Rare Peachypooh Posted July 8, 2019 #1 Share Posted July 8, 2019 I am sort of a "be prepared" type of person and my traveling companion on my next cruise thinks that cruise ships will anticipate what guests need and stock accordingly. I am specifically referring to converting currency from US dollars to local currency on NCL ships. I always go to the bank ahead of time and exchange for aprox. $100 US worth of small bills in the local currency even if dollars are widely accepted for each port to be visited. To me it seems unlikely that guest services can stock enough currency to service 2000-4000 passengers. But despite my warnings I think my traveling companion is going to bet on this. They are not even bringing an ATM card to use because they are convinced guest services will help them out. Perhaps I am wrong? If so please inform me. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdie And Sue Posted July 8, 2019 #2 Share Posted July 8, 2019 We just use $US. No one will turn you down. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare PTC DAWG Posted July 8, 2019 #3 Share Posted July 8, 2019 You are correct, the ship is not a currency exchange. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LD Silver Posted July 8, 2019 #4 Share Posted July 8, 2019 Never had my dead presidents turned away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ppcox Posted July 8, 2019 #5 Share Posted July 8, 2019 Where are you cruising to? If it’s the Caribbean where your $ will be welcomed I ‘d still take a debit card so I could use an ATM to get local currency if needed. I certainly would never exchange at an airport or on board ship as the exchange rate would be poor and an additional charge would be added. If you are cruising in Europe US$ are not widely accepted. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
don't-use-real-name Posted July 8, 2019 #6 Share Posted July 8, 2019 Good Luck - Guest Services has daily limits on how much cash a guest can transact with. Cashing (AMEXCO) Travelers checks and Money Orders there are daily limits and usually applied to credit on the On Board account - NO cash over certain amounts. Better rethink bringing that ATM card although there are service fee charges - the money dispensed on ships is in US Dollars (think Casino ATMs) In the Western hemisphere the good-ole Uncle Sam $Dollar$ is universally accepted. Canadian dollars work to some extent. Now as for monopoly money - round-to-its Easter Island stone money better find a bigger better canoe to handle the beaver pelts. In Europe the Euro would be an alternate form of legal tender. I don't know so much about Asia Australia and New Zealand - reader comments ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mugtech Posted July 8, 2019 #7 Share Posted July 8, 2019 On the Spirit we got a low rate for Euroes plus a $10 service charge. Dead presidents and Ben Franklin and Alexander Hamilton are generally accepted almost everywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mugtech Posted July 8, 2019 #8 Share Posted July 8, 2019 2 minutes ago, don't-use-real-name said: I don't know so much about Asia Australia and New Zealand - reader comments ??? Usually best to use local currency in Hong Kong and Singapore, used US$ in Vietnam and Thailand. Best place for exchange in the Philippines are local department stores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare KeithJenner Posted July 8, 2019 #9 Share Posted July 8, 2019 56 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said: You are correct, the ship is not a currency exchange. That very much depends on where you are going to. Not every cruise is to the Caribbean. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare PTC DAWG Posted July 8, 2019 #10 Share Posted July 8, 2019 22 minutes ago, KeithJenner said: That very much depends on where you are going to. Not every cruise is to the Caribbean. So you are saying that outside the Caribbean the ship "IS" a currency exchange? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare KeithJenner Posted July 8, 2019 #11 Share Posted July 8, 2019 1 minute ago, PTC DAWG said: So you are saying that outside the Caribbean the ship "IS" a currency exchange? No, I quoted the wrong post, sorry. I meant to quote Birdie & Sue 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare PTC DAWG Posted July 8, 2019 #12 Share Posted July 8, 2019 18 minutes ago, KeithJenner said: No, I quoted the wrong post, sorry. I meant to quote Birdie & Sue Fair enough...I sort of figured that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurabegorrah Posted July 8, 2019 #13 Share Posted July 8, 2019 When we had the whole New Zealand leg of our Australia/New Zealand cruise cancelled, NCL did offer to buy back our NZ $$. Now, I'm not sure if this was because of the cancellation, or if there is always enough foreign currency on board to supply a large % of the guests. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare All-ready2cruise Posted July 8, 2019 #14 Share Posted July 8, 2019 2 hours ago, Birdie And Sue said: We just use $US. No one will turn you down. I agree, no one will turn you down; however, you'll likely pay (speaking specifically CAD) close to at par. Many US citizens have no idea what that means for them. I'm not about to enlighten them. 😉 Go ahead, don't exchange your money to CAD, make my day! I live in a tourist area and know that many make this mistake. I'll do you a favour and say, if you don't exchange your money to CAD, use a CC instead of cash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zqvol Posted July 8, 2019 #15 Share Posted July 8, 2019 3 hours ago, Peachypooh said: I am sort of a "be prepared" type of person and my traveling companion on my next cruise thinks that cruise ships will anticipate what guests need and stock accordingly. I am specifically referring to converting currency from US dollars to local currency on NCL ships. I always go to the bank ahead of time and exchange for aprox. $100 US worth of small bills in the local currency even if dollars are widely accepted for each port to be visited. To me it seems unlikely that guest services can stock enough currency to service 2000-4000 passengers. But despite my warnings I think my traveling companion is going to bet on this. They are not even bringing an ATM card to use because they are convinced guest services will help them out. Perhaps I am wrong? If so please inform me. Thank you. Your companion is wrong. The place to get local currency is at an ATM, not at home before you sail, and if you are in the Caribbean $USD work just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zqvol Posted July 8, 2019 #16 Share Posted July 8, 2019 3 hours ago, LD Silver said: Never had my dead presidents turned away. Ever cruised in Europe? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Peachypooh Posted July 8, 2019 Author #17 Share Posted July 8, 2019 36 minutes ago, zqvol said: Your companion is wrong. The place to get local currency is at an ATM, not at home before you sail, and if you are in the Caribbean $USD work just fine. I agree with the Caribbean...our dollars have always worked fine. We were in Budapest during the historic flooding many years ago and the ATM's either weren't working or were out of cash hence I always bring a little currency with me as my bank gives me a very good exchange rate. I don't want to be stuck short again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geomancer Posted July 8, 2019 #18 Share Posted July 8, 2019 Options to pay for things in order of best to worst: Use a no foreign transaction fee credit card Use an ATM with no fees (understand your bank may charge fees in addition to the ATM) Credit card with foreign transaction fees (could be a tie with #2) Local bank (only exception being you need cash the second you set foot in the foreign country before any other option is available or if you need large sums of money and the fees are not percentage based) Foreign Bank Hotel Selecting charge in $USD when paying with a credit/debit card in an attempt to avoid the foreign transaction fee Shady no name kiosk in an alley Random person on the street Airport (ie Travelex) Options 1 through 3 will give you the market exchange rate, the best you can possibly get. Options 4 and possibly 5 will give you a rate worse than the market rate but not horrible however usually adds a fee. Options 6 through 9 will give you an unfavorable rate, but sometimes you can gamble with that random stranger that they don't know the value of their money compared to the USD... Option 10 will just rake you over the coals, then charge you a fee for the pleasure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imacruiser99 Posted July 9, 2019 #19 Share Posted July 9, 2019 25 minutes ago, geomancer said: Options to pay for things in order of best to worst: Use a no foreign transaction fee credit card Use an ATM with no fees (understand your bank may charge fees in addition to the ATM) Credit card with foreign transaction fees (could be a tie with #2) Local bank (only exception being you need cash the second you set foot in the foreign country before any other option is available or if you need large sums of money and the fees are not percentage based) Foreign Bank Hotel Selecting charge in $USD when paying with a credit/debit card in an attempt to avoid the foreign transaction fee Shady no name kiosk in an alley Random person on the street Airport (ie Travelex) Options 1 through 3 will give you the market exchange rate, the best you can possibly get. Options 4 and possibly 5 will give you a rate worse than the market rate but not horrible however usually adds a fee. Options 6 through 9 will give you an unfavorable rate, but sometimes you can gamble with that random stranger that they don't know the value of their money compared to the USD... Option 10 will just rake you over the coals, then charge you a fee for the pleasure. Using credit cards overseas (anywhere) is always your best bet. They normally have very favorable exchange rates and you can get you bills in local currency, which is normally less expensive if you pay in US Dollars. Remember, the person receiving the greenbacks will need to take them to a bank to exchange them and local banks are not always the best on exchange rates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomk3212 Posted July 9, 2019 #20 Share Posted July 9, 2019 On our recent TA aboard the Getaway in April you could get Euros charged to your onboard account at Reception in the Atrium. Don't know about actually exchanging US greenbacks in hand for Euros... I DID find it interesting in that I couldn't get British pounds even though the cruise terminated in Southampton & we were originally scheduled to make another port call in the UK (this was the 12 day TA cruise NCL reduced to 10 days, btw). I'm lucky in that my local Wells Fargo has Euros & British pounds on hand so I'll stop by there & get $50-100 USD converted to wherever I'm going. As other posters have stated it's nice to just have some local cash in your wallet, just in case. 99% of time, however, your credit card(s) work just as well & the exchange rate is usually pretty good. Just make sure that you inform whatever bank issues your card when you'll be traveling & where; we made that mistake years ago when we gave our daughter a card to use "in emergencies" when she went to Europe for a semester. Live and learn! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare graphicguy Posted July 9, 2019 #21 Share Posted July 9, 2019 (edited) 15 hours ago, zqvol said: Ever cruised in Europe? I have (on MSC). To Spain, Italy, France and Malta. U.S. Dollars were gladly accepted on board. Trying to act as a bank for 4,000+ passengers is probably near to impossible while most of the time they’re at sea with no access to ANY hard currency. They can act as an exchange on a very limited basis. But, it’s best to do your banking requirements at your local bank before you board. Or even better, use credit cards, as has been mentioned previously. Edited July 9, 2019 by graphicguy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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