Canadian Travellers Support Group

[Mousesmom]

I totally feel everyone's Canadian pain..... We're on the WBTA in September with 10 days on land before. We haven't bought euros yet

Fortunately, we PIF before it was due as the CAN$ was dropping.

 

[suebecdan]

We are all in the same boat! We need to pay in full by December. Hoping the dollar gets a bit better by then, but from what I have heard things aren't looking up.

 

[HeatherLassell]

AH it's my people!
Man it was a sad day paying my balance 2 weeks ago. $3945USD cost me $5212! I don't love when more than $1000 POOFS into nowhere. Cancelled the excursion we were going to do because it was NOT worth the $650 canadian it was going to cost. I'd rather just let them off the boat to take some pictures and each buy a souvineer.

Luckily my flights and hotel were prepaid when the dollar was still .86cents to the dollar.

 

[FLVacationGirl]

In the same boat here. Except it's my mom and step-dad paying in Canadian for 24 of us for a Jan 2016 cruise. I'm really happy now that I talked them into booking a 5 night instead of a 7 night.

 

[ubish00]

Fellow Canadian here and my PIF date is Aug. 30/15. Oh how it hurts. I've done a bit of travelling (Europe, US & Canada) this summer hence had to pay off those trips before I could pay off the cruise. Oh how the drop in rate hurts. It's costing me over $1K. At times, I just want to cry. lol. Friends have booked for Nov 2016 but I just can't justify the cost again. Looks like I will have to skip a year and try again for 2017.

 

[lizabu]

The last couple of falls they offered a Canadian residents discount. I'm PIF October 30th and I'm keeping my ears open in case they offer it again.

 

[ubish00]

The last couple of falls they offered a Canadian residents discount. I'm PIF October 30th and I'm keeping my ears open in case they offer it again.

I made use of the Canadian discount rate last November

The last couple of falls they offered a Canadian residents discount. I'm PIF October 30th and I'm keeping my ears open in case they offer it again.

I took advantage of the Canadian discount rate last November. As far as I can see they only apply to the Magic and Wonder.

 

[lizabu]

I made use of the Canadian discount rate last November


I took advantage of the Canadian discount rate last November. As far as I can see they only apply to the Magic and Wonder.

Good to know. We're cruising on the Magic. Now the trick will be for it to first come out soon enough for me to take advantage of it and second have it actually save us anything. We booked opening day but then we later added my DD on so hopefully it will at least save us on her fare. Crossed fingers

 

[LWILDP]

Joining and sharing your pain. So mad at myself for not putting more down when we booked but thought dollar would go up. Instead our cruise now costing $1K more just because of the crazy exchange!!. Our PIF isn't until Nov but I fear it'll only get worse. Hoping / fingers crossed for a bit of a bounce back.

 

[ubish00]

Good to know. We're cruising on the Magic. Now the trick will be for it to first come out soon enough for me to take advantage of it and second have it actually save us anything. We booked opening day but then we later added my DD on so hopefully it will at least save us on her fare. Crossed fingers

I booked on August 26/14, shortly after the discount came out

 

[tinkerone]

I keep a u.s. account at my bank and put some money in it every pay. that way its dollar cost averaging and it doesn't look/hurt so bad when I need to pay a large amount for something. i'm retired banker and one think I can tell you for sure, you can't predict what the exchange will do. ever! there are certainly indicators which a previous opp listed very nicely but theres so much involved in what makes our dollar what it is that you would never be able to second guess it.

we have some dcl cruises booked however we have looked on to rccl for next year because Canadians can book their cruises in Canadian funds, something dcl does not do. the cruises' are cheaper to begin with and then add on exchange for dcl and your saving even more on rccl. a big PLUS that I have found out, if you book an obc for your cruise and you booked in Canadian funds, the obc is exchanged at 10%. so, if you purchase $500 rccl charges you $550 while the bank charges you $650 (approximately). tell me that's not a bonus.

I don't mean to hijack this thread with cheerleading about another cruise line. all i'm trying to say is with the dollar the way it is, and no relief in sight, being able to book something in Canadian funds and knowing it will be x dollars and not x plus exchange dollars, is a wonderful thing.

 

[Cruise-n-2015]

Canadian traveller here also, we sail In December. I have paid in full however really wanted to get gratuities as well as some room gifts bought in advance. Hopefully it changed soon!

 

[starvenger]

I don't mean to hijack this thread with cheerleading about another cruise line. all i'm trying to say is with the dollar the way it is, and no relief in sight, being able to book something in Canadian funds and knowing it will be x dollars and not x plus exchange dollars, is a wonderful thing.

Nothing wrong with mentioning the other lines IMO, but then again I don't feel the need to be loyal to a specific cruise line.

Sound advice regarding the exchange. I might have to look into opening a US account - used to have one back when there was a TD AND a Canada Trust and worked cross-border in Michigan, but closed it when I moved back to Toronto.

 

[scboyd]

We have definitely joined and are members of this exclusive club In January of this year we booked WDW for May and Universal/ Disney Cruise for September. I paid off the May trip right away and figured I would slowly pay off the Cruise/Universal over the spring-summer months. I am sure kicking myself for not paying off it all in January when we booked it. Everything is now paid except for converting cash for spending money and I'm not looking forward to that walk of shame at the bank.

 

[mevelandry]

We booked in November 2014 for our Jan 2016 20th anniversary cruise. Then the price of oil crashed, people lost their jobs (not us thankfully) and the Canadian dollar took a skydive! Our cruise isn't entirely paid for yet!



We keep hoping the dollar will climb back up but it sinks further. I tell people we are paying "Canadian tax" on our vacation. 20-30% more than american prices. Good thing we have airmiles enough for 3 out of 4 of us to go to Orlando.

Anyone else need a little support?

The conversion has been horrible lately... I wish they had offers for Canadians.

 

[FergusBC]

I'm not looking forward to that walk of shame at the bank.

Excellently put! LOL...That's why I exchange my $$ online ... in a dark room...with the door locked...

 

[Frozen2014]

We went to Disney World last year and had the absolute best time. For next year (Spring) we were looking at a cruise with our kids so we checked out Disney cruise line...and also looked at Royal as we've had some great crusies on them. Disney was more to begin with, but one big factor why we went wtih Royal (very kid friendly ship) is because Disney quotes in US. With Royal, you can pay in CAD....so when you book, you know the amount you are paying and it's not dependent on the dollar. And with the dollar as bad as it is (with no sign of it getting better), it made Disney that much more. Maybe some day we'll try Disney cruise again...and hopefully the dollar will improve.

 

[mevelandry]

The last couple of falls they offered a Canadian residents discount. I'm PIF October 30th and I'm keeping my ears open in case they offer it again.

If you already have a reservation, can you ask them to apply the discount? Also, if the reservation was made while being on board (already discounted) can you still get the discount?

 

[lizabu]

If you already have a reservation, can you ask them to apply the discount? Also, if the reservation was made while being on board (already discounted) can you still get the discount?

I think so. I have a travel agent so as soon as I hear anything I'm going to shoot her an email and she will handle everything.

 

[mevelandry]

I think so. I have a travel agent so as soon as I hear anything I'm going to shoot her an email and she will handle everything.

If you hear anything, please share the news here!