Refund Unsued OBC in Canadian Dollars?

[tvlgoddess]

I was just on a call to Princess to purchase OBC.  We are Canadians and the conversion rate when we booked our upcoming cruise  is a lot better than the 1.38 it is today.  So when I asked the question if the unused OBC when sent back to me in a form of a cheque  if it will be in US dollars or will it be converted back to Canadian dollars, they told me it will be converted.  Any truth in that?

[Colo Cruiser]

34 minutes ago, tvlgoddess said:

I was just on a call to Princess to purchase OBC.  We are Canadians and the conversion rate when we booked our upcoming cruise  is a lot better than the 1.38 it is today.  So when I asked the question if the unused OBC when sent back to me in a form of a cheque  if it will be in US dollars or will it be converted back to Canadian dollars, they told me it will be converted.  Any truth in that?

Haha call back again!

[hokiefans]

Our cheque was in US dollars.

[Mud_Shark]

ours too.  every time.  US $$$

 

Don

[dog]

My last check  (about 2 years ago) was in Canadian dollars $100, even though I paid $115 Canadian at the time I purchased it.

Previous ones were in US dollars

[Belmont Babe]

I live in New Zealand. I had excess OBC refunded by cheque, in NZ dollars. This was for a recent Alaska/Pacific crossing cruise on the Golden where the on board currency was USD. Just banked the cheque last week, first cheque I've deposited in my account in over three years. (I haven't written one since 2015 either) The teller told me if the cheque had been in US dollars it would have cost me $25 to deposit it, plus the currency exchange fee.

Edited December 21, 2018 by Belmont Babe
clarification

[D&N LUV 2 TRAVEL]

We actually paid our last cruise in Cdn $'s but our unused OBC's were paid back in US $'s

 

[tvlgoddess]

Thank you all for your response.

[tvlgoddess]

18 hours ago, tvlgoddess said:

I was just on a call to Princess to purchase OBC.  We are Canadians and the conversion rate when we booked our upcoming cruise  is a lot better than the 1.38 it is today.  So when I asked the question if the unused OBC when sent back to me in a form of a cheque  if it will be in US dollars or will it be converted back to Canadian dollars, they told me it will be converted.  Any truth in that?

 

Bump

Any other fellow Canadians have experienced this?

[Pierlesscruisers]

Just out of curiosity, would it be practical for Canadian residents to establish a checking and/or savings account in a US bank and use that to deposit any refunds that come in US dollars? That way you could make deposits there of such refunds and make payments from there on future cruises? That way you'd save paying conversion fees on both ends. Might or might not be worthwhile depending on how much cruising you do or how many conversion fees you pay during the year. 

 

Tom

[hokiefans]

17 minutes ago, Pierlesscruisers said:

Just out of curiosity, would it be practical for Canadian residents to establish a checking and/or savings account in a US bank and use that to deposit any refunds that come in US dollars? That way you could make deposits there of such refunds and make payments from there on future cruises? That way you'd save paying conversion fees on both ends. Might or might not be worthwhile depending on how much cruising you do or how many conversion fees you pay during the year. 

 

Tom

We have both a US account and credit card and buy US almost every month.  This way we always have funds to pay for onboard charges, or to get some cash, and we average out the fluctuating exchanges.

[Pierlesscruisers]

19 minutes ago, hokiefans said:

We have both a US account and credit card and buy US almost every month.  This way we always have funds to pay for onboard charges, or to get some cash, and we average out the fluctuating exchanges.

Ah, okay. Thanks for the info. I suspected that having accounts in both systems would be doable (and legal!) but sometimes what seems logical isn't. <g>  Learned something already today!

 

Tom

[tvlgoddess]

I have both a US credit card and a US account.  Because I book my cruise and pre-purchase OBC in Canadian dollars, Princess is telling me the refund of any unused OBC will be converted back to Canadian dollars which I will be loosing a lot of $s by converting it back and forth.  I just want them to sent me back in cheque in USD.

[hokiefans]

2 hours ago, tvlgoddess said:

I have both a US credit card and a US account.  Because I book my cruise and pre-purchase OBC in Canadian dollars, Princess is telling me the refund of any unused OBC will be converted back to Canadian dollars which I will be loosing a lot of $s by converting it back and forth.  I just want them to sent me back in cheque in USD.

 

We have been booking our cruises in CDN the last few years.  When we got a refund this past March, it was a cheque in US dollars.

[AE_Collector]

Have had it refunded in Canadian and in US in the past. It may depend how much $ and how much difference there is from their rate to current bank rate. Most recent in October was refunded in US but our $1.30 rate were pretty close to bank rate then. Was $450 US.

 

Terry

[Dreamer115]

I see that I can buy OBC at a lesser exchange rate than going to my bank and then I would not have to take US cash with me.  Can it not be withdrawn to spend while in port?  On RCI you can get some daily (can't remember amount) from the casino.

[markjvanb]

We booked our cruise 1.5 years ago when the rate was only 1.20 (Note you can tell what the exchange will be by the "cents" portion of your rate, for example $xxx.70 would be 1.3, $xxx.80 would be 1.2) We are putting a fair amount into our OBC hoping for a US cheque at the end to put into our US bank account, or convert to CDN at roughly 1.33, but we have heard that credits now are coming back as credit card refunds in CDN at the original rate you paid, so no benefit. Anyone heard something similar?

 

Thanks

[Dreamer115]

2 hours ago, markjvanb said:

We booked our cruise 1.5 years ago when the rate was only 1.20 (Note you can tell what the exchange will be by the "cents" portion of your rate, for example $xxx.70 would be 1.3, $xxx.80 would be 1.2) We are putting a fair amount into our OBC hoping for a US cheque at the end to put into our US bank account, or convert to CDN at roughly 1.33, but we have heard that credits now are coming back as credit card refunds in CDN at the original rate you paid, so no benefit. Anyone heard something similar?

 

Thanks

What I plan to do is whatever is left in obc the day before we disembark is take out to spend in casino and use a bit and then cash out.  That way I will have US to bring home.  I have got a much better deal than at the bank to purchase my obc and will not use credit card on my account.  I am sure I have saved at least $50.  I can also get some cashed out at the casino to take ashore in the ports.

[dog]

41 minutes ago, Dreamer115 said:

What I plan to do is whatever is left in obc the day before we disembark is take out to spend in casino and use a bit and then cash out.  That way I will have US to bring home.  I have got a much better deal than at the bank to purchase my obc and will not use credit card on my account.  I am sure I have saved at least $50.  I can also get some cashed out at the casino to take ashore in the ports.

This worked well for me in Feb., but I took out $200 US at a time, used a few dollars in the casino, then had $US dollars to spend at each port.

[newbrunswicker]

On our previous 2 Princess cruises back in 2015 we had left over OBC which we purchased before the cruise. On one occasion it was refunded on board, the other time we had a cheque mailed. Both times the refund was in US dollars. Back then when you purchased it in your cruise planner it said you were purchasing lets say $100 US OBC and it showed the price in Canadian dollars. I have 2 cruises booked for next year on the Emerald Princess and now in the cruise planner it says purchase $62.50 or $125.00 Canadian OBC which I assume means a $50 or $100 US on board credit but that is not mentioned. I did purchase one  $125 Can credit and in my cruise summary it shows a purchase of OBC of $125. I wonder if this how they may be able to refund in Canadian dollars in the future?

[tert333]

I was on a cruise that ended in March 17.   On Monday(April 8), I received a cheque in USD for the refundable OBC that we did not use.  It was not converted to CAD

[markjvanb]

Interesting as a friend returned off the Emerald March 29 and received a CDN refund on his credit card a few days later at the same rate he purchased OBC, no US cheque.

[meatloafsfan]

On ‎12‎/‎21‎/‎2018 at 11:41 PM, Dreamer115 said:

I see that I can buy OBC at a lesser exchange rate than going to my bank and then I would not have to take US cash with me.  Can it not be withdrawn to spend while in port?  On RCI you can get some daily (can't remember amount) from the casino.

 

Buy casino credit instead of OBC. You take the card that's in the room (like you get for pre-buying anything from the water, to the soda package, etc.) and go to the casino. They give you the cash - no messing with putting money onto your account and "pretending to play" and then cashing it out. Casino credit isn't added to a casino account; it's given to you in cash. (Last November/December on the CB, I had pre-purchased both OBC and Casino credit - the casino credit was so much easier).

[Dreamer115]

2 hours ago, meatloafsfan said:

 

Buy casino credit instead of OBC. You take the card that's in the room (like you get for pre-buying anything from the water, to the soda package, etc.) and go to the casino. They give you the cash - no messing with putting money onto your account and "pretending to play" and then cashing it out. Casino credit isn't added to a casino account; it's given to you in cash. (Last November/December on the CB, I had pre-purchased both OBC and Casino credit - the casino credit was so much easier).

I can't see anywhere to buy casino credit.  Please give directions to find that.  Thanks

[jtdlmc]

4 hours ago, Dreamer115 said:

I can't see anywhere to buy casino credit.  Please give directions to find that.  Thanks

 

It is in your personalizer under onboard reservations - same place where you buy OBC, gifts, drink packages, etc.  I just noticed it today after seeing this thread.  It says "Credits appear on your stateroom account and are automatically applied toward Casino spending."  It would be great if they just give you cash.  We also booked when the exchange rate was much better than it is today.