Booking from US for Australia/New Zealand cruise but OBC listed AUD without exchange rate given

[ROWSE]

We have a Princess Australia/ New Zealand cruise booked for Jan. 2021.  We have never booked or sailed this part of the world before.  The sale promotion I was under gave us US $200 onboard credit from Princess along with some from our Travel agency.  It is listed on my Personalizer Payments and credits, BUT it is listed at the top saying (Credits are in AU Dollars).

It lists as $200 under this and did not give any foreign exchange rate to it.  According to Dollar vs AUD that should be about $290.62. 

 

I see the Excursions are listed in Australian Dollar as well, so if I booked a head of time with my onboard credit would it only be $200 Australian dollars or would it convert to the proper exchange rate then?  Should this have been listed with the correct exchange rate in the first place?  Has anyone experienced this?  

 

Of course I got conflicting information from

travel agent who says it is on my invoice at US Dollars, and Princess says it is $200 AUD according to the Personalizer so travel agent needs to change it.   Has anyone had the proper exchange rate listed on their Personalizer for Onboard credit and my travel agent needs to do something though she assures me it is right?    

 

I would just trust the travel agent accept I eventually want to use it to prebook excursions, and it seems that would be a problem getting the proper dollars worth.

 

Thanks for giving me any of your experiences with this!  

 

 

[katisdale]

I have been there. There is no "exchange". You get the credit in Australian funds. I even had an e-mail from my TA "promising" that the OBC would be exchanged at the appropriate rate once we were on the ship. We appealed at the Customer Service desk and up through the ranks. All were denied. It was the last time we used that agent. The cruise itself was fabulous just not the "exchange".

[dstables]

It has been like this for a few years now. No exchange given on OBC. I do believe most sales now just say OBC in an amount for example $200.00 but does not have a currency attached to it till it is attached to a specific booking.  

[By The Bay]

I have received the Loyalty OBC converted from USD$ to AUD$ for my cruises from Australia.

[Maui Girl]

This is just the way it is unfortunately.  Between our booking OBC and military credit, I originally thought we would have $600 US dollars of value, but no, its just 600 Australian period.  These credits and the Loyalty OBC are all things that Princess "gives" you.  I have wondered what would happen if you bought yourself some OBC through the personalizer.   If they charged me say, 200 US dollars, would that just get changed to 200 Australian??   That would really be a rip-off.    I guess I could call Princess and ask, but who knows whether I would get the correct answer!  HAHA! 

[Haboob]

For Stockholders' and Military OBC, there is no "exchange rate" involved.  Carnival specifies different amounts of SOBC based upon a cruise's onboard currency (e.g. US$ 100 / AU$ 100 / GB£ 60 / € 75 for 7 day voyages) and Princess awards MOBC "equal to the SOBC for that voyage".

 

https://www.carnivalcorp.com/static-files/50351a91-4dc0-4f6b-bfec-684647e6129f

[coo359a2]

For us on the Majestic, it was OBC was dollar for dollar except the loyalty credit was converted at the AU exchange rate.  We had refundable OBC remaining after the cruise and the AU dollars (approx $400AU) were converted to US dollars (approx $260) or so.  Don't remember the exact amount we received in US dollars.

[triple7tahoe]

On the Majestic this year, I had $300 casino credit (US dollars) and that was converted at 1-1 into AUD. It was not until I returned to the US that I was able to get it straightened out.  Everything FCC, Loyalty, CCL, etc was all converted to AUD 😞

 

[PescadoAmarillo]

Currently on the Ruby Princess. All OBCs including loyalty and promotional, are not being converted to the equivalent US $. They are all being given in the same number of Australian $.

[Ombud]

1 hour ago, Haboob said:

For Stockholders' and Military OBC, there is no "exchange rate" involved.  Carnival specifies different amounts of SOBC based upon a cruise's onboard currency (e.g. US$ 100 / AU$ 100 / GB£ 60 / € 75 for 7 day voyages) and Princess awards MOBC "equal to the SOBC for that voyage".

 

https://www.carnivalcorp.com/static-files/50351a91-4dc0-4f6b-bfec-684647e6129f

Just got back to SF from a downunder cruise. Loyalty also was in Au$. ($25 = $25) however OBC gifted by my PVP converted properly ($25 = $36). 

[polmcs]

The travel agent OBC will be credited at the current exchange rate at the beginning of the voyage.  

[Maui Girl]

26 minutes ago, Ombud said:

Just got back to SF from a downunder cruise. Loyalty also was in Au$. ($25 = $25) however OBC gifted by my PVP converted properly ($25 = $36). 

 

21 minutes ago, polmcs said:

The travel agent OBC will be credited at the current exchange rate at the beginning of the voyage.  

That’s good to hear from someone who has been there, thanks!   I can understand what Princess gives as “freebies” theoretically, they can handle it as they choose.  I was definitely curious about an outside credit that was purchased by myself or others.  

[ROWSE]

Thank you for all the feedback!  I was afraid of the dollar for dollar deal, but how awful is that! 

Very disappointing as I thought it would cover an excursion or two.  We usually do excursions on

our own, but thought I would use it for that since the booking perks cover most everything else. 

 

All of you are wonderful to give me "real time" answers as between Princess and Travel Agent

there is so much misinformation. 

 

I know it will be an amazing time and glad to know that this dollar to dollar is the case so I don't have to wonder

any longer or have to go question guest services later. 

 

 

[triple7tahoe]

What is even more upsetting is the fact that most shipboard prices will be increased to the AUD cost. i.e. a US$ 9 drink becomes a AUD$ 12 dollar one. If I remember correctly from our cruise in April on the Majestic the specialty restaurants were the same; $29?

[OzKiwiJJ]

4 hours ago, triple7tahoe said:

What is even more upsetting is the fact that most shipboard prices will be increased to the AUD cost. i.e. a US$ 9 drink becomes a AUD$ 12 dollar one. If I remember correctly from our cruise in April on the Majestic the specialty restaurants were the same; $29?

Yes tbe drinks increase in price when in AUD but there is no gratuity added to those prices. What you see is what you pay. 

 

Most speciality restaurants are now AU$35.

Edited December 16, 2019 by OzKiwiJJ

[themob]

7 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Yes tbe drinks increase in price when in AUD but there is no gratuity added to those prices. What you see is what you pay. 

 

Most speciality restaurants are now AU$35.

I am traveling in Jan to NZ and on my personaiizer  it states 200 AUD OBC and specialty restaurants 19 AUD

[Maui Girl]

14 hours ago, themob said:

I am traveling in Jan to NZ and on my personaiizer  it states 200 AUD OBC and specialty restaurants 19 AUD

If you are interested in specialty dining I would reserve it now!  19 AUD sounds like a mistake.  We are sailing on the Ruby early March and it’s 35 AUD

[lacy20]

So here is a question. If I want to pay my $14.50 (USD) per day gratuities with OBC, will it be dollar for dollar $14.50 (AUD), or will the ship convert the AUD to USD and charge me more?

[BRANDEE]

59 minutes ago, lacy20 said:

So here is a question. If I want to pay my $14.50 (USD) per day gratuities with OBC, will it be dollar for dollar $14.50 (AUD), or will the ship convert the AUD to USD and charge me more?

 

I have also tried to find out the answer to this question.  Going on the Ruby in March.  No one at Princess can answer. ??  I've decided NOT to pre pay the $14.40 USD gratuity in hopes that it will be $14.40 AUD onboard.  My $1100 USD  OBC is now $1100AUD.  I did pre book excursions and they are in AUD charged to your folio or charge card in AUD (even when the last step before you hit pay says USD.

 

[BRANDEE]

On 12/15/2019 at 8:23 PM, PescadoAmarillo said:

Currently on the Ruby Princess. All OBCs including loyalty and promotional, are not being converted to the equivalent US $. They are all being given in the same number of Australian $.

Are gratuities charged on the folio in USD or AUD?  Thanks 

[lacy20]

14 hours ago, BRANDEE said:

 

I have also tried to find out the answer to this question.  Going on the Ruby in March.  No one at Princess can answer. ??  I've decided NOT to pre pay the $14.40 USD gratuity in hopes that it will be $14.40 AUD onboard.  My $1100 USD  OBC is now $1100AUD.  I did pre book excursions and they are in AUD charged to your folio or charge card in AUD (even when the last step before you hit pay says USD.

 

Brandee, I would love it if you could let me know how the gratuities are handled on your cruise in March. We don’t go until October. I would love it if you would email me when you get back. C y n d e 2 0 @ a o l dot com (someone told me not to type my email so that it links, so no spaces!). Thanks in advance. Have a wonderful trip!

[npcl]

19 hours ago, lacy20 said:

So here is a question. If I want to pay my $14.50 (USD) per day gratuities with OBC, will it be dollar for dollar $14.50 (AUD), or will the ship convert the AUD to USD and charge me more?

On those cruises where the OBC is in AUD the ships currency is also AUD.  So for those of us that are charged gratuities they will be an AUD amount.  

 

 

That leads to the question for those cruises of what is the gratuity amounts on those ships that are using AUD?  Not easy to find since it only applies to us that book in the US.

 

[polmcs]

From memory, our gratuities were around $19AUD per day on our Sydney/Fiji cruise.

[BRANDEE]

50 minutes ago, polmcs said:

From memory, our gratuities were around $19AUD per day on our Sydney/Fiji cruise.

 

Thank you for the information..so our OBC has no conversion rate from USD to AUD..but for gratuities they use a conversion rate from USD to AUD.  

Edited December 18, 2019 by BRANDEE

[PescadoAmarillo]

On 12/17/2019 at 7:49 PM, BRANDEE said:

Are gratuities charged on the folio in USD or AUD?  Thanks 

Sorry, I can’t answer this. We booked these cruises under promotions that included the gratuities.