Canadian cruisers!!

[willing292]

Howdo you buy the credit? Do you use visa, MasterCard, etc.?

Edited March 1, 2015 by willing292

[Ourusualbeach]

Howdo you buy the credit? Do you use visa, MasterCard, etc.?

 

Doesn't matter what credit card you use.

 

It is just like purchasing a shore excursion or beverage package. Royal already has a preset rate internally that they are charging you to buy OBC. You are buying OBC in US$ but paying in CDN$. Your credit card will be charged in CDN$. I was able to buy $500US for $550 CDN. Others have reported that the most that they could buy was $499US.

 

Call C&A or gifts and gear. You will need your reservation number.

[hancogran]

So if you bought US$100 for Cdn$110, and used none of it (I know this is not realistic, but for the sake of understanding), you would be refunded US$100 which is currently worth approximately Cdn$125 for a profit of Cdn$15? Good Deal:) [Yes, I know that exchange rates could change in the interim.]

 

:confused::confused: But would it not have been refunded back to your credit card for the same rate as you bought it ?? In other words - 10% .. For example,. if you had $100 U.S. OBC left at the end of the cruise, your credit card would be credited $110 Canadian (which is what you purchased it for).

 

I could be wrong but I can't see RCL giving you $1.25 Canadian or whatever the current rate is, when you only paid $1.10 which is a special rate they're giving us Canadians. :D

[TravelerThom]

:confused::confused: But would it not have been refunded back to your credit card for the same rate as you bought it ?? In other words - 10% .. For example,. if you had $100 U.S. OBC left at the end of the cruise, your credit card would be credited $110 Canadian (which is what you purchased it for).

 

I could be wrong but I can't see RCL giving you $1.25 Canadian or whatever the current rate is, when you only paid $1.10 which is a special rate they're giving us Canadians. :D

From what has been posted on this thread, Canadians were charged Cdn$1.10 through a bank in Vancouver and given US$1.00 OBC. If the Cruise company "refunded in US dollars at the end of the cruise, back to our credit card" as stated, those dollars should then be converted by the bank from US$ to Cdn$ at bank rates (currently about 1:1.25). I suspect that the refund may well have been done through Vancouver in Cdn$ at the 1:1.1 rate (which would be the reasonable and indeed fair to all parties), but that is not what I've seen stated. It is easy to get confused with what is going on, and I don't think anyone is trying to be misleading.

[Ourusualbeach]

From what has been posted on this thread, Canadians were charged Cdn$1.10 through a bank in Vancouver and given US$1.00 OBC. If the Cruise company "refunded in US dollars at the end of the cruise, back to our credit card" as stated, those dollars should then be converted by the bank from US$ to Cdn$ at bank rates (currently about 1:1.25). I suspect that the refund may well have been done through Vancouver in Cdn$ at the 1:1.1 rate (which would be the reasonable and indeed fair to all parties), but that is not what I've seen stated. It is easy to get confused with what is going on, and I don't think anyone is trying to be misleading.

 

Best bet is to set up a cash account on board and have any remaining OBC that had been purchased in advance refunded to you in good old US $ bills at the end of the cruise.

 

I have purchased $1000 OBC for my 4 day cruise coming up and I certainly don't intend to spend all of that on board.

 

I do believe that of a credit card account had been set up it would in fact be refunded to the card on US$ and then processed at the current exchange rate. I do not believe that the ship has access to rates charged by gifts and gear. Having said that I am not going to chance it.

[disneykins]

Best bet is to set up a cash account on board and have any remaining OBC that had been purchased in advance refunded to you in good old US $ bills at the end of the cruise.

 

I have purchased $1000 OBC for my 4 day cruise coming up and I certainly don't intend to spend all of that on board.

 

I do believe that of a credit card account had been set up it would in fact be refunded to the card on US$ and then processed at the current exchange rate. I do not believe that the ship has access to rates charged by gifts and gear. Having said that I am not going to chance it.

 

When do I set up the cash account? We sail in 2 weeks do I just wait until I check in or should I do it online now? I have always given a credit card in advance for simplicity reasons. Would rather get any unspent obc back in cash for use before we leave Florida. When do they refund the cash exactly (don't want to line up for hours to get it).

 

thanks,

Tony and Debbie

[Toddcan]

 

Sorry to hijack thread. We are also Canadian and had bought on-board credit. For anyone with any questions about that, it was fully refunded in US dollars at the end of the cruise, back to our credit card.

 

Josie, thanks for coming here to report on your experience on board, but I think you might misunderstand what we are talking about.

 

We are talking about buying $US OBC with $CAD. The purchase goes through an office in Canada, so it shows up on your card as $110 CAD (which buys you $100 US OBC). I suspect you paid for your OBC in $US, so they are refunding in the same.

 

Can you confirm if you bought your OBC with $US? (what does your credit card transaction say?). Just because you are Canadian diesn't mean you can take advantage of this 10% - you would have had to pay for your cruise initially in $CAD.

 

What many of us in this thread are going to try to do is buy lots of OBC at the 10% rate. Then try and get cold hard $US cash onboard. At this point, there are two strategies - one is to change the on board account to "cash" - the thinking being that there is no credit card on file to refund the purchased OBC to. The second strategy is to use the casino 5% cash out fee to take the cash- we know this can be done at any time. Me, personally, I have $1,200 OBC and have changed my account so that there is no longer a credit card linked to it. I plan on going to guest services and cashing out. If that does not work, and they insist on crediting the amount to my credit card which I used to buy the OBC, then I will go to the casino and cash out. 15% exchange is better than the 28-29% offered at the banks today.

 

Long winded - I know, but the devil is in the details.

[Toddcan]

When do I set up the cash account? We sail in 2 weeks do I just wait until I check in or should I do it online now? I have always given a credit card in advance for simplicity reasons. Would rather get any unspent obc back in cash for use before we leave Florida. When do they refund the cash exactly (don't want to line up for hours to get it).

 

thanks,

Tony and Debbie

 

Tony/Debbie, I am not sure there is only one correct answer for that question. But personally, I have already changed my account to cash online. I plan on confirming this at the check in counter in 11 days :D

 

I too have always put a credit card on file, and never worried about the balance, but for a potential savings of $200, I will stand in line.

 

I will say this.. If you are really set on NOT lining up on the last night - then try and cash out your account on the second last day, and then add your credit card to the file for any charges on that last day. If they don't let you cash out that day -go to the casino and cash out at the 5% fee - it's still a much better deal than the banks are giving us. Either way, I have read that you can add a credit card to your account anytime during the cruise too.

[Josie2]

I pre bought $300 USD at a cost of $330 CDN on my Cdn visa. I cashed in a remaining $220 USD and got $220 USD cash on the final day. They would not allow it before final day at guest services. My brother did it half way through cruise at the casino and paid the additional 5%.

[hancogran]

I pre bought $300 USD at a cost of $330 CDN on my Cdn visa. I cashed in a remaining $220 USD and got $220 USD cash on the final day. They would not allow it before final day at guest services. My brother did it half way through cruise at the casino and paid the additional 5%.

 

So you actually received the balance you had left in U.S. dollars from Guest Services the last day?

 

Your previous post says it was refunded to your credit card in U.S. dollars?

For anyone with any questions about that, it was fully refunded in US dollars at the end of the cruise, back to our credit card

 

Can you please confirm which is correct? Thanks Josie. Maybe I'm just having one of my "senior's moments". :confused:

[Toddcan]

I pre bought $300 USD at a cost of $330 CDN on my Cdn visa. I cashed in a remaining $220 USD and got $220 USD cash on the final day. They would not allow it before final day at guest services. My brother did it half way through cruise at the casino and paid the additional 5%.

 

Hmmm? Now I'm confused. Can you clarify for us? In an earlier post, you said they refunded to your credit card. Good to see you were able to cash out in hard curency, but just looking for clarification from your earlier post.

 

Thanks!

[son3cruisers]

I pre bought $300 USD at a cost of $330 CDN on my Cdn visa. I cashed in a remaining $220 USD and got $220 USD cash on the final day. They would not allow it before final day at guest services. My brother did it half way through cruise at the casino and paid the additional 5%.

 

Just what we've been hoping to hear!

Thanks for posting this.

[Josie2]

Sorry to confuse. I got USD cash back. We were on back to back and the first week I got a small refund on my credit card. Second week, with larger pending refund and pre purchased OBC we took it back in cash.

[Toddcan]

Sorry to confuse. I got USD cash back. We were on back to back and the first week I got a small refund on my credit card. Second week, with larger pending refund and pre purchased OBC we took it back in cash.

 

Thanks for reporting back! This is good news to a lot of us.

[Folk Singer]

I pre bought $300 USD at a cost of $330 CDN on my Cdn visa. I cashed in a remaining $220 USD and got $220 USD cash on the final day. They would not allow it before final day at guest services. My brother did it half way through cruise at the casino and paid the additional 5%.

 

Have to keep that filed away for reference.

[Ourusualbeach]

Has anyone bought any OBC in the past couple of days? Someone from Australia posted that they had been getting a great rate as well but theirs was taken away and they are now paying normal exchange rates.

[son3cruisers]

Has anyone bought any OBC in the past couple of days? Someone from Australia posted that they had been getting a great rate as well but theirs was taken away and they are now paying normal exchange rates.

 

Had a feeling Royal would catch on sooner or later....

So glad so many Canadians took advantage of this secret deal!

:)

[dodgeenterprises]

Had a feeling Royal would catch on sooner or later....

 

So glad so many Canadians took advantage of this secret deal!

 

:)

 

 

Everything is still at 10% for Cdn's. I got scared when I read the last post so I just bought a $500 obc for my trip next Feb. total came to $550.00 Cdn

[Ourusualbeach]

Everything is still at 10% for Cdn's. I got scared when I read the last post so I just bought a $500 obc for my trip next Feb. total came to $550.00 Cdn

 

Good to know. Thanks for the update.

[copter]

Since OBC doesn't usually appear on my account until day 2, if I have only a cash account will I still be able to charge things to the room on day 1?

Edited March 2, 2015 by copter

[Clarea]

Since OBC doesn't usually appear on my account until day 2, if I have only a cash account will I still be able to charge things to the room on day 1?

Yes, Royal will let you charge up to $500 before they ask you to pay down the account.

[greenstripe]

Hope this helps a few of you when purchasing US funds. I had my credit card set up to pay for all purchases on board. Then about 3 weeks ago I purchased $499 US. When I arrived for my cruise on Feb 22, 2015 in my cabin was the attached card saying I had a 499 onboard credit. On the morning of my disembarkation March 01, around 0830 I went to the front desk and was given US funds for the remaining balance which was around $50.85. The only reason I didn't use up all of my on board credit was because I had won $500.00 at the casino. I never removed my credit card setup just in case I exceeded the OBC.

[A&L_Ont]

Hope this helps a few of you when purchasing US funds. I had my credit card set up to pay for all purchases on board. Then about 3 weeks ago I purchased $499 US. When I arrived for my cruise on Feb 22, 2015 in my cabin was the attached card saying I had a 499 onboard credit. On the morning of my disembarkation March 01, around 0830 I went to the front desk and was given US funds for the remaining balance which was around $50.85. The only reason I didn't use up all of my on board credit was because I had won $500.00 at the casino. I never removed my credit card setup just in case I exceeded the OBC.

 

Sounds great, $500 win at the casino.

 

I can't wait to use mine starting on Sunday.:D Not to mention getting away from this never ending cold weather.

[Toddcan]

This may sound odd, but I am really considering buying more OBC just to take advantage of the exchange rate. I know I am not talking about a lot of money, but does anything think it would be a problem to cash out amounts in the $1,500-$2,000 range? I would think there has to be some limit at some point.

 

We are doing a land vacation in July, and this is a good way to get some of my $US cash.

[Haber]

This may sound odd, but I am really considering buying more OBC just to take advantage of the exchange rate. I know I am not talking about a lot of money, but does anything think it would be a problem to cash out amounts in the $1,500-$2,000 range? I would think there has to be some limit at some point.

 

We are doing a land vacation in July, and this is a good way to get some of my $US cash.

 

Although the thought has crossed my mind as well, I don't want to ruin a good thing by pushing it too far.

 

And I'm so happy to hear that, Greenstripe!