Currency Exchange Rate on board

We are going to the Falklands Islands as part of our upcoming South America cruise and apparently they have no ATMs there. We will be needing some a couple hundred British Pounds while there to pay for a tour and was wondering about exchanging currency onboard. I would never exchange money at a hotel front desk as the rates are normally pathetic but was curious if shipboard rates are similarly pathetic. Heck, I have a problem exchanging at airports too as they are nearly as bad. :)

We are going to the Falklands Islands as part of our upcoming South America cruise and apparently they have no ATMs there. We will be needing some a couple hundred British Pounds while there to pay for a tour and was wondering about exchanging currency onboard. I would never exchange money at a hotel front desk as the rates are normally pathetic but was curious if shipboard rates are similarly pathetic. Heck' date=' I have a problem exchanging at airports too as they are nearly as bad. :)[/quote']

 

They are nearly as bad as at a hotel.

 

If ATMs are not an option, I suggest ordering some from a bank. Still not fantastic rates but probably the best you'll get.

We are going to the Falklands Islands as part of our upcoming South America cruise and apparently they have no ATMs there. We will be needing some a couple hundred British Pounds while there to pay for a tour and was wondering about exchanging currency onboard. I would never exchange money at a hotel front desk as the rates are normally pathetic but was curious if shipboard rates are similarly pathetic. Heck' date=' I have a problem exchanging at airports too as they are nearly as bad. :)[/quote']

 

Easiest, and probably no worse than any other rate, is to order some from your bank.

They are nearly as bad as at a hotel.

 

If ATMs are not an option, I suggest ordering some from a bank. Still not fantastic rates but probably the best you'll get.

So agree with Cruisemom. Rates on board are not great.

A couple hundred pounds is not that risky to carry around.

there is also the risk that the ship may not have pounds on board to exchange.

they are pretty good at this stuff - but there is no guarantee and no promise and they can run out ;). Calling Seattle is useless on this. I called two times on one cruise and was told they would not have one of our currencies. When I got on board - they had it - at nearly 7 cents more per dollar.

I guess I should have called Seattle three times, not twice ;):D

And 200 might not be worth worrying about price wise - but just the same - I would go prepared and not rely on the ship to supply it. JMO

We take all our foreign currency when cruising to S.A. We've seen shipboard exchange at typical bank exchange + 3%. Plus, the ships may or may not have any or they might run out, as we have seen several times.

Often better just to take your own.

Have a great cruise, OP. Love that one!

There's a fairly high chance you won't get in to the Falklands. If you obtain the British money in advance, will there be a charge? Will there be another charge to change it back if you don't get to use it?

Something to consider.

There is a bank in Port Stanley that is open monday - friday where you can get cash on a debit card. It is about a 10 minute walk from the port along the shore past the church.

Keep in mind that the Falklands use the Falklands Pound, not the British Pound. Though they both trade at the same value vs other currencies. So any money you get from the bank will probably be Falkland Pounds.

The stores all took British Pounds, Euros and Dollars with varying exchange rates. British Pound being equal to the Falklands Pound.

Have you asked if the tour would take US, and if so at what exchange rate.

I believe there's an ATM machine in the grocery store in Pt. Stanley.

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We were on a 5 week cruise to South America and never used any foreign currency in any port. Every port, including Falkland Islands took US dollars or credit card, and we paid in US dollars on all private tours without a problem. Check with your tour operator before you exchange money. No problems with US dollars in stores either.

We were on a 5 week cruise to South America and never used any foreign currency in any port. Every port, including Falkland Islands took US dollars or credit card, and we paid in US dollars on all private tours without a problem. Check with your tour operator before you exchange money. No problems with US dollars in stores either.

I agree, we have been twice and never needed GBP.

We are booking an independent tour for 110GBP to Volunteer Point and more with Edgar of Estancia Tours (who comes highly recommended here) and he insists on GPB cash only. Probably saves himself a trip to the bank, and well, you know, cash is king! Plus the same ship shore excursion is probably triple that price. Thanks for all of the answers, I think that I'll go ahead and get some GPBs at home before we leave..

We are booking an independent tour for 110GBP to Volunteer Point and more with Edgar of Estancia Tours (who comes highly recommended here) and he insists on GPB cash only. Probably saves himself a trip to the bank' date=' and well, you know, cash is king! Plus the same ship shore excursion is probably triple that price. Thanks for all of the answers, I think that I'll go ahead and get some GPBs at home before we leave..[/quote']

 

That is a good price for Volunteer Point.

Hope you enjoy the cruise and this shorex!

We are going to the Falklands Islands as part of our upcoming South America cruise and apparently they have no ATMs there. We will be needing some a couple hundred British Pounds while there to pay for a tour and was wondering about exchanging currency onboard. I would never exchange money at a hotel front desk as the rates are normally pathetic but was curious if shipboard rates are similarly pathetic. Heck' date=' I have a problem exchanging at airports too as they are nearly as bad. :)[/quote']

 

There is an Atm in the grocery store, but you won't need to change, everything is in creditcards, also the chances that you make it into PT Stanley are not that good. The ship's front desk get their exchange rate from the Bank of America, really not that bad, because if you go to a bank they charge a high commission..

Check with the tour company as we used US $$ to pay for our Falklands tour - but we had to ask.

HAL used to get their foreign currency from BOA and the exchange rate at the front desk was something like 3-5%. I would be buying from BOA anyway so for me it is a nice convenience to use the front desk for exchanges. Seems like there are fewer and fewer places that will not accept US $$ or euros with local transportation being the exception.

One thing to keep in mind is the tour operators on The Falklands want payment with crisp non damaged bills. This was stressed to us

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Glad you are all sorted out, '51 Pinot.

For anyone else reading this, I will mention that I was quoted a 7.7% markup over the interbank rate for euros on our November transatlantic on the Prinsendam. I do not know if that markup is typical.

Wells Fargo typically marks up GBP by 5% to 5.5%, better customers may get better rates. Buy from one of their foreign currency branches and pay no shipping, call ahead to check availability. I have not found a cheaper place to buy foreign currency in the USA.

We are booking an independent tour for 110GBP to Volunteer Point and more with Edgar of Estancia Tours (who comes highly recommended here) and he insists on GPB cash only. Probably saves himself a trip to the bank' date=' and well, you know, cash is king! Plus the same ship shore excursion is probably triple that price. Thanks for all of the answers, I think that I'll go ahead and get some GPBs at home before we leave..[/quote']

 

Sounds like the shorex I'm booked for through another vendor.

I'm planning on bringing my GBP which I'll buy from BoA.

 

Just adding that when we did around the horn/Antarctica in 2013, the ship did not stock Uruguayan or Argentina pesos. Most vendors accepted US$

We are booking an independent tour for 110GBP to Volunteer Point and more with Edgar of Estancia Tours (who comes highly recommended here) and he insists on GPB cash only. Probably saves himself a trip to the bank' date=' and well, you know, cash is king! Plus the same ship shore excursion is probably triple that price. Thanks for all of the answers, I think that I'll go ahead and get some GPBs at home before we leave..[/quote']

 

That's a great tour, take extra batteries for your camera, you will need them. Our guide took USD but it was a different guide.

Merry Xmas!

We took an all day private 4X4 tour to Volunteer Point to see the King penguins in 2011 with Patrick Watts (don't know if he's still giving tours) and paid in USD with no problems. If I recall at that time, souvenirs and such purchased in Stanley were paid for via USD or credit card. We paid in USD and got Faulkland currency change (which my wife made a bracelet with: little penguins on the smaller coins).

The cruise was a 17 day Veendam that included 3 days cruising the Antarctic and I don't recall worrying about currencies in Argentina & Chile at the other port stops. We just used USD & an ATM's maybe once or twice in Buenos Aires.

Just my two cents.

Happy New Year! Continued good health to one and all.

Bob:)

I have another question. Many of the tour operators want crisp new money and I read that $100 us bills are preferred. So when you have a tour of about $80 or $85 is it better to just give the $100 bill and tell them it includes gratuity in advance? Seems like a dumb question but applies if they don't want smaller bills.

When u get to Buenos Aires this is what I experienced re exchange:

BE AWARE in Buenos Aires that you cannot change money without your passport, a copy won't work....also banks seem to change ONLY for local customers. Change places are few and far between and accept ONLY clean 50 and 100 bills. Amazingly there is no exchange place at the pier and the ship did not provide any exchange option....pain in the butt searching for exchange places which seems strange for a major city like Buenos Aires. You will see dozens of black market guys standing around trying to get u to exchange with them. The lines at the exchange places we found were about 30 to 45 minutes long. As far as I know there was no warning by Holland to let us know about this problem.