On board currency exchange...

[SoBaycruiser]

Before you all tell me to use an ATM because the rate isn't as good on board, let me explain that we will be doing a B2B with 10 different countries and 8 currencies. An RCI passenger said that they use the ship exchange because there is no service charge and they get a little cash for a port and then can exchange back immediately what they don't use and not get stuck with a lot of different currencies. So my questions are:

 

1. Does Princess have an exchange fee?

2. Is the exchange rate for buying and selling a currency the same?

 

I figure even if the rate is poor, if they take back what we don't use, we'll be okay and it will be easier than finding an ATM and then trying to use up what we took out.

[Shogun]

Hi There

 

Which part of the world are you cruising in,

 

yours Shogun

[SoBaycruiser]

Hi There

 

Which part of the world are you cruising in,

 

yours Shogun

 

Norway (midnight Sun) and Baltic out of Dover... They say most things can be bought with a credit card, but it's nice to have a little cash on hand when walking about town. For the most part, we will NOT be using ship excursions.

[paul929207]

Princess will have some currency available for exchange. Last I heard they did charge a fee. The buy and sell rates are definitely NOT the same.

 

Three or four years ago, I figured out that if you converted $100 to Euros, then exchanged those Euros for US$, you would get about $77 back.

[Shogun]

Hi There,

 

We did Norway Denmark, Sweden, as well as couple of ports in Euro zone,

 

we found that shops at cruise terminal would take any form of money,

 

but also good supply of local ATM machines, the result was we used very

 

little cash as most things went on plastic, but as you say its nice to have

 

a little local currency, what we have started doing is taking a holiday

 

debit card that you pre load with local currency, lot safer than carrying

 

cash assume some US banks or Travel companies must offer same,

 

interest rate is excellant, no fees and you get market rate not high street

 

rate.

 

If you wanted local cash I would wait until first port, and go into large

 

bank and get a little of each, as you will get far better rate than the ship,

 

yours Shogun

[Pam in CA]

Norway (midnight Sun) and Baltic out of Dover... They say most things can be bought with a credit card, but it's nice to have a little cash on hand when walking about town. For the most part, we will NOT be using ship excursions.

I've done both cruises and the only foreign currencies I brought was for Russia and some €. I know some of the counties you're going to don't use the € but it can still be used.

 

If you use the ship's currency exchange, there's a service fee for each transaction. I believe it's $3.50. And the rate of exchange is very poor. If you return foreign bills (no coins) to pay down your folio, there's no service fee but you are getting another poor exchange rate. Unless you're going into the countryside or more non-tourist areas, you can use US$ or €. Except in Russia.

 

I don't think it's a good idea because it's like buying a $5 item online and paying a $4.95 shipping and handling.

[SoBaycruiser]

Hi There,

 

We did Norway Denmark, Sweden, as well as couple of ports in Euro zone,

 

we found that shops at cruise terminal would take any form of money,

 

but also good supply of local ATM machines, the result was we used very

 

little cash as most things went on plastic, but as you say its nice to have

 

a little local currency, what we have started doing is taking a holiday

 

debit card that you pre load with local currency, lot safer than carrying

 

cash assume some US banks or Travel companies must offer same,

 

interest rate is excellant, no fees and you get market rate not high street

 

rate.

 

If you wanted local cash I would wait until first port, and go into large

 

bank and get a little of each, as you will get far better rate than the ship,

 

yours Shogun

 

While I appreciate your suggestions, I'd still like the answer to my questions. For example, our ship docks at Vartahamnen in Stockholm and there is no terminal, no TI, no ATMs. We don't want to take the HOHO bus. We want to have the option of getting currency on the ship for public transportation. However, I will look into the availability of a holiday debit card in the US. Thanks.

[SoBaycruiser]

I've done both cruises and the only foreign currencies I brought was for Russia and some €. I know some of the counties you're going to don't use the € but it can still be used.

 

If you use the ship's currency exchange, there's a service fee for each transaction. I believe it's $3.50. And the rate of exchange is very poor. If you return foreign bills (no coins) to pay down your folio, there's no service fee but you are getting another poor exchange rate. Unless you're going into the countryside or more non-tourist areas, you can use US$ or €. Except in Russia.

 

I don't think it's a good idea because it's like buying a $5 item online and paying a $4.95 shipping and handling.

 

Thanks for the specifics Pam. The $3.50 transaction fee is the killer. I could deal with the poor rate without that.

[SoBaycruiser]

Princess will have some currency available for exchange. Last I heard they did charge a fee. The buy and sell rates are definitely NOT the same.

 

Three or four years ago, I figured out that if you converted $100 to Euros, then exchanged those Euros for US$, you would get about $77 back.

 

Didn't mean to ignore your input...didn't get notification of it. :) Thanks. I've decided that Princess' transaction fee isn't for me.

[alaskagirl2010]

I'm taking the Australia cruise that uses AU$ on board. When I booked Princess asked if I wanted my charges converted to US. I agreed. Was that a dumb move? My credit card doesn't charge me a bank fee for foreign transactions.

[paul929207]

I'm taking the Australia cruise that uses AU$ on board. When I booked Princess asked if I wanted my charges converted to US. I agreed. Was that a dumb move? My credit card doesn't charge me a bank fee for foreign transactions.

You do much better letting your bank convert from AU$ to your currency.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

The best card is Fidelty debit card no fees ...

[caribill]

How good a deal is using the Princess currency exchange machines?

 

Here is how it was a couple of years ago on a Princess ship (Euro was worth more then, but the example is illustrative of current practice.)

 

There was an onboard currency exchange machine that could be used to obtain Euros. This is not an ATM machine. You insert the currency you have (for example US$) to get the Euros.

1 Euro onboard costs $1.56. Also there is a service charge of $3.50 per transaction.

Rate I received buying Euros at an ATM on shore using Credit Union ATM debit card: $1.44, about the exchange rate at that time. (My CU charges no fees). Thus, buying 300 Euros onboard would have cost me $39.50 more than it did at an ATM machine on shore.

By the way, Princess will buy back those $1.56 Euros paying you $1.33 for each one. Again, there is a service charge of $3.50 per transaction.

[caribill]

Norway (midnight Sun) and Baltic out of Dover... They say most things can be bought with a credit card, but it's nice to have a little cash on hand when walking about town. For the most part, we will NOT be using ship excursions.

 

 

Our Baltic cruise went to: Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia and Poland.

 

We used an onshore ATM to get some local currency in the following ports: Oslo, Copenhagen

 

We did not use any local currency other than Euros in the other ports. In Stockholm we had obtained the Oslo Card in advance and that eliminated the need for local currency for transportation and admissions. In the other ports we were either on Princess excursions or on private excursions that wanted payment in US $ or Euros.