Local currencies in VAE needed?

[grayjay]

Unfortunately we won't have much time before and after our cruise starting in Dubai except a one-night hotel stay.

As we will be visiting several ports during this 11-day cruise I wondered about the many different currencies we'd need, for example Omani Rial or AED Dirham. Of course we can draw some money in each country as soon as we arrive but I wonder if we could get by with credit cards for admissions and such ( we won't be haggling in any souks and aren't interesting in shopping) and using US$ for tips. 

[Jayayeff]

11 hours ago, grayjay said:

Unfortunately we won't have much time before and after our cruise starting in Dubai except a one-night hotel stay.

As we will be visiting several ports during this 11-day cruise I wondered about the many different currencies we'd need, for example Omani Rial or AED Dirham. Of course we can draw some money in each country as soon as we arrive but I wonder if we could get by with credit cards for admissions and such ( we won't be haggling in any souks and aren't interesting in shopping) and using US$ for tips. 

I would not rely on using credit cards only and would recommend you get some AED on arrival in Dubai - you can do that in the Arrivals terminal at the airport.  Whilst Oman has its own currency they do accept AED so you can use them there without getting Omani Riyals for your port call there....  You can tip in US$ as most Gulf currencies are pegged to the dollar so exchange rates don’t vary day to day, but I would still recommend getting some local currency on arrival for incidental expenses in case cards are not accepted, and use them for tips if you have excess...

 

Anne...