st. john/halifax money conversion

[cruisn~]

I will be cruising to st. john and halifax. are banks easily accessible from the boat to convert money? do most places around the port take US$?

[Acey-SJ]

I will be cruising to st. john and halifax. are banks easily accessible from the boat to convert money? do most places around the port take US$?

 

USD is widely accepted in Saint John. Banks are all on King Street a couple blocks from ship. Credit cards are widely accepted too. I wouldn't worry about exchanging any money in this port given they are pretty much at par with CDN$

[kazu]

You can use USD in either of these canadian ports easily - but remember the exchange rate will not be quite as favourable as the banks;)

 

Credit cards are widely accepted as well:)

[3rdGenCunarder]

If you're going to be in two (or more?) Canadian ports, I suggest you exchange some money before you go. Some banks will waive fees for account holders. Bank of America does this. I think, as a visitor to another country, it's polite to use their currency. Plus, it makes things go a little faster, as merchants don't have to figure the exchange rate.

 

The other option is to use an ATM at your first port. Check you bank's website to see if they partner with foreign banks. BoA does this. If I use my ATM at one of their partner banks, I don't have to pay the out-of-network fees.

[daisitroy]

Just remember that sometimes if you pay with US dollars, your change will be in the Canadian currency depending on the vendor or place.

[maryann ns]

There are ATMs everywhere and they give the best exchange rate.

[jkrislc]

On HAL, they would only convert CAN to US, not US to CAN. However, ATMs were readily accessible in every port and we got a better exchange rate using the ATMs than even what I found online. At the end of the cruise, I converted my extra CAN to US at what amounted to a 1% fee based on the exchange rate used by the ship, which beat the 12% I saw at the airport.