Baltic currencies...

[kingstontricia]

Just a little thing that I was wondering, we are sailing on the Jewel in August next year, and would welcome some info about how to manage the different currencies. Is it easy to use ATM's or is it better to obtain the different currencies before we leave? I am particularly interested in the situation in St. Petersburg.

 

Many thanks, Tricia :D

[kingstontricia]

sorry....didn't see the previous thread....whooops!

[SaylorGirl]

I purchased the Baltic currencies before I left through Wells Fargo, In fact I have leftover Estonia Krooni from Tallin. We ran short of rubles in St. Petersburg and we converted US money at a Western Union type money exchange, they were all over, it only took a couple of minutes. We did see several ATM's in St. Petersburg also.

[suron]

We were on Star Princess in August on the Baltic itinerary. Quite honestly we found that it was not necessary to get all the different currencies for the various ports of call. All the places we visited accepted both Euros and US$ - even the street vendors stalls in St. Petersburg! Credit cards are accepted everywhere and as I see you are from the UK might I recommend the Nationwide Credit Card. We invested in one of these purely because they do not make any charges for converting into pounds sterling on all foreign purchases (unlike the UK Banks and other credit card companies where the charges can be up to 3% for converting plus clearance charges. Nationwide do make a small charge for drawing cash in local currency from ATMs but this is nowhere near as high as other banks and credit card companies - it is about 1% I believe. We used the card to settle our onboard account and ensured that the cruise line did not convert for us (which avoided a 3% charge from them)

 

If you are interested in what we did on our trip I have posted a review which can be found by logging on to:

 

www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/member review.cfm?EntryID=12469

 

A member of the Roll Call for our sailing has also posted a review under the name Sunprincess. She took some different excursions so you could get additional information from her report. She has also posted some wonderful photos which can be seen at:

community.webshots.com/user/sunprincess.8

 

You will have a wonderful time on the Baltic cruise but be prepared for an very hectic itinerary. Where abouts in the UK are you? We live in Bitton, a small village between Bristol and Bath in South Glos. If you want to contact me by E-mail for any other information please do so on harrad.2@tiscali.co.uk

 

Have our trip organised already for 2006 - we are doing a land tour of the Rockies followed by an Alaskan cruise on Dawn Princess in May. So far we have quite a few on the Roll Call and we are busily exchanging tips and planning for what everyone tells us will be a wonderful experience.

 

Happy Planning with your trip. ;)

 

from Suron (Suzanne in Bristol, England)

[sunprincess]

Tricia,

 

The only exchange I did was Euro when I landed at the airport in Amsterdam to connect for Copenhagen.

Did not have any problem at all. I will suggest bringing small bills for purchases. I used my credit card for some purchases as well.

Probably the only place I recall having used local currency was in Gydina (Poland) and my friend from the ship had some.

ATMs are easy to find.

Enjoy your cruise :)

[mike35]

The only problem we had was in Tallinn, Estonia. The shops there didn't take $USD or Euros! They did, however, accept credit cards. We purchased $200 each at the airport of Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian currency, primarily for taxis and small items; we ended up using all of it. Didn't need any in St. Petersburg, Tallinn (see above).

 

Mike

[Pugdog007]

I purchased the Baltic currencies before I left through Wells Fargo, In fact I have leftover Estonia Krooni from Tallin. We ran short of rubles in St. Petersburg and we converted US money at a Western Union type money exchange, they were all over, it only took a couple of minutes. We did see several ATM's in St. Petersburg also.

 

My understanding is that Rubles and Estonia Kroon are controlled currencies and you cannot get these before leaving. Is this not true? Did Wells Fargo have minimums on each currency?

[SaylorGirl]

My understanding is that Rubles and Estonia Kroon are controlled currencies and you cannot get these before leaving. Is this not true? Did Wells Fargo have minimums on each currency?

 

I believe you have to be a Wells Fargo customer to get these curriencies. The minimum was $25.00 US.

[JodiBB]

My understanding is that Rubles and Estonia Kroon are controlled currencies and you cannot get these before leaving. Is this not true? Did Wells Fargo have minimums on each currency?

My friends who went on our Red October tour with us this past summer was able to get the Rubles and Estonia Kroon prior to the cruise from Bank of America. They were BofA customers, so they didn't have as many charges. As a non-BofA customer, I would have had to taken a cash advance on my VISA card, which I wasn't willing to do, but it IS an option.

[Jane110]

The only problem we had was in Tallinn, Estonia. The shops there didn't take $USD or Euros! They did, however, accept credit cards. We purchased $200 each at the airport of Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian currency, primarily for taxis and small items; we ended up using all of it. Didn't need any in St. Petersburg, Tallinn (see above).

 

Mike

 

 

Same here. We couldn't have the wonderful pastry and coffee we wanted in Tallinn because we only had US dollars and Euro's and the cafe didn't take credit cards! :(

Since we only had a couple more hours there, we didn't want to spend the time looking for an ATM. So we had to go to a place that would take credit cards. It wasn't nearly as nice a place.

 

St Pete, no problem with US Dollars. Just watch exchange rates!