Booking with RC direct

I've done a search, but have not been able to find an answer, when booking through RC direct, they charge in Australian dollars, but in the terms it says your credit card may charge you a fee as they are processed offshore. Has anyone been charged a conversion fee for booking through RC online?

Not us

We have booked at least four different cruises with RC using our Amex and to this point of time we have never been charged any conversion fee. We are always happy booking direct.

Thank you both so much for the speedy replies! We've never booked direct with the cruise line, but they had a better deal and the ability to choose your cabin during the booking appeals more than a wait and see what you get assigned with some of the online agencies.

I don't recall with RCL, but I have an ANZ credit card and if I book with P&O Au, it is processed overseas and have been charged a conversion fee even though the amount was AUD. The fees are charged by your credit card provider not the cruiseline.

I've done a search, but have not been able to find an answer, when booking through RC direct, they charge in Australian dollars, but in the terms it says your credit card may charge you a fee as they are processed offshore. Has anyone been charged a conversion fee for booking through RC online?

I usually use a 28 Degree credit card and do not get charged conversion fees. The last booking i made using a different card i was charged $24 for the $800 deposit.

This fee is charged by the bank or card provider, not RCL.

Will always use 28 Degree in future:rolleyes:

Hugh

YES!!! be careful! We get charged 3% if we use our NAB card. It is in your bank's term's and conditions, and only has been in effect for a couple of years now. It is called single currency overseas transaction or something similar.

We now use either Citibank Plus (Debit card), Qantas cash card, Australia Post Loadngo TRAVEL card (not the domestic one).

We originally booked direct and used the NAB card and had no fees. Then we got the new terms and conditions for the credit card at some stage and had no comprehension that if we paid a com.au site in AUD then this new fee would apply.

The cruise line doesn't know which banks charge what, it is up to you to check your own bank terms.

Yep I'm with westpac and got charged for conversion or overseas account. Something, I would have to check on my statement. I now have a Global currency card and will see how that goes.

See I've heard of people recently getting charged for an overseas purchase even if the company charges in AUD, but have never experienced it myself. Shall have to wait and see! It's not like I can move my booking to a TA anyway I am assuming.

See I've heard of people recently getting charged for an overseas purchase even if the company charges in AUD, but have never experienced it myself. Shall have to wait and see! It's not like I can move my booking to a TA anyway I am assuming.

Makes no difference who you book with. Its the bank thats the player here.

On an aside, i always book direct but just recently went through an agent. Never again, still waiting for my deposit refund after 4 weeks. Normally through RCI its within days.

TA says RCI to blame as they apply different rules to travel agents.

I always try and book direct and yes, have previously been charged 3 or even 3.5% by Westpac.

However, I found out recently that if I use my Westpac Amex card, there are no fees RCI transactions. Have tried it out successfully a couple of times since :)

Makes no difference who you book with. Its the bank thats the player here.

 

On an aside, i always book direct but just recently went through an agent. Never again, still waiting for my deposit refund after 4 weeks. Normally through RCI its within days.

 

TA says RCI to blame as they apply different rules to travel agents.

I just got back a refund from RCI direct after cancelling on the 19th. So that was 7 working days in total. Interesting that the TA says they get handled differently, and also interesting that they think annoying a frequent cruiser would be a good way to have you back for another booking????? Because they know they will get the money back and they could fix you up sooner. Did they charge you a cancellation fee at all?

Makes no difference who you book with. Its the bank thats the player here.

 

On an aside, i always book direct but just recently went through an agent. Never again, still waiting for my deposit refund after 4 weeks. Normally through RCI its within days.

 

TA says RCI to blame as they apply different rules to travel agents.

It would make a difference in this case as the TA would make the charge, rather than the cruise line. They then pass the payment on to the cruise line.

And given local TAs are based here, I wouldn't expect any of them to process charges offshore.

But you're definitely right about the refunds taking longer through TAs, for the same reason. It goes through them instead of coming direct from the line.

I just got back a refund from RCI direct after cancelling on the 19th. So that was 7 working days in total. Interesting that the TA says they get handled differently, and also interesting that they think annoying a frequent cruiser would be a good way to have you back for another booking????? Because they know they will get the money back and they could fix you up sooner. Did they charge you a cancellation fee at all?

No cancellation fee as far as i know. Yes very interesting why the TA wont refund me independantly.

They said that the refund has to be processed in the states then they send a cheque to the teavel agent. Bit of an out of date process in this day and age.

No cancellation fee as far as i know. Yes very interesting why the TA wont refund me independently.

They said that the refund has to be processed in the states then they send a cheque to the travel agent. Bit of an out of date process in this day and age.

Sounds strange. Doubt they paid the cruise line by cheque? Interesting to know that is their process as they tell it. I wonder if the TA is booking through another intermediary. Not that it matters, hopefully your refund will come through before too long.

I always try and book direct and yes, have previously been charged 3 or even 3.5% by Westpac.

However, I found out recently that if I use my Westpac Amex card, there are no fees RCI transactions. Have tried it out successfully a couple of times since :)

Ah! I have one of those from the shuffle from Virgin credit card years ago to going onto Westpac direct. That would be very handy to use for the on board account, which we can then pay some or all of in cash or debit card at the end of the cruise. Must find where I have hidden that :)

Sounds strange. Doubt they paid the cruise line by cheque? Interesting to know that is their process as they tell it. I wonder if the TA is booking through another intermediary.

Generally that was the process, a periodic reconciliation, and traditionally by cheque. They don't make payments to each other every day - there'd be too much overhead.

Westpac hit me with a fee when I purchased OBC with Royal a few months back. No big issue for me as I was getting the 1 for 1 deal at the time but definitely something to look out for. Westpac told me they changed the terms and conditions on my card to charge a fee for these 'single currency overseas transactions' last year. I will just use the 28 Degreee card in future if any doubt.

As an aside I have also seen stories about people being charged this fee when booking or buying stuff on what they thought were Australian sites using Aussie dollars. Turns out they were actually based overseas but just had an 'Aussie' internet presence.

As an aside I have also seen stories about people being charged this fee when booking or buying stuff on what they thought were Australian sites using Aussie dollars. Turns out they were actually based overseas but just had an 'Aussie' internet presence.

I've noticed a lot more sites are doing that lately. Australian URL (or name), Australian prices, but overseas product/shop.

I've noticed a lot more sites are doing that lately. Australian URL (or name), Australian prices, but overseas product/shop.

At least RCI have a warning that you may be charged fees. How are we supposed to know the difference if it is a .com.au site?

We are just looking at our card situation now. We have organised a couple of the cards that people gave good advice on here, and now we think it might be time to give some of the local bank ones the flick.

Those cards like Qantas, Citibank etc work very well here. With my Citibank Plus I can deposit and withdraw with no charges at Aust Post everywhere around Aus.

I still don't really understand the need for the single currency / overseas company fee. The currency exchange costs should be their problem not mine. An aussie dollar paid to anyone should not mean the bank can sting me for more.

Unfortunately I am small fry and the banks really don't care. I had a friend recently complain to the bank about some of the fees when she took their advice to use her normal bank card overseas. They said it was only a small amount of fees, and you couldn't find any other products that didn't have fees. OMG! Liar liar! They just don't care. Thank goodness for good people here that have shared their recommendations. I appreciate it!

When we booked directly with RCL, for a cruise earlier this year, we used the bank transfer option for final payment.

I rang RCL (Guatemala) and confirmed the bank account details here in Australia where I could transfer the money. Their account is with JP Morgan Chase Bank in Sydney. I then went online and paid in AUD.

I also sent an email to payments.au@RCCLAPAC.com with relevant booking information and attached a scan of the bank transfer receipt.

Two days later, my cruise personaliser showed the payment made and zero in the outstanding balance.

Final payment wasn't due for another 3 weeks, so I had plenty of time to pursue the matter if things hadn't gone so smoothly. This avoided all the additional conversion fees associated with some credit cards.

The above is certainly an alternate method and the full details are found at the bottom of your booking invoice from RCI for your reservation.

However, when paying direct online, you get instant confirmation that payment has been made.

Some posters on cc have reported worrying delays in the past when doing the bank transfer method.

Regarding Travel Agent refunds, i have received a response from RCI that simply stated that TAs have sole proprietorship over your booking reservation and RCI cannot hasten the refund process. They were sorry i cancelled the cruise.

Again, i will never ever again use a TA as i can do the same and get the same benefits by doing everything myself. It is just so simples Boris:cool:

Hugh

Regarding Travel Agent refunds, i have received a response from RCI that simply stated that TAs have sole proprietorship over your booking reservation and RCI cannot hasten the refund process. They were sorry i cancelled the cruise.

Quite true. Just like retail, it doesn't matter who the supplier is, but your agreement is with the agent/store.

So in the worst case scenario of you needing a refund, when the travel agent went bankrupt after you booked and paid for your cruise, the cruise line would repay the administrator, and you would then be chasing them up (and unlikely to have much luck except to get a share quite some time later).

That's an extreme example, but just points out that your agreement is not with the cruise line (who only provide the service you pay for), but with the travel agent. And refund is subject to their own terms and processes, not the cruiselines.

 

Again, i will never ever again use a TA as i can do the same and get the same benefits by doing everything myself. It is just so simples Boris:cool:

 

Hugh

Unfortunately the service industry is delivering less and less, and all in the name of "company policy" probably. They would know that your refund would be coming back to them, as they would have had that happen plenty of times.

The idea that you should wait while internal processes grind away is pretty bad business when by clicking on the button online I can get a refund direct from RCI in one to two weeks. Last one took 7 working days. I know they think their policy is fair, and they probably state it somewhere in tiny writing, but they have missed an opportunity to hook a very frequent cruiser by stalling, whether it it their fault or RCI, makes no difference to how annoying it makes it for you.

We were talking to a couple last cruise that had done around 50 cruises so far, and they had a few in the pipeline. They are very happy with their TA that arranges air fares, transfers etc, all which would be value adding to the customer as well as the TA's profit.

So it is not like nobody wants to use a TA, they just need to convince us that there is a reason that they can get some commission from our booking. We are looking at booking the friends' TA down the track for an overseas embarking cruise, but for Sydney origin RCI cruises we are happy to keep control. Even if we do whine a little about ringing them sometimes (that was really future cruise certificate related more than anything). At least we can argue our case directly.

I am interested to know how long this will go for before you get the refund Hugh.

I can say it took a fraction over 6 weeks for me to get a refund from a TA, due to a cancellation by P&O. Then they didn't refund the credit card fees I had originally been charged, so I wasn't made 'whole' by their cancellation. And they sent me a cheque instead of refunding the credit card, which was more hassle, took even more time, and is not permitted under the ACCC, but I let it go.

For the sake of the small amount they gained, they lost all future bookings from me. I don't think it was worth it to them in the scheme of things!