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How much is that? What time is it?


Flatbush Flyer
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If you are new to cruising (or any kind of international travel), you may find yourself wondering about the cost of things in local currency as compared to your own country's money. Likewise, quickly determining local time can sometimes challenge folks.

 

Here's some suggestions you may find useful:

 

There's a terrific iOS app (perhaps Android too) called "Converter Plus" (free and paid versions) which has conversion info for money, distance, weight, volume, temp., etc. And it works offline (though the $$ conversion will then not auto-update until you once again connect to the internet). When we are preparing for a cruise we preselect a display page of just the foreign currencies we will encounter. REALLY convenient!

 

Also, when online, you can google (or ask Siri) things like "how much in euros is one u.s. dollar?

 

Another convenience item on our iPhones is the built-in international clock. Before leaving home, we load a page of the cities in the time zones we will traverse. In that way, even when "airplane mode" is on, we can quickly see the actual time in whatever time zone is current.

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7 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

we can quickly see the actual time in whatever time zone is current.

I know the time difference so it's pretty easy.

 

As far as currency goes, unless it's just one country, I might have a tiny piece of paper in my wallet that gives me a rate.  And I do it usually for the equivalent of US$10.  It's all easy after that one.

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What I did when we went to England was determine my budget before we left.  I then went online and converted it.  That number is what I used as a reference, not US dollars.  I found it much easier than trying to convert on the fly.  

 

I haven't yet used my phone as a travel tool.  I usually turn it off at the airport and leave it that way.  But, the more I learn, the more I think I just might the next time.  

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I use the Converter Plus app all the time. It's perfect for cross border shopping and for when we are on vacation in another country. It's easy to change the currencies, and the rates are always right up to the minute accuracy.

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Google Translate allows you to say something or type in something in your language and translate it into any number of languages, and it will even say the translation out loud. We played with it a little bit on our last trip to Germany and it worked well translating English to German according to our family. We haven't had to use it but it might come in handy if language is a barrier.

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I try not to convert -- the price (of the room, the train, the coffee, the ticket) in my home currency means nothing if I'm not at home.  The only time I do any conversion (I use xe.com) is if someone asks me 😉  otherwise I try to work in the currency of the place I am.  Knowing what the price of a coffee at the cafe in Paris would be at home doesn't matter because home isn't a cafe in Paris, so it's not like you can buy it at home instead to save some money.

 

Edited for formatting

 

Edited by calliopecruiser
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1 hour ago, calliopecruiser said:

I try not to convert -- the price (of the room, the train, the coffee, the ticket) in my home currency means nothing if I'm not at home.  The only time I do any conversion (I use xe.com) is if someone asks me 😉  otherwise I try to work in the currency of the place I am.  Knowing what the price of a coffee at the cafe in Paris would be at home doesn't matter because home isn't a cafe in Paris, so it's not like you can buy it at home instead to save some money.

 

Edited for formatting

 

So you don't ever decide that something is simply more than you want to pay?  One would have to have a rough idea of conversion to make that decision.  I guess you have a lot more play money than I choose to have.

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3 hours ago, clo said:
5 hours ago, calliopecruiser said:

 

So you don't ever decide that something is simply more than you want to pay? 

Sure, but I do it based on what I have to spend in the local currency and consider its cost based on other things in the local currency - I don't need to convert to know whether or not it will fit my budget or whether I can get that same cup of coffee cheaper across the plaza in a different cafe.  I make a rough conversion at home, before I leave, to know I can spend 40 Euros on food, for example, or perhaps 75 Euros a day in France - after that, what things cost at home doesn't matter.

 

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2 minutes ago, calliopecruiser said:

Sure, but I do it based on what I have to spend in the local currency and consider its cost based on other things in the local currency - I don't need to convert to know whether or not it will fit my budget or whether I can get that same cup of coffee cheaper across the plaza in a different cafe.  I make a rough conversion at home, before I leave, to know I can spend 40 Euros on food, for example, or perhaps 75 Euros a day in France - after that, what things cost at home doesn't matter.

 

Okay, gotcha.  So you DO the conversion.  I do also.  I just put it on a little piece of paper in my wallet 🙂

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  • 2 months later...
27 minutes ago, Prost Seattle said:

Cruising from Vancouver to Hawaii, will the cruise change time three times, or will we just make a clean break half way there and go to Hawaii time?

Not sure how cruise lines do it but in the Navy ship time matched the time zone we were in, so we changed the clocks when we crossed from one time zone to another.

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6 hours ago, Prost Seattle said:

Cruising from Vancouver to Hawaii, will the cruise change time three times, or will we just make a clean break half way there and go to Hawaii time?

I don't remember on the Hawaii cruise we took in 1999, but on three TransAtlantics the changes were more-or-less at the actual time-zones. Two made changes at night and one in the day. I didn't like the day-time one, but it was better for the crew (not to lose an hour of precious sleep)!

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On 11/8/2019 at 2:13 PM, Prost Seattle said:

Cruising from Vancouver to Hawaii, will the cruise change time three times, or will we just make a clean break half way there and go to Hawaii time?

You will change time an hour at a time, but when the clock change actually happens will vary (some times overnight, some times mid day).  It won't change all at once - that's particularly tough on the crew.

 

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