Is Princess ripping off canadians?

[the4ofusandallourfriends]

Okay, I'm abit ticked off and confused as to what to do right now...

 

We're trying to book 6 cabins on the Caribbean Princess. I phoned Princess directly. Princess insists on charging 1.25 currency exchange (instead of the current 1.14 rate). I've asked if we can pay in US Funds (which NCL has always complied with) and Princess says they can't. This will result in each room paying over $200 more, than their American counterparts. Has anyone gotten around this?

 

Also, when I looked at pricing for this same cruise through a reputable online Agency, it asks for the city nearest to where I live...well, I live between toronto and buffalo...We always fly out of Buffalo. When I enter Buffalo I get the same good price I want (just as Princess US prices with the proper 1.14 exchange added to it)...yet if I enter "Toronto" the price goes up another $500 dollars??? Both prices quote me in Canadian dollars as a Canadian resident with a Canadian address....just different closest city that I live to. I phoned the online Agency and they didn't seem to think it was a problem to enter Buffalo as my closest city. Has anyone else encountered this and would you go through with the online agency if Princess won't comply?

[daddowdall]

Dude, didn't you know Canada has been placed on the "axis of terror" list? This is war, man. (Just kidding, of course; actually, it does sound pretty bogus). Keep us informed.

[senior lady]

We've never had a problem paying in "US" funds. our cruise last Nov was booked on a internet agency and we just charged to our credit card and then it was converted. I was at my TA's last week and he told me that Princess had sent out a e-mail stating that for the yr "07" they were charging 1.15 exchange rate.

 

If you'd liket he name of the TA I used I can e-mail you. It was in Florida and we had great service.

[wberthin]

Actually the internet TAs often put a US city when booking so that they can get the proper price. Never been a problem for us.

[ohCanada]

We booked 8 rooms on the Crown and had a choice of paying in US or Canadian funds. Obviously we choice US and it wasn't a problem. We booked with a TA.

[Coral]

I have a friend in a similiar situation (sort of). One state has a better price then another but she flies out of the state with the lower price because that technically is the cheaper airport/gateway and is the closest gateway. The TA said that if she flies out of that airport, she shouldn't have any problems arguing the case for the lower price in the next state.

[Mmm...coffee!]

Coral - does Princess have higher prices if you come from a larger market? Toronto has a lot of population, Buffalo doesn't. Does this mean that if you live in a larger city, you can dinged with a higher cost because you are used to higher prices?

 

I know that's one big reason we won't consider Crown Princess sailings from New York. They can get away with higher prices because so many will be able to pay a premium and save the cost by not having to fly.

 

4ofus - use an agent. They can almost always beat Princess pricing.

[Coral]

Coral - does Princess have higher prices if you come from a larger market? Toronto has a lot of population, Buffalo doesn't. Does this mean that if you live in a larger city, you can dinged with a higher cost because you are used to higher prices?

 

I don't know. All I know is that I know someone who lives in Iowa and 10 minutes from the Omaha, NE airport. She lives roughly 2 hours from the Des Moines airport. I asked the TA about this and given the situation - she said if Nebraska prices were lower, she would fight (if necessary) for Nebraska prices because the person is flying out of Nebraska (especially since the question is nearest gateway city). This topic came up when talking with the TA when RCCL was enforcing the state residency rates. It has been a couple of years since I looked at this but there was a situation where I looked and Iowa residents were a couple of hundreds dollars more then Nebraska residents. I think it was a regional special where 5 states in this area had regional rates and Iowa didn't.

 

4ofus - use an agent. They can almost always beat Princess pricing.

 

True!

A good agent will always be cheaper then Princess. If the agent is higher then Princess, get another agent. If they are the same price - there are not discounting and there are plenty of agents who discount Princess.

[gatour]

Coral, actually they might. Cruiselines sometimes have special rates for certain states and proof of residency is technically required. Now what the original poster is doing choosing Buffalo as their gateway city, to me is perfectly acceptable, as Princess is just asking for a "gateway" city, implying the city you would be flying from. Who is to say that OP is not flying from Buffalo.

[Coral]

Coral, actually they might. Cruiselines sometimes have special rates for certain states and proof of residency is technically required. Now what the original poster is doing choosing Buffalo as their gateway city, to me is perfectly acceptable, as Princess is just asking for a "gateway" city, implying the city you would be flying from. Who is to say that OP is not flying from Buffalo.

 

That is my point - they ask for the gateway city and they seem to price the itinerary based on the gateway city. If one is flying from that gateway city, they are not lying.

 

You are right - RCCl and Celebrity is strictly enforcing the state residency rates. And Princess may be also.

 

I really haven't discussed this with a TA for several years - things may have drastically changed. Sorry if I am wrong with my info. Maybe they are now basing the resident promos from the state field and not the gateway city field.

 

I would be curious if anyone has new info on this.

[Mmm...coffee!]

What does gateway city matter unless they are booking air through the cruise line? I have done direct booking and I don't recall ever being asked for a gateway or having an option.

[Coral]

What does gateway city matter unless they are booking air through the cruise line? I have done direct booking and I don't recall ever being asked for a gateway or having an option.

 

I have not booked online before but I have held a cabin directly with Princess and even though I have said that I am not booking air through Princess - they always ask for my gateway city and will not proceed in the conversation until I answer. Maybe just a routine Princess goes through over the phone.

[Hilary G.]

We use a US TA, pay in USD. Same reason prices for Canadians when converted are way more than they should be. No problems with this so far.

 

Good luck and enjoy the cruise.

[Coral]

What does gateway city matter unless they are booking air through the cruise line? I have done direct booking and I don't recall ever being asked for a gateway or having an option.

 

I just looked at Travelocity's website - if you book air, they ask for the gateway city, if you don't, they ask for our city nearest your home from the pull down list (and then the pull down list says "select your home airport city"). Not that Travelocity is right, but this seems common amongst other travel sites. What if your city nearest your home is in the next state. Under these terms - I think Princess would have a difficult time enforcing a state residency promo if their airport is in another state. Though they (Princess) may have problems with Travelocity's wording but I think this would be Travelocity's problem. I live in a rural state and this is common that the nearest airport is in another state. People that live in Western Nebraska use Denver's airport. People in Western Iowa use Omaha, NE as an airport.

 

I am sure someone more educated on this could answer.

[Mmm...coffee!]

I use a site that asks for state of residence. I have tried putting in neighboring states and haven't seen any difference in price. Maybe this is just one more reason that no two people pay the same price for a cruise.

[Coral]

I use a site that asks for state of residence. I have tried putting in neighboring states and haven't seen any difference in price. Maybe this is just one more reason that no two people pay the same price for a cruise.

 

It varies - on some sailings it is huge, on others, no difference.

 

I now am curious how Princess internally thinks of this.

[RevSmith]

go to a travel agent and use a credit card...let them figuer it out!

[Katie333]

We've always been given the choice by internet booking agencies or TAs (or they have defaulted to USD anyway). We use our USD credit card and then pay it off with the discounted US funds I buy at the bank where I work.

 

If Princess says they cannot convert, then book elsewhere for sure.

 

There was a similar thread about on board charges and how Princess was not properly respecting passenger wishes and charging them in CAD even though they wanted USD (and of course, with their own exchange rate).

[xbrantarx]

Yes, i have experienced the same problem with princess. We are in ontario, and i originally was from Boston. I always kept and american credit card for these reasons (not that this helps you). But i found if i had charged it to my canadian credit card, they made 10% in the exchange. They would not ajust the charge to USD and charge my canadian card. So i charged it to my american Card.

 

On the other had, when i charged my flight to my canadian card, American Airlines gave me 1% better than my bank would have.

[A Sixth?]

My favorite Princess rip-off is the negative option box you had better find on your cruise account application. If you (as a lowly Canadian parasite) do not check it, the vermin bean counters will convert your US$ to Can$ (at 25%) and charge your credit card the amount in CAN$. Hey it's only an extra 10-12% cost on your shipboard account, don't complain about it you cheap Canuck!

 

You know that deal where you can deposit $100.00 for a future cruise. There is NO WAY a Canadian will be able to get around paying $125.00CAN. It's the only way to do it.

 

I've booked a Princess Cruise, but am actively looking into NCL alternative, because Norwegian seems to treat Canadians much better.

 

Go ahead my American Friends, flame away. But send an extra 10-12% first so I know your money is behind your mouths. :-)

[Coral]

Go ahead my American Friends, flame away. But send and extra 10-12% first so I know your money is behind your mouths. :-)

 

I doubt you will get any flames. Most of us don't understand why our favorite line does stupid things like this to people who live outside of the US. We have friends in Canada, UK, Australia also and we want them to get the best price also.

[A Sixth?]

I doubt you will get any flames. Most of us don't understand why our favorite line does stupid things like this to people who live outside of the US. We have friends in Canada, UK, Australia also and we want them to get the best price also.

 

On this board you're probably right. :rolleyes:

[DanJ]

Well, I'm staring at my Mastercard bill that I charged my future cruise to. I selected $100 US on the booking form, and that's what I was charged. I also had my shipboard account converted before being billed, and the exchange rate used was very favourable to what the rate was at the time ($1.18). Also, our price for the cruise dropped at final payment because of the more favourable exchange rate than it was at time of booking 9 months earlier. The fact that our TA uses Detroit as a gateway city for almost any booking she does, regardless of where people are actually flying from, might help.

[sunflower1972]

We booked in NOV and where given these choices:

 

1: If was cruise ONLY could be CND or USD, our choice

2: If doing AIR AND CRUISE would be in CND ONLY if flying from a Canadian airport

3: if Doing AIR AND CRUISE would be in USD ONLY if flying from a USA airport

 

Our booking agent with Princess explained it just like that. If you are flying from toronto it whould be in CND $$, PLUS remember the flights are far more expensive from TO, mostly due to large amount of TAXES!!

We ended booking the cruise only and did our own flight arrangements out of Detroit.

 

JUST AN FYI FOR FUTURE CND PRINCESS CRUISERS AS WELL:

For your ship board card check the line on your signature card at check in and it keeps all your expenses in USD for your credit card....then you pay the credit card exchange rate....was cheaper that way for us and you don't pay the service charge princess uses to change your ship account expenses from US to CND.

good luck and hope this helped

SF

[A Sixth?]

Well, I'm staring at my Mastercard bill that I charged my future cruise to. I selected $100 US on the booking form, and that's what I was charged. I also had my shipboard account converted before being billed, and the exchange rate used was very favourable to what the rate was at the time ($1.18). Also, our price for the cruise dropped at final payment because of the more favourable exchange rate than it was at time of booking 9 months earlier. The fact that our TA uses Detroit as a gateway city for almost any booking she does, regardless of where people are actually flying from, might help.

 

I was told by Vivian, the Princess TA on-board the Sun Princess specifically on January 16th 2006 that as a Canadian I HAD TO select CAN$ or they would not process my future cruise deposit. Further, I was told by Vivian that to book a Back to Back I'd need two deposits, one for each leg. (That apparently is wrong too according to my TA here)

 

Well, since I checked the negative billing option box so paid in US$ I am not sure what the exchange would have been. I can't imagine why you choose Princess to handle the exchange rate rather than your credit card company or bank, but negative billing options are often employed by under handed corporations of questionable character. I am surprised that Princess would stoop so low.

 

When you pay at a restaurant in Florida with your Canadian Credit Card, do you double check the bill to make sure that Charlies Crab isn't converting the currancy for you?