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Baltic Sea Cruise
Thanks guys so much for all your suggestions about tours. We have already
booked one with the cruise line but thanks to your suggestions, we will use one of those suggested for the other two days. Now another thing, in reading the information about the ports we will be visiting, only one accepts dollars That being St. Petersburg. the others either use Euros or local currency. My question is where would be the best place to exchange dollars for either Euros or local currency. I have been told that the ships do not give you a good rate of exchange. I wonder should we do it at the airport where we first. start the cruise? Would they have the other kinds of currency for the other countries? Should we try to buy the Euros at a local bank over here before we leave? Thanks again for all your help. Sandy |
#2
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Baltic Sea Cruise
"Sandy" wrote in message ... Thanks guys so much for all your suggestions about tours. We have already booked one with the cruise line but thanks to your suggestions, we will use one of those suggested for the other two days. Now another thing, in reading the information about the ports we will be visiting, only one accepts dollars That being St. Petersburg. the others either use Euros or local currency. My question is where would be the best place to exchange dollars for either Euros or local currency. I have been told that the ships do not give you a good rate of exchange. I wonder should we do it at the airport where we first. start the cruise? Would they have the other kinds of currency for the other countries? Should we try to buy the Euros at a local bank over here before we leave? Thanks again for all your help. Sandy Ships do not give you a good rate. Many don't carry lesser local currencies, but usually those locations accept dollars. Best is to use your credit cards for foreign purchases. Check to see if your card company charges a foreign conversion fee first. Some places airport currency exchanges are good, others not. Buying currency at your bank should be OK, but some charge fees for obtaining the currency if they don't routinely carry it. We have always been able to use dollars even in Euro countries. The vendors don't give you a good exchange rate, but for small purchases, who cares. Just be aware of the official exchange rate which you can check here- http://finance.yahoo.com/currency-co...D;to=EUR;amt=1 |
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Baltic Sea Cruise
On 7/27/2012 10:08 AM, Paul Johnson wrote:
Ships do not give you a good rate. Many don't carry lesser local currencies, but usually those locations accept dollars. Best is to use your credit cards for foreign purchases. Check to see if your card company charges a foreign conversion fee first. Some places airport currency exchanges are good, others not. Buying currency at your bank should be OK, but some charge fees for obtaining the currency if they don't routinely carry it. We have always been able to use dollars even in Euro countries. The vendors don't give you a good exchange rate, but for small purchases, who cares. Just be aware of the official exchange rate which you can check here- http://finance.yahoo.com/currency-co...D;to=EUR;amt=1 If you buy currency from your local bank in the US you will get a poor rate and pay fees. Your best bet is getting it from an ATM when you get there. And use a credit card where possible but as you mentioned, watch out for the 3% currency conversion fee that most charge. Capital One cards do not charge the 3% fee, and there are a few others that do not. I think that Discover also doesn't charge, and their purchase of Diners Club should make them more accepted overseas than they have been in the past. Bill |
#4
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Baltic Sea Cruise
On 7/27/2012 8:14 AM, Sandy wrote:
Thanks guys so much for all your suggestions about tours. We have already booked one with the cruise line but thanks to your suggestions, we will use one of those suggested for the other two days. Now another thing, in reading the information about the ports we will be visiting, only one accepts dollars That being St. Petersburg. the others either use Euros or local currency. My question is where would be the best place to exchange dollars for either Euros or local currency. I have been told that the ships do not give you a good rate of exchange. I wonder should we do it at the airport where we first. start the cruise? Would they have the other kinds of currency for the other countries? Should we try to buy the Euros at a local bank over here before we leave? Thanks again for all your help. Sandy I was in Russia last summer. Many of the good tour companies in St. Petersburg will accept credit cards. Alla Tours will not put an up-charge on your credit card. Alla Tours also offers a package for three other cities on most Baltic cruise itineraries. We go to the foreign desk at Wells Fargo and buy our foreign currency there. We have our checking account with them. They look up the conversion and that's what we get. No extra charge if we do it there. They will take back bills, too, but not coin. You need local currency in St. Petersburg for tipping the guides and for the bathroom. Many restrooms in public places have a fee. An ATM card is fine and we carry one that is not attached to our regular bank account so that if something happens, we won't lose all of our money and the direct deposits that we can't control. The problem with relying on ATMs for cash is that you almost always need some before you can find a machine. That's why we always take some of the local currency with us. Ask for small denominations. We will get an assortment of local currency for our Baltic cruise in the summer of 2013. We have just found a great deal on an Italy, Greece, Montenegro, Turkey, Croatia, 11 day cruise and will bring Euros and whatever they use in the other countries with us. You get off the plane and take a cab somewhere, you need cash. With a load of luggage in a place you've never been before, it's good to have some. -- Janet Wilder Way-the-heck-south Texas Spelling doesn't count. Cooking does. |
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Baltic Sea Cruise
On 7/27/12 9:14 AM, Sandy wrote:
Thanks guys so much for all your suggestions about tours. We have already booked one with the cruise line but thanks to your suggestions, we will use one of those suggested for the other two days. Now another thing, in reading the information about the ports we will be visiting, only one accepts dollars That being St. Petersburg. the others either use Euros or local currency. My question is where would be the best place to exchange dollars for either Euros or local currency. Don't exchange. Just bring your MAC or Debit card and hit a local ATM at a bank and do a withdrawal in whatever local currency you want. ATM's always have the best rates. |
#6
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Baltic Sea Cruise
On 7/28/2012 6:40 AM, Sandy wrote:
Thanks so much to all of you. Your information is very helpful and I will pass it along to the rest of our group. I checked with our credit union and they charge 1 per cent when using a credit card to convert. That sounded pretty good. They don't sell foreign currency but will order it for a fee. Will Wells Fargo sell to non-members? Sandy They might. You'd have to ask them. I know that they just debit our bank account. -- Janet Wilder Way-the-heck-south Texas Spelling doesn't count. Cooking does. |
#7
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Baltic Sea Cruise
On Sat, 28 Jul 2012 14:23:20 -0400, Tom K
wrote: On 7/27/12 9:14 AM, Sandy wrote: Thanks guys so much for all your suggestions about tours. We have already booked one with the cruise line but thanks to your suggestions, we will use one of those suggested for the other two days. Now another thing, in reading the information about the ports we will be visiting, only one accepts dollars That being St. Petersburg. the others either use Euros or local currency. My question is where would be the best place to exchange dollars for either Euros or local currency. Don't exchange. Just bring your MAC or Debit card and hit a local ATM at a bank and do a withdrawal in whatever local currency you want. ATM's always have the best rates. If you can - see if the card will waive the fee for out of network. Try to get by with as few rubles as you can. |
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