Canadian Exchange Rates for 2016-2017

[ilovetotravel1977]

I had started this thread last year, I believe. Let's keep a new one going shall we? And, let's keep all posts related to the above here, just so we don't clog up the forum.

 

I just called and priced out the Getaway for April 2, 2017 for an inside Cat #IC for two people. I didn't add the promo charge in there. The rep quoted me three different exchange rates:

 

Cruise fare taxes in for two people: $2146.78 CDN

Grats for two people $252 CDN

$100 OBC = $175 CDN (?)

 

When I did a mock booking online, no promo, this is what I got:

 

Cruise fare taxes in for two people: $1679 US

Grats for two people $189 US ($13.50/pp/pd x 2)

OBC can't do right now online

 

The cruise fare comes out to a rate of 1.278 (approx)

The Grats comes out to a rate of 1.33 (Approx)

And OBC is 1.75!? Say what?

[santacap]

we have a booking in CDN about a week ago.

 

Our OBC is at 1.33, must be a site error

 

Cruise itself was 1.28

 

NCL is getting back to me on the difference as I don't understand why the rate difference.

 

All things considered the rate is fair to todays rate and is going in the right direction and we are avoiding fees. :)

[danny6514]

Booked Getaway for Feb 19, 2017. My everything except the fare itself were calculated at 1.33

 

 

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[donutcop]

We have two rooms booked for the Escape in January 2017. One room has an exchange rate of $1.10 for OBC and the other room has $1.40 exchange. Not sure why the difference but I'm thinking I should take it and run and just buy my OBC all with the cheaper rooms exchange rate.

[dam64]

Are most Canadians booking the "at par promo" or they are getting the conversion and getting the free choice pick 2?

[ilovetotravel1977]

We have two rooms booked for the Escape in January 2017. One room has an exchange rate of $1.10 for OBC and the other room has $1.40 exchange. Not sure why the difference but I'm thinking I should take it and run and just buy my OBC all with the cheaper rooms exchange rate.

 

How long ago did you book your cabins?

[donutcop]

How long ago did you book your cabins?

 

February

[Ontario cruise duo]

February

 

Just to confirm, you booked a cruise in February, 2016 for next February, 2017 and was given an exchange rate of $1.10 for OBC? That's a great rate for that BUT the exchange rate on the cruise of $1.40 is quite high! I would think you would have made off better, if the rates were the other way around. I be interested to know, what that same cruise might price out today at, considering our dollar is now trading at just under .30 cents on the dollar. You might want to look into that. Just an FYI, you will be capped at purchasing OBC at a certain dollar amount.:rolleyes:

[donutcop]

Just to confirm, you booked a cruise in February, 2016 for next February, 2017 and was given an exchange rate of $1.10 for OBC? That's a great rate for that BUT the exchange rate on the cruise of $1.40 is quite high! I would think you would have made off better, if the rates were the other way around. I be interested to know, what that same cruise might price out today at, considering our dollar is now trading at just under .30 cents on the dollar. You might want to look into that. Just an FYI, you will be capped at purchasing OBC at a certain dollar amount.:rolleyes:

 

No. I booked on a canadian travel site in Canadian funds and the price for my cruise ended up being cheaper than the NCL website. The exchange rate i'm speaking of is between the two rooms I have booked. One has a $1.10 exchange for OBC and the other room has $1.40 for OBC (no idea why the difference as both rooms were booked at same time/phone call). I'm confused myself as to why that's the case but i'm worried if I call NCL to find out they'll adjust my cheaper exchange rate to meet the more expensive one lol

[ilovetotravel1977]

Can anyone confirm the rates they were recently quoted for the cruise fare, OBC, etc?

[southt00]

Revitalizing this post as I would love to book a cruise with NCL but the exchange rate is making it cost prohibitive. The Canadian at Par rates don't work well once you add all of the packages that we would be interested (in US dollars). TIA

[jtdlmc]

Not sure the exact rate but I booked a cruise at a total cost of $3291 CND and when I did a mock booking it was $2545 US. Looks like around 28% if I am doing the calculation correctly.

[southt00]

jtdlmc: Did you book through NCL or a Canadian agent? Tx.

[Mechman1971]

I booked through a canadian agent about a month ago and rate was 1.307 for all items.

[jtdlmc]

jtdlmc: Did you book through NCL or a Canadian agent? Tx.

 

I booked through NCL.

 

I originally booked a couple of months ago but my PCC had to cancel and rebook last week when I saw that pre-paid grats were now included in the promotion. I assume if the exchange rate had changed between the two dates, this last one would be more current. I guess it is closer to 29%. I hadn't noted the US$ fare nor tried to figure out the exchange rate when I initially booked.

Edited September 28, 2016 by jtdlmc

[SMSACE6]

I booked through NCL direct back the end of May, and my exchange rate is about 1.30 .

 

Last year I was book briefly on Getaway for this year and got an excellent rate of 1.16, but our dollar was in much better shape then. Unfortunately I had to cancel that cruise.

 

I still think the deal from NCL for my Escape cruise next year is a good one, and has gone up in price by 200.00 since May. I usually cruise on Carnival, and cant find anything near that price, and mostly 300 to 400.00 more (this is for solo btw). I am looking forward to the Escape. I am ready for a change.:)

[ilovetotravel1977]

I've been reading online people saying the US dollar will drop after the election for a period of time. That would be great for my travel budgets, but will the Canadian dollar drop as well?

 

I don't know very much about why one currency can influence another, so anyone with insight please post away :)

Edited October 23, 2016 by ilovetotravel1977

[Kate45]

As a Canadian and booked for Jade in January, I too am hoping this will be true. I guess we will find out in a couple more weeks.

[littleengine]

I was about to post a new thread about the exchange rate when I found this one and discovered I'm not the only one who has realized the differences between exchange rates for different products.

 

I have a B2B coming up in Jan/Feb 2017.

 

I don't remember what the US price was when I made the last change to my booking (about a year ago), but for OBC the "current" rate is $1.33. Excursions is where it gets interesting. I looked at them last week and made note of the ones I was interested in.

 

The Costa Maya catamaran excursion was $79 US last week and $98 CDN. Math was never my strong suit, but I think that puts the exchange at $1.24. This week the CDN price has gone up to $104, an exchange of $1.316.

 

In Cozumel, the 3 reef snorkel is still $79 US but went from $85 CDN last week (exchange of $1.075) to $91.54 CDN this week (exchange of $1.158).

 

So, it seems like the exchange rate varies even between individual excursions. How are we supposed to keep up? And now that I can only see the prices on the site in CDN $, this makes it harder to figure out what the various exchange rates are (luckily I travel with friends from the US so they can confirm what their prices are).

 

For the B2B I just booked for Jan/Feb 2018, the base fare was $799US and I paid $1044.85, so an exchange rate of $1.307.

 

The good news is the various rates seem to be lower than the current bank rate, but I just wish the process was more transparent and consistent, and that NCL reps were able to confirm what the exchange rates are at any given time (when I talked to an excursion rep last week about the process for booking with the port credit perk they weren't able to tell me). It's frustrating that rates for some go up/down quite fluidly while others (like for pre purchased OBC) seem to be static for extended periods of time.

 

Any thoughts on the best department/person to communicate these frustrations to at NCL (or even if it would make a difference)?

[skatie]

I'm new to cruising on NCL as we usually do RCL. From what I recall about RCL they did an annual exchange rate adjustment and I think it was in early January - it sounds like from reading some threads that NCL 2016 exchange rate was somewhere around the $1.30 rate. I'm just about to book a Baltic cruise in August. The Canada at Par deal is probably going to work for us since we are not big drinkers. The difference between the At Par and the 2 Free promotion is $1500 CDN - we wont drink or use internet or specialty dining to that difference! I'd like to get some OBC tho and would be ok with the $1.30 rate - Does NCL do an annual adjustment in January? Any guesses on where the rate will land for 2017???! Thanks

[Kate45]

Since we are talking Cdn vs US $$, is there someway to get US$$ for Cdn$$ on the ship? I know I read on cc somewhere that it is not advised to use the atm. It would just be for shore excursions (taxis, souvenirs etc) in port where cash is necessary.

[edenrayne]

Are most Canadians booking the "at par promo" or they are getting the conversion and getting the free choice pick 2?

 

I booked "at par" and was told I was not eligible for any promotions. I have an OC Guarantee. What I do not understand about the "at par" promotion is my Canadian dollar is supposedly the same value as the US Dollar, but really it is not. Because I am paying the price in Canadian dollars, I am not eligible for the same promotions as someone paying the exact same amount in US Dollars. On par where I come, from means $1C =$1US! I feel this "promotion" is not what is seems on the surface.

[skatie]

I booked at the At Par rate - after comparing the bonus program with the At Par rates, it made more sense to our family to do At Par. The difference was $1500 on a balcony room 9 day cruise. We would never drink or eat that much to make the Bonus offerings worth it. From what I've read, the At Par only applies to the base cruise rate and not all the taxes etc which makes it not "appear" to be a clear at par offering.