Exchanging Money

[Spanky My]

A question for you seasoned veterans .....We are taking the" sea of cortez "cruise in April . Can you exchange dollars for peso's ON BOARD ? Or do you have to do it prior to the cruise or when in port? Thanks in advance folks for your response.....

[rochelle_s]

I did the Sea of Cortez cruise this past April and never had any need to exchange currency. The U.S. dollar was widely accepted. In fact , it was the only acceptable payment for a few things, such as massages at the Krystal hotel in Puerto Vallarta and scuba diving trips independently booked in all the ports. Even the little children selling jewelry in the streets wanted American dollars. It is good though to have small bills with you so you can pay exact because more often than not the change you receive will be in pesos.

 

hope this helps....

 

Rochelle

[CowPrincess]

I asked a similar question and was told that there was no way to change money on the ship. So we ordered a bunch of pesos to use while in Loreto, La Paz and Topo. I've heard (but do not know it as fact) that if you use US $, the bills must be pristine or the vendors will not accept them, because they can't exchange them at the Mexican banks. The exhcange on peso/US$ is quite favorable right now, and again (I've been told but do not know as fact) that most vendors will only exchange at 10 to 1. I think the bank rate is about 13 to 1 US$. Don't quote me -- I'm Canadian, so our peso exchange rate is different.

[jtl513]

I never tried it in our Mexican ports, but on our two European cruises we could exchange $US for local currency at the ship's front desk. Also, after leaving a country we could also exchange the local currency back to $US at the front desk ... but bills only, no coins.

 

Like rochelle_s, we never bothered to get any Mexican pesos (or for that matter Colombian or Costa Rican money either) on our trans-canal cruise. $US was accepted readily everywhere. In April/May, vendors exchanged it at 10:1, but we used Visa whenever we could.

[solocanadian]

I did this cruise in April/May 2008 - once again as Rochelle posted pesos are not necessary. All the ports know you are off a ship or at least NAorth American and they want the US dollar. The ship will exchange larger denomination US bills to $1 bills. I do know they will not accept $2.00 US bills but never ran into anyone wanting pristine bills. Solocanadian:)

[98Charlie]

Several years ago the merchants in Puerto Vallarta were taking dollars at 10 pesos per dollar while the exchange booths were selling pesos for around 11.50 or more per dollar. So it's possible to stretch the cash a little.

 

OTOH, if you're not used to doing the math in your head and someone is selling you a sombrero for 90 pesos that you bought for 11.52 per dollar, how much does it really cost?

 

It's easier to stick with the dollars.

 

Charlie

[Spanky My]

who have responded.. We have thought about taking the BUS in pv and wondered if they take dollars or ONLY peso's that really was the point of my post. Anway dollars it is....

[98Charlie]

who have responded.. We have thought about taking the BUS in pv and wondered if they take dollars or ONLY peso's that really was the point of my post. Anway dollars it is....

Oooops. Different story on the bus, it's pesos only. It was 5 pesos per person to the market area in PV in April of this year and 5.50 return:confused:

 

There is no real place to exchange money between the ship and the bus stop. You may want to check at your local bank or at the airport if you are flying in. 10 or 20 pesos will be more than enough to cover your immediate needs.

 

Here's a shot I took inside the bus on our return trip.

 

Notice the missing seats on the left side:p

 

Charlie

[noblepa]

who have responded.. We have thought about taking the BUS in pv and wondered if they take dollars or ONLY peso's that really was the point of my post. Anway dollars it is....

 

We have been on two Mexican Riviera cruises (Cabo, PV & Mazatlan). We never exchanged dollars for pesos, nor did I have any problem spending wrinkled, non-pristine bills. Perhaps if you had one of those bills that has been in circulation for years and is dog-eared, wrinkled, dirty, torn and has someone's phone number written on it, you might have a problem.

 

The official exchange rate is around 11 pesos to 1 dollar, but merchants almost always use 10:1. It just makes the math easier. On one trip, my wife bought a solid silver bracelet for (IIRC), $150. For an amount that large, I used a credit card and the vendor used a calculator and wrote the sale up in pesos, but he used the correct exchange rate of 11:1. I don't think we ever made any other single purchases of more than $10, so I didn't really care that I was losing a little bit on the exchange rate. I would have paid more than that in fees if I went to a bank and bought pesos.

 

I have never taken the city bus, but I did a little research on the web. I found a site (don't remember the URL) that was specific to PV. I'm pretty sure that it said the buses only accept pesos, and the drivers only speak Spanish. The city buses are not oriented toward tourists, so they don't go out of their way to cater to us "gringos", the way the tour buses do.

 

Any time you make a purchase in cash, your change will ALWAYS be in pesos. Take combinations of bills, so that you can get as close as possible to the exact amount. If you buy something for 60 pesos ($6.00), and give them a twenty dollar bill, you're going to get 140 pesos, not $14.00 back. Of course, you can then use the pesos on your next purchase, but when you come home, you may be stuck with pesos. While all the vendors gladly accept dollars, I've never had one refuse pesos. Once, I even mixed dollars and pesos, just to use up some pesos I had gotten in change. He didn't seem to mind at all.

 

Paul

[98Charlie]

We have been on two Mexican Riviera cruises (Cabo, PV & Mazatlan). We never exchanged dollars for pesos, nor did I have any problem spending wrinkled, non-pristine bills. Perhaps if you had one of those bills that has been in circulation for years and is dog-eared, wrinkled, dirty, torn and has someone's phone number written on it, you might have a problem.

 

The official exchange rate is around 11 pesos to 1 dollar, but merchants almost always use 10:1. It just makes the math easier. On one trip, my wife bought a solid silver bracelet for (IIRC), $150. For an amount that large, I used a credit card and the vendor used a calculator and wrote the sale up in pesos, but he used the correct exchange rate of 11:1. I don't think we ever made any other single purchases of more than $10, so I didn't really care that I was losing a little bit on the exchange rate. I would have paid more than that in fees if I went to a bank and bought pesos.

 

I have never taken the city bus, but I did a little research on the web. I found a site (don't remember the URL) that was specific to PV. I'm pretty sure that it said the buses only accept pesos, and the drivers only speak Spanish. The city buses are not oriented toward tourists, so they don't go out of their way to cater to us "gringos", the way the tour buses do.

Any time you make a purchase in cash, your change will ALWAYS be in pesos. Take combinations of bills, so that you can get as close as possible to the exact amount. If you buy something for 60 pesos ($6.00), and give them a twenty dollar bill, you're going to get 140 pesos, not $14.00 back. Of course, you can then use the pesos on your next purchase, but when you come home, you may be stuck with pesos. While all the vendors gladly accept dollars, I've never had one refuse pesos. Once, I even mixed dollars and pesos, just to use up some pesos I had gotten in change. He didn't seem to mind at all.

 

Paul

Our little band of travellers (there were 6 of us all together) were the only "white eyes" on the bus both going and returning. We were also the only ones who spoke English. Going the bus was packed and you really need to know where you're going. OTOH everyone was polite and we never felt worried. (OK, SIL was nervous.) As you can see from the picture I posted, it's not your typical city bus in the US. They're mostly like converted school busses.

 

The busses do not cater to tourists nor do they discourage them. I'm not sure but I believe that the drivers are independant operators. They are licensed to run a certain route and provide their own equipement. The more riders the more they make. (Likewise, the faster they run the route, the more passengers they can pick up and the more money they make.... hang on a be ready with your fare:D)

 

Charlie

 

Charlie

[BigBearLady]

I asked a similar question and was told that there was no way to change money on the ship. So we ordered a bunch of pesos to use while in Loreto, La Paz and Topo. I've heard (but do not know it as fact) that if you use US $, the bills must be pristine or the vendors will not accept them, because they can't exchange them at the Mexican banks. The exhcange on peso/US$ is quite favorable right now, and again (I've been told but do not know as fact) that most vendors will only exchange at 10 to 1. I think the bank rate is about 13 to 1 US$. Don't quote me -- I'm Canadian, so our peso exchange rate is different.

I asked our private tour guide in Matzatlan to take me to a liquor store that sold a certain type of tequila. I offered a $20 US bill in payment, and it was refused. If I remember correctly, it was well used and maybe had a smal tear in it. Luckily I had smaller bills that worked for this purchase. This was last April.