Currency in Chile, Uruguay and Argentina?

[ChuckinSC]

We'll be on a 14 day South American cruise the 1st part of January.  We board in Chile, make several stops there along with a stop in Uruguay and ending with several days in Buenos Aires.  All of our tours are booked through the cruise line but we're at a loss as to whether we need local currencies (will U.S. dollars do) for each country and, as importantly, have no idea about tipping, etc..  If anyone could point me in the right direction for answers it sure would be appreciated. 

[mcmarya]

If you are spending several days in Buenos Aires you will need local currency unless you are on an arranged tour with the cruise line or a tour company.  You should be able to get by without the other currencies if you are doing cruise line tours.  Currency in Argentina is tricky because it is so volatile.  The ship will not carry it and using ATM's does not work well there--extremely high fees combined with very low withdrawal limits and sometimes empty machines.  When we were there, we brought pristine $100 USD bills and exchanged at a cambio.  There are many on Florida St.  Supposedly there is one at the cruise port but I cannot verify that.

[clo]

On 11/21/2019 at 7:06 AM, mcmarya said:

If you are spending several days in Buenos Aires you will need local currency unless you are on an arranged tour with the cruise line or a tour company.  You should be able to get by without the other currencies if you are doing cruise line tours.  Currency in Argentina is tricky because it is so volatile.  The ship will not carry it and using ATM's does not work well there--extremely high fees combined with very low withdrawal limits and sometimes empty machines.  When we were there, we brought pristine $100 USD bills and exchanged at a cambio.  There are many on Florida St.  Supposedly there is one at the cruise port but I cannot verify that.

Here's a recent thread on Argentina currency:  

 

 

[Lunenburg]

I expect you can get both AR pesos and UY pesos in Chile. We mostly use an upnorth  credit/debit card for purchases but small bills in local currency are handy as some places do not accept credit cards especially for small amounts.

Tips are usually 10% in restaurants - often already added to the bill. On our cruiseship tours on Costa with mostly European or S. American passengers, only the US guests gave tips to the guide. On our Norwegian cruise around the horn it was mostly English speakers so tips were more common.

Taxis  - just round up the bill.

[mcmarya]

It may be difficult to get pesos outside of Argentina.  This creates a dilemma when you need to take a cab and don't have any.  We will arrive at the cruise port with only a few pesos left from our last trip which are practically worthless now.  Unless a cabbie will take USD we may have a problem.  From the airport you can pay for a cab in USD.  The exchange rate is bad but at least you don't have to have pesos. 

[Lunenburg]

Argentine pesos are readily available at any Cambio in Uruguay and most likely in Chile being a neighbouring country. Our taxi driver a few days ago in Buenos Aires took AR pesos - I asked if he would prefer USD but he said no.

[Myzadim]

Hi....we are cruising South America in February.  Can someone please enlighten me as to what a "cambio" is.  I've googled it, but can't find any kind of explanation.  I'm from Australia and have never heard that term before.  Thanks in advance.

[d9704011]

It’s a currency exchange.

[Myzadim]

Thank you d9704011.

 

[d9704011]

6 hours ago, Myzadim said:

Thank you d9704011.

 

You’re welcome.  We did a cruise from Santiago to Rio a couple of years ago; it was great and I’m sure you’ll enjoy your trip to South America.

[TeeRick]

We just completed this trip so here is an update.  Many places in these 3 countries take and even prefer cash in $USD.  You can use an ATM on board the ship to get $USD. In Chile and Uruguay you can go to a bank ATM and use your debit card for local Pesos at the best exchange rate.  However in Argentina you will be very limited in the amount of money you can withdraw from an ATM (2000 Pesos or about $33 USD) - if your home bank will let you do this at all.  You can take $USD in any of these countries and exchange for local Pesos at the Exchange Office or Cambio (in Spanish) which are in airports, cruise ports, and in the cities.  We went through 14 days in these countries with little need for Pesos except perhaps small tips to a bellman or a small purchase from a street vendor.  It is no exaggeration to say that the $USD is highly preferred everywhere.  Or use a credit card when possible.

[Myzadim]

Thanks so much for the update @TeeRick.  Your feedback has been very valuable.

[TeeRick]

2 hours ago, Myzadim said:

Thanks so much for the update @TeeRick.  Your feedback has been very valuable.

You are most welcome!