July Baltic Cruise - Let's talk money! (Well... let's talk currency)

[BostonGal35]

we stayed in Copenhagen for 2 days prior. we took out some Kronar from an ATM. we came with some EUR, but you can also get those at an ATM. Do not waste time getting Rubles, you wont need them. we used our credit card everywhere with no issues.

[SClakeliving]

As I always do when traveling, I plan to use ATM if I need some local currency and use CC mostly. Was told I could pay tip for Alla Tour guides/drivers in Euro or US dollars.

[Sea-sonal travelor]

We're back from our amazing Baltic Sea Cruise. Regarding currency, we did decide to take some Danish Kroner, Euros, Rubles, and Swedish Kroner which although not truly needed gave us a great learning experience. I would like to share that it's helpful to briefly educate yourself via Google rather than relying on the bank for denominations. Chase tellers helped me decide on total amounts and denominations but in retrospect they really haven't been trained to know about foreign currency to USD relationships.

 

So here's my suggestion if you would like the experience of using some foreign currency. Type into Google in advance to translate a single unit of foreign currency and some commen denominations such as 20, 50, or 100 units into USD. It will make it easier to decide on how much you'd like to purchase overall. If you want to use public bathrooms be sure to also get some small denomination coins for machines... Just a few should do. Keep the Google denomination translator handy when doling out the cash too. It will quickly and easily help you wrap your mind around what you've spent in USDs. We actually enjoyed getting some experience with foreign spending and the local merchants were quite tolerant of our fumbling around before paying. :D:D:D😁

[MS52]

Credit Card with Chip, yes. PIN not necessary unless you try to use it at an un-manned kiosk.

 

We tried to keep enough local currency for Taxis, tips, snacks.

 

We ordered our Euros and Kroner at our bank, they arrived the next day. Super simple.

 

Enjoy your trip,

 

 

 

We were not able to use our credit card in Copenhagen because everyone required a pin. We ended up using our ATM card which of course we knew the pin.

 

In answer to the OP’s question, best rates agree from the local ATM. IMHO, don’t carry lots of cash.

 

In St Petersburg, surprisingly, they preferred US dollars.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums