Exchange Money for Mexico - Yes or No?

[Luluwa]

Since many of you have been to Mexico in the last few months, did you REALLY have to exchange your money for Mexico or spend it as usual? :rolleyes:

[cullensmom]

Spent USD in Cozumel and Progreso.

Happy Cruising

[firefly333]

I think John reported in some cases out of Calif there might have been a few shops that wanted pesos.

 

never once heard of any ports like cozumel etc, ever having issues taking the money. I take one dollar bills because I know places like the internet cafe I go to, they wouldnt make change. Once I gave a drug store $100 and they gave me one peso for every dollar they owed me .. as I had a cab waiting and she didnt seem to understand the problem, I just said ok and left.

 

Dont expect change unless its right in the port area.

[jebuell]

This year I've been to Ensenada x2, Cabo, and Puerto Vallarta x2. Never once did I exchange and never once did I have a problem. If I ever go into a store and they want Pesos I'll just walk out and go elsewhere. Heck, the one time I tried to pay for something in Pesos (I had been given them as change in one store) they said the preferred getting paid in USD.

[papilliontraveler]

Almost all of the cruise stops are set up for USD. They know that is what most "cruisers" are carrying.

However, if you do a land vacation, ie: Cancun, etc. you will want to use pesos as the cost of things is cheaper than using USD.

[h_blond2]

I spent USD in Progreso and Cozumel with no problem, in fact Mom asked to get her change back in pesos and the man had to get in his wallet to giver her the pesos! They want and will take USD.

[vegasnine]

No issues using USD but many places will give you change in pesos which is fine cause then you can use them to spend on the street vendor type booths.

[chocolate melting cake]

If I understand the new regulations, legally a Mexican business can accept up to $100 in US currency. If you are planning on a purchase in excess of $100 you would LEGALLY either have to use Mexican currency or use a credit card, which should automatically make the exchange (at more favorable rates than a bank). This law was passed to help prevent drug money laundering.

[keyguide]

If I understand the new regulations, legally a Mexican business can accept up to $100 in US currency. If you are planning on a purchase in excess of $100 you would LEGALLY either have to use Mexican currency or use a credit card, which should automatically make the exchange (at more favorable rates than a bank). This law was passed to help prevent drug money laundering.

That's true but no matter what hardship or inconvenience we put ourselves and others through the drugs just don't stop ... everything we have done hasn't even driven the price up.We all know capitalism works but still try to curtail it on the supply side.

Good to know you can still use usd in San Miguel will be back Feb.

[Timmys_mom]

That's true but no matter what hardship or inconvenience we put ourselves and others through the drugs just don't stop ... everything we have done hasn't even driven the price up.We all know capitalism works but still try to curtail it on the supply side.

Good to know you can still use usd in San Miguel will be back Feb.

Not sure what you mean by "hardship or inconvenience". I got off the ship, walked over to a money exchange store, checked their rate against the going rate and exchanged some dollars for pesos. Since we were on the Splendor and all the stops were in Mexican ports, we had no problem using the pesos up. Some of the crazy places we went to did not take dollars so it would have been a big inconvenience and hardship (i.e., no cervesa for you!) if we hadn't exchanged.

 

I appreciate the fact that I am able to spend USD in Mexico, but I certainly don't expect it. It is, after all, a foreign country.

[BeachChik]

Since many of you have been to Mexico in the last few months, did you REALLY have to exchange your money for Mexico or spend it as usual? :rolleyes:

 

We used US dollars everywhere. They do give change back in pesos which was ok for me as I keep a few bucks from everywhere we visit for my scrapbook.

 

Funny thing though. We ate at a restaurant that didn't take credit cards so we paid with cash so we ended up having to go to an ATM. For some reason my hubby just wasn't thinking and put in that he wanted 100, and was surprised when it gave him not 100 USD but 100 peso's. Oops :D I was like good job thanks for $9.

[cathy_kearns]

In Ensenada the few stores we went to took US$. And all gave change in US$, except for Starbucks, which gave us change in pesos.

[BeccaBecca1713]

In Cozumel and Costa Maya they had no problemas taking this gringo's cash!:D

[Justsyd]

Just returned from Ensenada on Friday, and all transactions were done in USD.

[gelboydad]

Off the Spirit Monday. Had no real problem with USD. We did our own excurisions using cabs at the ports. They accepted USD. Only problem we had was when we were off the beaten path one store wanted pesos. Driver exchanged some USD. All the markets took our dollars. However we never spend over 200 at any one spot.

[Luluwa]

THANKS EVERYONE - I can always count on my Cruise Critic friends for help. :)