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Converting money to euros before cruise


MaC410
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My husband and I are going to be taking our first cruise in May. For two excursions we have to pay in euros at the end. Where should we convert our money to euros before we get on the cruise? Can we just go to any bank and start the process there? We are part of a credit union if that effects anything.

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The best way is to get Euros at an ATM in country, typically away from an airport. This will get you the best exchange rate, and usually with no or very low fees, depending on your bank and card rules.

 

Converting at banks is doable. It will not be the best rates, but in the big picture we usually aren't talking about huge sums of money in the difference. You could shop around your area a little for rates and fees. Note there is a difference between rates and fees. Some will claim their bank has no fees, but if you look closely, the exchange rate is poor. Or others will say their bank has the best rates, but charges fees.

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I agree you are better off exchanging money in the Euro countries. ATM's are all over.

 

If you insist on doing it in the US prior to departure, ask at your bank. AAA is another place if they have an office in your area.

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Determine how many Euros you need and if you can withdraw enough when you are in Europe.

 

If you can using an ATM in Europe is your best bet.

 

But if you can't just get them at you home bank. Yes you will pay more but in the scheme of things it's probably not a lot of money.

 

Keith

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I actually ordered ours through our bank before we left. But we wanted Euros, Norwegian Kroner and British pounds. I didn't want to have the hassle of dealing with the ATM when we were there. Especially since I needed Euros for a specific private tour.

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Just don't confuse bank ATMs with money changer ATM-like machines. For example, Travelex is a money exchanger.

Look for the same symbols as those on the back of your home bank ATM card.

Also, never take a cash advance with a credit card since interest starts accruing at that withdrawal.

 

 

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Some large banks, such as Wells Fargo, have pretty decent exchange programs. But the reality is that you will generally get a better exchange rate by simply using ATMs in Europe (just notify your ATM issuing bank of your travel plans). As to the "hassle" or using ATMs, I guess for some...putting the card in the machine and punching a few numbers is a hassle. For me, its pretty easy :). We sometimes travel for several months at a time (all over the world) and get all of our cash via ATMs.

 

Hank

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Also agree with using an ATM, but keep in mind that your bank may have a transaction limit on the amount (typically about $400) which carries through the weekend. Thus if you take out the max amount of Euros on Friday, you may not be able to withdraw any more until Monday.

 

I don't know if this is common, but we had an ATM issue in Poland. The normal withdrawal limit is $300. But when we tried to get $300 in zlotys from an ATM, we were limited to 300 ZLOTYS, not dollars, which was only about $75. We worked around it but were surprised at how that withdrawal limit worked.

 

That would obviously not be an issue in the case go Euros or British pounds.

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Do not use an ATM on the street. Use an ATM inside a bank branch during regular business hours.

 

Better yet figure out how much you will need then add about 300 more euros to that amount and just take it from home

 

Pay the extra $50 in exchange fees etc and be done with it

 

I'm a frequent European traveler and to this day I have never relied on atms and have always taken euro from home and used credit cards whenever possible as well as prepaid whatever I could

 

 

Keep it simple

 

 

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I use a no fee debit card that I carry from Fidelity. I just go to any ATM anywhere and get cash that I need in local currency. Since it’s a debit card, there is no foreign transaction fee, only an exchange rate to US dollars, if needed.

 

Quite simple, fee free. I don’t need to get any local currency until I arrive at my destination.

 

Neal

 

 

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We used a private vendor for our excursions in each country we visited on our Med cruise. We got a small amount of Euros before we left, but didn't want that much cash/euros on us to travel, and we were staying in hotel for a few days pre-cruise (many of which don't have a safe). We (1) notified our bank and credit card companies of our plans and itineraries. This is important because they might think there is fraud and freeze your card/money. We also asked that they increase the daily amount to withdraw from an ATM. We found an ATM close to the pre-cruise hotel did not go alone and withdrew the money. (2) After we boarded, we took a zip lock baggie, put the confirmation for each driver/guide for each port, put the Euros for the excursion and the tip in the baggie for each excursion and wrote the date/port on the outside of the baggie with a sharpie. (3) We kept the rest of the Euros for tips and small purchases and used our credit card for anything else we bought or paid for. We ended up using another ATM to withdraw more Euros prior to the end of the cruise, since I guess we didn't estimate as well as we thought. We exchanged a small amount of Euros back to U.S. currency at the FCO before boarding our plane to come home.

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We used a private vendor for our excursions in each country we visited on our Med cruise. We got a small amount of Euros before we left, but didn't want that much cash/euros on us to travel, and we were staying in hotel for a few days pre-cruise (many of which don't have a safe). We (1) notified our bank and credit card companies of our plans and itineraries. This is important because they might think there is fraud and freeze your card/money. We also asked that they increase the daily amount to withdraw from an ATM. We found an ATM close to the pre-cruise hotel did not go alone and withdrew the money. (2) After we boarded, we took a zip lock baggie, put the confirmation for each driver/guide for each port, put the Euros for the excursion and the tip in the baggie for each excursion and wrote the date/port on the outside of the baggie with a sharpie. (3) We kept the rest of the Euros for tips and small purchases and used our credit card for anything else we bought or paid for. We ended up using another ATM to withdraw more Euros prior to the end of the cruise, since I guess we didn't estimate as well as we thought. We exchanged a small amount of Euros back to U.S. currency at the FCO before boarding our plane to come home.

 

 

 

Why change Euros back? Never traveling abroad again? If nothing else, use them for tips on a future cruise.

 

 

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I don't know if this is common, but we had an ATM issue in Poland. The normal withdrawal limit is $300. But when we tried to get $300 in zlotys from an ATM, we were limited to 300 ZLOTYS, not dollars, which was only about $75. We worked around it but were surprised at how that withdrawal limit worked.

 

That would obviously not be an issue in the case go Euros or British pounds.

 

That sounds like your bank is not used to foreign currency. :D

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Do not use an ATM on the street. Use an ATM inside a bank branch during regular business hours.

 

Better yet figure out how much you will need then add about 300 more euros to that amount and just take it from home

 

Pay the extra $50 in exchange fees etc and be done with it

 

I'm a frequent European traveler and to this day I have never relied on atms and have always taken euro from home and used credit cards whenever possible as well as prepaid whatever I could

 

 

Keep it simple

 

Simple is to use an ATM in the country where you need the cash. Better rates.

 

I have used all sorts of ATMs in many countries, and have had only two, non-critical issues.

 

One, and ATM would not take my work credit card (how are directed to travel), so had to use one of my personal debit cards.

 

The other, was a long time ago, but an ATM in South Africa took my card, gave me money, then swallowed my card. I had others, but we were able to get the bank to call the tech to open the machine and get my card.

 

This out of hundreds of trips, and literally thousands of ATM uses around the world.

 

Oh, one other potential issue, while there are very few of them, there ARE a couple of countries without international ATMs. But it is VERY unlikely you would visit one as a tourist. :D

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If you decide to order some Euros from your home town bank do not make the mistake we did.

We were going to stay in Barcelona for a week before our Cruise so we ordered several hundred Euros.

 

Thinking it would be easy to carry a few 100 euros notes instead of many smaller bills we did that.

 

Then we found out that no small business, restaurant, shop, etc would take the 100 euros notes. clear.png?emoji-tearsjoy-1678:')clear.png?emoji-tearsjoy-1678

 

We tried to exchange them at the front desk at our hotel and they suggested we find a bank. We were very lucky that we found a bank that would exchange 300 per day since we were not members.

 

What was also interesting was that two friends that were traveling with us and sharing the Apartment a the Hotel we stayed at. Their Daughter had convinced them to use ATM machines since they were "everywhere".

 

The Bank that we were going into every day to make our exchange had an ATM machine out side. Our friends had problems with that machine every day. We would go into the bank, wait in line, make the exchange and then go back outside to find them still punching in numbers trying to get funds back. The primary problem was that back home they had a 5 digit PIN and the machine only wanted to accept a 4 digit PIN and instructions were in Spanish.

 

Bob

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I have never met a tour guide who would not get you wo an ATM when you say that you need money to pay him.

Fair enough!

 

It won't be okay to carry around lots of money, however, you have to take into account the tax per withdraw some of them might be pricey.

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Credit Unions don’t do currency exchange, only a bank.

 

Well... that's a blanket statement and not quite true. We order a small quantity from our credit union prior to international travel every time. After we deplete that supply then the ATM becomes my source.

 

.

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