Credit Card or cash in Norway

[Tink1987]

Hi All,

 

Just trying to make the decision on whether to bother taking any Krone with us for our cruise to the Fjords next week? Or will I be able to just use my credit card everywhere?

 

I am thinking it may be best to just take a bit of cash for the smaller purchases ashore? Don't want to take too much as I don't want to lose out having to change a lot of it back when I am home.

 

Can anyone give me a indication of what they spent ashore in the Fjords? We will have lunch off the boat in the 4 ports and will probably buy a few souvenirs?

 

Thanks very much, as always :D

[Thejuggler]

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1631093

 

Recent discussion.

[cruiser1955]

I went last year and found that I needed very little in the way of Krone. It's handy for the odd cup of coffee/beer/ice cream/bus/taxi. Most shops would take Euros but most advised the use of credit cards as a better rate of exchange could be obtained. In one museum, a local used a card to purchase 3 ice creams, so it seems that cards can be used for small purchases. The 3 ice creams were around £8 (63 Krone). Coffees were around 25Kr, beer 30-60Kr, cake 20-50Kr, sandwiches up to 100Kr.

 

Any total purchase of more than around 350Kr will allow you to reclaim the VAT but the shop will charge you around 40Kr for the form, so may not be worth doing on small purchases.

 

I didn't use my card and spent around 1,000Kr on a 14 night cruise. That included several t-shirts and gifts.

[baldude]

Hi, just back from Norway on Ventura. Really enjoyed the ship and also the friendly Norwegians. We only took £100 worth of Krone (M&S good exchange) and found we had to change another £100 on board. We only bought a few prezzies and the odd coffee and cake. We used a credit card for the bigger purchases (tesco cc) and on checking our statement on return found this to be a favourable rate. So my suggestion would be £200 in krone, some sterling in case you want to change more on board. Avoid taking cash on your registered card as this will incur charges. Hope this isn't too long winded and enjoy your cruise. :)

[BrianI]

So my suggestion would be £200 in krone, some sterling in case you want to change more on board. Avoid taking cash on your registered card as this will incur charges. Hope this isn't too long winded and enjoy your cruise. :)

With P&O, there is no extra charge for withdrawing cash, be it sterling or foreign currency. It just appears on your account like any other on board spend. i.e draw £100 from reception and £100 gets charged on your account. At the end your account is just charged to your credit card as a lump sum figure.

Brian

[C at Sea]

Yes, thats what we always do. Just comes up as the onboard spend, not separated.

[Tink1987]

Thanks very much all!

 

I am going to change £200 into sterling here then and use my CC for any large port purchases.

 

When you say draw from reception Brian, do you mean like a cashpoint or receiving £100 cash from the lobby staff and they charge it to your onboard account?

 

Sorry, I'm just so new to all of this!

[tyrole]

Tink I was just about to ask this question as we are off on Saturday. We are not big spenders are only likely to buy a few postcards and the odd coffee. I'll just withdraw money onboard.

Thank you

[BrianI]

Thanks very much all!

When you say draw from reception Brian, do you mean like a cashpoint or receiving £100 cash from the lobby staff and they charge it to your onboard account?

 

Sorry, I'm just so new to all of this!

Yes, just go to reception and you can withdraw cash - sterling, euros, krona, US dollars etc. It just gets charged to your onboard account like any other on board spend, so ultimately, at the end of your cruise, to your credit card you registered on checkin.

There is no extra charge for sterling cash but the exchange rate for foreign currency is maybe slightly less than you can get elsewhere. However, for a small amount of foreign currency, the difference is minimal compared to the convenience. You can also change back any unused paper money.

Brian

[cclarke12]

We are travelling on Saturday too. I am just going to get some cash our the cash maching in Stavanager as my bank's charges are pretty reasonable (we did that last year). I also have credit card with no commission so will use that where I can (am hoping can use that for Flaam railway tickets rather than cash)

[LibraLass41]

I went last week, and took £200 worth of Krona, and brought back £100 worth.

 

But I did 3 port tours so didn't need to spend any money, as tours deducted from onboard account and two of them included coffee, waffles and jam,cream, which was enough to eat till back to ship.

 

A coffee in Olden, was 33kr not bad, just over £3 , but heard scare storied before i went of 2 beers being £26 so didn't even but alcohol in day....

a small bottle of coke was 35kr. so if you have children take drinks for them!

 

Basically all shops sell the same stuff - trolls, norway flag mugs and fridge magnets and wooly hats and socks and chunky jumphers.

I bought a great pair of walking socks for 99 kr - £10 lol

 

Its so expensive you just don't bother....but we did do a land train in Bergen which was £150 kr each so that took £30 off up out of £100 I spent all week,#depends if you are DIY'ing trips or doing P&O's I suppose....

 

HIGHLY RECOMMEND THE LAND TOURIST TRAIN AT OLDEN FROM OUTSIDE THE SHIP - £150 KR pp takes you into Olden town and all around the beautiful lake surrounded by waterfalls and snow capped mountains.

[Tink1987]

Thanks for the tips Libra Lass.

 

We were in Debenhams last night doing some last minute shopping and decided just to see on the off chance if they had any Krone in and they did! Bought £123 pounds worth so it rounded up correctly into Krone money.

 

If we need any more, we can always change it on board or, as I said, we do have our credit card for big purchases.