On Board - Aussie Dollars

Just a question for those of you that have cruised in Australia.

We just booked a Sydney to Sydney 14 day on the Diamond and were notified that the on board currency is in Australian dollars. Our OBC is also showing in our personalizer as being in Aussie dollars. But if we want to purchase the AIBP, pay our grats up front, etc, we are being charged in US dollars which seems strange. If both are purchased on board in Aussie dollars it would seem that both would be far cheaper rather than pay in US and have them convert it............

So the question is - what is the cost of Automatic gratuities (mini-suite) on an Australian cruise in Aussie dollars, if you pay on board. Also what is the cost of the AIBP in Aussie dollars if purchased on board.

thanks

We did three b2b2b cruises in the same area last March. They were going through a much needed conversation on the rate of exchange for US to AUD and that worked in our favor. There were no auto gratuities add for any of the cruises (Seems to be standard on all OZ only cruises? As for the AIBP, you may want to contact Princess and ask what the present rate of exchange is. The Package can certainly be purchased on board and it may help to wait.

We are in New Zealand and our Australian cruise was in AUD but anything prebooked and paid for from New Zealand was in NZD; similarly on another cruise where the charges on board we in USD anything paid beforehand was in NZD. OBC was quoted in the cruise currency even though we paid our TA in NZD.

Australian based cruises do not have any Automatic Gratuity costs. (Even on part of the World Cruise where we don't actually travel to or from Australia)

It is NOT true that Australian cruises do not have any automatic gratuities. IF you are an American cruiser you will be expected to pay the gratuities. We cruised last summer from Sydney on the Sun Princess. Tips were charged to our cabin each day. We asked about this at guest services and were told this is what was done. We were greatly surprised by this.

The AIBP purchased onboard on a ship cruising from Australia is $59AUD.

Gratuities are included for Australians and NZ ers booking from Australia/NZ

Our prices reflect this as the gratuities are included.

If booking from anywhere else, gratuities will be added daily or prepaid if you choose. Your cruise personaliser should show your country currency for prepurchased items.

Considering the rates of AUD and USD at the moment I would be waiting until onboard eg $59 AUD = $45USD;p

If you have cash you can always settle your accoun in USD prior to disembarking to save CC fees etc.

Have a fabulous cruise on the lovely Diamond Princess:)

Thanks for the information everyone.

Your responses pretty much confirm that we will pay on board and not do any pre cruise payments. Plus we have a load of OBC to use anyways.

It really didn't make sense that both gratuities and AIBP were to be paid in Canadian funds (that amount was decided by Princess at a higher than bank rate). According to Princess the converted Canadian total mirrored the US dollar amount. Then it appears that they would convert the US amount over to Australian dollars at a terrible exchange rate. Basically we would have lost out on the exchange rate twice.

We will wait until on board to do anything.

Thanks very much.

Ray and Ann

If you have cash you can always settle your accoun in USD prior to disembarking to save CC fees etc.

 

That's not usually the best option especially if you have a credit card that doesn't charge foreign transaction fees. The exchange rate cruise lines charge usually includes around a 3% loading for the "privilege" of having them convert your onboard spending to your currency. If it is charged in AUD then your credit card / bank company does the conversion and that is mostly likely to be at close to the current foreign exchange rate.

However if your CC charges foreign exchange rate fees then you need to check what these are to decide which is the best option. Some CC companies charge a fee if the transaction goes through a foreign bank even if the amount is charged in the correct currency.