Cashing Travelers Checks on Board!

[jst4fun715]

I did a search for this but the last thing I saw was from early 2016 and I know things change a lot. I found some travelers checks that I have had for a while (Yea...."found money"!), but wondered if I will have an problem cashing them on board the ship. We are doing a Mediterranean cruise and leaving soon. I have Euros and American $$ but would like to use these travelers checks. Thanks!

[Clarea]

I did a search for this but the last thing I saw was from early 2016 and I know things change a lot. I found some travelers checks that I have had for a while (Yea...."found money"!), but wondered if I will have an problem cashing them on board the ship. We are doing a Mediterranean cruise and leaving soon. I have Euros and American $$ but would like to use these travelers checks. Thanks!

To my knowledge, Guest Services still accepts traveler's checks.

[George C]

Have not done them in a few years but never had a problem with cashing them in guest services or casino

[xpcdoojk]

Yes, but you can cash them in at your local bank. Why wait to go on a cruise. There is really no reason in 2017 to buy or use travelers checks.

 

Cash them in now.

 

JC

[Merion_Mom]

Yes, but you can cash them in at your local bank. Why wait to go on a cruise. There is really no reason in 2017 to buy or use travelers checks.

 

Cash them in now.

 

JC

 

Well, the reason is the same reason that he purchased them "way back when". It's safe to carry them. They are for your travels. Travel to the ship, need cash? Cash your traveler's checks.

[njkruzer]

We've used them on 2 cruises when we needed a lot of cash to pay for private excursions and didn't want to carry that much cash. AAA in NJ has them and no charge and can cash more than you would be allowed if you wanted to cash a check.

[Norwich Cruiser]

For the past however many years ( a lot) we have always paid our on board account by travellers cheques without a problem.

However on our last two cruises one on Harmony plus one on Rhapsody the following happened.

On both we went to clear our account about 23.00 on the last night.

Harmony

"Sorry Sir but I don't think we no longer accept travellers cheques"

After much discussion with the supervisor they accepted the payment.

Rhapsody

A couple of months later.

Basically the same thing "We no longer accept travellers cheques"

The person on guest relations again after much discussion with supervisor came back and said they would accept $100 only off of our on board account in travellers cheques.

No idea why they said only $100 ( our account was about $500)

I told them that I had no other way of paying to which I was informed that if I didn't pay I would not be allowed to disembark.

I informed them again that I was willing to pay in full but by travellers cheques.

The person on guest services went to talk again with a supervisor who then appeared and told me that they would accept the travellers cheques but that they had been informed "from above" not to accept them as they had to spend time cashing them in.

The whole process took about an hour you can imagine the line that had built up by then.

As we left guest services a couple asked me why I had been so long I told them the reason and they said,

"Well that's how we are paying also"

How they got on I did not wait to find out.

When we arrived back home we changed all our remaining travellers cheques to cash don't want the hassle of going through that again.

If you want to pay by travellers cheques I would strongly advise you call crown and anchor to confirm in advance there policy.

[Clarea]

... If you want to pay by travellers cheques I would strongly advise you call crown and anchor to confirm in advance there policy.

Appreciate the update. Perhaps this is why the link to the FAQ about travelers checks on Royal's website is no longer functioning.

[spookwife]

many banks are no longer issuing them, nor will they cash them out any more. my guess is this is trickling down ( or up, depending on how you look at it) into other previous instances, such as cruise ships.

 

as a viable form of transaction currency, the Travelers check is on its way out.

[Draka1]

About 3 years ago I went to get travelers checks for my upcoming cruise as I always did. My bank said they no longer issued them. I could use a Visa gift card instead. So glad I got the gift card because many of the shops no longer took Travelers checks. They are becoming a thing of the past.

 

Sent from my SM-J700T1 using Forums mobile app

[jst4fun715]

Thank you all for your responses. I guess I will call Crown and Anchor and ask the question. I know they are not widely accepted anymore. It's just some I "found" tucked away from a few years ago....nice surprise for me! But I definitely want to be able to cash them in somewhere. If I find I can't do it on the ship, I'll cash them in and get a pre-paid Visa card I guess. It's too bad because the traveler's checks always seemed the "safest" way to carry money....but I guess anything can be forged or hacked these days. :(

[Capt_BJ]

A few years back Traveler's Checks were identified as a BIG way 'bad guys' were getting illegal gains out of the country. At that time Cayman Island banks announced they would no longer accept / cash them ..... I don't think they were alone in this action. The dive resort I go to sent me a notice that they would no longer accept 'em as they couldn't get a bank to take 'em

[Hopetotravel]

Well that's a bummer. We wanted to take travelers cheques so that we wouldn't have to take so much cash. A family of 8 can rack up significant amounts of cash for private excursions when you're in port every day.

[jst4fun715]

Just a quick update. I called Crown and Anchor and asked the young lady. She said that I could "try"! I asked if there was any way to find out and she told me she didn't have that kind of information but that I could "try" to cash them. It isn't that big of a deal to me as it was kind of "found money" for me. So I'll take them and "try" to cash them on board. If they don't take them, I'll just cash them at my bank when I get home and put them into my "cruise account"!

[xpcdoojk]

Just a quick update. I called Crown and Anchor and asked the young lady. She said that I could "try"! I asked if there was any way to find out and she told me she didn't have that kind of information but that I could "try" to cash them. It isn't that big of a deal to me as it was kind of "found money" for me. So I'll take them and "try" to cash them on board. If they don't take them, I'll just cash them at my bank when I get home and put them into my "cruise account"!

 

Again, why wait for you can "try" at some future date, take them to the bank and cash them now. If you don't want or don't have a credit card, you can buy Visa, or MC or Amex or other cash cards, and use them instead of money.

 

I get the role that travelers checks filled, it is just that they are no longer a suitable option. That role has been replaced with credit cars, and bit coin.... :eek:

 

If you have decent credit get a credit card that does not charge a foreign exchange fee. That used to be just Capital 1 but now there are lots of options out there. If you don't have decent credit, you may want to purchase some Visa or MasterCard cash cards or just carry a lot of cash.

 

Good luck

 

JC

[391hpa]

We were on the Anthem back in April and were able to cash up to $950 in travelers cheques per day at Guest Services. We could not cash them at the Casino. No one batted an eye or had to check with their supervisor. It was super easy. :)

[Elationismyship]

again, why wait for you can "try" at some future date, take them to the bank and cash them now.

 

Jc

this . . .