Swindonpete Posted January 31, 2018 #1 Share Posted January 31, 2018 Hi All - We have a 2 day St Petersburg visit as part of our Baltic cruise later this year and will be using a P& O tour. Will we need Russian currency for our visit or are cards widely accepted? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Keith1010 Posted January 31, 2018 #2 Share Posted January 31, 2018 I would post this on the Northern European Ports Of Call Board. Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Keith1010 Posted January 31, 2018 #3 Share Posted January 31, 2018 Ports Of Call Board at: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=-1&f=192 Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwally Posted January 31, 2018 #4 Share Posted January 31, 2018 I personally would have a small amount - if nothing else, Russian toilets work on the "tipping the babushka" system. There is a cash machine in the cruise terminal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swindonpete Posted January 31, 2018 Author #5 Share Posted January 31, 2018 I personally would have a small amount - if nothing else, Russian toilets work on the "tipping the babushka" system. There is a cash machine in the cruise terminal. :) Thanks for the info / advice. Much appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anthonyy7 Posted January 31, 2018 #6 Share Posted January 31, 2018 No need for cash and most places you visit will have free toilets. We used credit card for all our souvenirs and paid/tipped our guides in US dollars which is the preferred payment. Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Got2Cruise Posted January 31, 2018 #7 Share Posted January 31, 2018 We needed a small amount of cash. There are certain vendors and food shops that don’t accept credit cards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare John Bull Posted February 1, 2018 #8 Share Posted February 1, 2018 (edited) We always like to have a little local shrapnel in our pockets in most ports. For St Petersburg we took enough roubles for the guide's tip - that guaranteed we had some local money and that we wouldn't have roubles left-over. Both days lunch was included in the tour price but nothing to wash it down except water and the restaurants took only roubles - no foreign currency & no plastic. So we dug into our roubles for a couple of beers and at the end of the tour on day 2 we tipped the guide with a mix of our remaining roubles & euros. P&O will almost certainly give you time in a dedicated souvenir shop which accepts plastic. Those places also used to accept $ & € & £ but I heard something about a recent change in the law & that selling for a foreign currency is now illegal (? :confused: ?) JB :) ps I'll take issue with Anthonyy's assertion that USD is the preferred currency for tips. That's a myth that I see posted by my US cousins world-wide from time to time. In most of the world USD is just another foreign currency, which like all foreign currencies has a fluctuating value and costs commission to exchange. With very few exceptions the preference worldwide is for the recipient's local currency Edited February 1, 2018 by John Bull Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRF Posted February 1, 2018 #9 Share Posted February 1, 2018 Your plastic will work. As usual, depending on your card and company, let them know before you leave that you will be in certain countries, so they do not freeze your card. Some cash will be nice, but there are ATMs all over. And don't get too much, not much use for rubles outside Russia. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
voyager70 Posted February 1, 2018 #10 Share Posted February 1, 2018 Your plastic will work. As usual, depending on your card and company, let them know before you leave that you will be in certain countries, so they do not freeze your card. Some cash will be nice, but there are ATMs all over. And don't get too much, not much use for rubles outside Russia. :D We used our credit cards in St. Petersburg (and most of the other ports as well) with no problems. Agree with above post and be sure to notify your bank that you will be traveling to Russia as well as other countries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakelorain Posted February 1, 2018 #11 Share Posted February 1, 2018 If you take a tour through the ship, you can use credit cards everywhere. If you go on a private tour, ask your tour company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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