign or their merchant bank is foreign. The fine print reveals its a foreign transaction fee and not a foreign currency exchange surcharge. So you've paid the poor DCC rate and you're still paying the three points on top of that.

Princess only offer the service as it makes them even more money. I always got better rates without any fees from our bank.

Thanks for your replies. My sister was just filling in the necessary info on line for our upcoming princess cruise, and had read somewhere about them claiming to give the best rate. I will stick with my bank doing the conversion.

Without doubt use your bank. Very very rarely even with exchange rate fluctuations will Princess beat your Bank - well from my experience anyway.:)