cambodia visa and currency

[gramwold]

hi all  we are going to the far east on marella discovery on 24th jan and the only place that we need a visa at a cost of $30 per person is Cambodia,  as we will dock there on our second day from Thailand,  will marella charge us this fee to our on board account or will we have to hand the Cambodian port officials 30 us dollars. also the travel money shop says we cant get Cambodian and Vietnamese currency here and will have to get it over there.    we will need Singapore dollars  thai bhat ,malasian ringets,  will it be best to take a supply  of us dollars as well.   anyone with previous cruise experience to these places  and the money  visa thing   would be greatly appreciated. also anyone else flying out of Manchester on 24th january

[lexdisic]

45 minutes ago, gramwold said:

hi all  we are going to the far east on marella discovery on 24th jan and the only place that we need a visa at a cost of $30 per person is Cambodia,  as we will dock there on our second day from Thailand,  will marella charge us this fee to our on board account or will we have to hand the Cambodian port officials 30 us dollars. also the travel money shop says we cant get Cambodian and Vietnamese currency here and will have to get it over there.    we will need Singapore dollars  thai bhat ,malasian ringets,  will it be best to take a supply  of us dollars as well.   anyone with previous cruise experience to these places  and the money  visa thing   would be greatly appreciated. also anyone else flying out of Manchester on 24th january

Hi

Cambodia/Vietnam - dont bother with local currency even the Vietnamese themselves US dollars, taxi's cafes, markets take them.

Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia dependant on what you are doing, the majority of the time you will need local currency for local things including taxi's. Places where they do accept dollars (not many) will rip you off.

The exchange rate will always be better from local money changers - much better than you get here and better than the ship can offer. Make a note of what it is here at the time and compare to the rate at the changers. They are everywhere so just compare - you should get 10 - 15% better rate than here.

IF you are charged for the visa it will be charged to your account

[gramwold]

many thanks for all of the info lexdisic,  it will come in handy.  cant wait for it now

[lexdisic]

2 minutes ago, gramwold said:

many thanks for all of the info lexdisic,  it will come in handy.  cant wait for it now

You're welcome. We love Asia - the people, the food, the weather 🙂 - we go most years, Thailand next March for us but land hol this time - cheap as chips too

 

Have a great time

[Balibeach0]

Thanks for the info, we go on this cruise on 18th January boarding in Langkawi so will be half way through our holiday when you board gramwold. 

 

I was planning to take some Thai Baht,  Malaysian Ringgit and Singapore Dollars, and then get the other currency when we get there (using a fee free card), I hadn’t planned on getting any US dollars to take in case we end up having to just exchange them back again when back in the UK. I’m unsure if I’d be better off doing this now though 🤔

 

So excited, this will be our first cruise and cannot wait!

[lexdisic]

2 hours ago, Balibeach0 said:

Thanks for the info, we go on this cruise on 18th January boarding in Langkawi so will be half way through our holiday when you board gramwold. 

 

I was planning to take some Thai Baht,  Malaysian Ringgit and Singapore Dollars, and then get the other currency when we get there (using a fee free card), I hadn’t planned on getting any US dollars to take in case we end up having to just exchange them back again when back in the UK. I’m unsure if I’d be better off doing this now though 🤔

 

So excited, this will be our first cruise and cannot wait!

Hi

You certainly need some USD for Vietnam/Cambodia - the local currency is a closed one so you will be unable to change it back when you get home. Like I said earlier, you are 10-15% better off changing your money there - they are geared up for the tourist so competition there gets you great deals.

[lexdisic]

Just looking at the exchange rates - very poor at the moment. Thai Baht are for £100  = 39.7bht to the £ from the Post Office and in Thailand using Superich Exchange which is one of the best is still only 42.2 - a difference of around 250bht or £6 on £100 converted. Other currencies are doing just as badly - seems no-one wants our £ 😞

 

Edited October 27, 2018 by lexdisic
grammar

[Balibeach0]

I was last in Thailand in 2006 and got approx 70thb to £1 back then. It was a bit of a disappointment when I checked the exchange rates when booking the cruise. 

[lexdisic]

4 minutes ago, Balibeach0 said:

I was last in Thailand in 2006 and got approx 70thb to £1 back then. It was a bit of a disappointment when I checked the exchange rates when booking the cruise. 

And the $ was nearly 2 to the £ then too.   😞

 

[gramwold]

hi all.   yes we will have to bight the bullet and change £ to $ over here  and get  malay, thai, Singapore, money locally. the visa for Cambodia will def  cost us 30 us but hope marella  will charge it to onboard account.  balibeach0 you will not be disappointed  we love to cruise, been doing it since 2005   but not yet cruised to far east but have been there before, it will be a first for Cambodia/Vietnam though.  like you cant wait.    thanks again lexdisic  and enjoy your jollies to Thailand in march

[lexdisic]

2 hours ago, gramwold said:

hi all.   yes we will have to bight the bullet and change £ to $ over here  and get  malay, thai, Singapore, money locally. the visa for Cambodia will def  cost us 30 us but hope marella  will charge it to onboard account.  balibeach0 you will not be disappointed  we love to cruise, been doing it since 2005   but not yet cruised to far east but have been there before, it will be a first for Cambodia/Vietnam though.  like you cant wait.    thanks again lexdisic  and enjoy your jollies to Thailand in march

 

Thx gramwold - we're also off to Aqaba to Dubai in just under 4 weeks on Discovery.  The majority of our cruises involve the middle/far east - never tire of it - just like cruising - smashing

[gramwold]

sounds great that lexdisic, have been to both places on separate cruises in the past i will be following the repositioning of the ship on its way to thailand. most of our cruising has been either to the caribbean or europe. we are looking at marella  explorer2 which is repositioning to caribbean from naples  october 2019.  if we go it will be the first time sailing across the atlantic

[Annie W]

Thank you all so much for this information I am very grateful 

I shall be travelling 24th January 

very excited although a little apprehensive as I shall be travelling alone .

[gramwold]

hi annie w  nothing to worry about, you will love it, and you will meet lots of nice people. after a couple of days you will find your feet  and wonder what all the fuss was about. all the crew will be  very helpful and are always smiling ,its  like everyone is one big happy family   see you in the far east then.

[Annie W]

Hi Gramworld

thank you, have a great Christmas and looking forward to the Cruise x

[gramwold]

hiya Annie W  yes we will, and the same to you and a happy new year as well.   only 6 weeks to go now, we cant wait, it will be fantastic.

[merciaman]

The Vietnamese Dong is not a closed currency and is readily available here. We are due on board on the 31st so may bump into each other! I think i am just taking dollars but making sure i get small denominations as any change will be given in local currency

[lexdisic]

20 hours ago, merciaman said:

The Vietnamese Dong is not a closed currency and is readily available here. We are due on board on the 31st so may bump into each other! I think i am just taking dollars but making sure i get small denominations as any change will be given in local currency

I stand corrected regarding Dong being a closed currency, but at nearly 26,000 to the £, small denomination $ has to be preferable. Enjoy your trip - wish we were going too 😞

 

[jaxw17]

We are on this one on the 14th February. Love this part of the world. First time we went to Thailand it was 72 baht to the £.

same cabin as we were on Discovery on its stricken cruise from aquba to Dubai. hope the electric holds out !

[lexdisic]

13 hours ago, jaxw17 said:

We are on this one on the 14th February. Love this part of the world. First time we went to Thailand it was 72 baht to the £.

same cabin as we were on Discovery on its stricken cruise from aquba to Dubai. hope the electric holds out !

We were on it too - hoping to get on it this year so we can get to see the ports we missed - I wonder if they will give us it at the same price as we booked it for last year.

Post office at the moment is 37.86TBaht =£1- Superich in Bangkok will give 40.40 to the £. We got 44 to the £ last March = 10% drop 😞

[susan burge]

Hi, Gramwold, we are flying out of Mancester on 24th, doing the 2 weeks on board, so excited! Only our second cruise,  did Caribbean with Marella last January and loved it. Be interested in sharing trip with you, as just looking tonight at the excursions, like to do ourselves but this was one we were looking at doing with cruise but would certainly be open to alternatives! How much per person? Look forward to meeting you and very excited!!!

[gramwold]

hiya  susan  we have booked  3 trips with marella but are only the transfers from ship to city  ie      ho chi minh, kuala  lumpur, and pattaya .    we  will see once onboard if we will do anymore or  go with local  people,  we have already booked a trip  locally in Cambodia via internet,  cos  nothing in sihanoukville  to see so booked  a day out  on tuk tuk,  check out    Sihanoukville guide service on google. they will meet us at port gate and we pay in us dollars at the end.    in  e mail exchange with them they  told us another couple will be joining us  but they  wont turn people away as long as they know in advance how many.  so    hopefully see you at sailaway  with drink in hand on deck at 4pm   

[susan burge]

Hi, that's what we were advised to do, just transfers and then do what you like, like the fact that we won't miss the ship!! Yes see you there, definitely with drink in hand!! Perhaps we could join you on tuk tuk tour in Sihanoukville? Sounds fun.🍹😀

[gramwold]

yes   susan no prob with us to join us  on tuk  tuk but you would have to let them know. so they can send more transport. the lady who runs sihanoukville guide service is called aya so her or  one of the other reps she  has will be at port gate holding  a sign up for us.  there is a small circular bar on deck 10  just behind the big movie screen sailaway party on friday afternoon  oh yesssss!

[Annie W]

Morning Gramworld and Susan

time to pack our cases. Have a safe journey and hopefully meet up on deck 10 sail away . I’m so excited.