Local Currencies

[ski ww]

How much local money would we need between euro's & English pounds for a 14 day Britain, Scotland & Ireland cruise which also includes Belgium & Rotterdam. Last year on our Norway cruise out of Denmark never had to use local money at all. Have no idea what their money looks like we used CC for every little thing. Is it the same for the British Isles? We are planning on bringing some local  for small things like an ice cream or drink etc. 

[ontheweb]

We got both pounds and euros for our recent cruise with a day prior to the cruise in London and one day in Amsterdam.

 

We managed to spend the pounds, but we could have got away with just using a credit card. And in Amsterdam, several places would not take Euros, only credit or debit cards, and we ended up with most of our euros left over.

[John Bull]

In all of those countries credit cards are very widely-used - even for just a coffee or a beer.

Don't rely on them solely, have a few pounds or euros in your pockets.. Perhaps maintain about $50 to 100 in both euros & GBP, topping up at an ATM if necessary. And check first  if you're going to commit to something which might cost that or more, such as a meal or a long taxi ride.

Best not to rely on a single card in case of a glitch, and don't rely on Amex or Diners because they're not so widely accepted.

 

If you don't have a card with zero foreign currency fee, get one now. Your countrymen can suggest cards.

 

Merchants might offer to charge you in the currency of your card, some might even present their card-reader with that automatically done.  Always but always pay in local currency - check that before you sign or PIN or swipe and insist. Your card issuer will give you a better exchange rate than any merchant. That also means that the figure on the card-reader is the same as on the price-sticker, menu, check, etc.

 

Currency in Northern Ireland is the pound, but they have their own bills. Ask (apologetically) for change in English pounds to avoid complications elsewhere/

 

In the Republic of Ireland they use the euro, sane as Belgium and the Netherlands 

 

JB 🙂

[VMax1700]

55 minutes ago, John Bull said:

In the Republic of Ireland they use the euro, sane as Belgium and the Netherlands 

Thank you for acknowledging that! 😉😁

[John Bull]

32 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

Thank you for acknowledging that! 😉😁

 

 

Yes, as sane as the inventors of Tin-Tin & the Smurfs and the clog-wearing weed-smoking bargees 😜

 

JB 🙂

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

Thank you for acknowledging that! 😉😁

Sometimes typos are very interesting and also truthful. 😉

[ski ww]

Thanks, those kind of were my thoughts but it's always good to hear from the locals.

[edinburgher]

18 hours ago, ski ww said:

We are planning on bringing some local  for small things like an ice cream or drink etc. 

Mainly card use in Scotland, but a small amount of cash is always useful for incidentals such as   ice creams, and more importantly, for some public bathrooms.😀

Edited February 4 by edinburgher

[ontheweb]

Yes, public bathrooms can be a problem with no currency. We make sure to use the bathrooms in museums, and since DW is an art teacher (now retired), we do visit many museums.

[onyx007]

10 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

Yes, public bathrooms can be a problem with no currency. We make sure to use the bathrooms in museums, and since DW is an art teacher (now retired), we do visit many museums.

I had in Dublin / Ireland a toilet in a shopping mall which was only useable with creditcard for 50 Cent only...but yes many need coins, but of course like you said, there are toilets in Museums which one should use...not so many public toilets to find...

Edited February 4 by onyx007

[Senga]

Our daughter travelled to France many years ago on a school trip.  Her godmother had told her about having to pay to use a "pit" type toilet.  When she returned home I asked her how the public washrooms were and her response was "I only went at the hotel or restaurant.  No way was I paying to pee in a pit"!!!!!!