Princess Gift Card - Can I gift myself?

I am interested in the Princess Gift Card idea. We had booked our cruise when there was a reasonable exchange rate between the Canadian dollar and the American dollar. Someone had told me that if I purchased a Princess Gift Card for ourselves before the cruise, the cost would be at the same reasonable exchange rate as when we booked the cruise (rather than paying for excursions and such towards the end of the cruise at possibly a less favorable exchange rate). He also mentioned something about a Cabin Credit that would serve the same purpose. Can anyone help me out on this, please? Thank you!

Yes, you can gift yourself.

But if you can just give yourself On Board Credit it would simplify things.

However, if you book shore excursions before the cruise, you must pay for them at the time you book them. I assume at that time you would get the exchange rate you are looking at.

If you wait to book your shore excursions until you are on the ship and then pay for them with the OBC or gift card, you run the risk that the excursions you want are sold out and thus you cannot take them. Also, sometimes the price of an excursion will be higher on the ship than when booked in advance.

I just booked excursions and when you go to pay they take it out of your OBC (if you have any )and if there isnt enough there to cover you pay the balance

A couple of times when there was a "deal" I bought gift cards for myself. I can't remember the exact details but it was something like "if you buy $300 in gift cards you get $40 free". Something like that. The only caveat was that the free card was electronic and had to be used in a certain time frame. I was cruising anyway so I bought the cards and applied all of it - including the free portion - toward the cost of my cruise. It's a gift card. It's good for anybody to use.

Just buy On Board Credit, which will be converted at the exchange rate applicable when you booked. I did that for a cruise a couple of years ago as the Princess exchange rate was very favourable compared with the actual AUD/USD rate at the time. I bought more than I expected to use and the outstanding balance was refunded at the current AUD/USD rate of the day. Very nice! :)

Thank you everyone, for your awesome replies. I shall purchase some On Board Credit for our cruise before we go. Cruise Critic discussion boards are the best!

This was an interesting thread for Canadians! Good points. I``ll have to watch the exchange rate with Princess to try and take advantage of this. I never even thought about the timing of when I purchase shore excursions.

I just tried to book OBC on the princess website. our booking is in CAD so for $750 usd OBC it states it will cost me $1000 CAD. 25% exchange pretty good. When I tried to book online it was declined. Tried multiple times with different Cards. Called Princess and they told me I had to book in USD for OBC. I explained that wasn’t an option on the website. I even called my c card to make sure cards were not compromised. They said no transactions were declined. Any help would be appreciated as I would like to book OBC in Canadian $

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This was an interesting thread for Canadians! Good points. I``ll have to watch the exchange rate with Princess to try and take advantage of this. I never even thought about the timing of when I purchase shore excursions.

The exchange rate that should apply to pre-cruise purchases should be the one that was in effect when you booked your cruise.

The only reason to watch the exchange rate would be to decide not to make purchases in advance because the exchange rate at the time of the cruise would be better for you.

The exchange rate that should apply to pre-cruise purchases should be the one that was in effect when you booked your cruise.

 

 

The only reason to watch the exchange rate would be to decide not to make purchases in advance because the exchange rate at the time of the cruise would be better for you.

Can anyone tell me if I am on the right track here?

Total I paid in Cdn $ / Total cruise was advertised at in US dollars = 1.24

Today, one Cdn $ is worth $0.76 US, so $1 Cdn/ $0.76 US = 1.31

If I buy myself OBC today to pay for our excursions and gratuities I should get the 1.24 exchange rate?

Just a little hesitant when it comes to numbers.

Thanks to anyone who understands numbers and can help me.

I have bought dollars in the past as obc but it depends on the exchange rate - it is fixed at the time of booking. I bought US$ at 1.47 to the £ after the BREXIT vote when the exchange rate at the time of our cruise was something like £1.24 to the £.

However I am not currently planning to buy obc for our next cruise at £1.33 to the £ when I can but at $1.36 to the £ in my bank. The big advantage is that as the rate is fixed to the date of booking if the £ crashes I have a fall back position.