Prices much higher for Australian Booking than US

[TheTinMan]

Hello,

 

So have booked and paid a deposit for an NCL cruise in Europe this year.   for a ~10 day cruise we are paying 4000 AUD (+25%)  more than what a random US booking Site showed for a US traveller for the same inclusions for the same cruise once you convert USD to AUD  .

 

It is already going to be a very expensive trip, Is there a way around this, as it seems incredibly unfair ?

 

Any advice would be welcome 

 

Thanks 

[arxcards]

15 minutes ago, TheTinMan said:

Hello,

 

So have booked and paid a deposit for an NCL cruise in Europe this year.   for a ~10 day cruise we are paying 4000 AUD (+25%)  more than what a random US booking Site showed for a US traveller for the same inclusions for the same cruise once you convert USD to AUD  .

 

It is already going to be a very expensive trip, Is there a way around this, as it seems incredibly unfair ?

 

Any advice would be welcome 

 

Thanks 

The US price shown does not include taxes and port charges.

Does your $4000 fare include pre-payment of daily gratuities? The US price wont.

If you pay via an overseas agent, you will also lose a couple of % in converting $AU to $US and hoping the Aussie dollar doesn't fall before final payment.

 

That accounts for some of the difference, but we do tend to pay a bit more here across the board for most cruises. Lots of people book via the US, but just make sure you are comparing apples with apples first.

[aussielozzie18]

Princess USA have a 20% off sale for excursions  atm (for Alaska excursions at least - don’t know if it’s for other ports too).
 

Shame Princess Australia don’t do the same offer here.  Make a big difference with the current exchange rate.

[MicCanberra]

1 hour ago, TheTinMan said:

Hello,

 

So have booked and paid a deposit for an NCL cruise in Europe this year.   for a ~10 day cruise we are paying 4000 AUD (+25%)  more than what a random US booking Site showed for a US traveller for the same inclusions for the same cruise once you convert USD to AUD  .

 

It is already going to be a very expensive trip, Is there a way around this, as it seems incredibly unfair ?

 

Any advice would be welcome 

 

Thanks 

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

As mentioned make sure you are comparing apples with apples as the inclusions like grats, fees, taxes, drinks, etc can be half the cost or more. Also be aware that unless paying in full the conversion of US to AUD will change, perhaps better, perhaps not.

If after all that, the US site is better, than certainly book with them or even direct.

[TheTinMan]

Hi everyone, thanks so much, there is a lot of good information here.  It appears that there still is a strong chunky saving even with gratuities included.   

 

I think deposits are refundable, so waiting for close to the final payment is also a good idea !

 

We have entered all of our details in the booking so hope they dont refuse us if we rebook via an agency.  The irony is we booked direct in Aus, so they dont even have to pay commission to a third party and are still charging '000s more !

[Ima Ginaree]

It’s affectionally known as “The Australia Tax”. It even has its own Wikipedia page. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_Tax

[arxcards]

4 hours ago, TheTinMan said:

Hi everyone, thanks so much, there is a lot of good information here.  It appears that there still is a strong chunky saving even with gratuities included.   

 

I think deposits are refundable, so waiting for close to the final payment is also a good idea !

 

We have entered all of our details in the booking so hope they dont refuse us if we rebook via an agency.  The irony is we booked direct in Aus, so they dont even have to pay commission to a third party and are still charging '000s more !

There is no irony. Booking direct doesn't cut out a middle man. You can book direct with Qantas and pay the same price via a T/A. The local sales office for NCL employs staff to handle sales enquiries and manage bookings, pretty much the same as a travel agent would. The commission they are not paying to a 3rd party is paying for staff in their local office. Also, if NCL were selling cheaper to a retail customer than the suggested price, they are undercutting the travel agent network and I think there would be an anti-competitive practice in play.

 

Same with other cruise lines, accommodation, flights and other things in life. You are buying direct as a retail customer. If you booked the NCL cruise with a local T/A, it would have been no more expensive than booking direct.

Edited January 26 by arxcards

[colourbird]

Our Norwegian cruises in May 2024 are back to back and cost A$5,650 per person per 10 days and that was after getting it reduced from A$6,915 per person when we first booked. That's for a balcony cabin, not a suite.

[TheTinMan]

Hi Again

 

So after a little due diligence including a call to an unnamed TA I have confirmed the saving will be circa 3200 AUD like for like.  Worth exploring 

 

My question is that if I have booked direct with NCL here in Aus, and providing all of our details , cancel, and rebook in the US, is there likely to be any repercussions with NCL not talking the booking etc .   is there a period of time I should wait between cancelling and rebooking with the TA ?

[MicCanberra]

I am not sure what they would do except  possibly keep the deposit 

[cruiser3775]

I've done that. Cancelled the original booking with the cruise line and booked again with an overseas TA.   No problems. I  don't think they spend time checking things like that and extracting some kind of retribution. There could be any number of reasons why you cancelled, not just the difference in cost.

Make sure you like the choice of cabin the TA is offering before you commit.

[TheTinMan]

Ok thanks!

[bazzaw]

Years ago, I had to pay P&O Australia some money on behalf of P&0 UK for some services pre-cruise on a P&O UK ship. The currency exchange rate that P&O Australia used was very different to the then  current Bank rate. ( And I understand that we as retail customers never ever get the buy/sell Bank Exchange rates which are actually only for use between Banks. )

[Bubbeh]

On 1/26/2024 at 6:12 PM, colourbird said:

Our Norwegian cruises in May 2024 are back to back and cost A$5,650 per person per 10 days and that was after getting it reduced from A$6,915 per person when we first booked. That's for a balcony cabin, not a suite.

Our 10 day Coral Coast Cruise with Princess in September is costing $6400 for a mid ships balcony.  Cruising is not always a cheap option anymore but, it is just such a joy!  Besides, any cruise from this side of the country is more expensive, we just don't see the 'specials' that our eastern states fellow cruisers do.  

[ceeceeDee]

Coincidentally, this just turned up in my in box (prices are for interior cabin)

 

[mum and son]

On 1/27/2024 at 5:41 PM, TheTinMan said:

Hi Again

 

So after a little due diligence including a call to an unnamed TA I have confirmed the saving will be circa 3200 AUD like for like.  Worth exploring 

 

I took a Panama Canal cruise on Princess last month and compared pricing between the Princess Aus site and a big US travel agency. At first glance the pricing difference looked huge but when all was wrapped up we saved about AUD$500 per person after upgrading to the Plus package onboard (still excellent).

 

Besides our dollar being poor, the main price considerations were that the US agents don't include taxes and fees in their advertised prices and they get added on at the end. They don't include gratuities and, for Princess, we had to buy the Plus package at the US price instead of the Aus offering. Buying in Aus via Princess the Plus package addition was AUD65pp/pd but, because we booked in the US, we booked the Plus package at US$60pp/pd, which equates to over AUD$90pp/pd. The benefit being that the higher US price did include daily gratuities which were not included in our US booked fare, but for a 15 night cruise it was a big price difference for the Plus.

 

So, I guess the point of my post is that they make it VERY hard to compare apples with apples. Be very careful to include everything because the price difference may not be what it first appears to be. I have checked costs now that I'm home and the saving of approx USD$500pp for the cruise portion is accurate for my journey.

[MMDown Under]

I receive a list of current specials from a large USA Travel Company.  They are always much cheaper than anything on offer in Australia. My TA, who worked from home,  provided excellent service

[OzKiwiJJ]

On 2/2/2024 at 9:26 AM, mum and son said:

 

Besides our dollar being poor, the main price considerations were that the US agents don't include taxes and fees in their advertised prices and they get added on at the end. They don't include gratuities and, for Princess, we had to buy the Plus package at the US price instead of the Aus offering. Buying in Aus via Princess the Plus package addition was AUD65pp/pd but, because we booked in the US, we booked the Plus package at US$60pp/pd, which equates to over AUD$90pp/pd. The benefit being that the higher US price did include daily gratuities which were not included in our US booked fare, but for a 15 night cruise it was a big price difference for the Plus.

 

 

At current exchange rates there is very little difference between paying the US Plus price with gratuities included or paying the AU Plus price and paying the gratuities separately, although in the latter case they often offer prepayment of the gratuities in AUD and that can work out a bit cheaper.

[arxcards]

6 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

I receive a list of current specials from a large USA Travel Company.  They are always much cheaper than anything on offer in Australia. My TA, who worked from home,  provided excellent service

The prices on that specials list are not the price you pay. On top of that price, taxes, port charges and non-commissionable charges are added. Same with all US agents, you need to get a full quote to know what the "real" price is. Australian pricing is inclusive of all those added charges.

[MMDown Under]

2 hours ago, arxcards said:

The prices on that specials list are not the price you pay. On top of that price, taxes, port charges and non-commissionable charges are added. Same with all US agents, you need to get a full quote to know what the "real" price is. Australian pricing is inclusive of all those added charges.

Yes I realise that. Prices are still cheaper

if cruise is on special.