Travellers Cheques/debit card etc?

[fortyherewecome]

We are cruising Auckland-Pacific Islands shortly. What is the best (aka cheapest/least hassle/least fees) way of paying. I think? credit cards used overseas have huge fees attached. What did you do?

[Kiwi Kruzer]

We are cruising Auckland-Pacific Islands shortly. What is the best (aka cheapest/least hassle/least fees) way of paying. I think? credit cards used overseas have huge fees attached. What did you do?

 

Travellers Cheques? What are they?:D

If they are still available TC's would be the most expensive way to pay.

Credit card is by far the least hassle .

If you want the "cheapest" way , then just take cash. I see from your other posts that you will be on Pacific Pearl from Auckland. Charges will be in Au dollars and we have a good exchange rate at the moment. Just go to a bank or even the Post Shops and ask for Aussie dollars.

When checking in use your credit card to open your on board account to which everything is charged and a few days before the end of the cruise ask for a print out, check it all , then pay cash. You can hand over as much cash as you like , but on the last night there will be a long line of people doing just that. We usually pay the cash over just before the end and then there is only small balance, if any to charge to the CC.

The only thing to watch is that they charge your CC in Au dollars and do not convert it over to NZ. If they do , its at their rate , usually lousy , you want to check the box that says to charge in Au dollars and let your own bak do the conversion at the correct rate.

 

 

[Cruise_me_Crazy]

I have been exploring pre paid debit / credit cards. So far they seem like a good option.

[fortyherewecome]

We are cruising Auckland-Pacific Islands shortly. What is the best (aka cheapest/least hassle/least fees) way of paying. I think? credit cards used overseas have huge fees attached. What did you do?

 

Haha re the TC, I was just trying to throw out some options. That's a good idea to pay by CC a little earlier before the queues. But I also will look into a debit card, but wondered if it would actually end up cheaper to go that way rather than a credit card. I don't like the thought of taking lots of cash with me.

[KarateMan]

Travellers cheques are extinct to the modern generation. Not worth the paper they are written on.

 

The only way to pay these days is credit card (all versions that allow international payments including travellers debit cards) or cash.

 

Cash is good to stock up on for small purchases and credit cards are usually reserved for larger sums of money.

[The_Big_M]

I usually go with credit card as the cheapest and less hassle.

 

Especially as you say to the Pacific Islands, where XPF is used, you'll pay a lot for cash because it's not easy to get and low volume, so costs more to handle here.

[cruisine21]

I have a 28 Degrees credit card and a Citibank Plus Debit card. Both have no foreign exchange fees. Also a Bankwest Platinum card does not have any fees.

[fishtaco]

Cash is King! if you carry cash you are not going to loose it as you are aware of it all the time!

 

Ask yourself how many times you loose cash?;) Then ask yourself how many times you have been robbed of cash (government excluded:D)

 

28 degree MC is good for paying for things but they now have a 3% charge to withdraw your own money.

[madelk]

I have a 28 Degrees credit card and a Citibank Plus Debit card. Both have no foreign exchange fees. Also a Bankwest Platinum card does not have any fees.

 

^^THIS!!! :D

Exactly what I came here to post. You'll get the best exchange rates - there are no annual fees, no ATM fees and no exchange fees and no dormant account keeping fees.

 

BEWARE THE PREPAID CARDS!!! Most of them give you a crappy exchange rate and then take another 1% when you reload AND have withdrawal fees AND charge you a "per month" fee when you don't use your card for a set period of time and some have a purchase fee upfront as well. :mad:

 

If you do much travelling, take the time to get these cards. I personally LOVE the Citibank card - as they are a global bank you can find "home bank" ATMs all over the world where you can get balances etc. China had Citibanks, in Canada it was TD Bank that they were partnered with and in the USA you can use the ATM in ANY 7 Eleven as it's a partnered ATM. And there were others. You could also use almost any ATM you came across although some of those banks charged a fee but you were told this (eg the ATMs in Walmart had a fee that was charged by Walmart NOT by Citibank - the 7/11s didn't have that ATM "owner" fee.)

 

As for the islands - many of them take AUD in small notes and in some cases it was actually cheaper to pay in AUD than it was to pay in XPF. EG a sign saying that it would be $5 AUD or 1000XPF when $5AUD=750XPF at the time when I exchanged cash before I went. :confused:

 

I went at Christmas time - Noumea was generally XPF in the shops but the markets at the terminal took AUD, ATMs and EFTPOS readily available. The small islands took AUD and XPF - no card facilities.

 

Also agree with what another posted stated - DO NOT let the cruise line convert the currency - I'd put $100 on you getting a better rate 100% of the time from your bank even with their fees over what the ship gives. I converted back the extra XPF I had and I did the math - they took close to a 20% commission!! :eek: Your bank will typically run around 2-3% - the highest I've seen was 6%.

[fortyherewecome]

^^THIS!!! :D

Exactly what I came here to post. You'll get the best exchange rates - there are no annual fees, no ATM fees and no exchange fees and no dormant account keeping fees.

 

BEWARE THE PREPAID CARDS!!! Most of them give you a crappy exchange rate and then take another 1% when you reload AND have withdrawal fees AND charge you a "per month" fee when you don't use your card for a set period of time and some have a purchase fee upfront as well. :mad:

 

If you do much travelling, take the time to get these cards. I personally LOVE the Citibank card - as they are a global bank you can find "home bank" ATMs all over the world where you can get balances etc. China had Citibanks, in Canada it was TD Bank that they were partnered with and in the USA you can use the ATM in ANY 7 Eleven as it's a partnered ATM. And there were others. You could also use almost any ATM you came across although some of those banks charged a fee but you were told this (eg the ATMs in Walmart had a fee that was charged by Walmart NOT by Citibank - the 7/11s didn't have that ATM "owner" fee.)

 

As for the islands - many of them take AUD in small notes and in some cases it was actually cheaper to pay in AUD than it was to pay in XPF. EG a sign saying that it would be $5 AUD or 1000XPF when $5AUD=750XPF at the time when I exchanged cash before I went. :confused:

 

I went at Christmas time - Noumea was generally XPF in the shops but the markets at the terminal took AUD, ATMs and EFTPOS readily available. The small islands took AUD and XPF - no card facilities.

 

Also agree with what another posted stated - DO NOT let the cruise line convert the currency - I'd put $100 on you getting a better rate 100% of the time from your bank even with their fees over what the ship gives. I converted back the extra XPF I had and I did the math - they took close to a 20% commission!! :eek: Your bank will typically run around 2-3% - the highest I've seen was 6%.

Thank you that was a great lot of information. Very helpful, thanks!

[Aussieflyer]

If you are going to use a debit card my advice is to not use it for onboard the ship as unless you have mega amount in the account. You may find you do not have access to your money. Each night the ship will pre-authorise the amount for each day but the actual account will not be paid until the last day. The pre-authorised amounts will be released but I have heard of this taking up to 28 days. :eek: I suggest using a credit card on embarkation and then if you want to you can pay cash onto your account.

[MicCanberra]

If you are going to use a debit card my advice is to not use it for onboard the ship as unless you have mega amount in the account. You may find you do not have access to your money. Each night the ship will pre-authorise the amount for each day but the actual account will not be paid until the last day. The pre-authorised amounts will be released but I have heard of this taking up to 28 days. :eek: I suggest using a credit card on embarkation and then if you want to you can pay cash onto your account.

 

Good advice, that happened to a friend who used a debit card. :D

[madelk]

If you are going to use a debit card my advice is to not use it for onboard the ship as unless you have mega amount in the account. You may find you do not have access to your money. Each night the ship will pre-authorise the amount for each day but the actual account will not be paid until the last day. The pre-authorised amounts will be released but I have heard of this taking up to 28 days. :eek: I suggest using a credit card on embarkation and then if you want to you can pay cash onto your account.

 

I also agree - didn't think of it at the time I posted my other response. There are also issues surrounding debit cards often not being accepted by hire car companies and the like so very good advice.

[Tara Jane]

Not long back from south pacific islands. All markets and shops took aussie dollars. We went to Mystery Island, Mare, Villa and Noumea. I always checked prior to purchasing if they would give change also in AUD. I was caught out in Switzerland once, yes they took euro but gave me change in swiss franc. As I was only in Switzerland overnight on a coach tour, it meant I had to then go and spend all that change on more swiss chocolate:D Lesson learned to take cash in $5 and $10. On board carnival the desk was happy to change big notes into smaller as needed.

Edited June 2, 2014 by Tara Jane

[Wastegirl]

I got a surprise and it taught me a lesson to thoroughly check when you take delivery of something. I ordered some USD for when we cruised last, as I like to use cash for the Casino. Anyway glanced at the contents of the envelope when I took delivery and didn't realise I had been issued Traveller's Cheques in USD instead of Cash (I feel really stupid about it).

 

However it was not a problem, on Board the ship they cashed out my Traveller's Cheques for the full amount, so I had, albeit small, a full compliment of USD in my hot little hand to lose to the gambling gods. Though I actually came out ahead and used it to pay what was left on my account (I don't have a big account because I prepurchase OBC to cover any costs while on board, keeping an eye on the exchange rate and buying when it is up). Another benefit of prepurchasing your OBC is you don't get a nasty shock when you get your bill at the end of your vacation.

[youngcruiser1995]

I work at the Sydney cruise ship terminals and i have worked with every cruise ship company. I stress that you don't travel with a prepaid travel card or currency card. It does not have your name on it and thus cannot be processed. If you wish to use such cards, you will have to withdraw the money from the card from the onboard ATM or at the purser with a hefty fee. Also you can register a credit card and the ship company will take an initial preauthorisation usually of so much per day and it varies by company and duration of the cruise. Also each company has different credit card fees. Its easiest and hassle free to register a credit card or debit card. For Cash you will need to see the onboard purser. For Seabourn this is all different, you can register any card, you can put nothing down and pay at the end in seabourn square.

 

Sailed:

Carnival Spirit 2014 - South Pacific

Diamond Princess 2013 - Tasmania

Sea Princess 2012 - New Zealand

Radiance of the Seas 2012 - New Zealand

[MicCanberra]

I work at the Sydney cruise ship terminals and i have worked with every cruise ship company. I stress that you don't travel with a prepaid travel card or currency card. It does not have your name on it and thus cannot be processed. If you wish to use such cards, you will have to withdraw the money from the card from the onboard ATM or at the purser with a hefty fee. Also you can register a credit card and the ship company will take an initial preauthorisation usually of so much per day and it varies by company and duration of the cruise. Also each company has different credit card fees. Its easiest and hassle free to register a credit card or debit card. For Cash you will need to see the onboard purser. For Seabourn this is all different, you can register any card, you can put nothing down and pay at the end in seabourn square.

 

Sailed:

Carnival Spirit 2014 - South Pacific

Diamond Princess 2013 - Tasmania

Sea Princess 2012 - New Zealand

Radiance of the Seas 2012 - New Zealand

Thank you for the advice.:D

[Aussieflyer]

….. Lesson learned to take cash in $5 and $10. On board carnival the desk was happy to change big notes into smaller as needed.

Although this is a different situation when I was on QM2 in March, the ship ran out of some currency, I think from memory Chinese Yuan. So, if you want to change money or get smaller notes, it might be worth doing it earlier in a cruise rather than later.

[MicCanberra]

Although this is a different situation when I was on QM2 in March, the ship ran out of some currency, I think from memory Chinese Yuan. So, if you want to change money or get smaller notes, it might be worth doing it earlier in a cruise rather than later.

 

Some ships have an ATM onboard kitted out for the local currency 9of the next port) but be warned, the exchange rates are not very favourable.:D

Edited June 3, 2014 by MicCanberra

[The_Big_M]

Some ships have an ATM onboard kitted out for the local currency 9of the next port) but be warned, the exchange rates are not very favourable.:D

 

There's no infinite cash supply on an ATM either.

 

While cruises in USD won't have an issue, as they can replenish the ATM from onboard stores (and passengers pay the casino and guest services in USD), other currencies on the ATM would have the same limits as in Guest Services. If they run out, they run out.

[MicCanberra]

There's no infinite cash supply on an ATM either.

 

While cruises in USD won't have an issue, as they can replenish the ATM from onboard stores (and passengers pay the casino and guest services in USD), other currencies on the ATM would have the same limits as in Guest Services. If they run out, they run out.

 

I suggest that people have their cash sorted well before boarding or when they go ashore at each port if they can use a secure ATM, that is the cheapest and easiest way.:D

Edited June 3, 2014 by MicCanberra

[The_Big_M]

I suggest that people have their cash sorted well before boarding or when they go ashore at each port if they can use a secure ATM, that is the cheapest and easiest way.:D

 

Agreed. :D