Do you need Canadian dollars to use in Vancouver

[Cruise Junky]

See???? I knew it was in there somewhere, grumpy-britches!

 

Happy cruising, my friend! And congrats and good luck with the Olympics in 2010!! :D

 

-Kevin

 

Thank you ;) I was just in your fabulous city last week. Love New York!!!

[AZaTaz]

OP thanks for posting the question. I will be visiting Vancouver in 08 and had not thought about the currency issue. Before you flame me understand I live on the "other" border where the dollar is king. I have not traveled outside the US except to Mexico where they prefer you pay in dollars because of the exchange rate. Many travelers to Mexico do not know the exchange rate or that when they use those dollars to pay they are paying a premium.

When I travel to Canada I will make sure I have their currency, as I do not wish to show any disrespect.

[KevinNYC]

Love New York!!!

 

That makes two of us!

 

-Kevin

[Roland4]

I have to say that stereotypes work both ways. We work with a fellow (now a dual citizen) who lived most of his life in Texas and New Mexico. We have had some great laughs about our (Canadian) stereotypes of the "typical Texan" riding a bull to work at the oil well while wearing a ten-gallon hat and spurs, and the horrified reaction of his family and friends when he announced he was moving "way to hell and gone" up north to Canada!!! It SNOWS up there!

 

It's the differences between our cultures that makes meeting each other on cruises part of the fun. For the record, on the OP's question, hit a bank machine once you get there. Between the six major banks up here you will find at least one (and usually half a dozen) on virtually every street corner. Use the banks' machines though. The "white label" machines (like you see in Vegas) are a rip-off as far as exchange rates and fees go.

[muffin]

Thanks Kevin for a balanced take. Emotions do run a little high at times. Sometimes in canada I think we overreact from sharing the contnent with such a HUGE neighbour. It is easy to get lost in the mix, and we see ourselves as so very seperate, and quite different. Not necessarily better, certainly not richer in financial terms, but definitely different.

 

your attitiude is wonderful...you must thoroughly enoy every trip everywhere.

[Schplinky]

p.s. here is a good article about Vancouver from today's times that will fit your visit well.

 

http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/07/15/travel/15hours.html?8td&emc=td

[croftonbill]

thank you kevin for injecting sense into this discussion.it really is not a complex prodess to buy canadian currency.

[Cruise Arizona]

We were in Canada for only about 1 1/2 days combined pre and post cruise and we did a number of different things to pay our bills.

 

At the hotel, the kids wanted to get sodas from the machine and the hotel desk exchanged their US dollars 1 to 1 giving them 2 "2-nies" and 4 quarters for a US 5. Not the best exchange rate, but for $5 not really a big deal.

 

The limo driver that took us to the airport had been paid ahead of time on my credit card.

 

After the cruise I had only US money with me when we arrived at Canada Place. DD wanted to buy a little Mountey (spelling) bear and a diet coke. Again they took US Dollars and even gave a bit of a discount in the exchange, but then gave the change back in Canandian.

 

In Richmond, I went down the street from our hotel to buy some chips and snacks and stuff and They would take US Dollars 1 for 1 or credit cards for purchases over $5.

 

For Dinner we ate a place that did not take credit cards, but was located right in a mall with an ATM, so I got enough Canadian money to cover the bill and incidentals the next morning.

 

In the Airport they take both US and Canandian and give you change in that countries currency as well as hit a button on register that converts the price to US to give you a bit better than 1 to 1 on the exchange. (I got my change in US $2 bill, which are not widely circulated in the US.)

 

Going through Vancouver to board a cruise is a unique situation because you may be in Cananda for less than a day and you might not want to get a lot of Canadian Currency because you are their such a short time.

 

I remember visiting Banff (Spelling) about 15 years ago, and I had echanged to Canadian currency, however all the shops had signs (Again a touristy area) that said "We Take US Dollars".

 

I do have to say that some of the Canandian money is quite beautiful. I can't remember the denomination, but my favorite one was the bill with the scene of children playing in the snow. And the other interesting one was explaining to my kids why the Queen of England is on Canandian money....I hope I got it right... Cananda still has loose/ceremonial ties to Great Britain.

[KevinNYC]

your attitiude is wonderful...you must thoroughly enjoy every trip everywhere.

 

I sure do, Muffin -- and giiiiiiiiiirl, I could tell you some stories!

 

Then again, that's a whooooole 'nother thread........

 

[koolforkatz]

And the other interesting one was explaining to my kids why the Queen of England is on Canandian money....I hope I got it right... Cananda still has loose/ceremonial ties to Great Britain.

 

Very quick explanation: Canada is part of the Commonwealth and the Queen is our Head of State although she is represented by a Governor General.

[ATLfuzzy]

They'll gladly take US dollars, they make more money that way...

[J&G]

it's true that most stores here won't give US change for US money but that's really just because we use US and Canadian coins as thought they were the same thing, whereas it is difficult to use a Canadian coin in the states. This is likely because the US ones have always been worth more but it's still an unenjoyable experience to have a U.S. clerk throw a Canadian coin back at me and tell me "that's not money."

 

 

Actually no it hasn't always been worth more than ours - I can remember when a US Dollar was worth 93 cents in Canada.

[BrightIS]

I do have to say that some of the Canandian money is quite beautiful. I can't remember the denomination, but my favorite one was the bill with the scene of children playing in the snow. And the other interesting one was explaining to my kids why the Queen of England is on Canandian money....I hope I got it right... Cananda still has loose/ceremonial ties to Great Britain.

 

With regard to the "scene of children playing in the snow" - this is on the $5 bill. The children pictured are real people from my neighbourhood. One of the children playing hockey is a girl who was once friends with my daughter.

 

Just a bit of off topic trivia.

[Pacific Sandy]

So few Americans travel to Canada anymore

 

Are you kidding???? You should see the border line up on a Friday night. US plates as far as the eye can see.

[Atomica]

Just as a point of interest: if you do use US dollars, many shops will take it, however you will get CDN change back.

 

I used to work at a major retails store downtown Vancouver a few years ago and was surprised at how many people would just stand there and absolutely scream at you because you wouldn't give them US change back.

 

Fortunately, they are the exception rather than the rule :)

[Schplinky]

Actually no it hasn't always been worth more than ours - I can remember when a US Dollar was worth 93 cents in Canada.

 

That's true. It was in the mid-sixties when the balance swung the other way.

[Schplinky]

They'll gladly take US dollars, they make more money that way...

 

 

You would think this would be true but some stores still won't. It's crazy (in my opinion) but these lazy folk figure the exchange is only 5 or 6% these days so why bother going to the trouble of having it converted. I think that's dumb. You can deposit US cash into many Canadian ATM's now and the bank will convert it. It's not exactly rocket science.

[Ephraim]

I do have to say that some of the Canandian money is quite beautiful. I can't remember the denomination, but my favorite one was the bill with the scene of children playing in the snow. And the other interesting one was explaining to my kids why the Queen of England is on Canandian money....I hope I got it right... Cananda still has loose/ceremonial ties to Great Britain.

 

The children are on the $5 bill (blue). Also, the lady depicted on Canadian coins and the $20 bill (she used to be on the $1, the $2 and the $1000, but none of those are printed anymore) is the Queen of Canada, Elizabeth II. She may also be Queen of the United Kingdom, but that's their problem, not ours. In Canada she is represented by the Governor General, Michaëlle Jean. (And if you want to honestly be able to tell the difference between our two countries, our current Governor General is the ceremonial head of state and holds many official parties. Look up her biography and you will see that she is a Haitian immigrant to Canada who worked as a journalist for Radio-Canada and the CBC. She's Afro-Caribbean in heritage and married to a French immigrant, Jean-Daniel Lafond who is a film maker. She speaks English, French, Haitian Creole, Spanish and Italian fluently and can read Portuguese as well. Their daughter was adopted from Haiti. I just don't see women of this calibre being placed in positions of great stature in the US.)

That's true. It was in the mid-sixties when the balance swung the other way.

 

And it is likely to swing back that way in the next few years. I thought that the last time it was at par was the Nixon era... but then again, I was too young to really remember that. I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that Canada doesn't have a trade deficit and has a budget surplus?