Reassure My Wife

[Thrak]

8 minutes ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

Once you’re in Sydney, go to any of the many ATMs around Circular Quay and the Overseas Passenger Terminal and use an ATM card or debit card (we don’t use those either) to get local currency. From that point, we give extra tips on the ship in whichever currency we have the most of or are trying to use up. It makes no difference to the crew. 

 

I think I'll just go into Wells Fargo and purchase AUD in advance. I checked today and the exchange rate looks good. (I can do it online but they mail the cash to my home. My mailbox is out by the road and doesn't lock so that is not something I'm interested in doing.) I can order the cash and pick it up in a couple of days. If I use an ATM overseas the bank will charge me and the ATM will likely also charge me. If I get the currency here in advance I don't see any fee associated with the transaction so that seems the best to me.

 

In New Zealand we have an excursion already paid for (Hobbiton) and I'm not sure what else we will be doing but I'm hoping to just use my credit card there for anything else such as buying wine. My wife seems to really want to buy some wine there. It won't be a ton of wine as I don't want to deal with flying with it so we will just get wine to drink on the ship. Of course we will have Plus 60  at that point so buying other wine may be foolish but...

[PescadoAmarillo]

2 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

I think I'll just go into Wells Fargo and purchase AUD in advance. I checked today and the exchange rate looks good. (I can do it online but they mail the cash to my home. My mailbox is out by the road and doesn't lock so that is not something I'm interested in doing.) I can order the cash and pick it up in a couple of days. If I use an ATM overseas the bank will charge me and the ATM will likely also charge me. If I get the currency here in advance I don't see any fee associated with the transaction so that seems the best to me.

 

In New Zealand we have an excursion already paid for (Hobbiton) and I'm not sure what else we will be doing but I'm hoping to just use my credit card there for anything else such as buying wine. My wife seems to really want to buy some wine there. It won't be a ton of wine as I don't want to deal with flying with it so we will just get wine to drink on the ship. Of course we will have Plus 60  at that point so buying other wine may be foolish but...

Both Australia Anna New Zealand are years ahead of us in using Apple Wallet. We always took a credit card is the ship but rarely used it. Just remember that Australia charges a surcharge on all credit card  purchases of 1-1.5% on MC and Visa (higher on AMEX). 

[leck57]

4 hours ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

Both Australia Anna New Zealand are years ahead of us in using Apple Wallet. We always took a credit card is the ship but rarely used it. Just remember that Australia charges a surcharge on all credit card  purchases of 1-1.5% on MC and Visa (higher on AMEX). 

 

Not all places in Aust charge a credit charge fee, in fact most don't, yet. Most supermarkets, restaurants, and clothing retailers don't charge a fee although I do notice the number that do is increasing.. The fee can be 1.5% but starts at around 0.5%.

[pompeii]

7 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

I think I'll just go into Wells Fargo and purchase AUD in advance. I checked today and the exchange rate looks good. (I can do it online but they mail the cash to my home. My mailbox is out by the road and doesn't lock so that is not something I'm interested in doing.) I can order the cash and pick it up in a couple of days. If I use an ATM overseas the bank will charge me and the ATM will likely also charge me. If I get the currency here in advance I don't see any fee associated with the transaction so that seems the best to me.

If you travel a lot, and I think perhaps you do, you might look into opening a checking account with Schwab bank.  Their debit card won't charge or will reimburse you for any ATM fees for any ATM anywhere, and no foreign transaction fees.  Just stop at a local ATM and withdraw whatever you need.  You'll get a better rate than ordering through your bank at home and you don't have to try and determine ahead of time how much you might need.  I don't use mine for anything other than travel and there are no fees involved with keeping the account open.  

[pompeii]

8 hours ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

I can give you my opinion based on doing exactly what you’ll be doing in 2019-2020. 
 

If you can, without wasting OBC, I would close out your first cruise (the transpacific cruise in USD).  If you have a balance due at that time, it will be charged to your credit card in USD. Start the AUD portion of your cruises fresh. I am not a fan of gift cards though I know many who swear by them, but I can almost promise you that you’ll get a rotten rate of exchange on the ship.  
 

Once you’re in Sydney, go to any of the many ATMs around Circular Quay and the Overseas Passenger Terminal and use an ATM card or debit card (we don’t use those either) to get local currency. From that point, we give extra tips on the ship in whichever currency we have the most of or are trying to use up. It makes no difference to the crew. 
 

We also got NZD for excursions there in the same way. So, by the end of the season, we were tipping crew in USD, AUD and NZD. In Asia we were juggling at least six currencies for tips. 

Thank you for this advice.  We are doing a b4b on the Royal from Seattle to Sydney and around NZ starting in Sept, so I will make sure to close out our USD folio before Sydney so we can start afresh in AUD.    

[Bwana Tom]

12 hours ago, Ombud said:

5/27/23: 250 obc loaded for 1st voyage

6/1/23: 1st voyage ended & I owed $9.75, amt owed rolled over & 635 obc applied 

6/17/23: 2nd voyage ended. I have (according to saved screenshot) 1 combined bill for both legs. Final bill $6.15 

 

So yeah, OBC & Balance due rolls to last voyage

Ombud:

Please bear with me with my slow-functioning morning brain. You are saying that the overage on your first cruise was not charged to your credit card and it was paid for from the OBC you had on the second cruise, is that correct? And was that OBC credit that you had actually purchased or was it from some sort of cruise deal, vet credit, or etc?

Thanks!!

[Ombud]

18 minutes ago, Bwana Tom said:

Ombud:

Please bear with me with my slow-functioning morning brain. You are saying that the overage on your first cruise was not charged to your credit card and it was paid for from the OBC you had on the second cruise, is that correct? And was that OBC credit that you had actually purchased or was it from some sort of cruise deal, vet credit, or etc?

Thanks!!

Exactly. The 9.75 deficit was covered with the 635 OBC. So as soon as part 2 started it was 635 - 9.75 = 625.25 obc left. OBC came from FCD, Shareholders, promo, and 85 from unknown source. CVP just added it from somewhere

[Bwana Tom]

1 hour ago, Ombud said:

Exactly. The 9.75 deficit was covered with the 635 OBC. So as soon as part 2 started it was 635 - 9.75 = 625.25 obc left. OBC came from FCD, Shareholders, promo, and 85 from unknown source. CVP just added it from somewhere

Thanks Ombud!

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, Ombud said:

85 from unknown source. CVP just added it from somewhere

That $85 reads suspiciously like a TA group OBC, so interesting a PCL agent "found" it.

[Ombud]

15 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

2 hours ago, Ombud said:

85 from unknown source. CVP just added it from somewhere

That $85 reads suspiciously like a TA group OBC, so interesting a PCL agent "found" it.

I used to get them all the time pre-covid but this is the 1st one I've gotten after restart and from a different CVP

[Thrak]

14 hours ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

Both Australia Anna New Zealand are years ahead of us in using Apple Wallet. We always took a credit card is the ship but rarely used it. Just remember that Australia charges a surcharge on all credit card  purchases of 1-1.5% on MC and Visa (higher on AMEX). 

 

I have no use for Apple Wallet but I do pay for most things using my Samsung phone. I have a Galaxy s10e (the smaller version) and tend to use Samsung Pay (not Google Pay). I like it because my phone works with machines that use "tap to pay" and also works with older "magnetic strip readers". I love it when someone tells me, "Oh, we don't have that." and I just put the phone on the strip reader slot and it works. Oddly enough, I've read that Samsung is removing this feature from their newer phones. Kind of like Princess removing things that work well for people. Ah, well.