flagger Posted July 12, 2004 #1 Share Posted July 12, 2004 I posted this on the Canada POC board and they suggested I ask in here since there is so much more traffic here. We are staying at the Residence Inn downtown for two days prior to our cruise in September. We are not planning on renting a car, unless you think it might be worth it for a day (Saturday). Anyway, I was wondering how much CAD I should plan on having on hand for taxis, shopping, etc. I know to use my credit card as much as possible for the best exchange rate. We want to go to Stanley Park, the aquarium and do some light shopping. Any advice would be appreciated. I know that USD are readily accepted, but I would soon pay what I can in CAD. TIA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Cruise Junky Posted July 12, 2004 #2 Share Posted July 12, 2004 Ok, let's break this down.... cabs take Visa from the Airport, The Aquarium takes visa, but you might want some snacks. All restaurants take Visa. I don't know... $100?? that should probably do it, and downtown has no shortage of banks and ATMs so if you need more, it's readily available. How many are you? two or four? if four..then maybe $150. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
win1 Posted July 12, 2004 #3 Share Posted July 12, 2004 We just returned from Vancouver and used the Visa credit card for everything including all cab fares. It worked well for us. Winnie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momofcnb Posted July 12, 2004 #4 Share Posted July 12, 2004 We used cc for all major purchases, and us for incidentals. The current exchange rate (yesterday) was $1.26, and most places rounded it up to $1.30 per the us dollar, so it is pretty easy to figure out. We were also given change in whichever currency we wished. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flagger Posted July 12, 2004 Author #5 Share Posted July 12, 2004 Is Amex not readily as accepted in Canada as Visa/MC? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krazy Kruizers Posted July 12, 2004 #6 Share Posted July 12, 2004 :) When we stayed in Vancouver a couple of years ago for 3 nights we didn't bother to exchange any money into Canadian money. We just used American Express and Visa. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Cruise Junky Posted July 12, 2004 #7 Share Posted July 12, 2004 Is Amex not readily as accepted in Canada as Visa/MC? Yes, it's true, AMEX is not as accepted as Visa/MC. We've been caught a couple of times at restaurants that don't take AMEX. I'd definitely have some CDN. money on me, just for the small things like drinks and snacks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Gardyloo Posted July 12, 2004 #8 Share Posted July 12, 2004 Just go to any ATM and get CDN$ cash whenever you need it. You'll get a better exchange than at home anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travelgirl87 Posted July 19, 2004 #9 Share Posted July 19, 2004 There are some restaurants in Vancouver that don't accept credit cards -- especially in Chinatown. We also used cash to buy things in the Chinatown Night Market. If you're going to be grazing a meal or two from food stands at the Granville Island market, you'll also want to use cash. We bought items from several different stands and then munched a rather international style meal. If you stick to big, tourist-oriented restaurants, then credit cards are accepted -- but what's the fun in that! Other places to use cash -- buying the local paper from newspaper boxes, going on the Aquabus or False Creek ferry, taking the public transportation system, and tipping. You can get cash in ATMs but beware the ATM fees if you make several smaller withdrawals. You can also enchange money at banks or currency exchange bureaus. I used any leftover Canadian cash for tipping (beyond the auto-tip amount) while on our cruise. We sailed from Vancouver so I figured that the crew would have no problem spending the cash while in port every other week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
worfsmom Posted July 20, 2004 #10 Share Posted July 20, 2004 I am a Canadian........... take lots Your exchange rate is great, but Vancouver is expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merela Posted July 20, 2004 #11 Share Posted July 20, 2004 in smaller denominations. If your pre-cruise days in Vancouver do not fall on the weekend, you can probably get it exchanged easily into CAD in case you run out of CAD$. You can go into any major banks (Royal Bank of Canadian, VanCity, TD Bank, etc...) and get the money exchanged if you run out of CAD cash. US$ traveller's checks get a better exchange rate than US cash. I think $100CAD is more than enough for 2 days of stay. Just remember to bring your ID with you when you do the exchange. HTH. Jennifer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deblori Posted July 20, 2004 #12 Share Posted July 20, 2004 Hi We just returned from the Serenade 7/11 sailing and spent 2 1/2 days prior in Vancouver. I had 150 CAD for tips and incidentals, like snacks and cab fares. I had 7 CAD left over and used it in the Vancouver Airport to buy snacks prior to our flight home. A note here: Not all ATM / MAC machines take all bank cards, it's fine if you want to use a credit card but I was using my checking account debit card and I had a hard time finding machines that would take a MAC / PLUS / STAR / NYCE card Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ngraystark Posted July 22, 2004 #13 Share Posted July 22, 2004 Just back from the Infinity on last weeks cruise. We used Amex for the majority of restaurants (we went to the Boathouse and, Samba's), hotels (Pan Pacific), tours (Capilano bridge) etc for our two nights pre-cruise in Vancouver. We took $250 in Canadian money. We got the money through our bank before leaving on the cruise - got a great exchange rate $1.00 US -> $1.45 Canadian!! We used cash for snacks, cabs, seabus/skytrain, some souvenirs, bellman tips, laundry, etc. We had Canadian dollars left on our last day that we were trying to spend before boarding. So for us this was plenty of Canadian cash. I guess it just depends on your spending habits and what you will need cash for. Hope this helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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