Currencies on South Pacific Cruise

[Aussie Nana]

I have had varying reports on currencies to take for New Caledonia, & Vanuatu should we take some local currencies for these Islands or is Australian dollars ok or a bit of both, I am pretty sure Fiji has their own only.

Travelling on the Oosterdam in March.

[pippin10]

I have had varying reports on currencies to take for New Caledonia, & Vanuatu should we take some local currencies for these Islands or is Australian dollars ok or a bit of both, I am pretty sure Fiji has their own only.

Travelling on the Oosterdam in March.

 

Hi Aussie Nana

Fiji uses the Fiji Dollar, Vanuatu uses Vatu and New Caledonia use Pacific Francs. I tend to get a $150.00 AUD exchanged into each of the currencies as I find I get a better deal when shopping. They all will price an item as e.g. $10 AUD or $10 Pacific Francs. If you do the conversion you will actually be paying more by giving $10AUD.

But on saying that they all do accept AUD and it can be a lot less of a hassle to just carry the one currency.

[Aussie Nana]

Thanks for that I like to be organized your 1st suggestion sounds like a good idea with A$ as backup.

[cjm66]

You may find it difficult to get Vatu for Vila and South Pacific Francs for New Caledonia unless you organise this well ahead. There are cash tellers that will spit out local currency in Noumea and Vila at a better rate than you will get on the ship.

 

 

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[Miamia65]

Aussie Nana

We went to fiji, vila and new cal in oct last year, I did not take any local currency. I used AUD everywhere and it was widely accepted.

 

In the shops in fiji they have it all programmed into their retail computer systems, the AUD is worth double the Fiji dollar. What happens is they scan the items, tell you the price in fiji, you then say I would like to pay in AUD and they convert it to AUD. You can pay with a credit card or use AUD cash, with cash though if the transaction is for example $7 and you give them $10 AUD they will give you $6 fiji dollars in change (remember the AUD is double the fiji dollar).

 

In vila, we bought items at the market where the ship docks and it was all priced in AUD. We visited the cascade waterfalls, negotiated with a driver in a BUS to take us there and back for $40, entry to the waterfalls was $20 AUD (the signage stated AUD).

 

We also visited isle of pines and there was a local market right on the beach which was all priced in AUD ... it was overpriced for some of the items but really bracelets, key rings etc were around $5 each and I really didn't mind buying it for that price.

 

They also won't accept coins, only notes over $5 because they can't take it to a bank and convert it to their own currency.

 

I did take coins but only to tip the cruise staff - room attendant and staff who delivered room service ($1 per plate). I tipped the room attendant $20 on the first day.

 

If you want to know anything else, just ask away.

[The_Big_M]

Hi Aussie Nana

Fiji uses the Fiji Dollar, Vanuatu uses Vatu and New Caledonia use Pacific Francs. I tend to get a $150.00 AUD exchanged into each of the currencies as I find I get a better deal when shopping. They all will price an item as e.g. $10 AUD or $10 Pacific Francs. If you do the conversion you will actually be paying more by giving $10AUD.

 

While that's true, unless you organise exactly so you have nothing left over, then you'll be paying more for double conversions and also paying extra for the e.g. coins/small amounts you have left.

 

Thus, if you're trying to do it just to get the absolute best cost, you should also plan for how much you need so you don't have any left at the end (and don't spend money on things you wouldn't have otherwise bought, just to use it up!)

[DT1304]

I also suggest just sticking to Aus $.

 

I never changed currency at the Pacific Islands when I was there a few weeks ago, and used Aus $ for everything and it was widely accepted.

 

In fact I had US$ too as I won money in the casino and was paid out in US$. Although they all accepted the US$, they were not always very happy with them and preferred Aus$

 

As for the coins, I used coins on many of the islands and they were accepted, however what was mentioned in another answer is correct, they do not like them as they cant exchange them. I had heaps of kids at the end of the days coming to me asking me to swap their coins for notes.

 

Finally, for your info, the prices at Cascades have gone up slightly. $25 per adult and $15 per child.

 

I paid a taxi driver $100 for 5 of us for all day. (I landed up paying $120 as I ran out of Aus $ and only had US$, and gave the extra $20 to make him happy about US$ vs Aus$) I figured the extra $20 would mean way more to him than me, and he was a great driver for the day.

[Aussie Nana]

Hi Thanks for all money info I think we'll just stick with A$. Any specific tours you can recommend other than Ship tours prefer to go with Locals, where possible.

 

 

 

Aussie Nana

We went to fiji, vila and new cal in oct last year, I did not take any local currency. I used AUD everywhere and it was widely accepted.

 

In the shops in fiji they have it all programmed into their retail computer systems, the AUD is worth double the Fiji dollar. What happens is they scan the items, tell you the price in fiji, you then say I would like to pay in AUD and they convert it to AUD. You can pay with a credit card or use AUD cash, with cash though if the transaction is for example $7 and you give them $10 AUD they will give you $6 fiji dollars in change (remember the AUD is double the fiji dollar).

 

In vila, we bought items at the market where the ship docks and it was all priced in AUD. We visited the cascade waterfalls, negotiated with a driver in a BUS to take us there and back for $40, entry to the waterfalls was $20 AUD (the signage stated AUD).

 

We also visited isle of pines and there was a local market right on the beach which was all priced in AUD ... it was overpriced for some of the items but really bracelets, key rings etc were around $5 each and I really didn't mind buying it for that price.

 

They also won't accept coins, only notes over $5 because they can't take it to a bank and convert it to their own currency.

 

I did take coins but only to tip the cruise staff - room attendant and staff who delivered room service ($1 per plate). I tipped the room attendant $20 on the first day.

 

If you want to know anything else, just ask away.