What form of payment to bring; cash or credit cards.

[HMSDingy]

We are a Canadian couple taking a European cruise onboard the Island Princess this August and are wondering what form of currency should we bring. I know the onboard payments are done in US but what about when ashore? Would it be better in cash being the local currency, or a credit card?  

[marazul]

Ashore you can use credit cards for practically everything.  However, you should carry euros for small purchases (like coffee, snacks) or for when a vendor (maybe a taxi) refuses the credit card. Always ask first if they take cards, this is particularly true for taxis and small purchases.

Always charge the transaction in euros, never in your currency.  In that way you get the lower interbank exchange rate rather than whatever exchange rate the vendor decides to charge you.

There are lots of posts on this subject. Search these forums.

[CynBeth6]

I agree. For our trip in July there were some places that only accepted cash or tried to run the card and has issues so were glad we had exchanged US dollars for Euros through our bank. 

[edinburgher]

20 hours ago, HMSDingy said:

Would it be better in cash being the local currency, or a credit card?  

I would also recommend a small amount of cash.  Depending on the countries you will visit, if you have euros, you could spend them in every country which has them as its currency.

[alserrod]

21 hours ago, HMSDingy said:

We are a Canadian couple taking a European cruise onboard the Island Princess this August and are wondering what form of currency should we bring. I know the onboard payments are done in US but what about when ashore? Would it be better in cash being the local currency, or a credit card?  

 

Hi

 

Fast answer is "ask your bank" (about rates, fees and so on)

 

I wrote some information here about cards and cash in Spain. Hope it is useful for you too