Tipping on Excursions and Need for Money on Baltic Cruise

[jwcsr]

We will be cruising the Baltic on the Emerald this summer. We will be taking Princess excursions. What is the custom for tipping on excursions in the various ports on these excursions; i.e., amount, type of currency. Do we need to have currency for the various countries that are not on the Euro, such as Denmark, Estonia, Russia. If so, how much is suggested? Also, we will be in Copenhagen for two days before cruise and would like to take a tour. Anyone have any suggestions of a good tour company in Copenhagen?

[Loonbeam]

You should post this question on the various ports of call forums to get more specific answers, especially the last one.

As far as tipping, customs will vary by country. Even the countries not on the Euro system will usually take Euros in small quantities, but local currency is often better if you can manage it. How much will depend on the price and time of the excursion, and the type, but I would budget in the 5 to 10 percent range.

Originally Posted by jwcsr

We will be cruising the Baltic on the Emerald this summer. We will be taking Princess excursions. What is the custom for tipping on excursions in the various ports on these excursions; i.e., amount, type of currency. Do we need to have currency for the various countries that are not on the Euro, such as Denmark, Estonia, Russia. If so, how much is suggested? Also, we will be in Copenhagen for two days before cruise and would like to take a tour. Anyone have any suggestions of a good tour company in Copenhagen?

[kylea_s]

The above poster is correct about putting this on the ports boards to get more info. We did the Baltic a couple of years ago and after we determined what we were doing in the ports we ordered the country specific currency from our bank. We felt that finding an ATM in each port would be very time consuming with so little time in port. We did find that each country really preferred to deal in their own money. This might be even more true with the issues that Europe is having with the Euro this year.
In Copenhagen, there is a very nice HOHO bus that does a great job tourning the city. Also the boat rides out of Nyhaven are easy, informative and very economical.

Donna

[UT-Volsfan]

Local currency makes it easier to pick up small souvenirs and make purchases instead of using your credit card which gets a foreign transaction fee for each purchase. Also comes in handy for paying local taxis or bus fares while in port. We usually pick up local currencies at the AAA office before the cruise. We dislike converting money on ship - the on-board conversions aren't as good as what we can get at AAA. For port days, we usually plan on getting between $50 and $80 per day converted to local currencies. We get more for the days we're touring before or after the cruise.

In Russia, many of the street vendors will be quite happy to take US$ or Euros.

[Weluv2cruise2007]

Originally Posted by jwcsr

We will be cruising the Baltic on the Emerald this summer. We will be taking Princess excursions. What is the custom for tipping on excursions in the various ports on these excursions; i.e., amount, type of currency. Do we need to have currency for the various countries that are not on the Euro, such as Denmark, Estonia, Russia. If so, how much is suggested? Also, we will be in Copenhagen for two days before cruise and would like to take a tour. Anyone have any suggestions of a good tour company in Copenhagen?

If you haven't done so, go join your roll call. I'll bet the majority of your fellow cruisers are arranging private tours which could save you significant $$.

[shorefolks]

As far as currencies go, Estonia is also on the euro. In Russia they prefer euros or dollars to rubles. (Some things have not changed since Soviet days!) In Copenhagen, the taxis take credit cards, but they may ask you to input a PIN, so be sure to arrange with your credit card company to have one beforehand. (This happened elsewhere on our cruise, as well.) Also check to see if there is a foreign transaction fee on your credit card. Some do not have it.

[JamesFic]

Just got back from the Emerald reposition cruise - stopped in Olso, Copenhagen, Rotterdam. Found that dollars were accepted anywhere. They did conversions and gave change in the local currency. And tipping is appreciated - I was very disappointed to see only about 50% of participants on any excursion I was on tip the guide.

[nycruise]

Originally Posted by JamesFic

Just got back from the Emerald reposition cruise - stopped in Olso, Copenhagen, Rotterdam. Found that dollars were accepted anywhere. They did conversions and gave change in the local currency. And tipping is appreciated - I was very disappointed to see only about 50% of participants on any excursion I was on tip the guide.

I'm always amazed at the number of people who don't tip the tour guide at the end of the tour, whether in Europe or the U.S.

As to the original question, we tipped all over the Mediterranean in U.S. dollars and never had a problem, everyone seem glad for the tip. We did most of our purchases with credit cards.