Currency on Board AUS $ or US $??

[DVC 99]

I am sailing on the Australian RCI cruise in December. Does anyone know if the currency referred to onboard is in US or Aus Dollars?? It makes a big difference to us Aussies being worth only 2/3rds of the Greenback!

 

As it is an American ship I am unsure.

[MMDown Under]

What date is your cruise and from where?

 

It seems to depend on whether the ship is based in Australia at the time.

[SheilaNC]

I'd call the cruiseline and ask. When we sailed out of Sydney on Celebrity last year...it was American dollars. But we do not use cash but, rather, register a credit card and settle the bill (US $) at the end of the cruise. Let us know what you find out.

[MMDown Under]

The Sunday Mail, local Queensland newspaper, advertisements show Australian dollars for -

 

Royal Caribbean International -

 

• Australia's Top End 17 nights
  
• Australia and New Zealand 18 nights
  
• Tropical Queensland 10 nights
  

Princess Cruises -

 

• New Zealand 13 nights
  
• Round Australia 28 nights
  
• Hawaii and Tahiti 35 nights
  
• Cherry Blossom 42 nights
  

P & O

(Pacific Dawn from Brisbane)

 

• New Caledonia, Loyalty Islands, Vanuatu
  
• Queensland
  

[kaseyoz]

The prices for the actual cruises are sometimes being quoted in AUD however once on board the prices of things eg drinks are all USD.

 

We were on the royal flying doctor one day cruise on the Rhapsody in April and everything was usd.

 

The

[Nancy53]

We just booked the Sun Princess for 11-14-09 - 13 days r/t Sydney. When I was booking the cruise with Princess (I called them directly) she told me it was AUS. dollars. However if you use a credit card you can pay in US and settle everything in the end on your credit card in US. If you get on board credit it would be AUS. Hope this helps.

[DVC 99]

Thanks for the replies, I am stil unclear though. The only reason it matters is that evrything costs 50% more for us if the prices ( excursions, drinks etc) are in US Dollars. Hopefully they are not.

 

Also paying with a credit card at the end incurs transaction costs for changing the currencies over. Hopefully it will be in Aus Dollars, as it will be a lot cheaper.

[JulesnAzza]

Have just come off Rhapsody of the Seas from a South Pacific Cruise and can guarantee you that all costs quoted on board the ship will be in US dollars (everything from alcoholic drinks to shore excursions, bingo cards to cappucinos). Rather than actually paying in cash, however, you will be given a "Sea Pass" which is the equivalent of a key card to make all purchases (as well as act as your key to your state room). At the end of the cruise, you will receive a print out of all purchases you have made (in US dollars) and then, depending on what you have indicated in your travel documetnation, they will either convert the US dollar total to Australian Dollars and put that straight on your credit card, OR you can nominate to just pay it on your credit card in the US dollar total, and have your own credit card provider convert it to Australian. Regardless of which option you choose, you will be slugged with foreign currency conversion fees. For example, I chose to have my credit card provider (Master Card) do the conversion rather than Royal Caribbean, so my bill of US$640 charged by Royal Caribbean was converted to AU$840 by my credit card provider based on the exchange rate on the day of transaction.

 

Hope this info helps!!

 

Kind regards

Jules

[DVC 99]

Thanks for that, you have cleared it all up for me. Does anyone know if Princess is the same??

[kaseyoz]

No, sun princess works in aud. All prices on board are in australian dollars.

[The_Big_M]

It depends which Princess cruise. Those that are based in AU use Australian dollars, but those that are just here temporarily use USD.