Currency Issues on Irrawaddy River Boats

We are cruising with APT on 2nd November 2018 on Princess Panhwar, Majestic Myanmar. We have been heard that there is reluctance from the ships to accept payment of final bar bills using credit cards. Has anyone experienced this and what advice would you give.

As there are only 36 cabins, I don't think there will be a roll call but would love to hear from anyone travelling with us.

I've just started to research Myanmar for a future cruise, and it does seem that credit card use is still patchy over there, but ATM's are quite well established.

Personally I'd bring along a decent amount of pristine USD bills and take advantage of the ATM's if necessary to top up.

Just check on your bar tab during the trip so you know what the final total is likely to be and check to see if they will take USD or if it has to be in Kyat.

This is not uncommon, it just takes a little extra planning, and when I say 'pristine' bills, I do mean it, no marks, tears or signs of wear, as close to brand new as you can get or they may not accept them.

We haven’t sailed on Panwhar but on the other APT ship the Samatha. We only needed local currency for souvenirs. So we had so much left over we paid some of our onboard bill in local cash but they took the rest in credit card. Check with APT.

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