Currency Question for Europe

[doublemm16]

I know that the currency for Italy, France and Greece is the Euro. What is the best form of money to bring. I know a credit card would be best, and I was thinking of getting a AAA Travelcard, in which I can deposit money and it acts like a Visa/debit card. Should I also bring dollars or travelers cheques?

[smeyer418]

Use a regular credit card. You get much more protection. You will pay an exchange fee of 2-3% but you generally make this up on the excahnage rate. If you buy something and have a problem with a debit card you have little recourse much more so with a credit card. Personally I use an ATM (with my normal bank ATM card)to get Euros for the best rate

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=293667

[SheilaNC]

Go over to the Europe board. Lots of great info there that we used when we sailed last fall. Look for BruinSteve's excellent discussion re: why we shouldn't obsess over saving a few $$ when we're spending so much on a cruise (sorry, Steve, for a poor synopsis of your excellent comments).

[Coquitlam Cruiser]

I know that the currency for Italy, France and Greece is the Euro. What is the best form of money to bring. I know a credit card would be best, and I was thinking of getting a AAA Travelcard, in which I can deposit money and it acts like a Visa/debit card. Should I also bring dollars or travelers cheques?

 

Best that you bring a bank debit card. Even cheaper than using your credit card. Think of convenience. You will be charged for changing your travellers checks into Euros, so you be will charge twice. Dollars arent much good in Europe.

[julieanne]

Yes, I am doing the debit card this time. Euros are the major form of currency in Europe. The only place we didn't use them was Gibraltar. It was always better to exchange dollars to euros in port. Many people said it was better to use an atm/debit card, so we're giving that a try this time.......6 days to sailing.....

[Desertbelle]

When we were on our Med cruise last June we brought about $200 worth of Euros with us, that we bought from our bank, just in case we didn't get to an ATM before needing to pay a Taxi driver or something, but once there we used our debit cards and it worked like a dream.

 

We never had a single cash problem, there are ATM's everywhere....apparently Europeans are addicted to them even more than we are! :)