Currency question

[Micheller]

We are going on a Princess Mediterranean cruise very soon and will need both US dollars and Euros. If we bought Euro travellers cheques and changed them on the ship to cash does anybody know whether Princess will charge commission?

Or would it just be better to bring cash in Euros?

[spongerob]

You won't be charged a commission to cash TC's in the same currency.

[cherylandtk]

Another thing to keep in mind is that once you get on land, ATM's in the cities (big and small) are usually plentiful and most US ATM cards will work in the European bank ATM's. You do need a four digit PIN, and you should let your local bank know that you will be in Europe, so your account is not flagged for unusual activity. If you normally have linked checking and savings accounts and transfer betwen them, you may be limited to using only your main checking account. You do get a better exchange rate than with travellers checks, although your bank fees can eat into that if you do a lot of smaller withdrawals.

 

When I travel overseas, I usually get a few hundred in Euros in cash from my local bank before I go, and then just use my ATM card for the rest of the trip. The travelers checks, for me, are just not as convenient.

[CruisinD]

Will the ship have Euros at the purser's desk for exchange? I thought they only used dollars and one had to get Euros via the on board ATM (which has a fee of some sort) while on the ship. Perhaps someone knows for sure. We always take some foreign currency with us, and get more via the ATM's on land so I have no actual experience getting currency on the ship itself.

 

Denise

[Micheller]

Thanks for that! I'll take the travellers cheques then!

[jwitt2]

We are wondering about the euros also, whether we will be able to get them from the purser's when we are on the Royal Princess. Husband is afraid that the ATM's on land will be in a foreign language and we won't be able to figure out how to use them. We have had this problem trying to use pay phones in foreign countries, and in England even though we speak English, using the pay phones was a nightmare.

[cactusrose]

The ATMs on land are very easy to use. Don't be afraid of them, they give the best rates. There is also a machine on board that allows you to feed it US dollars and get foreign currency back. I don't think they have the best rate, but it's not a bad rate and is convenient. If you are using ATMs be sure to find ones with the same network as your bank ATMs use. You can find the symbol on the back of your card and on the front of the ATMs. You can also go on the internet and actually find the locations of these machines in foreign countries.

[Cat-Nik]

Thanks for that! I'll take the travellers cheques then!

 

Michelle,

 

As your bill is via cc, why not take cash. Check your holiday insurance, you will probably be covered for at least £250 per person so long as it's on your person or in a safe. That's what we will be doing - and it wont be anything like £500 I can assure you.

 

Nick

[CruisinD]

jwitt:

 

Most ATM's that I have found in Europe allow you to choose a language.

 

(Although some don't; I usually manage to struggle through using my minimal knowledge of the foregin language - or else I go on to another ATM.)

 

Denise

[Cat-Nik]

Watch the charges on Eurpoean ATMs though, can be a good few %.

[BJS]

We are going on a Princess Mediterranean cruise very soon and will need both US dollars and Euros. If we bought Euro travellers cheques and changed them on the ship to cash does anybody know whether Princess will charge commission?

Or would it just be better to bring cash in Euros?

Last year found the easiest way was to bring credit card and that worked for most everything. Taking a couple hundred Euros with you which many banks, Wells Fargo is one, will get for you without a charge worked great for us. You won't get the best exchange rate but sure is nice not to have to bother with ATMS. We really didn't need much in the way of cash just mainly for any fast food because everyone welcomed credit cards. We took 300 Euros and even returned with 80 Euros after spending 2 nights pre-cruise in Venice and 24 days on the cruise.

 

There were many posts from people who took Traveler's checks and they had multiple problems getting them cashed. I believe on the ship they only cashed USD traveler's checks and then you have to use the expensive machine to convert to Euros.

[wwinfl91]

On the Golden in 2003 the machine for exchanging dollars to euros charged a flat fee that included exchanging a certain number of bills, I think it was 8 at time. I think the fee then was $3 US. Once I realized that was how it worked I cashed travelers checks at the pursors desk for no charge which gave me dollars but I had them give me the biggest bills they had, $50 and $100's. Then I did one exchange with the maximum number of bills allowed for the single fee. It worked out to be the cheapest and easiest way for us to be sure of having euros for early morning private tours.

 

The exchange rate was supposed to be the one that had been established that day and I checked in a couple of ports and it was always within a couple of cents.

 

I did see people exchanging a single $20 US bill for which they would be charged $3. When I saw this and they looked intelligent enough not to take offence I would explain the system to them and they were amazed because they had not read the instructions on the machine.

 

IMHO.

 

Have a great next cruise.