Marco Polo

[DPRESSY]

Hi

 

We are going on the Marco Polo in September, on the FJORDS Cruise, visiting Norway, Sweden and Denmark.

 

We would like to know about the best amounts of curency to change and where.

 

Regards

 

Dave

[yorkshirephil]

Hi Dave and welcome. We take Euro, as most Scandinavian countries will take them, they will probably give change in local currency. However there are exceptions where local currency is required, it is always difficult to know what to change unless you know exactly what you will be doing. You will be able to get the required currency onboard, at a cost of course. If you want larger amounts then you will just have to take a chance and buy before you go or seek out a bank or bureau de change in each port.

[DPRESSY]

Hi Phill

Thank you for that info on the curency, during your cruises around scandinavia did you do the smaller ports like Eidford and Flam and if so is it possible to do your own excursions once ashore or do you have to follow the ship's itinery.

[yorkshirephil]

Hi Phill

Thank you for that info on the curency, during your cruises around scandinavia did you do the smaller ports like Eidford and Flam and if so is it possible to do your own excursions once ashore or do you have to follow the ship's itinery.

 

Hi Dave. Within reason you can do your own excursions anywhere. You can definitely do them cheaper yourself, however make sure that you are back in good time, the ship will not wait for you if you are late back, whereas they will if you are on a tour, or they will make the arrangements to get you to the ship. Another thing to consider is how many ships are in port besides you. Try googling this, I am sure there are a couple of sites that tell you when ships are in particular ports.

 

We did our own excursion in Flam, train to the mountain top for a fraction of the price of the ships tour, the railway station is very close to the pier. However if there are more than 2 ships in they will have priority booking tickets and you may struggle to get on the train, we got straight off the ship and headed to the station to beat the rush. We really enjoyed this tour and it is only a couple of hours which gives you chance to walk around Flam.

[Dickiemint]

Hello Dave,

We're on that cruise, leaving Tilbury 8th Sept? both our Travel Agent and Danish friend tell us that Denmark, Norway and Sweden all have their own currency, all Kroner and do not accept each others! Euros are also not too popular. Prices are steep too, even for coffee!

Coop Travel currently have the best rate for all kroner and euro.

 

I'm currently doing my homework on Port facilites as we are put off by the sky high prices of excursions. My wife and I did our own thing on the last Marco Polo cruise we did, just getting the shuttle buses CMV supply and wandering round the towns. This trip, as my brother-in-law can't walk too far or fast (he's on a "delta" frame following a triple bypass op) we'll be looking for gangway access onto shore.

 

Interestingly looking at the Flam Harbour website ( http://aurlandhavn.no/cruise/skipsanl%C3%B8p-2011/ ) and decoding their "Ship Arrivals" page, it looks like the Marco Polo is the only one in on the 11th September. [On the webpage

http://aurlandhavn.no/en/kontakt-oss/ there's a photo of the MarcoPolo at dock! )

 

Richard