How much US currency do people take?

[kclav]

I know that dollars are used on the ship, I know that I should have tip money for cabs and other situations but I am wondering, other than using my VISA, which I know is a preferred in many situations, how much US currency should I take and what denominations? (That may be the longest sentence I have ever written):)

[Talisker92]

Dear Kclav,

You omitted the most important part-where are you going and for how long?? The guidelines we use comes from a tour company

Half day- guide 2$ and up per person driver $1 and up per person

Full day -guide $4 and up per person driver $2 and up per person

 

If you are going to a foreign country, try to get some of the local money from your bank. It is fairly inexpensive.

As an example, We are cruising from Rome to Dover and have a private tour in Lisbon that cost 130 Euros for the 2 of us.

I plan to bring between 200 and 300 Euros.

We are spending almost 2 weeks in the UK and I an planning to bring about 300 pounds.

I use my VISA whenever possible, but to pay for taxis, etc. you need some cash.

[kclav]

Guess I should have added that I am taking the seven night Paul G. Tahiti and Society Island cruise and two extra days in Tahiti

[Emdee]

The ship will exchange travellers cheques - ours are usually AMEX ones. I would take $1000 at least in TCs.

 

One problem with Visa in Tahiti and environs is that ours did not work on 4trips. It would come back saying that there were insufficient funds when actually the credit limit was huge. Other cards like MC , AMEX work no problem. ANd this was after we told VISA that we would be in Tahiti. On one occasion I had to go back to the ship and get another card as I was buying some pearls. It was quite irritating.

 

We take several cards for this reason and plenty of TC. Just a limited amount of cash.

[Hibiscus13]

Should we even bother taking USD to French Polynesia? Would it make more sense to take just XPF and our credit cards?

[Talisker92]

Should we even bother taking USD to French Polynesia? Would it make more sense to take just XPF and our credit cards?

 

Agreed-That is what we did on our last Cruise on the PG.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I agree, get some XPF (Polynesian francs) from the ATM when you arrive. You can always get a few more on one of the island stops. On the ship, you will be using a credit card, period. So you don't have to take any significant amount of USD.

[Hibiscus13]

Especially for Canadians - taking US dollars just doesn't make sense :)

[Emdee]

Hibiscus, I dont agree.

 

US $ is accepted world wide. Recently in vietnam the ANZ bank gave the Canadian $ a 25% lower rate than the US which we thought was ridiculous. We usually take all three US$, Cdn$ and the local currency of the place plus a hoard of TC for just in case...

 

With the Cdn $ doing so well we just buy some US and keep some in an account for trips shopping etc. We also maintain both Cdn and US$ cards.

 

Miriam

[Hibiscus13]

Hibiscus, I dont agree.

 

US $ is accepted world wide. Recently in vietnam the ANZ bank gave the Canadian $ a 25% lower rate than the US which we thought was ridiculous. We usually take all three US$, Cdn$ and the local currency of the place plus a hoard of TC for just in case...

 

With the Cdn $ doing so well we just buy some US and keep some in an account for trips shopping etc. We also maintain both Cdn and US$ cards.

 

Miriam

 

We also maintain US dollar accounts, but I don't agree that US dollars are accepted world wide.

 

We live part time in Mexico and with the new government regulations, US dollars are not easy to spend, and nor should they be. I wouldn't consider spending anything but Euro in Europe, why spend US dollars anywhere but the US?

 

I subscribe to the idea that local currency is the way to go, wherever you travel....

[Emdee]

Hibiscus,

you misunderstand me or perhaps I was not clear!

 

When I say US is accepted worldwide I dont mean that it is legal tender. I mean it is accepted by banks and hotels in order to change money into local currencies. In more than one country in Africa hotels have refused Canadian Dollars and I have been happy that I have carried a stash of greenbacks. In India I have to admit the rates for both Cdn and US are pretty accurate.

[MightyQuinn]

We intend to purchase xpf when we arrive at the airport in Papeete. We'll get enough to cover what we think we'll need for our entire cruise. But we'll also bring some US$ with us, since some local operators (notably Patrick on Bora Bora) price their private tours in US$. And of course, credit cards will handle the rest.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Canadians don't usually take C$ when travelling abroad, since they are not readily accepted, except in a bank, despite the strength of the currency. Especially in a place like French Polynesia.

 

So there's usually USD, British pounds or Euros in the equation when we travel. But if using a local currency, you want to only convert once, so an ATM is the most convenient way of doing that.