Do I have to purchase Euros?

Sailing on Quantum and really looking forward to visiting this island for the first time.

Not thrilled with purchasing Euros. Is it really necessary?

Sailing on Quantum and really looking forward to visiting this island for the first time.

Not thrilled with purchasing Euros. Is it really necessary?

Depending what you like to do. If you're just have a walk into town for looking around or if you go on a organised tour then you'll not need Euros.

But if you go on your own and like to pay for a bus/taxi/restaurant then yes, you will need Euros, it's the "real" France there.

I was there in March and the only thing I purchased was a bottle of rum, which I could have paid in US-$. But I will return this christmas and this time I will do it on my own with public buses and therefore I will bring along Euros.

Depending what you like to do. If you're just have a walk into town for looking around or if you go on a organised tour then you'll not need Euros.

 

But if you go on your own and like to pay for a bus/taxi/restaurant then yes, you will need Euros, it's the "real" France there.

 

I was there in March and the only thing I purchased was a bottle of rum, which I could have paid in US-$. But I will return this christmas and this time I will do it on my own with public buses and therefore I will bring along Euros.

onyx007, I will be in Martinique on November 3rd. I am doing an organized tour which is already paid for but was hoping to buy a little trinket. I read that the stores at the port accept US$. Do you know if thats true? I really don't want to pay the extra fees for a few dollars in euros. If thats the case, then unfortunately, I won't buy anything while I'm there.

I've made a organised tour in the morning (St.Pierre and Rum distellery) and went on my own on a little walk around the town after lunch.

I've not seen any shops that are really having something for tourists.

There were some stalls right at the pier and I'm sure they will take U$.

Which tour do you take ?

We changed money at the airport before we got to San Juan to catch the cruise. It was worth paying the slightly higher fee and not have to worry about ATMs, banks, and if the ship could change money (as it turned out they could not). I would recommend you changing some dollars for Euros as even if you want to go to a bakery or café for a drink, Euros are required. We were there in March on a holiday and definitely were glad we had a few Euro in our pockets.

It's been a while since we've had the opportunity to go to Martinique ... but the several times we have been, we had no problem using US Dollars.

Loved Martinique! Expect to have a wonderful time there. :)

LuLu

Unless you book through the ship, almost everything will only take Euros and will flat out refuse to accept US dollars. Expect the currency exchange places to be closed when your ship is there. It was for us last week. Couldn't get Euros (not available at our airport or any bank in our area & no ATM card), so we were out of luck. Martinique clearly doesn't want us there. It's a shame, because it is a beautiful island. Your cruise ship's excursions will be very pricey, and probably not a great one, but it's your best and perhaps only bet to get to do something without needing Euros.

There were a couple little tents set up near the port, and they seemed to be there just for us, but it was very limited. They sold some souvenirs at very inflated prices. I bought a t-shirt in St Croix for $5 the previous day, while a similar quality shirt at one of these stands in Martinique was $25. But they took US dollars. Most places will not. Expect to be very disappointed with this island.

Martinique clearly doesn't want us there. It's a shame, because it is a beautiful island.

 

They sold some souvenirs at very inflated prices. I bought a t-shirt in St Croix for $5 the previous day, while a similar quality shirt at one of these stands in Martinique was $25. But they took US dollars. Most places will not. Expect to be very disappointed with this island.

You're unfair:mad::mad::mad:; only because you didn't came prepared and changed some little money at home, doesn't mean that you're not welcome there, it's just your US Currency which is not welcome, as everybody who excepts US has to change it back to Euro themself and it's much more complicated if you have to remember two different prices as the currency rate is not 1:1!

Try to use your US-Dollar in France or the EU itself, wouldn't work as well.

Martinique is not only a beautiful island it is a proper part of France and therefore the EU. So you get prices similar or higher as in France, because almost everything has to be imported from France; it doesn't belong to the third world like many other caribbean islands.

almost everything will only take Euros and will flat out refuse to accept US dollars.

Why should that surprise you?

Martinique is an integral part of France in the same way as Hawaii is an integral part the US where they only accept US dollars and 'flat out refuse' to accept Euros.

Can I respectfully suggest that you look in the mirror and ask yourself what you would think of me if I said that I find Hawaii unwelcoming because folks there only accept dollars.

Why should that surprise you?

 

Martinique is an integral part of France in the same way as Hawaii is an integral part the US where they only accept US dollars and 'flat out refuse' to accept Euros.

 

Can I respectfully suggest that you look in the mirror and ask yourself what you would think of me if I said that I find Hawaii unwelcoming because folks there only accept dollars.

Every other island that I've visited in the Caribbean accepts US dollars from cruisers. You could make the argument that they shouldn't, but they do, which means that nearby islands that WANT to be competitive need to do the same. The people selling goods & running tours will make the proper conversions to US dollars to find out how much they should charge us. We know that it's not a 1:1 ratio, but they will convert it to figure out how much in US dollars it should be. But most of Martinique does not. The t-shirts that were $25 US were cheaper in Euros. I don't like the heavily inflated prices of both US & Euros, but I have no problem with Euros being cheaper. I have a problem with places that tell cruise visitors that they will not accept US dollars at all. If Hawaii were bringing in cruise ships full of Europeans, then I would fully expect the shops near the port and all cruise tours to accept Euros. They can make the conversions from Euros to US dollars later, and set an amount that will give them however many US dollars they want. I don't know of any Europe-based ships that cruise to Hawaii or anywhere in the U.S, but if there are, they should accept Euros, but only if they genuinely want that business. If we had a U.S. state in the Mediterranean, I would expect them to offer goods & services in Euros to cruise guests, if they want that business. Cruisers only there for a few hours, not for days. That changes things.

If an island truly wants cruisers there, they will make it easy on them to buy goods & find tours. If they want to charge $70 US for a tour that would be 40 Euros, that would be way too much in US dollars, but it would at least give people without Euros the option, and would make the island feel more welcoming. On the "tour" that we went on, the driver was approached by a couple off the ship, wanting to pay in US dollars, even if the conversion was inflated beyond what it should be. The driver yelled at them (in French), totally refusing their money, even though there was room in the van. Why refuse money, especially when it would be 100% profit? He could have converted it to Euros later, and he would be richer, but he wasn't interested. Other businesses selling goods also refusing to take US dollars. Not all of them, but most of them. If they want our business, they will make it easier on us. 3000 people visit their island for a few hours, most without any Euros, and so many struggling to find something to do and something to buy.

Again, this isn't everyone on the island. There are some that are totally willing to business with US cruisers. But not nearly enough to meet the demand. That's my only complaint with it. I have no problem with an island that doesn't want cruisers. It might just simply be a business that they don't want. If Martinique doesn't want that, that's fine. Stop bringing ships in. Or perhaps they only want to do business through the cruiselines' tours; no independent excursions. That's fine too, but they need to seriously increase what is offered. It's hard to know for sure, but when they have so many places of business closed while ships are in port, and most of the ones that are open will only take Euros, then they don't seem interested in catering to cruise guests from the U.S. There were only a small handful of ship-based excursions (no Euros needed); not nearly enough to fulfill the needs of the ship. You could perhaps find a way to blame the cruiseline for that, but based on experiences here, it would seem that the island wasn't offering enough.

Maybe the statement "They don't want us there" is a bit harsh, especially to those that love this island, but it's certainly not unfair. It did feel to me (and countless other people on the ship) that U.S. based cruise ships are not a business that this island wants to cater to. Or, to give a huge benefit of the doubt, maybe they just don't know how to cater to U.S. based cruise ships.

It did feel to me (and countless other people on the ship) that U.S. based cruise ships are not a business that this island wants to cater to. Or, to give a huge benefit of the doubt, maybe they just don't know how to cater to U.S. based cruise ships.

I will travelling with an European Company (Costa) out of Gouadeloupe (which is French as well); so in your logic, as most of the passengers on my ship will be from Europe all the other Caribbean Island (like Tortola, Barbados and Grenada for example) should except Euros (which I'm sure they don't).

I would like to see a taxi driver in New York to except Euros or British Pounds when a transatlantic cruiseliner like the Queen Mary arrives there.

You have to except that US Dollar is (still) not the world currency as you like to think of it.

I'm from Switzerland in the middle of Europe and we have our own currency and not like all the countries around us the EURO. Some business will except Euros but the exchange rate will not that good as this business have to go to an exchange point, where they have to pay a fee to exchange the money to Swiss Francs and there is a saying "time is money".

So most business in Switzerland and therefore in Martinique tell themself better have no business then loosing money by exchanging US to Euro.

(by the way in St.Martin, on the french side they excepted Euros and US Dollars and the exchange rate

was 1 : 1, so everyone who pays in Euros will loose at least 20 % at this place!

I will travelling with an European Company (Costa) out of Gouadeloupe (which is French as well); so in your logic, as most of the passengers on my ship will be from Europe all the other Caribbean Island (like Tortola, Barbados and Grenada for example) should except Euros (which I'm sure they don't).

 

I would like to see a taxi driver in New York to except Euros or British Pounds when a transatlantic cruiseliner like the Queen Mary arrives there.

 

You have to except that US Dollar is (still) not the world currency as you like to think of it.

 

I'm from Switzerland in the middle of Europe and we have our own currency and not like all the countries around us the EURO. Some business will except Euros but the exchange rate will not that good as this business have to go to an exchange point, where they have to pay a fee to exchange the money to Swiss Francs and there is a saying "time is money".

 

So most business in Switzerland and therefore in Martinique tell themself better have no business then loosing money by exchanging US to Euro.

 

(by the way in St.Martin, on the french side they excepted Euros and US Dollars and the exchange rate

was 1 : 1, so everyone who pays in Euros will loose at least 20 % at this place!

I never said that the US dollar is the world currency, nor do I want it to be.

All else that you stated are good points and things to consider. If you are correct that Martinique would be losing money on the exchange, making it better to have no business, then they just simply cannot be competitive with most of the surrounding islands. And maybe they don't want to be, which is fine. So, visitors must purchase Euros, book through the ship, or hunt for the rare operator that will take US currency.

I admit that I probably should have just said, "This island takes mostly Euros; very few vendors or independent tour operators will take US currency, except for the very limited number of vendors right at the port", and just left it at that. Sorry to offend the Martinique lovers out there. I do think the island is beautiful. It was just frustrating to not be able to see much of the island only because I had no way to get Euros before or during the trip, and then the island closed their currency exchange on us. And once again, you cannot get Euros where I live, not ever. It's a big world, and there are tons of places where Euros are not available to purchase. The island has a currency exchange, but they closed them all on the day we were there.

Every other island that I've visited in the Caribbean accepts US dollars from cruisers.

Most of the other islands use their own local currencies (East Caribbean dollars, Barbados dollars, Trinidad and Tobago dollars etc ) all of which are tied to the US dollar at a fixed exchange rate and as their currencies are not that easily exchangeable outside the country they have a strong motivation to accept the US dollar.

The Euro is a major world currency used as a first currency by over 350million people and almost 5% of the world's population. The population of the US is 318 million and even if we add the five countries which use the US dollars as their official currency (East Timer, pop 1million - Equador, pop 15 million - El Salvador, pop 6million - Panama, pop 4million - Zimbabwe, pop 13 million) one only gets to 357 million. For sure there are also countries which use the dollar unofficially but equally there are seven countries who are shortly to officially adopt the Euro.

Most folks who travel the world recognise that the US Dollar and the Euro are the two major currencies of the world but that in those countries officially tied to the US dollar the Euros is not normally accepted and vice versa. For these reason European, who visit the US tend keep a reserve of a few dollars and most US citizens who visit Eurozone countries tend to keep a few Euros. Folks like me, I am domiciled in the UK, tend to keep some of both.

I have a problem with places that tell cruise visitors that they will not accept US dollars at all.

Wow. New York has over 10million foreign visitors each year, many of who come from Eurozone countries and over 1million of which come from the UK.

If you were European, ask yourself whether or not you would have a problem with shops in New York not accepting Euros or Pounds at all?

Of course not. You know you are visiting a country where the other of the world's two major currencies is both the official currency and the only one generally accepted. Similarly if you are visiting Paris, Martinique or any other part of the Eurozone, you are visiting a country where the other of the world's two major currencies is both the official currency and the only one generally accepted.

maybe they just don't know how to cater to U.S. based cruise ships.

Or maybe they don't realise that a few, but by no means all, tourists are not comfortable unless everything is just like home.

With respect, I think your problem arises from the fact that you are thinking of Martinique as a Caribbean country. It is not. It is a fully integrated part of France, the European Union and the Eurozone.

I had no way to get Euros before or during the trip, and then the island closed their currency exchange on us. And once again, you cannot get Euros where I live, not ever. It's a big world, and there are tons of places where Euros are not available to purchase.

Are you seriously saying that there is a part of the US where the banking system is so detached from the rest of the world that you cannot exchange currency?

Do you not have a debit card? It would have worked in most if not all ATMs on the island.

And once again, you cannot get Euros where I live, not ever. It's a big world, and there are tons of places where Euros are not available to purchase. The island has a currency exchange, but they closed them all on the day we were there.

First: point taken, I apologise if I have offended you; but read through the post of Corfe Mixture.

In my opinion, if a US-Based-Ship goes to an Island like Martinique than they should have a currency exchange on board.

Was it by chance a public holiday? Then it would be hard in almost every country to change money unless there are counters open at for example the airport / international railway station. Banks and such financial offices are always closed on sundays.

The only way I could get Euros where I live is to pay my bank a fee and then wait 2 to 4 weeks to get the Euros. The fee is $25 on top of the exchange rate. I felt that was too much of a premium to pay for the amount of Euros I would need. I only needed about $50 in Euros so a fee of $25 was not worth it. I do not have a debit or ATM card. So I was going to go to the currency exchange to get Euros. But all of them were closed when we were there.

I guess the only way for me to be prepared was to pay the steep fee, pay a monthly fee for a ATM card, or just move to someplace that has a better access to exchanging money. Seemed really stupid for a one time trip to Martinique. I really thought that I would be able to go to a currency exchange. It was not a weekend when we were there. I guess November 3 must be some sort of holiday since none of them were open. We asked if the ship exchanged money and they said they did not. So that was also not an option.

Sharon

I forgot to add. I checked about getting Euros at the airport. that also was a no go. Not done at our little airport.

Sharon

I forgot to add. I checked about getting Euros at the airport. that also was a no go. Not done at our little airport.

Sharon

I guess that neither you nor k2excursion, who also happens to live in Tulsa, started your cruise from there ;)

If, as I suspect, you started from Port Everglades and flew into Fort Lauderdale, then you could easily have obtained your Euros at FLL with no delay.

Travelex have a currency exchange facility just by the Delta check-in at FLL

They normally have most major currencies available on demand but, in any event, if you are all concerned about availability you could have ordered your Euros in advance to be collected at FLL on your arrival from Tulsa.

This link is to the Travelex site for FLL

http://www.travelex.com/currency-exchange-locations/ft-lauderdale-hollywood-intl-airport-near-delta-checkin-ft-lauderdale-fl/

Where you see that, US Dollars to Euros is the default currency exchange.

Also, at the bottom of the page, you will find the words:

'Come see us and exchange foreign currency before or after your next trip. There's no better place in Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport to get Euros, Pesos, Yen, etc.'

I don't wish to be impolite, but I am coming to the conclusion, that you simply failed to research these matters before you left and now that you have a problem, you feel that it is someone else's fault.

I guess that neither you nor k2excursion, who also happens to live in Tulsa, started your cruise from there ;)

 

If, as I suspect, you started from Port Everglades and flew into Fort Lauderdale, then you could easily have obtained your Euros at FLL with no delay.

 

Travelex have a currency exchange facility just by the Delta check-in at FLL

 

They normally have most major currencies available on demand but, in any event, if you are all concerned about availability you could have ordered your Euros in advance to be collected at FLL on your arrival from Tulsa.

 

This link is to the Travelex site for FLL

http://www.travelex.com/currency-exchange-locations/ft-lauderdale-hollywood-intl-airport-near-delta-checkin-ft-lauderdale-fl/

 

Where you see that, US Dollars to Euros is the default currency exchange.

 

Also, at the bottom of the page, you will find the words:

 

'Come see us and exchange foreign currency before or after your next trip. There's no better place in Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport to get Euros, Pesos, Yen, etc.'

 

I don't wish to be impolite, but I am coming to the conclusion, that you simply failed to research these matters before you left and now that you have a problem, you feel that it is someone else's fault.

We did do research but I guess it is easy to draw a wrong conclusion when you have experience flying into major airports from Europe. That is not the case for us.

You are correct that we didn't start our cruise from Tulsa. We started from San Juan. And we did not use Delta, we used Southwest. I was not about to drag my carry on luggage out of the terminal where Southwest was to the check in for Delta was during our short layover. That would require going through security all over again. Can be very time consuming in Fort Lauderdale. We came to the conclusion that the currency exchange was our best bet.

Sorry you have decided we are to blame for all the things not available to us. Including all the currency exchanges being closed in Martinique. Go ahead and blame us for it. You are certainly correct in blaming us for not getting Euros at home. I just don't feel like paying 50% for them here. We thought we had done all the research and came to the conclusion of getting the Euros in Martinique. But that turned out to not be available.

All our fault! :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes: Because of this it didn't turn out to be a good experience. You have a right to your opinion, but I feel you are wrong about us not doing research. I could have driven 5 hours to get Euros in Dallas. But that seemed foolish if we could get them in Martinique. I thought we made the right decision. It turned out not to be the case. All the other options seemed complicated. I guess we should have know that the currency exchanges would be closed. I must have misplaced my crystal ball. Easy to blame us when you are not in our shoes. I'm done.

Sharon

I could have driven 5 hours to get Euros in Dallas. But that seemed foolish if we could get them in Martinique.

Agreed and I apologise. It was perfectly reasonable to expect to be able to obtain Euros in Martinique, though perhaps not reasonable to expect them to accept US Dollars.

The reason you had a problem is that you visited on 3rd November which is a Monday and, unless one is very familiar with France, you would have no way of knowing that all French banks, and many restaurants etc., throughout the whole of the country are closed on Mondays.

Not normally a problem for most of us as we can use our debit/credit cards in an ATM, but, if your card does not work in an ATM, then one does, as you discovered, have a real problem.

Martinique is a beautiful part of France, with all the typical aspects of French life (street cafés and people watching whilst sipping good coffee, etc.,) and I am truly sad that you missed out on being able to enjoy it.

Kindest

CM

I haven't been to Martinique for many years, but I had no problem making purchases in the larger stores with an Amex card. The Euro were converted to dollars for our Amex bill and it was no different than buying a product in France or any country using Euro.

It's a beautiful island and I am looking forward to being there in late Nov.

Joan

I haven't been to Martinique for many years, but I had no problem making purchases in the larger stores with an Amex card. The Euro were converted to dollars for our Amex bill and it was no different than buying a product in France or any country using Euro.

It's a beautiful island and I am looking forward to being there in late Nov.

Joan

The problem was not making a purchase in a store. The problem was getting a cab or a tour of the island once there. They would only accept Euros. One man was able to get Euros with his ATM card and we purchased them off of him so we could go on a tour with a group of people from our cruise. A couple of other people wanted to join in but only had US $ and the tour people would not accept the dollars. The problem was it took us almost 2 hours to get the Euros and get the tour arranged. It didn't leave us much time for seeing the island. Plus many things were closed as Corfe Mixture said since it was a Monday. It would have been a lot better if we were there on a better day of the week.

Just a warning to those of you on a Carnival cruise going to Martinique. I checked and it appears that all the Carnival cruises stopping in Martinique are there on a Monday. That is the Triumph and the Pride.

...many things were closed .... since it was a Monday. It would have been a lot better if we were there on a better day of the week.

True, but it could have been worse. Next month we will be there on the Sunday between Christmas and New Year and so I'm not expecting much at all to be open. :mad:

Not a problem for us as we will arrive with Euros and only want to take the ferry to the beach, and buy lunch, but will be a big problem for anyone expecting to make quality purchases, e.g. lalique glassware, as Gallerie Layfayette, and all the other upmarket shops, will definitely be closed throughout our visit, so no doubt a fair few people are going to be unhappy.

Turning to a more serious point, earlier in this thread someone posted that their local bank wanted to charge a $25 transaction fee for getting euros. I don't doubt the accuracy of that statement, but, for those no familiar with the exchange rate can I say that:

€40 translates to around $52 and a fair price to pay at a currency exchange is $55 for €40.

Adding $25 onto this to make a total cost of around $80 for €40, as opposed to perhaps the $2.50 transaction fee you would typically pay at an ATM, is, IMHO, ridiculous to the point of being usury.

Yup, I know, usury is a term which only really relates to interest rates on loans, but I can't think of a better term for such commission levels other than perhaps 'institutionalised and legalised misappropriation of clients funds'.

Gallerie Layfayette,

!!! Oops, I can spell, but the edit timer ran out on me!

As of today.....$1 USD = 1.24 Euro.....or conversely.......1 Euro == $.81 USD. A currency exchange in the US is always the best exchange rate vs. ATM in foreign country.

As of today.....$1 USD = 1.24 Euro.....or conversely.......1 Euro == $.81 USD. A currency exchange in the US is always the best exchange rate vs. ATM in foreign country.

I think you have it the wrong way round.

ONE EURO IS WORTH MORE THAN ONE US DOLLAR

Headline rate is:

1 Euro = 1.24 USD

1 USD = 0.81 Euro

40 Euros purchased at a US airport Travelex would today cost you $US54.93

https://buy.travelex.com/us/Purchase?product=ba4ee1c8-3531-4653-ad59-bfc12208c9f5&type=Cash&amount=40.00&event=Purchase&Currency=

If you purchased something costing €40, using a Commission free Visa card today, you would get today's Visa interbank rate and the transaction would be billed as $US 49.575.

If your bank charged you a foreign currency transaction commission on the deal of 2.5% it would be billed as $US 50.814.

If you drew €40 cash out of ATM, using a credit card, as opposed to a debit card, this would count as a credit card cash withdrawal and you would have to add to the above whatever interest / fees your provider applies to cash withdrawals.

http://www.visaeurope.com/making-payments/exchange-rates