Currency for Baltics

[jayneez]

Advice please from anyone who has been to the Baltics recently. We are on the Navigator in a few weeks to the Baltics. We are from the UK and the pound is not good for exchanging at the moment. We will be mainly using CC but wandering whether to just take pounds for tips on board and to use ashore for beers etc or to get Euro or Dollars. ? We have had the email from Alla Tours informing us we cannot pay in Dollars for our Tour. We are hoping to use the Hop on Hop off buses in most ports. Can you pay on CC for tickets ?

[LondonTowner]

Although we always have a supply of Euros we found that on our Baltic cruise we didn't need any cash at all. We paid by CC everywhere. We have three with no foreign transaction fees.

 

Yes, you can pay with CC on all HOHO buses.

[ExpatBride]

There are tons of posts on this topic in the Ports of Call forum. You might want to check over there.

[SullytheBFG]

Scandinavia is very happy with cards, otherwise you are going to need multiple currencies.

[Thorben-Hendrik]

We are from the UK and the pound is not good for exchanging at the moment.

 

The pound will deteriorate further...so exchange it while you still get something for it!

[MATHA531]

On the ship, you can use any currency you want to tip individuals who are I am sure used to geting US dollars or euro or sterling. They'll deal with it. Your account on the ship will be in US dollars and you will settle that it is best with credit cards left at the start of the cruise and automatically charged for the incidentals and bar tabs and whatever. The joke they use at the orientation meetings the day before debarkation is they automatically charge your credit card; it's almost like cruising for free. I suggest you settle on the ship with your credit card, have them write the charge up in US currency and your bank will give you the best rate possible.

 

Now as for the ports. You'll be visiting Copenhagen and Stockholm. Both are well on the way to going cashless as far as practical. They will take cards most anywhere for everything. So it is not necessary to procure their currencies. As a matter of fact, where there might be remnants of the days when there was cash, the attendants will give you coins for things like lockers if necessary. Again make sure they write up the charges in local currency and your bank will do the conversion.

 

You're probably also visiting Estonia and Finland. Both use the euro, and it's possible you might need euro in those places although again cards will be taken for most everything. You might wish to pick up a few euro from ATM's upon arrival.

 

Alla tours no longer takes any currency other than Rubles. Your tour is probably quoted in US currency. What they will do when it comes time to settle is figure out the equivalent based on that day's exchange rate between US and Russian currencies, charge your credit cards in Russian currency and your card will be converted to sterling in the usual manner.

 

In other words, quite frankly, you need not worry too much about currency fluctuations and the like and use your cards for most everything.

[jayneez]

There are tons of posts on this topic in the Ports of Call forum. You might want to check over there.

 

There are tons of posts about all Cruise topics on this site but a lot of them are old posts. It's good to get up to date feedback :)

[ExpatBride]

There are tons of posts about all Cruise topics on this site but a lot of them are old posts. It's good to get up to date feedback :)

 

Yeah, I'm sure this one, started on April 7, is WAY out of date: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2486140

 

And this one from May 11: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2497926

 

:')

[cruzgryphon]

One thing about credit cards in the Baltics. I found a lot of places (not all) would only take cards with chips and that use PIN numbers - especially the ticket vending machines at places like the Vasa Museum in Stockholm ( you could line up in the queue for people who are using cash/ CC without pin - but line-up is typically very long).

[nafanny29]

The pound will deteriorate further...so exchange it while you still get something for it!

 

I actually think it will appreciate, fallen too much lately and the UK aint in such a bad way really.

[LondonTowner]

I actually think it will appreciate, fallen too much lately and the UK aint in such a bad way really.

The rate of exchange yesterday was €1.17 to GBP, but today only 1.14. It's probably because the party manifestos have been published. I also think it will improve.

[dogs4fun]

Advice please from anyone who has been to the Baltics recently. We are on the Navigator in a few weeks to the Baltics. We are from the UK and the pound is not good for exchanging at the moment. We will be mainly using CC but wandering whether to just take pounds for tips on board and to use ashore for beers etc or to get Euro or Dollars. ? We have had the email from Alla Tours informing us we cannot pay in Dollars for our Tour. We are hoping to use the Hop on Hop off buses in most ports. Can you pay on CC for tickets ?

The Hop On/Off buses accept credit cards. You may want to pick-up a few euros for incidentals but credit cards are accepted almost everywhere. You can use GBP for tips onboard - no need to convert currency to USD or euros. Great itinerary - have fun! :D