Cash on Baltic cruise

[gb88]

With all of the different currencies used on a Baltic cruise, what do people do about exchanging money?  Euros alone will not be sufficient.  Any recommendations?

[weedpindle]

Use a credit card!

[halfapair]

Yes, many of the Baltic countries prefer that you use a credit card - especially Sweden and Denmark. In Russia they will take US dollars, Euros, or credit cards.

[skynight]

We spent some time in Denmark before the cruise. We obtained some Danish Krona at a bank's ATM. For Sweden we used a credit card for our self tour there and later we took a ship's tour which was in US$. We stopped for a beverage in Stockholm and paid with a credit card. In Estonia, Germany and Russia we booked tours where payment and tipping was in US$. In Finland we paid for a shuttle in US$, but received change in Euros. No big loss. So, basically the only place we used local currency was in Copenhagen, and that was our choice so as to prevent charges from hitting our credit card before we returned home. 

[berlingo]

Last year we took some euros and danish kroner. Being from England we also had some sterling but did not use this.

Our cruise took us to Russia, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Germany and Sweden and this currency plus our credit card worked out just fine.

Juliax

[wheezedr]

You will find that your CC is your best friend in this part of the world.  Euros will work as will dollars in Russia.  The Scandinavians even prefer CC’s for small purchases.  They are heading toward the cashless society.

[DrivesLikeMario]

Download Tap & Pay on your phone.  That's what most European places have now.  Just tap your phone and the charge goes through.  No digging out a credit card, forgetting it or losing it. 
If you use an ATM, make sure there isn't a skimmer on it.  Also be really aware of your surroundings.  That's one of the easiest "hits" for criminals. 

[Jezabel2924]

Last year we were in Copenhagen for 4 days prior so we took some DKK.  Took some Euros and did not use them all.  Used Credit Cards everywhere else.  Were advised that tips, if desired, for our tours could be in Euros, USD or local currency.  We had no issues.

[Tucker in Texas]

We used the ATM's or a credit card.  In Russia, we had a private tour which, for two was pricey.  They would take credit cards but there was a surcharge. Not wanting to travel with that much cash on us,  before leaving, I got traveler's checks ( free at our bank) and when the money was due to the tour, I cashed them at the front desk for US$ which they are happy to accept.  One minor problem we ran into was a restaurant would say it took credit cards.  Then, when we went to pay, they said the machine was down or some such story and we had to pay cash.  Fortunately, the couple of times this happened, we had enough cash on us to pay it but it was euros I think and not local currency.  

[pjs9876]

I ordered some currency for each port. Totally unnecessary. Charge cards used everywhere, even in local markets and cups of coffee. 

[cruisequeen4ever]

Most places accept and actually prefer credit cards there, so you really don’t need to take out every currency. We took some Euros and only needed to use them a few times. 

[ontheweb]

11 hours ago, DrivesLikeMario said:

Download Tap & Pay on your phone.  That's what most European places have now.  Just tap your phone and the charge goes through.  No digging out a credit card, forgetting it or losing it. 
If you use an ATM, make sure there isn't a skimmer on it.  Also be really aware of your surroundings.  That's one of the easiest "hits" for criminals. 

How do you recognize if there is a skimmer on the ATM?

[milolii]

Would a CC work for small things such as magnets  as well? 

[Steelers36]

If a place takes CC's it doesn't matter the amount.  Like other posters, we took some DKK since we spent time in CPH before and after the cruise.  Didn't really need it as we used CC most of the time and purposely found ways to spend the cash up.  Only place I had to use cash was small grocery store.  I also brought some Euro cash as we traveled around Benelux pre-cruise and to Berlin post-cruise.  On tours, if tipping, they are going to accept any currency offered (but be reasonable).  

 

[bdojoe]

Check to make sure there are no foreign transaction fees on the card you use.  I used the Costco Visa and it worked as a chip card, for some reason the tap function didn't work.

 

[milolii]

Thanks!  We will have €s for sure, as also gong to Ireland.  Will get some DKKs .  I like to to have funds for tipping.  

[DrivesLikeMario]

6 hours ago, ontheweb said:

How do you recognize if there is a skimmer on the ATM?

This might help - there's some good videos to watch on it:

How to Recognize an ATM Skimmer

 

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, DrivesLikeMario said:

This might help - there's some good videos to watch on it:

How to Recognize an ATM Skimmer

 

Thank you. There is some very helpful, but scary information on those sites.

[paul929207]

Euros, dollars and credit cards are all widely accepted.

[Extra Kim]

In Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Estonia and Latvia we have only used our Visa or Mastercard. In Poland we needed cash to pay a cab, but he drove us to a ATM.

[Aplmac]

On 6/14/2019 at 7:39 PM, wheezedr said:

You will find that your CC is your best friend in this part of the world.

 Euros will work as will dollars in Russia.  

The Scandinavians even prefer CC’s for small purchases.

 They are heading toward the cashless society.

 

Credit cards seems to be The Way....

let them sort out the currency-exchange rates, for one.

 

Commenting on the Scandanavian countries trying for the cashless society dream

I read just a few days ago

that they are discovering that they will never be entirely cashless

due to one factor or another, thus my use of the word dream.

 

Apparently though,

something like 90-95% of all transactions in Scandanavia

are conducted via electronic means of one sort or another

so they're getting close to their ideal, even though they might never 100% achieve it

[Kate P.C]

There is absolutely no reason to worry about what kind of currency,when you can use your credit card at all times.

[clo]

29 minutes ago, Kate P.C said:

you can use your credit card at all times.

Well, maybe not ALL the time.  But that's why jesus gave us ATMs 🙂

[Kate P.C]

1 hour ago, clo said:

Well, maybe not ALL the time.  But that's why jesus gave us ATMs 🙂

Yes, exactly what I meant. Using a credit card for payments on the spot or to pull money from the ATMs still means ALL THE TIME 🙂

[clo]

55 minutes ago, Kate P.C said:

Yes, exactly what I meant. Using a credit card for payments on the spot or to pull money from the ATMs still means ALL THE TIME 🙂

I've never known a bank that doesn't charge a cash advance fee if you get cash on a credit card.