Euros ,rubles ,Kronins oh my!

leaving next month on a Baltic cruise. Wondering about currency...

Do most counties take American dollars? Just charge everything? Planning on only tours thru celebrity Any advice you can give will be most helpful.

:):o

leaving next month on a Baltic cruise. Wondering about currency...

Do most counties take American dollars? Just charge everything? Planning on only tours thru celebrity Any advice you can give will be most helpful.

:):o

With this particular itinerary, in my opinion, the easiest solution would be use a credit card (that doesn't charge for foreign transactions). You may encounter a very few places that will not accept credit card payment (especially for low volume/cost items), but there is probably a vendor down the way that will. Although, some foreign currencies can make attractive souvenirs -- but may be "pricey".

NRayH

You may find USD helpful to pay for any private yours in Russia.

There are currency exchange desks in some locations, but I would plan on using a credit card and perhaps a small amount of each currency for incidentals.

I remember changing Danish Krone into Finnish Krone in Helsinki as I had some spare.

It is tricky, Euros could be more useful than USD.

Estonia in particular is a very cash-less place.

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Use your credit card in all the ports for lunch/purchases. If you want some pocket change, take a $20 to the purser at Guest Services and exchange for local currency. You won't get a favorable rate as you would from an ATM, but it will cost you around 7% on the ship.

Finnland and Estland have Euro ;)!

In Denmark, Sweden or Norway they widely accept credit cards even for small amounts. In fact Sweden is trying to get rid of any cash.

In Russia the souvenir shop we were brought to by Celebrity did accept all major currencies... Rubles, British Pounds, Euro or US Dollar.

So except for Euro I wouldn´t get any other foreign currency (and actually I didn´t and as I´m living in Germany I had Euro anyway).

steamboats

leaving next month on a Baltic cruise. Wondering about currency...

 

Do most counties take American dollars? Just charge everything? Planning on only tours thru celebrity Any advice you can give will be most helpful.

 

:):o

Last year we did this Baltic cruise

You don’t need any of those local currency’s. Use you credit card

Make sure your bank don’t charge any foreign fee

As for gratitudes yes use our good U. S. Dollar

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You don’t need rubles, everywhere you go they take dollars. Sweden will take euros apart from in small shops, kiosks etc. Denmark will only take their own currency other than tourist things like tivoli. We took danish, Swedish and euros and then dollars for st Petersburg

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We returned from a Baltic cruise last month. All of your tour guides in the ports will be glade to take Euros or US dollars. Most people are cautious about using credit cards in Russia, so you should consider having some Euros or USDs. In Russia you'll likely be on an organized tour because most people don't get their own visa and you'll likely be limited to tourist stops. You should also carry some Euro coins for toilet use in some of the countries. Denmark really only accepts their own currency and Germany, Sweden and Estonia typically expect Euros. However credit cards work everywhere.

On our Baltic cruise two years ago, we used mostly Euros and some USD everywhere. We don't like to use credit cards other than in hotels or major restaurants, so we made sure to get plenty of Euros before embarking. In the Scandinavian countries we exchanged small amounts of Euros into local currency to have enough for bus fares, tipping, local meals, incidentals, a few souvenirs, etc.

You may find USD helpful to pay for any private yours in Russia.

 

I remember changing Danish Krone into Finnish Krone in Helsinki as I had some spare.

 

It is tricky, Euros could be more useful than USD.

 

Estonia in particular is a very cash-less place.

 

Sent from my SM-G935F using Forums mobile app

I would be very surprised if you were able to exchange Danish krone into Finnish krone since the currency in Finland has been the euro since 2002. Previously to the changeover its currency was the Finnish mark. Perhaps you exchanged Danish krone into Swedish krone?

Be careful. It is technically illegal to use any currency other than Rubles in Russia. And technically illegal to take Rubles out of Russia. That said, there are shops having official permission to accept other currencies. In other countries the Euro is king and accepted in many places (with a poor exchange rate).

Thanks everyone for your help! Just a few more weeks and we r on our way!

I would be very surprised if you were able to exchange Danish krone into Finnish krone since the currency in Finland has been the euro since 2002. Previously to the changeover its currency was the Finnish mark. Perhaps you exchanged Danish krone into Swedish krone?

We had Krone from Denmark, possibly Sweden too, which I changed in Helsinki....

But probably as you say into Euro for use in Finland and Estonia.

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We just returned from a Baltic cruise.

Except for Russia, none of these places ordinarily welcome US currency, and if they accept it will give you a poor exchange rate. There are pay toilets in some of these ports. Some just have a plate to leave money on, but others have turnstiles that expect local coinage. BTW it looked to me like the Swedish and Danish coins were identical in size but not inscription.

Although most places take credit cards, your US non-PIN card will require you to sign the receipt. This of course slows down the transaction and negates the purpose of accepting cards. And I feel stupid offering a credit card for a 15-kroner pair of postcards.

BTW, you will not believe the prices in Copenhagen. Really, postcards 9DKK, about $1.50; lunch at Burger King for one $12. Why Burger King? Because in a tourist restaurant you'll be signing up for 150DKK = $25 without drink. OK for one day, but we were there four.

Notes for Russia:

* If you have a visa so you can wander by yourself, you'll need roubles as most places can only accept roubles

* If you're on a tour, you'll be taken to an overpriced souvenir store that accepts dollars and euros as well as credit cards

* If you use a credit card in Russia, use one of your "extra" ones -- not the one you have 15 automatic monthly payments set up on. If it's lost, stolen, or hacked, there's much less mess to clean up. Remember to advise bank before travel.

* At our dock in St Petersburg, there was a souvenir shop with a big sign "25% less than other places" and this, amazingly, turned out to be true.

* You can tip your tour guide in dollars, euros, or roubles.

Concur with much of what's been said. We visited Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, Finland and Russia and we only used Euros and our bank debit card. In Denmark to pay for a couple of beers they were happy to take the card.

We paid for our Russian tour and souvenirs in Euros. Stockholm was cashless ie boats and Abba Museum. Great to get by with one currency.

Just home from Baltic cruise. I brought Euros and Rubles as we were told by the tour company that we should give tips for our STP tour in Rubles. I had more Rubles than I needed so I was searching for something small to buy in the shops at the dock. I bought some chocolate - and left the remaining rubles in the cabin, hoping our steward could use them. (He also received an extra tip - in addition to the standard gratuity - in US dollars so no comments needed.)

It is technically illegal to take Rubles out of Russia.

Please please please stop spreading disinformation. The above statement it's simply not true, and your other advice, quite excellent when talking about other locations, as at least a decade or two obsolete when it comes to Russia travel.

We did a Baltic cruise last year and used Euros, Rubles and credit card. All took Euros except Russia. We purchased both currencies prior to leaving through our bank. The only reason we bought rubles was because our ALLA tour included a dinner at a local restaurant. One hundred dollars bought not quite 5000 rubles!

It was easy enough to unload them at a souvenir shop although my friend had some leftover and asked me to take them to the bank. She got back $8.

Take a limited amount of both and you will be ok. No problem using euros anywhere.

Sue

All took Euros except Russia.

Sue, souvenir shops are happy to accept every major currency - Euro, Dollar, British Pounds. Euros were even accepted for a coffee in the souvenir shop.

steamboats

We were able to find currency at a good rate online before we went. We got what equated to about $50 in each currency. Some places do not take credit cards, in fact one restaurant in Germany only took cash. If you have a few left over, you can use them for tips to the crew since they will be back at those ports the next week! Have a great time, it was an awesome cruise.

leaving next month on a Baltic cruise. Wondering about currency...

Do most counties take American dollars? Just charge everything? Planning on only tours thru celebrity Any advice you can give will be most helpful.

:):o

Use preloaded Visa/Master Card with pin, NOT your home bank credit or debit card (can also take money off it at ATM's)...You can buy a pack of gum with it no one cares...

We are just back from a Baltic cruise on Eclipse. We are from the UK and took only dollars and euros. In Russia credit cards, dollars, euros are widely accepted. In Stockholm we used credit card for hop on hop off water ferry and museum entry, dollars for small purchases. In Copenhagen both dollars and euros were widely accepted.

Thanks again for help.. leaving in 3 weeks for Baltic on eclipse and appreciate all your help!

Enjoy Eclipse we had a fantastic time, I could quite easily go back and do the whole cruise again.

Very excited about this cruise. First time on eclipse....and first time in all Baltic countries!,:)