Another gratuity question

[41m33]

Do I have to pay automatic gratuities in US currency? Can I visit guest services and ask to be charged in Canadian or would I have to do the conversion math and then ask for an adjustment? I'm a firm believer in tipping and realize that to the staff it may seem I'm short-changing them but I have a hard time paying 30% more than other passengers just because I live in a country with a weaker dollar.

 

Thank goodness Royal quoted in Canadian when I booked or I might have cried!

[FloatMe]

The automatic gratuities are paid in USD. Your CC on file would presumably convert to the appropriate exchange rate?

[monorailmedic]

Unless something has changed in the last month, you have the option of RCI converting to your currency, or your credit card doing so.  This is an option on your Set Sail pass, which you'll turn in at the port upon arrival.  I've copied the wording below:

 

A) I choose to pay my onboard charges in the currency of my card. I choose to use Royal Caribbean International's currency conversion program. This currency conversion transaction is based on wholesale exchange rates collected from Bloomberg plus a 3 percent international currency conversion fee. My choice to have charges billed in the currency of my card is final. I accept that the exchange rate used will be the rate in effect at the time the amounts are charged to my card.

 

B) I choose to have my credit card issuer convert my onboard charges to the currency of my card in lieu of participating in the Royal Caribbean International currency conversion program.

 

If I opt for my charges to be converted by my credit card issuer, or if my card is not billed in one of the billing currencies listed, my charges will be processed in the onboard currency (USD) and the issuer of my card may charge a service fee for currency conversion.

[monorailmedic]

 

... B) I choose...

 

 

And now I'll be researching how to escape out of emoticons in Community Forum Software - it seems to have converted "B )" (minus the space) to a smiley

[Jerel]

Keep in mind your paying the same amount as every other guest, around 13 USD a day. It's not their fault our Canadian dollar is around .76 right now.

[Jerel]

Billy, I had no idea Royal charges 3 percent to convert. I mentioned this to Jessica and she says she opts for the CC to do it like you said, turns out cheaper that way.

[41m33]

Thanks for the responses. So if I understand this correctly, I'll be paying $17.30 CDN pp per day.

[monorailmedic]

Thanks for the responses. So if I understand this correctly, I'll be paying $17.30 CDN pp per day.

 

Yup, $17.28 CDN at last check.  I'm not sure how common it is to have cards that don't charge an international transaction fee, but in the US some cards have this feature, and others don't. 

[DavidSodapop]

If my comment is off-base I apologize but my thinking is like this.... Unless you ask RCI the company to charge you 30% less then of course you can't ask the employees to accept it either with tips...unless you just decide to opt out of tipping altogether. With fluctuating rates on any currency (including USD) you can't really time the market...you can prepay your cruise if you think that will help but you just have to decide in advance whether or not the exchange rate issue is within your budget. Plus you aren't paying 30% more, as tips are just a fraction of the cost of the cruise, and higher percentage if you get a smaller cabin, and lower percentage if you get a more expensive cabin. It will cost my family of four $420 in tips for a week on a cruise...in our case just under 5% of the total amount for the cruise---so calculate 30% of 5%...that's really the difference.

[monorailmedic]

If my comment is off-base I apologize but my thinking is like this.... Unless you ask RCI the company to charge you 30% less then of course you can't ask the employees to accept it either with tips...unless you just decide to opt out of tipping altogether. With fluctuating rates on any currency (including USD) you can't really time the market...you can prepay your cruise if you think that will help but you just have to decide in advance whether or not the exchange rate issue is within your budget. Plus you aren't paying 30% more, as tips are just a fraction of the cost of the cruise, and higher percentage if you get a smaller cabin, and lower percentage if you get a more expensive cabin. It will cost my family of four $420 in tips for a week on a cruise...in our case just under 5% of the total amount for the cruise---so calculate 30% of 5%...that's really the difference.

 

I'd tend to agree.  Canadians aren't paying 33% more anymore than those on the Euro are paying 11% less.  

[donolog]

Billy, I had no idea Royal charges 3 percent to convert. I mentioned this to Jessica and she says she opts for the CC to do it like you said, turns out cheaper that way.

 

The CC almost certainly charges more than 3% to convert (probably in the 4% to 5% range). Most Canadian credit cards will charge their "buy rate" plus an additional 2.5%.

 

As I write this post, the Bloomberg market rate is 1.3156, so US$13 = CA$17.10, but that's just the spot rate, regardless of whom you're trading with, the "buy rate" will be more, and the "sell rate" will be less (the spread in between is how currency traders make money).

 

So right now, if RCCL was to convert the US$13 would be CA$17.49. If I went to my local Canadian bank, I would pay CA$17.53. If I charged it to my CAD visa it would probably come in about $17.69. The best rate would be from my local private currency exchange office which would charge $17.40

 

Of course it all gets tricky to track because exchange rates are always changing. It might take a couple of days before visa processes the transaction, and the rate might be higher or lower then.

 

Personally, I have my onboard charges charged in USD to a Canadian bank visa I have that is denominated in USD, which I'll later pay from a USD bank account.

[monorailmedic]

I'm not certain how unversal this is, but several years ago the EU required Visa and Mastercard to expose their exchange rates.  You can actually check here:

 

https://usa.visa.com/support/consumer/travel-support/exchange-rate-calculator.html

https://ferates.com/mastercard/usd

https://ferates.com/visa/usd

 

As a US resident and holder of a 'no fee' US Visa, I'd get the following rate:

CAD = 0.758477USD

 

The market rate:

1CAD = 0.760248USD

 

Now, if I go to the Travelex down the street, I'd buy 1.181CAD for 1USD, which means I'd be get a rate of .8468, paying about .08USD more for each CAD compared to using my card - of course this business would flip that if I were selling them CADs, they're in the business of making money.  

 

At least, this is how I understand it for my circumstance, but could be mistaken as this isn't my bag :-)  Let me know if I'm missing anything.

[donolog]

 

I'm not certain how unversal this is, but several years ago the EU required Visa and Mastercard to expose their exchange rates.  You can actually check here:

 

https://usa.visa.com/support/consumer/travel-support/exchange-rate-calculator.html

https://ferates.com/mastercard/usd

https://ferates.com/visa/usd

 

As a US resident and holder of a 'no fee' US Visa, I'd get the following rate:

CAD = 0.758477USD

 

The market rate:

1CAD = 0.760248USD

 

Now, if I go to the Travelex down the street, I'd buy 1.181CAD for 1USD, which means I'd be get a rate of .8468, paying about .08USD more for each CAD compared to using my card - of course this business would flip that if I were selling them CADs, they're in the business of making money.  

 

At least, this is how I understand it for my circumstance, but could be mistaken as this isn't my bag :-)  Let me know if I'm missing anything.

 

 

@monorailmedic

 

The part that's not universal about your situation is the "no fee" visa. That type of visa is not common outside of the US, where most card companies continue to levy an additional 1%-3% on top of the 1% charged by visa itself. The going rate for Canadian bank visas seems to be 2.5% -- so if I were to plug that into the calculator you provided the US$13 would hit the visa at CA$17.74 (worse than what I estimated in my earlier post).  

 

The good news is other markets are beginning to introduce "no fee" visas ... Canadians looking for one should check out this article, but for now at least, "no fee" visas remain few and far between in Canada.

 

For what it's worth, I just checked the rate to buy US$13 from Travelex in Canada and it came to $18.20 -- by far the worst rate I've seen anywhere (I should note it is currently a public holiday in Canada so it's possible some sources haven't updated their rates recently).

[Jerel]

Personally, I have my onboard charges charged in USD to a Canadian bank visa I have that is denominated in USD, which I'll later pay from a USD bank account.

Thanks for all the info Donolog, I think I'll have to sit down and devise a better plan. Every payday I withdrawal some USD in cash for vacation savings, I know it's not the best plan but it works for me. My bank (CIBC) has tried to sell me on a USD credit card. I'll have to look back into it, the benifits of it seemed confusing to me at the time. The Rogers Mastercard linked in your article looked interesting too, I'll have to look into that one aswell.

Thanks for the reminder there is better ways.

[rjac]

Thanks for all the info Donolog, I think I'll have to sit down and devise a better plan. Every payday I withdrawal some USD in cash for vacation savings, I know it's not the best plan but it works for me. My bank (CIBC) has tried to sell me on a USD credit card. I'll have to look back into it, the benifits of it seemed confusing to me at the time. The Rogers Mastercard linked in your article looked interesting too, I'll have to look into that one aswell.
Thanks for the reminder there is better ways. 

 

Well, you know, there is an alternative option if your serious about cruising and not having to worry about money conversion........move to the US! :D 

[donolog]

@Jerel -- I like the plan of taking out a bit of USD every pay-day because it's averaging the exchange rates over time, rather than being at the mercy of where the rates are on one particular day or week. But the main point I was trying to make at the outset is that the 3% charged by RCCL isn't that bad when compared to the alternatives, it's just more transparent -- and may very well be better (or at least no worse) than having the CC do the conversion.

 

@rjac -- regarding moving to the US ... you know, the Presidential debates are broadcast up here too ... I think I'll stick with the currency exchange issue for now thanks  :P

 

D

[DavidSodapop]

Jerel I admired your method as well, like dollar cost averaging in investments...sometimes the simplest method is the best. We are going to Europe (partly for a cruise) after the Nov 8th elections so I fear that if the dork somehow wins our dollar will crash against the Euro so I'm wondering if I should buy a bunch of euros while watching election results...I wish I had your discipline!