Australian booking on the US website - Royal Caribbean

[Dons79]

Hi

 

I just priced the same cruise, same cabin, pre-paid gratuities for USA - i.e. like for like and there is a significant different in cost between 

4ppl, 14 Dec, Icon of the Seas - same promotion

 

1. Booking on the Australian Website - $16,653

  VS

2. Booking on the USA website (incl prepay gratuities) - $7,432.24 USD / 10,734 AUD

 

Why is the difference so much higher in Australia?  

Even if the credit card company charges an fee for the FX exchange, its no where near the difference $5,919

 

Has any Australians booked on the US website?  I have managed to get to the end of the booking process, just before the CC is to be entered.  I had to choose a Canadian state.  however I was able to enter our residency as Australia i.e. will match the passport.  

 

I don't know about you guys, but I feel we are ripped off in Australia. I would understand if there was an office in Australia and the extra costs was due to the overheads of running the office in Australia, but this isn't the case, the footprint in Australia is almost zero.  All calls are answered by an offshore team.

 

 

[Chiliburn]

I think you will find that your booking will be rejected.

You are correct that we are charged more than a U.S. resident .

That’s why I like to use a cruise agent , I find they are cheaper than dealing direct with Royal or Celebrity Australia.

 

The only thing I can put it down to is ,they discount it to a agent so they don’t have the labour costs ???

[timtam2]

Several years ago, I booked a Royal and a Celebrity cruise on their respective U.S. websites. I didn't have any problems at all. I don't know if it's the same these days.

[Dons79]

I did this back in 2007 - no problems but I don't think there was a AUS websites back then

[mum and son]

I used to have a US cruise travel agent who knew the system and worked around it. I have done a couple of Celebrity and an NCL cruise by booking that way but it was years ago. I felt more comfortable working through a knowledgeable agent. At the time I had to provide a US address but I had a friend there so it was ok. I think the agent could've helped with that too. 

 

I haven't booked that way since the AUD weakened against the USD because the benefit I was receiving evaporated.

 

[cruiser3775]

Rather than use the direct cruise company US website, you could try doing the booking with a US based travel agent. Use a specifically cruise specialist agent, and check their online reviews to make sure they are reputable.  You should be able to use the agent's office address if a US address is required. Of course you need to convert the quoted price from USD to AUD, and check that the final price includes all the taxes and charges that would normally be included if you booked in Australia.  Because the US is a much larger market, some of the big US cruise travel agents get special deals with the cruise companies that cannot be matched in Australia.

[Chiliburn]

17 minutes ago, cruiser3775 said:

Rather than use the direct cruise company US website, you could try doing the booking with a US based travel agent. Use a specifically cruise specialist agent, and check their online reviews to make sure they are reputable.  You should be able to use the agent's office address if a US address is required. Of course you need to convert the quoted price from USD to AUD, and check that the final price includes all the taxes and charges that would normally be included if you booked in Australia.  Because the US is a much larger market, some of the big US cruise travel agents get special deals with the cruise companies that cannot be matched in Australia.

There’s a couple of good US agency that specialise in cruise and quote in $AU.
They usually give a OBC and  can discount it because they buy groups or blocks.

To bad we can’t name them.

[Bpos]

Booked Azamara cruise from Aussie at short notice with a USA agent just recently. We had last used this agent in 2008.  The price difference was amazing even accounting for the Exchange rate.  Sent an email request at 11 pm, got a reply at 4 am,  booked and paid for by 7am.

[geoff2802]

I’ve found most cruise lines including Royal use very poor exchange rates when setting fares in AUD.  Choose a US TA.  

[MicCanberra]

We still use one US travel agent occasionally. 

Note that prices advertised do not include taxes and fees or gratuities. Best to get a quote so you can compare properly.

Also be aware if our currency drops it will cost more and can make a  big difference in just a few cents variation. Another issue is how you have to pay them, some will not take a bank transfer so there will be a CC fee.

[davwen81]

Weve booked several times with an OS agent until the last few years when our $ slumped and she couldn’t match our prices here. But when our $ was reasonable I found they gave great OBC, gave us great upgrades as the price fell, (from balcony to suites) and were very easy to deal with just by email. Yes we do pay more here,  especially as we don’t automatically get the new prices, but have seen Aussie cruisers saying by ringing they are,  so that’s a nice change. We managed to get 1K off a December Celebrity cruise by ringing our agent here, and we kept all our benefits like OBC etc. 

Id try an OS agent and see if they can give you extra benefits.