Ukraine crisis: Thinking of canceling Baltic cruise?

[pacheco18]

Viktoria is a smart business woman. She will figure something out

 

If my only option in spb were an Oceania tour , I would cancel

 

 

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[Mura]

We were in SP with Renaissance, before Red October and these other groups were established. We had a private guide for just the two of us who was incredibly cheap, but she figured out that she was incredibly cheap and so she no longer is. (I mean we paid $60/day but we took public transportation, no car.)

 

Anyway, I'm sure Viktoria and the others will figure out how to enable people in their groups to get rubles, if that is what is necessary.

 

Me, I'm in the group that won't be giving Russia my tourist dollars any time soon. But that's my personal decision.

 

I'm not as adamant as Laraine is regarding private tours, as well. If it's easier for me to take a ship's tour, I will. Don't get me wrong -- I prefer smaller, private tours. But that isn't always possible.

 

Mura

[pacheco18]

Lol

Adamant is an understatement

 

I would stay on the ship before I would take a ship's tour

 

Seriously

 

One was enough

 

And it's not about price , although the prices are absurd. It's about the experience.

 

I always find private options. I just booked the tours for EVERY port on 2015 cape town to Singapore and in some ports arrangements were difficult But I ultimately found great options. It is worth the work IMO

 

 

 

 

 

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[kiawahdon]

This is called Economic Sanctions and they work at least to a limited degree. Yes, Loraine's poor tour guide may get hurt, but it is an issue much bigger than her. That's what sanctions are all about- squeezing until it hurts.

With Visa and MasterCard now out of the picture in Russia, the tour industry will change dramatically. And I doubt the guides will be able to take hard dollars and get any decent value from their Russian banks.

I still submit that a total cruise line boycott would have an impact. Enriching Putin's treasury is not the answer.

[pacheco18]

They don't work. We've been squeezing countries left and right with little success Iran doesn't care. Cuba doesn't care

 

Putin is a megalomaniac. He doesn't care

 

I don't cruise or not cruise or travel or not travel to make a political statement. For those who do I guess punishing the tour operators sounds like a good idea. To me it makes little sense

 

We will all vote with our pocketbooks

 

 

 

 

 

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[Travelcat2]

They don't work. We've been squeezing countries left and right with little success Iran doesn't care. Cuba doesn't care

 

Putin is a megalomaniac. He doesn't care

 

I don't cruise or not cruise or travel or not travel to make a political statement. For those who do I guess punishing the tour operators sounds like a good idea. To me it makes little sense

 

We will all vote with our pocketbooks

 

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Agree with you 100%. Although we will be on Regent rather than Oceania at the end of June, we hope they will visit St. Petersburg and Murmansk, Russia. If they change ports, so be it. We would not cancel even if we were not within the penalty phase.

[buggins0402]

Visa and Mastercard has cut off at least seven (7) russian banks. If you were planning on booking through SPB tours, or some of the other local tour companies, things may have just gotten more difficult. Oceania may be the only game in town for tours in ST. Pete, if they still go.

 

Do you have the link? Article I saw had only 2 banks.

[buggins0402]

 

Anyway, I'm sure Viktoria and the others will figure out how to enable people in their groups to get rubles, if that is what is necessary.

 

 

 

Mura

 

Actually - the tour companies have priced in dollars and will probably want to stay that way. The Ruble has deteriorated over 10% against the dollar since we booked our tour. So they've had a nice gain - as their costs are in rubles.

 

With our evening excursion and tips it would mean carrying around a lot of cash (over $800 for this port alone) so we'd rather pay by CC.

[Mura]

You're right. Even in 2001 our guide wanted dollars. So did the cab driver.

 

In a way rubles would be easier, because as it is if you're going to pay in dollars and cannot use a credit card, then you're going to have to haul them with you. That's what we had to do in the summer of '12 on our Black Sea cruise. Virtually all our guides wanted dollars.

 

Mura

[pacheco18]

I have stopped changing currency completely. Except in the most unusual circumstances dollars can be used everywhere.

 

 

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[buggins0402]

You're right. Even in 2001 our guide wanted dollars. So did the cab driver.

 

In a way rubles would be easier, because as it is if you're going to pay in dollars and cannot use a credit card, then you're going to have to haul them with you. That's what we had to do in the summer of '12 on our Black Sea cruise. Virtually all our guides wanted dollars.

 

Mura

 

Looks like Visa and Mastercard have resumed business with the two banks.

 

http://rt.com/business/visa-mastercard-us-sanctions-693/

[Mura]

I have stopped changing currency completely. Except in the most unusual circumstances dollars can be used everywhere.

 

 

I wouldn't go that far, Laraine. Yes, it's true in third world countries. On the Black Sea there was only one guide that didn't want dollars, and he wanted euros. In Brazil this fall it was dollars with one guide, reis or euros with the others (depending on whether we were in Brazil or Spain). I'm sure the guide who wanted dollars would have taken Brazilian currency if needed. But I'm not going to try to use U.S. Dollars in Canada or the UK in May.

 

Mura

[pacheco18]

Of course in the uk I use pounds and euro throughout Europe. Frankly we charge almost everything to get miles. I use cash mostly in markets when I shop. Dollars are accepted everywhere I have been. Tour guides generally quote in usd or euro

 

But other than that I have not used foreign currencies in years and i have been to some pretty exotic places

I carry lots of small us bills and I make sure they are not damaged.

 

 

 

 

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Edited March 24, 2014 by pacheco18

[no fuss travel]

But I'm not going to try to use U.S. Dollars in Canada or the UK in May.

 

Mura

 

Your American dollars are welcome in Canada, but the stores etc. do not give you a fair exchange rate. Almost the same as anywhere else you travel in the world, you have to watch where you exchange your money.

[pacheco18]

I would add that if I am going to be in a country for an extended time eg three weeks in Egypt I get local currency. But not for a one day port stop

 

 

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[Mura]

Your American dollars are welcome in Canada, but the stores etc. do not give you a fair exchange rate. Almost the same as anywhere else you travel in the world, you have to watch where you exchange your money.

 

It's the same here -- border U.S. states will accept Canadian dollars, but again as you say, the exchange rate is tilted. However, someone on our cruise last year shared a tour with another couple who had assumed they could pay in U.S. dollars (I think this was in Quebec) and the guide would not accept them. I prefer to get cash when necessary in the country's currency UNLESS it's a situation where I've been told they prefer dollars. It's a pain to carry a lot of dollars with you, especially when the recipients insist on new, clean bills!

 

Laraine, I know you have traveled a lot in exotic countries and it is precisely there where I would think you can always use dollars.

 

Mura

[tropicalkerry2002]

Please, everyone who doesn't want to carry lots of US dollars!

 

Get travellers checks in US dollars. The ship will cash $500 per person/day with NO FEE! (at least in Nov 2011, and Sept 2012, this was the case!)

 

We have taken them on 2 cruises where tours( in Rio and St P.) were to be paid in US dollars, so we didn't have to carry all that money on the plane, and have it for the first couple of days in hotels, before we boarded the ship. It was safer than carrying cash.

 

Anytime I post this, people all respond that they are travellers checks are extinct, etc, but it is a FAR safer way to travel with US dollars, especially the large amts needed for Russian tours.

 

Once on board, we cashed them, and kept the cash in the safe. The bills we got were quite acceptable to SPB tours, and I wouldn't have said they were new bills.

 

I don't buy Travellers checks in any other currency, just use the ATMs in each country.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

... I prefer to get cash when necessary in the country's currency UNLESS it's a situation where I've been told they prefer dollars. It's a pain to carry a lot of dollars with you, especially when the recipients insist on new, clean bills!

...

 

I'm with you on that one! Although in one of the "exotic" places, carrying small USD bills can be convenient, sometimes in markets they automatically assume you're American and quote in USD. Paid this way recently in Laos--these are poor people, and appreciated the hard currency I expect.

 

Please, everyone who doesn't want to carry lots of US dollars!

 

Get travellers checks in US dollars. The ship will cash $500 per person/day with NO FEE! (at least in Nov 2011, and Sept 2012, this was the case!)

...

 

That's a good idea, for a cruise. Will remember that.

[sitraveler]

The ship is happy to exchange your large US bills into smaller denominations.

The money is almost always brand new, I think they print it on board.

[jp30338]

The ship is happy to exchange your large US bills into smaller denominations.

The money is almost always brand new, I think they print it on board.

 

lmao, uh what??? they print money on board, really :eek:

[ohmark]

Somebody call the hijack police!

[roothy123]

Most people don't want to take local buses or eat in a McDonalds when in the Baltic, but if you do, you might want a little bit of local money. In Riga, Latvia, only Lats were accepted in McDonalds, so we were glad we had exchanged a small amount on board the ship. Two bankers came on board the ship (Marina, I think) and changed money for a small fee. They also came back on board in the afternoon to exchange the latvian money back, which I found quite unusual! They would change it into rubles, too, if you wanted, as STP was our next port of call. We didn't do that, however, and were fine in Russia with only dollars and a small number of euros. We're not big shoppers, however - and we did NOT travel independently in Russia (bus, taxis, etc.)

 

Please don't cancel your Baltic cruise because of the Ukraine! The Baltic is a wonderful area to visit! That was one of our favorite cruises to date - so much variety!

Edited March 26, 2014 by roothy123

[JimandStan]

The Baltic is a wonderful area to visit! That was one of our favorite cruises to date - so much variety!

 

Aside from that one problem, Mrs. Lincoln, did you find your evening at Fords' Theater to be enjoyable?

[cbb]

Not to hijack the thread but we always check out where McDonalds is--buy a coke or coffee and use the rest room. They are usually clean and not all cities have public restrooms.

 

We also use that opportunity to send a note home or check email since Mac's is a great place to find wifi.

[ohmark]

Please don't cancel your Baltic cruise because of the Ukraine! The Baltic is a wonderful area to visit!

I do appreciate your sentiments, but the beauty and interest of the area are not the issue. We will go at some point. The issue is whether it makes sense now when there is a possibility that some ports we want to see might, conceivably, be cancelled, and when other problems are possible. And, of course, the best time to make such decision is before the penalties kick in.

Edited March 26, 2014 by ohmark