Onboard currency exchange rates

[Kinniegirl]

Want some small amounts of US$ , Aed Dirhams and New Zealand dollars

To start me off for coffee etc

In the wide world looks like minimum of £100-150 per currency

 

just wondering if

a) there is a minimum amount you can change

b) how bad their exchange rates are

 

Once in port can hopefully find an atm

 

thanks

Edited December 16, 2019 by Kinniegirl
Forgot something

[wowzz]

34 minutes ago, Kinniegirl said:

n the wide world looks like minimum of £100-150 per currency

 

Not sure what you mean by 'wide world'. Any decent exchange store will change much smaller quantities than £100. I'm pretty sure that I've seen people changing £20 or so in our local JS.

Much better to get some cash before you go - the fx rate on the ship is terrible, although if you are only changing a small amount I suppose it does not make a significant difference.   

[jh1809]

IIRC, the dirham is the currency of Morocco. It's a "closed" currency, and so is only supposed to be obtainable in Morocco itself. I say "supposed to be", as when I went on a package tour to the country a couple of years ago, one of our group had somehow managed to get some dirhams back in the UK.

[Kinniegirl]

Thanks

 

[emam]

In June we bought euros onboard we got 50 euros and were charged £49.36 with a rate of 1.0130.  60 euros cost us £59.46 rate of 1.0091. At the time it was around 1.06 to buy at home, some people got an even higher exchange rate at home, but that was if you bought hundreds of euros. These were both bought while docked, I hadn't seen the board with the prices on until the last evening. Maybe buying them on a sea day you might get a better rate. 

 

Personally I didn't think I had been overcharged, as for me to buy them at home I would have had to travel a few miles to buy them. Then I would have ended up spending more money while there. I know that it's not euros you want, but it's just to give you an idea of what they charged.

[jeanlyon]

Tesco sells currency at quite good rates at their bigger stores.  If you only want small amounts why not use an ATM in the country you are in.  The ship's rates are really bad.

Edited December 17, 2019 by jeanlyon

[molecrochip]

Currency rates onboard change daily and are in line with high street rates. No charge or commission and no minimum quantity.

 

The charge is put on your room account therefore charged as a purchase rather than currency charge avoiding credit card charges.

[jeanlyon]

I cannot agree that the ship rates are the same as the high street.  I got 1.14 euros to the pound, the ship was offering 1.05

[terrierjohn]

27 minutes ago, molecrochip said:

Currency rates onboard change daily and are in line with high street rates. No charge or commission and no minimum quantity.

 

The charge is put on your room account therefore charged as a purchase rather than currency charge avoiding credit card charges.

Since I assume P&O have to source their currency from a third party, then add some commission to cover their costs, there is no way they can offer high street rates, other than those at the top end of the cost range. These will be way above my preferred high street source of Ramsdens.

[molecrochip]

9 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Since I assume P&O have to source their currency from a third party, then add some commission to cover their costs, there is no way they can offer high street rates, other than those at the top end of the cost range. These will be way above my preferred high street source of Ramsdens.

what costs? They don’t have a shop or distribution/banking network to fund. 

P&O are regularly in these countries and also offer exchange facilities for crew on board.
 

We use this facility most cruises and have never found it to be worse than what the high street. Prices update overnight.

[jeanlyon]

Then you obviously haven't checked the rates on the high street.  P&O are consistently well below those.  Maybe you don't care, but I do.  I buy mine with my Tesco credit card and don't even pay any fees.  I believe the Halifax Clarity card is the same and the Nationwide.

[wowzz]

P&O fx rates are horrendous compared to what you can get on the High Street in the UK.  It is disingenuous to suggest otherwise. 

However,  if you are only changing £20 or so, the "lost" €1 is probably of no consequence .

Using an atm is the best option,  but only if you can find one close to the port,  and you have a fee free card that the atm will accept. Otherwise the atm fees will mean that your transaction will cost more than changing your money onboard.

We take sufficient currency for coffee, beers etc, everything else gets charged to our fee free credit card.

[BillieJeanKaraokeKing]

It'll be the first time on P&O for me next month, but without question there will be no prospect of me exchanging money onboard. Captive audience (ish). Preferable rates? Highly doubt it! 

[eddie11]

This is another of those issues where people’s individual attitudes vary.  Neither is right or wrong - it is what is right for you that counts.
 

Getting currency on board is undoubtedly more expensive than shopping around on land, either before you or at ports of call.  
Arranging before travel, or seeking out, exchanges on land, take more effort and might not be simple in many destinations

 

You’re on a holiday which you’ve paid ££££s for.  If you’re only seeking to get ‘pocket change’ the extra cost of using the on board exchange has to be balanced against convenience.  Personal choice.  Not a big deal, imo, but some people feel strongly about spending an additional fiver.

 

All the above is based on small amounts of currency for beer & coffee, not the bulk of holiday spend.  Anyway, we find almost all our purchases now go on plastic - and of course ‘which plastic’ is another question, for another time.

[jeanlyon]

Yes me too.  Nationwide CC and Halifax Clarity are 2 of the ones that don't charge any fees.

[yorkshirephil]

P&O exchange rates were about 8% below the high street on our recent Oceana cruise, this is in line with past cruise experiences. If small amounts are required then the convenience of getting currency added to your onboard account is my preferred option, for large amounts shop around as there can be significant differences at currency suppliers. It is not just P&O that give poor exchange rates, try using the currency teller machines on MSC.