pound/dollar - good time to cruise?

[runboy]

I'm looking at some of the Cunard cruises, maybe the QE2. Although I book the cruise in pounds it appears all the onboard bills are in dollars - is this correct? Drinks, excursions etc are all dollars?

 

So with the pound being strong at the moment is it good value for money for me to pay my on-board bill at the end of the cruise in dollar notes?

 

I'm UK based by the way.

 

Thanks.

[pnhmrk]

So with the pound being strong at the moment is it good value for money for me to pay my on-board bill at the end of the cruise in dollar notes?

 

They'll ask you to register a credit card at the start of your cruise (or pay a hefty deposit in cash). Then there's nothing to stop you paying your bill off in cash before you get off - it doesn't make a great difference to the exchange rate as you'll be paying in dollars whichever way you pay; the big difference is that most credit card companies charge a commission for foreign currency transactions and that can be add up when it comes to your onboard spend! The Nationwide offer a credit card that doesn't charge this commission - it's worth taking one of their cards if only for holiday spending.:)

[runboy]

Thanks for the info. With $2 to £1 a the moment it looks good, but then if the $ prices on board are double the £ price anyway, there is no advantage.

 

Or is this not the case?

[lexxity]

Prices are very reasonable for the vast majority of things. Quality champagne is obviously expensive, but a cocktail will set you back $4 - $4.50 which when compared to the £7 we would pay here in Manchester....:rolleyes:

 

Also the spa works out to be good value, it's not bad anyway but with a good exchange rate it's even better.

 

FYI - European excursions are charged in Euros and are expensive. When we went we thought they were too expensive, but on checking with private companies we found Cunard to actually be reasonable. Europe is expenisve for excursions so plan what really matters to you. If you visit Rome, you will need to do a ship sponsored excursion as Civitavecchia is miles out of Rome and also Rome is a nightmare to drive in, so best to let someone else take the strain!

[Bramcruiser]

Yes, I have been told that all Cunard cruises - even the UK based trips - are using $US for on board purchases.

 

From what I hear the UK-based people are better off with on board charges being in $US as the exchange works in your favour. Of course, as Malcolm just said, credit cards tend to charge a fee but the exchange is quite favourable in your direction.

 

As for someone on the left side of the pond, an American would love his onboard charges being in the same currency but they'll get clobbered once they spend money in the UK.

 

Being Canadian, our dollar is the weakest of the three and I have to deal with two different exchanges while on this year's QE2 and UK/Europe trip. Three is you count the Euro too for the EU portion of the trip. All these currencies are going to get me but I figure its still better than a day at the office.:D

 

David

[transatlantic fan]

I went and got a Nationwide credit card for this reason as they are the only card i know that dont charge any conversion charges.

[runboy]

FYI - European excursions are charged in Euros and are expensive.

 

Thanks....and also interesting! When I looked at the www.cunard.co.uk website, all excursions are shown in $!. I suppose if you book the excursions before you leave they would in £ (or Euros?) as you have to pay in advance, but if you booked on board surely they would charge the excursion cost in $ to your account to be paid when you leave?

[pnhmrk]

I went and got a Nationwide credit card for this reason

 

I've gone one better - I just charge everything to Paul's card:D

[Anteeta]

Thanks....and also interesting! When I looked at the www.cunard.co.uk website, all excursions are shown in $!. I suppose if you book the excursions before you leave they would in £ (or Euros?) as you have to pay in advance, but if you booked on board surely they would charge the excursion cost in $ to your account to be paid when you leave?

 

Don't know if things have changed in the last few months, but I thought you could only book excursions once you're on board. They're charged in US$ to your card and paid as part of your end of cruise account (unless you choose to settle as you go along. Most don't).

[pnhmrk]

Don't know if things have changed in the last few months, but I thought you could only book excursions once you're on board. They're charged in US$ to your card and paid as part of your end of cruise account (unless you choose to settle as you go along. Most don't).

 

That's what I thought. There have been posts that have said that you con now pre-book excursions before you sail (at least you can on the QM2) and then there was a post a little while ago (I'm sorry, I forget who made it) that said all European tours were priced in €. I suspect whatever currency they're in they'll still be expensive:)