Traveller's Checks?

[CapeCodCruiser]

You cannot use the debit card directly at the casino to get cash. However, the casino will give you cash against your onboard account, and if the account is secured with a credit or debit card, they will charge you 5%.

 

They are charging now to pull $$$ from your ship account for the casino??? How silly is that - casinos are a huge revenue center - why charge people to spend $$$ there.

 

I never even think twice about carrying large sums of cash - anywhere. It's not like people have x-ray vision and see that I am. Heck - I once walked around NYC with 25 g's in my purse!

 

Edited May 11, 2016 by CapeCodCruiser

[Clarea]

They are charging now to pull $$$ from your ship account for the casino??? How silly is that - casinos are a huge revenue center - why charge people to spend $$$ there....

My guess is that people were not using the cash in the casino, they were taking the cash home and using it to pay off the credit card, thereby getting "free" points.

[waterbugohio]

I have to say I strongly disagree with your comment "If you can afford to cruise , what is a extra $50 for using a ATM, WHEN YOU REALLY NEED CASH" first of all I am a fan of travelers checks but that is neither here nor there but just a personal preference. I can afford to cruise because I work hard, my husband and I have worked hard each handling 2 jobs for many years and raising four kids who have also cruised with us but we don't choose to use our very hard earned money on an ATM fee, we would rather use that 50.00 to put towards tips for our room steward and our waiters. If you have enough extra money to waste it on ATM fees, good for you but don't belittle those of us who work hard to cruise and choose to use our hard earned money to tip those that work so hard on the ship. Can only hope I get some "likes"

 

LIKE :)

 

While I didn't do travelers checks the last cruise I took. But I am still considering for future cruises. As the poster above, I can afford to cruise, however, the reason I can afford to cruise, is because of the saving and watching what I do with my money that my Father taught me. I HATE atm fees and will not use them to access my own money. Its my money and I will not pay to get my money out. To me that is the foolish one, not the one using travelers checks.

 

I do have a capital one card. I will check into the comment on not paying ATM fees if you use it.

[Clarea]

... I do have a capital one card. I will check into the comment on not paying ATM fees if you use it.

We have a Capital One card. No foreign transaction fees and ATM fees reimbursed up to $30 per month.

[George C]

We have a Capital One card. No foreign transaction fees and ATM fees reimbursed up to $30 per month.

 

We stopped using traveler checks about 5 years ago, good to know about capital one, Citibank has no foreign transactions fee but does not reimburse, need to get some pin ##, so we can get cash before trip to Europe. I was told ATM was best way to get Euro's

[Clarea]

We stopped using traveler checks about 5 years ago, good to know about capital one, Citibank has no foreign transactions fee but does not reimburse, need to get some pin ##, so we can get cash before trip to Europe. I was told ATM was best way to get Euro's

You ,ay already have this, but make sure your card has the chip technology as many places in Europe require them.

[cruisegirl1]

We often use Travelers checks ( purchased for free) to bring our gambling money or extra cash for longer cruises. No fees involved and safe. The ship will cash free of charge.

 

M

[Queen of Oakville]

A few years ago on a trip to Universal Studios, I noted that Amex holders got 10% off in the parks.

 

I love a free discount, BUT, I had a CAD AMEX. I didn't want to pay f/x fees especially when I have US funds and I have a USD Visa. There is no Canadian bank that offers a USD AMEX. So, I had the great idea to get AMEX traveller's cheques.

 

Let me start by saying that my Bank, TD, had to dust off the AMEX cheques in order to sell them to me :D. I was successful in getting 10% with my AMEX cheques throughout the park, but most restaurants and stores had to call a manager, because they had no idea how to cash the cheques.

 

 

I was happy to get off 10% throughout the parks, and it probably saved me a couple of hundred dollars .... BUT ... I have to admit the cheques were a bit of a hassle.

 

 

Add me to the group who could easily afford to "waste" money but prefers not to.

[Chip and Dale]

Just wondering what everyone's choice is for not having to carry around a lot of cash? Do you still use traveller's checks? I haven't used them in a while and usually bring cash and stash in cabin's safe and just take out what I need.

 

This time, I don't want to do that and wondering what is best thing to do these days.

 

Thanks

 

We have used travelers cheques for years. We are Canadian, therefore, some things are different with our banks and credit cards. We do whatever costs us nothing to use. We get free US travelers cheques at the bank and CAA. We cash cheques as required on the ship and carry some with us when we go on excursions. We have had maybe up to 5 businesses say that they would not accept them over the years, but that is about 5 out of hundreds who did accept them. We often stay in hotels prior to cruises that do not have a safe and therefore, we need to carry the cash with us. We feel better carrying smaller amounts and not having to worry whether or not we can get what we need from an ATM.

 

Personal preference. We always cash travelers cheques to pay for our ship board account at the end of each cruise.

Dee

[jagsfan]

We have a Capital One card. No foreign transaction fees and ATM fees reimbursed up to $30 per month.

 

 

It was a blessed day when I found out about Capital One. It has saved us so much money over the years. It stays with our passports because we only use it for travel.

I do remember back to travelers checks that when I bought Am Ex checks if I cashed them in an American Express office (in most major cities), there was no currency exchange fee. That saved money, too.

I used leftovers like cash when I got home.

So far as fearing pickpockets in other countries, wear a belt or neck wallet. They'd have to strip you to get your money.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[waterbugohio]

OK, just off the phone with Capital One. We have the Venture card if that makes any difference.

 

This is what the rep told me. I can use my credit card as an ATM card, as a cash advance. Can take out $400 per day, with a total of $15000.

 

However, this would be like any other cash advance. You would start to pay interest on it from day one. So I gave her a possibility. If we drew out $1000 over the course of the week. The cash advance price would be $21 and that would increase daily. Would need to go in and pay it off as soon as we returned home for it to stop adding interest.

 

So I guess we won't do the Capital One card either. So, back to the bank we go to get our travelers checks I guess!!!!! lol

 

Bob, if you have a different card or have used your capital one differently, please let me know.

 

thanks

donna

[Clarea]

OK, just off the phone with Capital One. We have the Venture card if that makes any difference.

 

This is what the rep told me. I can use my credit card as an ATM card, as a cash advance. Can take out $400 per day, with a total of $15000.

 

However, this would be like any other cash advance. You would start to pay interest on it from day one. So I gave her a possibility. If we drew out $1000 over the course of the week. The cash advance price would be $21 and that would increase daily. Would need to go in and pay it off as soon as we returned home for it to stop adding interest.

 

So I guess we won't do the Capital One card either. So, back to the bank we go to get our travelers checks I guess!!!!! lol

 

Bob, if you have a different card or have used your capital one differently, please let me know.

 

thanks

donna

You need to open a checking or savings account with Capital One and get a debit card for that account. There are no cash advance fees for those types of accounts. I have a Capital One Mastercard debit card. I only use that account only for cruise ATM withdrawals, and it's not connected to any other accounts I have.

[niksmom630]

OK, just off the phone with Capital One. We have the Venture card if that makes any difference.

 

 

 

This is what the rep told me. I can use my credit card as an ATM card, as a cash advance. Can take out $400 per day, with a total of $15000.

 

 

 

However, this would be like any other cash advance. You would start to pay interest on it from day one. So I gave her a possibility. If we drew out $1000 over the course of the week. The cash advance price would be $21 and that would increase daily. Would need to go in and pay it off as soon as we returned home for it to stop adding interest.

 

 

 

So I guess we won't do the Capital One card either. So, back to the bank we go to get our travelers checks I guess!!!!! lol

 

 

 

Bob, if you have a different card or have used your capital one differently, please let me know.

 

 

 

thanks

 

donna

 

 

Donna, I am going to check my Capital One card.....it is not a Venture card. I always used to get travelers checks for gambling and purchases on the islands, but my bank no longer carries them [emoji15]

 

Chris

[niksmom630]

You need to open a checking or savings account with Capital One and get a debit card for that account. There are no cash advance fees for those types of accounts. I have a Capital One Mastercard debit card. I only use that account only for cruise ATM withdrawals, and it's not connected to any other accounts I have.

 

 

Thanks for the info, Bob.

[waterbugohio]

You need to open a checking or savings account with Capital One and get a debit card for that account. There are no cash advance fees for those types of accounts. I have a Capital One Mastercard debit card. I only use that account only for cruise ATM withdrawals, and it's not connected to any other accounts I have.

 

 

Thanks again Bob. Again, I will check into this.

 

 

Donna, I am going to check my Capital One card.....it is not a Venture card. I always used to get travelers checks for gambling and purchases on the islands, but my bank no longer carries them [emoji15]

 

Chris

 

Chris. hope all is well with you. Hopefully we can meet up again in the casino some day!! Donna

[xpcdoojk]

OK, just off the phone with Capital One. We have the Venture card if that makes any difference.

 

This is what the rep told me. I can use my credit card as an ATM card, as a cash advance. Can take out $400 per day, with a total of $15000.

 

However, this would be like any other cash advance. You would start to pay interest on it from day one. So I gave her a possibility. If we drew out $1000 over the course of the week. The cash advance price would be $21 and that would increase daily. Would need to go in and pay it off as soon as we returned home for it to stop adding interest.

 

So I guess we won't do the Capital One card either. So, back to the bank we go to get our travelers checks I guess!!!!! lol

 

Bob, if you have a different card or have used your capital one differently, please let me know.

 

thanks

donna

Exactly right

 

Use your bank atm card for drawing money. Try to use your capital one or other 0% foreign exchange card for most of your purchases. A decade ago cap 1 was it. Now lots of cards include no fx exchange. But for cash ATM card

 

jc

[cruisegirl1]

I get out as much cash as I think I will need ahead of time and divide it into envelopes based on anticipated expenses (such as if I know I need cash for an activity) for each day. They immediately go into the safe, and in the morning I remove that day's envelope. Anything left over at the end of the day I move into the next day's envelope. Easy peasy.

 

 

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I don't know what the issue is with carrying cash. Large bills are easy to carry...not bulky. You have a safe in the cabin to store your funds.

 

Travelers checks are a pain, IMO....you can get your larger bills broken down at the guest services or casino. Not a problem at all.

 

The issue for us is a longer cruise or a longer land/cruise trip, especially one that has a few weeks pre cruise. For the standard 7 night trip, when getting right on a ship, bringing cash is not an issue at all.

 

We've had trips that consist of one/two weeks pre cruise, two week cruise and the one week post cruise all in several foreign countries. We used local ATM to get proper currency in many countries but needed US cash for the cruise and post cruise. We cashed travelers checks once on board for the casino and for those private tour vendors who accepted US currency.

 

No way did we want to carry around enough cash for 30-40 travel days.

 

Travelers checks do have limitations for use abroad and in the US but generally are a safe way to get/carry cash on a ship. As long as I can get them for free and cash them for free, we will likely continue to use them for some cruise travel.

 

M