Cunard - currency problems mean South Africans can't book affordable cruises

**Ally** · 05-18-2007, 10:42 AM

Sailing on a cruise liner to the Norwegian fjords seemed like a good idea until a discrepancy of nearly R10 000 in the fare surfaced, says Terence Byers of Cape Town.

"Now I'm looking at other options on other lines," said Byers.

He told Argus Action he had logged on to cruise company Cunard's website to find out what it would cost to holiday on the Queen Elizabeth 2 luxury liner next year. Based on rates quoted in US dollars, he had chosen an option listed at what converted to R14 436 per person.

But when he contacted the South African agents for Cunard, he was quoted in euros, which converted to R24 329 for the option he had chosen.

The agents, Whitestar Cruise and Travel, told Byers the rates quoted on Cunard's website did not apply to South Africans, whom the cruise company listed under one of three categories, namely the euro zone.

"I want to go on the cruise, but I don't want to pay what South Africans are asked to pay," said Byers, describing the difference as "astronomical" for two people.

Shaun McCarthy, marketing manager at Whitestar Cruise and Travel, said Carnival Cruises, owners of Cunard, was a US-based company that sold fares in three different currencies, namely the US dollar, the British pound, and the euro.

Only residents of the US and Britain were permitted to pay fares in dollars and pounds. Everyone else, who included citizens of Europe, the Middle East and South Africa, was charged in euros.

"This is not a new thing. The pricing has been this way for the last four or five years," said McCarthy.

"Thanks to the rand's weakness and what it costs us to buy the euro, we are penalised from a cruise point of view.

"Nobody has a choice. It depends entirely on where you live."

McCarthy said the inability of South Africans to book for Cunard cruises in dollars did not benefit Whitestar.

"We have tried on a number of occasions to see if they would create a one-currency system, but have not succeeded."

Laurie Wilkinson, president of the Association of SA Travel Agents, said he did not know if the currency rule applied across the board, but a spot check by Argus Action showed that at least one other cruise line, Royal Caribbean, quotes its fares in dollars to South Africans.

(IOL)