triple7tahoe Posted December 2, 2022 #1 Share Posted December 2, 2022 Prior to the shutdown, we found that when we sailed on a ship from Australia any OBC from things like stock ownership, military service, etc. was given in AUD. I am now seeing on our booking new cruises (2023) that credit is listed in US$; Has anyone been on cruises out of Australia that can tell me what they are really doing? i.e. If I show having $200USD as OBC, will that get converted in AUD$ at going rate or will they just make it one for one? One booking I have, shows $700 US for OBC (military and stock) and $1100AUD for casino credit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mud_Shark Posted December 2, 2022 #2 Share Posted December 2, 2022 I believe it is still the same way as it was before COVID. Just about all OBC is 1 for 1 transfer to AUD. I could be wrong, as we don't sail there until 2023, but looking at how OBC is applied to excursion reservations, it certainly looks like all OBC is 1 for 1 AUD. Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mud_Shark Posted December 2, 2022 #3 Share Posted December 2, 2022 I will add though that if you are doing a pacific crossing that originates or terminates in North America, then your OBC will be in USD. Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triple7tahoe Posted December 2, 2022 Author #4 Share Posted December 2, 2022 55 minutes ago, Mud_Shark said: I believe it is still the same way as it was before COVID. Just about all OBC is 1 for 1 transfer to AUD. I could be wrong, as we don't sail there until 2023, but looking at how OBC is applied to excursion reservations, it certainly looks like all OBC is 1 for 1 AUD. Don I remember that there were some major hassles when we tried to convince the folks on the ship that, when converted at 1 to 1, we were losing money. Drinks certainly were more expensive. I also remember that while staying on the same ship as it sailed on to the Orient, items went back to US $. I guess the good news is that the transpacific will be in US and the Australia cruise is a "Casino free(?) cruise" 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mud_Shark Posted December 2, 2022 #5 Share Posted December 2, 2022 Ya, we had our first planned set of Australia cruises set up and booked pre-covid (but they never sailed) and I recall being a pit put-off by the 1 to 1 rate of USD OBC to AUD OBC when I discovered this is how they convert. But this year, in booking for 2023, I knew to expect this and just decided to suck it up as "one of those things". Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paradiselivin1 Posted December 3, 2022 #6 Share Posted December 3, 2022 We are sailing on the Majestic next month out of NZ but the onboard accounts are set in AUD. Our OBC came over as 1:1. To be clear, our $150 USD OBC is now listed as $150AUD. Not the same at all. I find it interesting that as Americans we paid for our cruise in USD but everything else where we should stand to benefit is in AUD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare PescadoAmarillo Posted December 3, 2022 #7 Share Posted December 3, 2022 1 hour ago, Mud_Shark said: Ya, we had our first planned set of Australia cruises set up and booked pre-covid (but they never sailed) and I recall being a pit put-off by the 1 to 1 rate of USD OBC to AUD OBC when I discovered this is how they convert. But this year, in booking for 2023, I knew to expect this and just decided to suck it up as "one of those things". Don We’ve always just considered it the Australian surcharge. One bit of advice: do not leave the ship with any remaining refundable OBC…well, ever, really, but especially if it’s in Australian dollars. It was one of the biggest hassles I’ve ever dealt with to get that money refunded, and it took over six months. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mud_Shark Posted December 3, 2022 #8 Share Posted December 3, 2022 good tip. thx. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZjohn Posted December 3, 2022 #9 Share Posted December 3, 2022 This is a little disturbing to me as our OBC if from gift cards we purchased ourself with $USD. Not something we planned but result from cancelled cruises in 2020. Guess I rather be upset about it now and get over it rather than learning about it when we board. Still just doesn’t feel right though 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paradiselivin1 Posted December 3, 2022 #10 Share Posted December 3, 2022 Agree. I'm almost over it and consider it "chump change" compared to the outrageous sums of money we are paying to fly there having booked last-minute. Still very much looking forward to our cruise next month! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mud_Shark Posted December 3, 2022 #11 Share Posted December 3, 2022 You might find they convert your gift cards at a proper exchange rate. I have no knowledge there, but as I recall, there were a few exceptions to the 1 for 1 transfers. Yours sounds like it might be one of them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minimama Posted December 4, 2022 #12 Share Posted December 4, 2022 (edited) On 12/2/2022 at 5:42 PM, paradiselivin1 said: We are sailing on the Majestic next month out of NZ but the onboard accounts are set in AUD. Our OBC came over as 1:1. To be clear, our $150 USD OBC is now listed as $150AUD. Not the same at all. I find it interesting that as Americans we paid for our cruise in USD but everything else where we should stand to benefit is in AUD. So now, if the OBC is 1 to 1 I assume the gratuities will be in AUD as well. Edited December 4, 2022 by Minimama Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beach bunnie Posted December 5, 2022 #13 Share Posted December 5, 2022 If this 1 to 1 conversion is correct, it is just not right. We're considering the world cruise out of Australia and if this is true, it could be a deal breaker. We would get $2000 in OBC. Converting 1 to 1 would short us $950. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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