cash or travelers checks?

[ajrs]

We leave on our 1st cruise in just 2 weeks! DH wants to know if we should bring cash or travelers checks? not too comfortable traveling with a lot of cash, but are travelers checks easy to cash on ship. i'm assuming cash is the way to go in ports. any advice?

[nbsjcruiser]

We have been on 4 cruises and will be on the ROS in March. We always use traveler checks. They are great for your sea pass and are very easy to cash at the pursers desk.I am very concerned about traveling with that much cash. Another great thing about using cash or traveler checks is that you arrive home with no bills to pay.

[robtulipe]

We also use traveller's checks which I can get without the 1% service charge that normally is charge. Purser's desk onboard will cash for no extra charge, so I would do this instead of trying to do so or use at a port stop. If you like to visit the casino, you can get a cash advance there which is charged to your onboard account with no fee. It is treated as a charge, not a cash advance when billed to your credit card. Any left over TCs can be applied to your onboard account instead of taking them home.

This works for us since we are Cdn and tend to buy US$ when the exchange rate is good and the TC's exchange rate is always slightly better than the rate to get US cash.

[amybear912]

We've done it both ways... but the traveler's checks always give us better peace of mind...

 

Sometimes we cash them in the casino, say, the night before we port... Sometimes there can be a line at the Pursers Desk in the morning with everyone there to cash t-checks or obtain cash...

[lady_cruiser]

We brought traveler's checks on our first two cruises and decided it was too much of a hassle trying to cash them back in when we got back from our trip. This past cruise we brought cash, the equivalent to the amount in traveler's checks we would have bought, and kept the money in our safe. We only took out what we thought we needed for the day. And we had our credit card in case we needed more. 99% of the shops in foreign ports now take credit cards. The only people that aren't set up for credit card transactions are those little mom and pop tables that are setup around the cruise terminals.

[WhiteSoxFan]

I didn't even realize they still had travelers checks. I haven't seen one of those in ten years. Another option is one of those pre-paid Bank of America cards. It works like a credit card. We got one for my daughter for her school trip to Disney so she didn't have to carry a lot of cash. It worked out great. You just have to keep track of how much is left on it.

[LisaClark]

DH and I usually carry a combination of both. Travellers checks are easy to cash at the purser's desk and we feel safer in the ports not carrying around tons of cash. At the same time, having some cash on hand is nice for tipping and buying those little things you don't want to (or can't) put on a credit card.

 

We got an amazing deal on a watch for him by using our travellers checks (which are as good as cash) at a jeweller on St. Martin. He wouldn't have given us the same price had we paid with a credit card.