Joshua1

First, a suggestion that you don't make your user ID the subject of the thread. People will have no idea what you are asking about in your post.

 

As for each of the ports, your best bet is to read the Ports of Call section for each of them.

 

I can tell you that you should have no problem using a credit card.

 

As for cash, you may want to wait until you get to each country and withdraw a few $$ in local currency from an ATM machine.

 

You can also do a Search using a search term such as 'money' or 'currency' and limit the search to Northern Europe and Baltic for a result like this

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/search.php?searchid=84361998

thank you but it made you look didn't it. Also if you hover your mouse over the post it normally gives you the gist of the question.

I can't imagine why you would need dollars onboard. Maybe for room service tips, but euros would be just as good for that. EM

Because we have dollars left over from our Dec trip to the Caribbean and if its not necessary to change them we won't.

I had found it difficult before leaving to know the exact currency amounts I might need for each Country's port. And while many on these boards are comfortable using foreign ATM's I'm just not, and certainly didn't want to hunt for them or encounter any problems with them once I did.

 

So what worked for us on our Northern Europe Baltic cruise was to take US Travelers checks (yes...you can still get them)...cash them onboard my ship (no fee) then exchange the amounts of local currency needed the night before each port visit at guest services...The only currency my ship didn't have was Russian Rubles (but that wasn't a problem). Our private guide in St Petersburg offered to pay when they were needed and we simply reimbursed her at the end of our 2 day tour in US $'s.....(Thanks Anna at TJ Travel)....and to our surprise some street vendors there had no problem taking our US$'s.

 

I stressed so much about the currency question but this worked out so much easier than expected for us....Of course I had my no foreign transaction fee credit card for any possible large purchases...but there were none...and the few bits of foreign money I had left over..are now just souvenirs.

 

Enjoy your Baltic cruise .... our favorite out of many itineraries to date.

Thanks for that we have not had any trouble really wherever we've cruised but as we are going to Russia have not heard any info before re that. As we

are from the UK we don't have your problems but you do have better laws with your travel agents. We cannot chop or change our minds re cruises after certain amount of days and our agents do not tel us to say the price has dropped etc.

The OP is in the UK - where currency exchange is more common, more competitive and more economical. And avoids the total reliance on a card to get cash, and the need to find an ATM the moment you get off the ship. :)

So my advice is good for the OP.

 

But there's certainly no harm in your mentioning that it's expensive / problematic for those in the US ;)

 

JB :)

thanks for the advice

Let your credit card take care of your significant purchases, or even a couple of coffees in many outlets. Apart from the simplicity, your card supplier will give a far better exchange rate than any exchange bureau.

Remember to tell your card supplier of your up-coming travel.

And as Clarea's post, some credit cards including in the UK Halifax Clarity, Capital One, Nationwide Flex & Post Office don't charge a foreign transaction fee. Well worth getting one if you intend to take more travel abroad - and that includes your ship's on-board account if it's not a sterling ship.

 

The euro is local currency for Helsinki & Tallinn, and by far the best "reserve" currency for other ports.

 

You will probably need a little local cash for things like public transport, though hop-on buses (but not regular service buses) and taxis at the port (but not necessarily those in town) will accept euros in Copenhagen & Stockholm. Ditto many bars, cafes, and tourist shops. In the main you won't get best value but for instance the hop-on boats in Stockholm actually price in euros.

 

Do get yourselves at least some Danish & Swedish kroner and Polish zloty- perhaps £15/£20 worth per person, and in those ports take euros as back-up. Best value is from the usual suspects in the UK (M&S, Tesco, Post Office, etc) or from ATMs in the ports. ATMs and on-line bureaux have minimums (and on-line often use only high-denomination notes) .

Ashland's post surprised me - ships' currency exchange rates are somewhere between abysmal and criminal, and trav cheques are very 20th century - many places ashore won't want to know them, possibly also some cruise lines. The only significant advantage of using ship's exchange is that many will buy-back unused currency at the same rate though usually notes-only and subject to a maximum proportion.

 

The odd-one-out is St Petersburg. Tourist places, tourist markets and street hawkers will accept several foreign currencies, best are US dollars or euros. If your tour includes a shop they will also accept cards. Elsewhere no foreign currency & often no cards either.

Local tour operators provide better tours, in small groups, for lower prices than ships' tours and have the same visa-free status as ships' tours - cruise lines avoid telling you that. You have to pre-book for the visa-free status but you don't pay until you're there - any major currency or card. If this is news to you, google Alla Tours, SPB Tours, TJ Travel, DenRus. And check out the Ports of Call forums http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=192

We always like to have some local jingle in our pockets, so we took a few roubles - enough for the guide's tip. Came in handy, the restaurants where we had lunch (included in the tour price) accepted only roubles & no plastic, so we were able to wash our lunch down with beer while others had only water. We made up the tip shortfall with euros.

That said, you'll survive without roubles.

 

Cruising is by far the easiest way to explore the Baltic states, you'll enjoy

 

JB :)

Thank you very much for your very useful advice

We are off on a Baltics cruise this June could anyone advise about currency to take. We visit Denmark, Sweden, Russia,Tallin,Poland, Finland. Should we take a little of each, use our credit card or is the dollar acceptable in non euro countries?

Many thanks

Any advice from anyone who has done this cruise in 2015. We are on the Emerald for this one.