Originally Posted by
themicah
I'm not sure what your point is. Many of the biggest credit card issuers are now charging fees for all transactions processed outside the US. It doesn't matter what currency or where the actual business is.
The party to complain to is the bank, not the merchant, since the merchant isn't charging the fee. In my experience the banks will sometimes reverse the fees in cases where they truly came as a surprise. For example, I had no problem getting Citibank to reverse a foreign transaction fee I was charged for a lane reservation at a bowling alley in NYC (the bowling alley's website happens to use a Danish credit card processor).
That said, I now use my Schwab card whenever I think there's any chance something could get processed outside the US.
My point is that if I walk into my local grocery store and they process the charge via a French bank either in $$ for Euros then the grocery store is going to have a problem.
The OP said he booked a trip with a US based company. Unless there is something to the contrary in the cruise contract he had a reasonable expectation that the charge would be made against a US bank in dollars. According to him it was not. My point was the merchant was not entitled to do this unless there was an express agreement that permitted him to.
His complaint is with the merchant because it was the merchant who selects the processing bank.
The operative term here is "reasonable expectation." You had reasonable expectation your charge would be processed here in the US. I'm happy the bank took care of your complaint, but it was merely an accommodation. They had no obligation to do so (unless the merchant violated some VI/MC rule and VI/MC has obligated themselves to make you whole in such a situation).