Getting cash

[Spygirl13]

Can't we just use the ATMs when we disembark? That is what I was planning on doing! :D

[ghstudio]

Be careful. Celebrity ships use dollars. We did a trip last year around the British Isles. We converted some dollars to UK pounds, then converted our left over UK pounds to Euro's and so on. Celebrity sold us the pounds....that was fine. But the next step wasn't! They converted the pounds to dollars and then converted the dollars to Euros. That was a double conversion fee.....great for Celebrity, lousy for us.

 

Be careful if you take anything but dollars to the guest relations desk....

[texancruzer]

Can't we just use the ATMs when we disembark? That is what I was planning on doing! :D

 

Depends on how much you need each day.

 

As I posted - most ATM's have a limit on the amount of $$ you can take out.

 

Let's say you need 500 euros for a private tour that must be paid for in cash (euros). Most ATM's have a 400 euro (or less) limit. Then you have to find another ATM and w/d some from that one. Also - make sure your credit card company or bank (for debit card) knows where you are going and will up your limit that you can pull from the card every day. Just a hassle. If you are not doing much more than just getting off and wandering around on your own with little expense involved..... go for it.

 

If you know about how much you need for tours or other expenses that you know about IN ADVANCE, it is easier to cash your travelers checks and buy euros on the ship.

[clivep]

You can always take money out of ATM but that can sometimes be a hassle just looking for one or getting enough out of one (some tours can be pricey) as there are limits on how much you can get out of any one ATM.

 

ATMs are very numerous in Europe and you wont have trouble finding one. I always use one at the airport on arrival. The only limits on daily withdrawals are those imposed by your card provider. Sometimes you are limited as to how much you can withdraw in one transaction (e.g. in Portugal it is 200 euros) but you can always put your card straight back in and do further transactions up to your daily limit.

[SNAGuy]

There is a way around the 3% fee for getting cash from the casino. It was mentioned in a thread on here before I took my Med cruise last August and it worked great.

 

You can give yourself a "gift" of casino chips and putting it on your credit card before you leave the states.

 

It is buried in the catalog and took me some time to find it but here is the link:

 

http://www.celebritycruises.com/bonvoyage/category/viewProductDetail.do;jsessionid=0000N-o6XqgUlfCXWrQ-qk6PYss:12hdebdrn?cat=ONBDCR&coll=ONBDCR&itemCode=C170

 

You get a voucher either in your stateroom or you pick it up at the casino and they will either just give you the chips or cash and there is no added fee.

[clivep]

Let's say you need 500 euros for a private tour that must be paid for in cash (euros). Most ATM's have a 400 euro (or less) limit. Then you have to find another ATM and w/d some from that one. Also - make sure your credit card company or bank (for debit card) knows where you are going and will up your limit that you can pull from the card every day. Just a hassle. If you are not doing much more than just getting off and wandering around on your own with little expense involved..... go for it.

 

For debit cards it is your card that has the limit so finding another ATM will not allow you to withdraw any extra on that day. I'm not sure about credit cards as I have never used one to withdraw cash and would not recommend it due to the high charges inherent in using them in this way.

 

Our bank reduced the daily limit from £500 to £300 a couple of years back. I tried to get a temporary increase but they said there was no chance of that. For this reason I set up another couple of accounts with them which only have money put in them immediately before I go abroad and are solely used for cash withdrawals from ATMs. Note that on a joint account the daily cash limit applies to each card separately.

[texancruzer]

The only limits on daily withdrawals are those imposed by your card provider. Sometimes you are limited as to how much you can withdraw in one transaction (e.g. in Portugal it is 200 euros) but you can always put your card straight back in and do further transactions up to your daily limit.

 

For debit cards it is your card that has the limit so finding another ATM will not allow you to withdraw any extra on that day.

 

 

We did not find this to be the case. Before we left I had my bank increase my DAILY limit to $1500.00 US dollars. At one ATM it would only give us 400 euros (@$600.00 US with the conversion rate of approx. $1.50 - 1 euro ) Nov. 07 :( Would not give any more on subsequent tries. We had a full day private tour of Rome to pay for in cash - we then went to another ATM and obtained the balance we needed. But a hassle nonetheless. DH said we would not use that method to obtain large amounts of euros from there on out. Much easier, at our leisure, to go down to the pursers desk and buy euros there :)

[SoCA6ft5]

I don't like to carry lots of cash on vacation, but travelers checks are kind of a pain too. We usually just use our credit card. But since we have a couple of excursions booked that require cash payments when we get there, it's starting to add up to more than I'd like to carry.

 

What is the best way to get cash on board the ship? I see from X's website that there is an ATM, but I'm assuming it has some type of (probably hefty) service fee attached. In the past, I think we could cash a personal check at the purser's desk or somewhere, but I don't see any info on the website. Or can we cash a traveler's check there?

 

Thanks for your help, just a couple of days to go!!! :cool:

 

We usually start out with foreign currency ordered from our bank (much better rate than currency exchanges). Then hit the ATMs if we need to in the ports.

Check with your bank regarding fees. I have a couple of ATM cards, one charges a flat $5 per withdrawal, the other charges 1% of the withdrawal amount, So the first one would only make sense if I was withdrawing over $500 at once.

Also, let your bank (and credit card companies) know your travel plans so they don't put a hold on your account when they see the overseas charges.

[Spygirl13]

DH just went to our bank yesterday and upped our daily ATM limit to $1000 per day so I think we are in good shape! ;)

[Veronica13]

DH just went to our bank yesterday and upped our daily ATM limit to $1000 per day so I think we are in good shape! ;)

 

GOOD POINT - a lot of people have no clue that they have a daily limit until they are humiliated. And you can just call them. Be SURE to tell them it's not a "temporary" raise. Most banks will only temporarily raise the limit for that day and then drop it back. I had to call the bank manager and have her call the regional office to ensure the $1000 limit was maintained permanently.