How did you deal with all the different currencies?

[doctor4kydz]

I'm stressing over dealing with all the different currencies...

 

Danish Krone, Euros, Estonian Kroon, Russian Roubles, and Swedish Krona.

 

Did you take all the different currencies with you? Where did you get them?

How much of each would you suggest? Are there easily accessible ATMs all over?

 

Suggestions welcome!

[Quilting_Cruiser]

I'm stressing over dealing with all the different currencies...

 

Danish Krone, Euros, Estonian Kroon, Russian Roubles, and Swedish Krona.

 

Did you take all the different currencies with you? Where did you get them?

How much of each would you suggest? Are there easily accessible ATMs all over?

 

Suggestions welcome!

 

 

I haven't yet--less than a week to go! But, I do know from my research that there are ATMs available; you shouldn't have any trouble finding them. My bank charges a fee for using ATMs that aren't theirs and I want to avoid those fees so I ordered some "walking around" cash in each currency to pay for small items, public transportation, and cabs. I plan to mostly use my CC. If you're touring with an independent in St P, you may not need any Rubles. Ours has said that we don't--I understand even the street vendors accept USD or Euros as well as Rubles.

[doctor4kydz]

Where did you order the "walking around currency" from? Was there a hefty service charge?

[Quilting_Cruiser]

Where did you order the "walking around currency" from? Was there a hefty service charge?

 

I ordered it from my bank. There was no charge if you ordered over a certain amount (I think $1,000) and $15 service charge for under the threshold. I had it shipped to my branch so I didn't have to pay for it to be shipped and was able to pick it up within a few days of ordering it. It would have been next day if I hadn't ordered Rubles (even though our guide told us we didn't need any, I feel more comfortable having a bit of the local currency).

[CruiserBruce]

A little reading on the board would find that ATMs are by far the best, easiest and most convinient way to get cash. The ATMs can't charge fees, only your home bank. For a small amount, the overall fees will be much smaller, and the exchange much better at an ATM.

[NeoVega]

Danish Krone, Euros, Estonian Kroon, Russian Roubles, and Swedish Krona.

 

FYI. Estonia is on euros. The Russian tours sound like they would be happy with EUROS or DOLLARS, so you probably do not need to worry about rubles.

 

But yeah, the different currencies do make life interesting. i need to deal with Iceland Krone ISK and Latvian Lats LVL. And I need make sure I do not end up with extra LATS because Latvia is converting to Euros in Jan 2014.

[LHT28]

We have a currency exchange booth in the local mall I get mine there

I keep them in their respective envelopes & just take what I may need ashore the rest stay onboard in the safe

 

The exchange rate was not much higher than posted on the bank's site

In Norway & Budapest I ran low so went to an ATM

 

If you need it just pay the fee ;)

[Giantfan13]

We also got some currency for the needed ports, from our local Bank, for a very minimal charge. I think we did $50, Danish, same from Swedish and $100 in Euro. We were told we really wouldn't need an Rubles.

 

We were very glad we did that as we enjoy using the currency of the country you are in.

 

This is just MY opinion, should think all we need to do is flash American dollars at people and they will always accept them, no questions asked. Would an American shopkeeper take Euro's?. I don't think so.

 

Cheers

 

Len

[cougfan]

I researched what we would be doing in each port and ordered each type of currency (from our bank) in the amount that I thought we would need. Any that was left over, we spent at the little shops that were usually next to the dock. In Saint Petersburg we used US dollars. We kept the money in the safe until the port we were going to use it. We had to have Swedish Krona (luckily we had two Swedish ports), Euros and Danish Krone. For the British pounds we used a Barclays ATM because they have an agreement with our bank (Bank of America) for no fees. We used a Capitol One credit card because it doesn't charge any extra fees for foreign transactions.

 

Julie

[jdblakeslee]

Our local bank was able to get all the different currencies we will need for our cruise. I didn't pay a service fee. I, too, like having a few bucks in my pocket without searching around for an ATM. We plan on using our Capital One cc for most everything.

 

Jennifer

 

 

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[Jean1946]

We ordered our money from the bank too. There was one service fee ($7.50) for 4 transactions. We got $100.00 In Rubbles (not sure of the spelling) and got a stack of paper money. I think it was like 3,000 R's. I think we did "$100 for the other too.

[drsb]

I bought money from wells fargo. since there was a $15 service charge regardless, I bough $300 euros, $200 Danish Krona and $150 Rubles. These amount cover tips, lunch and a few bucks left for souvenirs in each country. We have a cc with a pin and chip if needed.

[swoonx]

Well, I never order money in advance and always get cash from the ATM.

 

If you have a credit card, which offers free withdrawals, that's the best and cheapest way to get money in the whole world. You can always find an ATM near you :)

[burnoutbabe]

I pre-ordered money in advance using a "cheapest currency" tool on the moneysaving expert website (UK) and as i work in London, could collect from a london branch.

 

£50 worth of SEK, £50 of DKK and £200 of Euros and $700 - as had to pay for our St Pet tour in $ plus tips.

 

Spent all the SEK and DKK and have loads of Euros left but thats easy to swap the notes back and use the change for next European trip. I made sure i spent all the DKK and SEK change on sweets before getting back on ship!

[RJ2002]

I am just back from our Baltic cruise out of Copenhagen on the NCL Star. We spent a week prior to the cruise in the UK and in other Euro countries.

 

We did not convert any money in advance, and we only pulled Euros from an ATM. We did not pull any other currencies.

 

We were able to use credit cards everywhere, including points of arrival in various countries. Train stations and taxis accepted credit cards everywhere we went. We didn't need roubles in Russia; we used credit cards there for the 2 purchases we made. In the areas where we needed to tip guides (Germany and Russia) we used Euros and USD.

[dsrdsrdsr]

Many ships offer conversion of local currency on your ship's card, and will convert back any unused money. Check with your line.

 

(As people will point out, this is an expensive way of doing it. If you convert say $100 at each port and convert it back again, it may cost you as much as $5 per port over and above the cheapest way of doing it. I don't consider this a material expense.)

[squadron]

Many ships offer conversion of local currency on your ship's card, and will convert back any unused money. Check with your line.

 

(As people will point out, this is an expensive way of doing it. If you convert say $100 at each port and convert it back again, it may cost you as much as $5 per port over and above the cheapest way of doing it. I don't consider this a material expense.)

Several years ago I ordered Euros, Swiss Francs and Austrian? from my bank and it cost more than the $5 you quoted. In fact I found I didn't need much foreign currency at all - just for snacks and bathroom . Thibnk using the ship's ATM would ne better.