Exchange US money to Euro??

[dancing]

Can you exchange Dollars for Euro's on the ship? WE would like to do some of our own tours especially in Rome as everyone who has been in Rome before says this is best as you get to see and experience more. Most of the "bus" tours let you see things, like driving by and not stopping.

We will be in the Tuscany region for 4 days before boarding the ship. Should we exchange there??

thanks

[GSPLover]

Can you exchange Dollars for Euro's on the ship? WE would like to do some of our own tours especially in Rome as everyone who has been in Rome before says this is best as you get to see and experience more. Most of the "bus" tours let you see things, like driving by and not stopping.

We will be in the Tuscany region for 4 days before boarding the ship. Should we exchange there??

thanks

Use an ATM at the airport when you arrive in Italy. You might also consider having your bank get you a couple hundred dollars worth of Euros before you leave home. ATMs are everywhere in Italy so I wouldn't carry a lot of cash. Use credit cards.

[carlmm]

You can exchange money on the ship. Yet the easiest and cheapest way to obtain Euros is via ATMs. You can find them everywhere.

If you nevertheless prefer to bring cash you indeed should exchange it at a bank on land when you are in Tuscany rather than on board.

[texancruzer]

This was a big issue for me before we went. I mulled over the many different options I had for weeks.

 

Now that we are back, here is my suggestions on the best way to go about the "euro ordeal" ..... :)

 

1. Use ATM's upon landing in Europe. This was our cheapest option. Especially our Bank of America card. We took them all (and we have them all !!!!!) Small fees but best exchange rate !

 

2. Exchange $$ to euros on the ship. This was our second cheapest option. No fees and good exchange rate.

 

3. Buy some before at your bank. This was our third cheapest option. Our bank had fees and not so great exchange rate. Depends on your bank tho.... so call and ask.

 

4. DO NOT - Do not use the "exchange kiosks" you see everywhere. Do not use American Express exchange booths in the airport or elsewhere. These were both ridiculous in both the fees they charged and the exchange rate. Dh thought Amer. Express would be good - we have both a gold and platinum card...... not so.

 

5. Use credit cards for hotels, restaurants and even for tours if possible. When we used our American Express for these (we like to get the rewards points for future airfare) we found we got a really good exchange rate. Go figure.

[Crusin6]

Hi Texancruzer,

 

I have a question about your item #2. When you say exchange $$ to Euros, do you mean actual greenbacks you brought from home or do you mean a charge to your debit card from home or heaven forbid do you mean a cash advance from your credit card?

 

I personally do not want to use my credit card for an advance as they will charge alot, even B of A for that service and I prefer not to put it on my Carnival sign & sail. Of course if it is just a debit from a different card than the one I used for my sign & sale, it should avoid my sign & sail anyway, but who knows? My fear is that Carnival will charge my sign & sail in euros and then charge my CC for it and I will be paying high exchange fees when converted to $ on my next months bill.

 

Also, we are a family of six so when we pay for our private tours in the ports, we pay more than a couple does as we get our own van. I/E. around 600E for the driver, 120E for a private guide at a site and a real lot for that lunch we will have. So I will need about 1000 to 1200E per day when we tour. Please don't tell me I can do it cheaper, we have kids with us and want the luxury of a private driver and guide. My real question is will Carnival give me approx 1200E in a day? I know I can call them directly but we are al experienced cruisers here and all know that carnival does not like to speak to people who have booked thru someone else. When I do call I always say I have not booked yet and need some answers first. LOL.

Thanks.:D

[kruzin']

:) great suggestions...however, do not order or use Euro travelers cks nobody wants them and if you have to cash them at an airport kiosk they give you a terrible rate

[texancruzer]

Hi Texancruzer,

 

I have a question about your item #2. When you say exchange $$ to Euros, do you mean actual greenbacks you brought from home or do you mean a charge to your debit card from home or heaven forbid do you mean a cash advance from your credit card?

 

I personally do not want to use my credit card for an advance as they will charge alot, even B of A for that service and I prefer not to put it on my Carnival sign & sail. Of course if it is just a debit from a different card than the one I used for my sign & sale, it should avoid my sign & sail anyway, but who knows? My fear is that Carnival will charge my sign & sail in euros and then charge my CC for it and I will be paying high exchange fees when converted to $ on my next months bill.

 

Also, we are a family of six so when we pay for our private tours in the ports, we pay more than a couple does as we get our own van. I/E. around 600E for the driver, 120E for a private guide at a site and a real lot for that lunch we will have. So I will need about 1000 to 1200E per day when we tour. Please don't tell me I can do it cheaper, we have kids with us and want the luxury of a private driver and guide. My real question is will Carnival give me approx 1200E in a day? I know I can call them directly but we are al experienced cruisers here and all know that carnival does not like to speak to people who have booked thru someone else. When I do call I always say I have not booked yet and need some answers first. LOL.

Thanks.:D

 

First of all I will not tell you not to get a private tour/guide. We too like do this or even rent a car and go it on our own. In Rome we used taxis (2 nights precruise) but hired a private guide (not driver) for tours of the Vatican and the Coliseum/Forum. Expensive but worth every penny. We did share one driver in Naples with others from our roll call. We hired a private guide tho for Pompeii.....split the cost between the 4 couples.

 

When we changed $$ to euros on the ship we used some cash and some good old fashioned travelers checks. We sailed Royal Caribbean but if I remember the foreign exchange desk only exchanged cash or traveler checks. Someone correct me if I am wrong !

 

When we travel I like to cover my bases. We always take cash, travelers checks and credit cards ( 1 gold A/E, 1 platinum A/E, a Visa and a Mastercard) We were told some places in Europe do not take A/E (did not find this to be the case), some like Visa and some like Mastercard....were told no one takes Discover - did not take.

 

Now bear in mind we were 2 - you are 6 ! Also we booked this cruise very close to sailing date (at least for me) so I booked quite a few ships tours therefore they were charged to my credit card and paid for before we even left. We were very happy with all of these by the way - even though we usually do not like to take cruiseline tours. But that is another thread :) Anyway we did not need near as much as you will !

 

I usually take my travelers checks and put them in the safe. These are for emergencies only. Then when I get home I pay off our Seapass account from the ship with them.....which goes on my American Express so I get rewards points (havent paid for airfare in years !)

 

Not sure if this will make sense but Bank of America card was used with Deutsch Bank in Europe and no extra fees - and good conversion rate. Did not appear as a cash advance but a regular transaction.

 

Bottom line - I have not sailed Carnival. Don't know their policies or practices. I am sure some one on here has tho and can answer this specific question.

 

Hope this helps :D

[Love Cruis'n]

The best exchange rate is by using your ATM in Europe. The ship (last summer) was selling Euros for $1.44, and buying back what you might have left over for about $1.29. :( Actual rate at the time was right around $1.39. The only issue you may have is that many of the ATMs we used had a limit of 300 Euros. I’m not sure if that was per day, or per transaction.

 

Perhaps you and your wife should each carry different ATM cards to help get around the limits. Make sure your bank knows you will be in Europe, and that your ATM card uses a 4 digit numeric PIN.

 

In a pinch I drew down $300 against my stateroom room in the ship's casino, but had to go to the purser’s desk and buy Euros (at the above rates.) We bought a few Euros before we left home (for the taxi ride from the airport) and it was very expensive.

 

One last thought, we used our left over Euros as tips for the ships staff. Some got envelopes with a mix of dollars and Euros.

[whogo]

The best exchange rate is by using your ATM in Europe. The ship (last summer) was selling Euros for $1.44' date=' and buying back what you might have left over for about $1.29. :( Actual rate at the time was right around $1.39. [/quote']This is a pretty good deal on buying euros, roughly 3.5%, and better than what my Wells Fargo ATM card would charge (3% plus $5 transaction fee.) I don't know why the cruise line would charge so much more to buy back the euros, but you want to avoid a second conversion anyway.

 

Royal Caribbean quoted 5% over the interbank rate for exchanging dollars (cash or traveler's checks) to euros on my December cruise. I use the interbank rate listed at www.oanda.com and check historical rates at http://www.oanda.com/convert/fxhistory .

 

A Heathrow exchange booth quoted 16% over the interbank rate in November! The advice to avoid airport kiosks holds.

 

Also, we are a family of six so when we pay for our private tours in the ports, we pay more than a couple does as we get our own van. I/E. around 600E for the driver, 120E for a private guide at a site and a real lot for that lunch we will have. So I will need about 1000 to 1200E per day when we tour. Please don't tell me I can do it cheaper, we have kids with us and want the luxury of a private driver and guide. My real question is will Carnival give me approx 1200E in a day? I know I can call them directly but we are al experienced cruisers here and all know that carnival does not like to speak to people who have booked thru someone else. When I do call I always say I have not booked yet and need some answers first. LOL.

Thanks.:D

I would want more than telephone information from a Carnival customer service rep before I would plan to exchange €1200 onboard at each port.

 

I have not found a cheap place to buy euros in the USA. Banks charge about 5.5% for foreign currency or traveler's checks. I never tried to buy as much as you will need, though. Maybe you can get a quantity discount.