Cruising the Caribbean - What currency do I need to take?

[GeroWA]

We will be cruising the Eastern Caribbean in May and was wondering what currency should we take - US Dollars or Local currency or will we be able to get by using our C/Cards?

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Coastalbreezes]

US dollars are accepted everywhere as are credit cards.

[CILCIANRQTS]

It’s very difficult for a tourist to even find East Caribbean currency.

Locals are fine with US dollars.

[janetz]

I prefer cash only and not a credit card, on the islands

😊

 

[zzdoug]

If you are going to Puerto Rico or St Thomas, they are territories of the United States and thus use USA dollars natively. But in any case, even if you are in DR or elsewhere, if you are only going to be in a port town for the duration of the port stay or on an organized excursion, it's unlikely you will be anywhere that would require or even expect payment in local currency. Tips in USD are welcomed. Maybe not coins though. Bring bills. 

 

You might want local currency, say, if traveling around a country away from a cruise port by yourself for a few days. But if you are doing that, you probably didn't arrive on a cruise ship. 

Edited February 1, 2023 by zzdoug

[marktwothousand]

On a 12 day cruise to the Panama Canal, I prepurchased Mexican pesos, columbian pesos and Costa rican dollars before I left Canada and I consider it a sign of respect to use local currency where possible while also getting slightly better deals at the shops and restaurants. Of course, those currencies are associated with major land  countries, island currencies are harder to find. 

 

I understand most places accept USD though. 

[PTC DAWG]

US dollars, it's what they want.  

[wcook]

1 hour ago, marktwothousand said:

I prepurchased Mexican pesos, columbian pesos and Costa rican dollars before I left Canada

I can see Central Americans being confused if you try and convince them that this is legitimate currency 🙂

 

 

[jbcallender]

Dollars....

 

[Panhandle Couple]

Visa or M/C works best. But if you want to tip, bring lots of $1 and 5$.  Especially if you are in a restaurant, or buying items less than $20. 

 

 As a side, we stayed in St. Maartin (Phillipsburg) for a week, and I ran out of USD for tips.  Hotel says there is an ATM down the street.  I'm wary, but OK, I'll try.

ATM asked if you wanted USD or local currency when withdrawing.  I almost got the local, but didn't want to do conversions in my head after drinking.

 

Edited February 2, 2023 by Panhandle Couple

[John Bull]

Eastern Caribbean.

Nobody's mentioned Euros for Martinique or Guadeloupe. For Martinique you'll get away with USD  near the port in Martinique,  perhaps not Guadeloupe.

 

No need for EC Dollars (Grenada, St Vincent, St Lucia, Dominica, St Kitts, Antigua) or Barbadian dollars, USD are fine there but take some low-denomination bills because in outlets geared to locals the tills ring-up your change in local shrapnel.

 

JB 🙂

  

[navybankerteacher]

12 minutes ago, John Bull said:

Eastern Caribbean.

Nobody's mentioned Euros for Martinique or Guadeloupe. For Martinique you'll get away with USD  near the port in Martinique,  perhaps not Guadeloupe.

 

No need for EC Dollars (Grenada, St Vincent, St Lucia, Dominica, St Kitts, Antigua) or Barbadian dollars, USD are fine there but take some low-denomination bills because in outlets geared to locals the tills ring-up your change in local shrapnel.

 

JB 🙂

  

If you wander up to the north half of Sint Maarten/St. Martin, you should think in terms of Euros -- as you certainly must if you go across to St. Barth's.

[John Bull]

3 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

If you wander up to the north half of Sint Maarten/St. Martin, you should think in terms of Euros -- as you certainly must if you go across to St. Barth's.

 

 Yep, I forgot the French part of Sint Maarten.

But the sort of ships which go to St Bart's are beyond the depth of my pocket  😮

 

JB 🙂

[Corby114]

Almost every country happily accepts US dollars in the Caribbean. . Martinique prefers euros but does accept US dollars.

[George C]

I have done over 50 Caribbean cruises everyone likes US dollars 

[navybankerteacher]

1 hour ago, George C said:

I have done over 50 Caribbean cruises everyone likes US dollars 

Perhaps in part because they can rip you off on the exchange rate when you do not use local currency.

[John Bull]

2 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

Perhaps in part because they can rip you off on the exchange rate when you do not use local currency.

 

For us, this is where a Caribbean cruise is different to a vacation on one island.

USD is the lazy way, but on cruises Americans know the value without having  to do any mental arithmetic (and only one mental arithmetic formula for other nationalities), and nobody goes home with a stack of souvenir bills.

 

On a one-island vacation - or even a two-centre one - it's worth getting local currency.

On our first vacation in the Caribbean, Barbados, we used Barbadian dollars and got good value by patiently negotiating three t-shirts for the price of two - until cruisers descended on the place.

"How much are the t-shirts?"

"Twelve dollars"

"I'll take ten". 

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr 🙄😏

 

JB 🙂

[pdmlynek]

On 2/1/2023 at 12:17 PM, marktwothousand said:

...I consider it a sign of respect to use local currency where possible ...

I agree.  It just seems to be pretty patronizing to use USD/EUR instead of local currency.  

[Honolulu Blue]

On 2/1/2023 at 7:32 AM, zzdoug said:

If you are going to Puerto Rico or St Thomas, they are territories of the United States and thus use USA dollars natively.

In addition to the above, the British Virgin Islands and the Turks & Caicos have their official currency as the US dollar.  I'll bet there's a really interesting story about why these British territories shunned their own currency, but it's not relevant to this thread, so I'll stop here.

 

Also, not anywhere near the Eastern Caribbean, but mentioned elsewhere in this thread, Panama has the US dollar as its native currency.

[GrannyJ]

If you are using US currency, try to have bills that are not torn or too tattered.  In some places, the locals have trouble converting US currency that is in bad shape.  

 

Some places will give you your change back in U.S. Dollars if you ask, some will give change in local currency, so make sure you have smaller bills if you don't want a lot of local currency left over when you go home.  

 

A lot of places I've been, the electronic cash registers will ring up that day's exchange rate if you pay in dollars.

 

Interestingly enough, Ecuador adopted the U.S. Dollar years ago as its currency.  They no longer have their own currency, except for a certain coin kept for tradition.  It sure makes figuring out conversions easier.

[HardToPort]

On 2/1/2023 at 3:31 AM, GeroWA said:

We will be cruising the Eastern Caribbean in May and was wondering what currency should we take - US Dollars or Local currency or will we be able to get by using our C/Cards?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Canadian here. The US$ is king just about everywhere throughout the Caribbean. A word to the wise though. Buy $100-$200 worth of $1’s and $5’s. They’re great for small tips but more importantly the “I don’t have any change” scam is common. So you buy something for $16 and the vendor only has a $20. Jamaica especially has a problem with this but I’ve seen it on other islands as well.

 

Also … you must absolutely know the fair exchange rate. The US$ often trades at better than posted exchange rates.

 

Also, you can wrap it with a $100 bill and you’ll look like a big roller. LOL

[donaldsc]

Although you did not ask about credit card usage - most places did not take Amex.  If possible you should have both a Visa and a Mastercard as some places will not take both.

 

DON

[navybankerteacher]

On 2/13/2023 at 7:54 PM, GrannyJ said:

...

 

A lot of places I've been, the electronic cash registers will ring up that day's exchange rate if you pay in dollars.

 

...

Yes -- but that is THEIR exchange rate -- and very unlikely to be set in your favor.

[jeremyosborne81]

US Dollars and a travel credit card (Visa or MasterCard)

[evandbob]

USD $ are accepted most everywhere as posters have stated.  Just don't try to use the $2 bill, no one will accept it.  $1s and $5s are great.

 

I'll caution about putting a $100 bill around a wad of small bills though, too inviting to a thief.  Only bring a little bit more cash than what you think you'll need, that's enough.

 

Having a foreign fee free CC, Master or Visa along with your Govt photo ID can be helpful for larger purchases or an emergency.

Edited February 26, 2023 by evandbob