Changing Money: Guidelines for Grand in W. Caribbean?

[sulwyn]

I'll be on the Grand for 7 days at the end of February. Can anyone give me some general guidelines on how much money I should change from USD into local currency? I expect most of my cash expenditures will be in Costa Maya, Cozumel, and Grand Cayman. We're not in Belize long enough to do much shopping.

 

I realize this is a very individual thing, but I'd just like some general comments and personal experiences. What vendors take USD? Who only takes local currency? What purchases are best made in one form or the other? In what situations are credit cards a better form of payment? (All my ship's purchases will be paid via credit card. I'm referring only to off-ship expenditures here.)

 

Thanks a bunch for the advice!

 

-Sulwyn

[Pam in CA]

Why would you want to change money? I've been on many cruises in the Caribbean / Mexican Riviera as well as land trips and except for when we stayed in Cancun and needed pesos to take the local bus, never needed to change money.

 

You can use US$ when taking taxis or buying items in local shops. For anything at all valuable, you're much better off using a credit card where you have some protection.

[TexasMom2]

You should be OK with American money everywhere you go. We used cash at Costa Maya, except for the taxi ride...I had pesos leftover from a Mexico trip last summer, so I was getting rid of them. We could have used a credit card at the restaurant, but we had enough cash with us. Can't help you on Belize, we had a ship tour and tipped the crewmen with American money. They were very happy. We used a credit card at the restaurant on Cayman and paid American dollars for the taxi to 7 Mile Beach. Same for Cozumel at Paradise Beach.

[JLC@SD]

Why would you want to change money? I've been on many cruises in the Caribbean / Mexican Riviera as well as land trips and except for when we stayed in Cancun and needed pesos to take the local bus, never needed to change money.

 

You can use US$ when taking taxis or buying items in local shops. For anything at all valuable, you're much better off using a credit card where you have some protection.

 

You don't need the local currency, the locals want the good ole US Greenbacks, they are worth more to them and you can negotiate better with them............:)

 

High end shops quote prices in US and they want greenbacks as well from your credit card or travelers check.

[Driller36]

A lot of good advice has been posted here; US dollars are readily accepted in Western Caribbean ports. I would like to add, however, to take enough smaller bills (10's, 5's, and 1's) so you can pay in as near the exact amount as possible because you usually get local money (peso's, etc) back in any change. You also run into "I have no change for a $20" situation.

Enjoy your cruise.

Regards,

Bobby

Richardson, TX

[Coral]

I have never changed any money for Mexico/Caribbean cruises. On any large purchases - I use my credit card. The rest - I use US cash.

[luckyking]

We just got back from the Grand last month and we never switched our money over....you'll be just fine with US $.

But I do agree with one of the previous posters that you'll want to take a lot of smaller bills with you. It's much easier when shopping with vendors and bargining because when you get them down to $10 on something, you don't want to be paying with a $20 as they will claim that they can't make change!

You will be able to use credit cards in larger stores though they will try to get you to pay US cash first. And in shops with price tags, they had both local prices and US.

Have a great cruise!

[sulwyn]

Thanks for the good advice! I'll be sure to take a large portion of my cash in small bills, and I won't worry about changing USD into local currency.

[Pam in CA]

Thanks for the good advice! I'll be sure to take a large portion of my cash in small bills, and I won't worry about changing USD into local currency.

Good! One thing to keep in mind if you change money to another currency, most of the time you're left with either a little or a lot of the other currency. Then you have to pay to change it back or else tuck it away for another trip. You might pay a change fee and the US$ rate might change, but I think you're still better off using your charge card than changing money.