Credit Cards or cash or what?

We are taking HAL's Voyage of the Vikings this August, just a quick 7 day round trip out of Amsterdam, docking in Bergen, Flam, Eidfjord and Stavanger with lots of fjords in between.

Will our American credit cards work in these ports? I'm asking because I've had trouble in the past in Denmark because American cards don't have chips, only magentic strips. Are Norwegian cruise ports prepared for us and our dippy cards?

Has anyone had any experience with this? or did you just buy currency at the airport and if so how much do you think I should budget per day for museum fees and a beer or two (in the land of the $100 pizza, we'll try to our major meal on board!)

For most of our purchases which were small we used local currency which we had gotten from ATM's.

Keith

in six trips to Europe, I have only experienced a problem with a chipless card once, and that was at a train ticket machine in rural France. Never a problem at a store and never a problem in Norway. Having said that, though, Chase is now offering to replace at least some of their cards with ones that have chips - you just have to call and ask them

I had the same concern - because we're taking the Seabourn 21-Day Route of the Midnights Sun in July.

I called both MasterCard and Amex - and I was sent replacement cards with chips within a couple of days. No charge. No problem.

I bank with PNC and called them to ask if I could get an EMV debit card.

I was surprised to find out that the card I already have has a chip in it and is EMV enabled, only they call it PAYWAVE.

It looks like it will be easier than I thought!

Now that you know what type of card to carry, make sure the card carries no Foreign transaction fees. We used the CapitalOne card and they have no such fees, but other cards carry the usual 3% extra fees for any, and all, transactions done overseas. We used our card to charge EVERYTHING, or, as much as we were able, so it could add up really quick.

One other thing, and this is just a piece of advice, whichever card you do decide on using, make sure you contact the cards customer service and let them know of your plans, and where you will be. I have heard many stories of people using their card, say in a different port each day, and the card services becomes suspicious and stops the card from being used. Then you need a very long call to them to explain things and hopefully they will put it back into use. Again, let them know you are traveling, where you will be and you may be using the card for several purchases in a short period of time.

Cheers

Len

Some more info on Chip and pin:

Chip and PIN or EMV (Europay Mastercard Visa) are smart cards that can contain multiple applications on the card (stored value, payment, loyalty)

•They ALSO support mag-stripe “swipe and sign”, contactless payment (“wave and go”) and “wave and sign” for transactions over $20

•NFC (near field communications) “stickers” and contactless payments are catching on, but slowly

•Visa PayWave and Mastercard PayPass (contactless) are EMV compliant

•Mainstream banks have finally started issuing EMV cards in 2011, mostly to international travelers

Unfortunately, alot of U.S. bank personnel don't know these basic facts, so we as consumers need to work harder to educate ourselves. From experience I can tell you that you need to ask questions and not trust your local branch representatives to give you the best recommendations.

I wanted the name on my card to match my passport and actually had a replacement card issued WITHOUT PayWave . The bank officer KNEW that I was going to Europe, yet he encouraged me to opt out of Paywave. Two months later I had to ask for another card WITH PayWave.

Thank you for all this detailed info. I'm taking a Capital One card to avoid the foreign transaction fees and I've notified them that I'm leaving the country, given them dates, ports of call and my location before and after the cruise. But they still asked how they could verify my out-of-the-US purchases!:confused:

I ended up telling them that I had all their contact info and if my card was lost or stolen, I'd be in touch with them and please assume otherwise that all purchases are mine!

I'm going to take my debit card just in case!

We just got back. Never had any problems using credit cards. My husband has Capital One card with a strip and no chip. Used it to buy train tickets from machine in Copenhagen. At a 7-Eleven in Copenhagen the clerk said it wouldn't work but it did. He just used his PIN number that is for cash advances and had no problem.

We just got back. Never had any problems using credit cards. My husband has Capital One card with a strip and no chip. Used it to buy train tickets from machine in Copenhagen. At a 7-Eleven in Copenhagen the clerk said it wouldn't work but it did. He just used his PIN number that is for cash advances and had no problem.

So glad to hear this! Can you tell us which cities you were in besides Copenhagen?

So glad to hear this! Can you tell us which cities you were in besides Copenhagen?

We were also in Berlin, Tallinn, St. Petersburg, Helsinki, and Stockholm. Also Reykavik (sp?) airport. We had no Icelandic money so had to charge there. I think we probably used credit cards at least once in each city. I have a B of A card with a chip (apparently chip and signature) which I used a few times. I remember one time she tried swiping and ended up inserting the chip instead. Sometimes we would sign. Sometimes they would ask for a PIN. Sometimes neither. Experiences kind of varied but never had an occasion where we couldn't end up using the card.

We were also in Berlin, Tallinn, St. Petersburg, Helsinki, and Stockholm. Also Reykavik (sp?) airport. We had no Icelandic money so had to charge there. I think we probably used credit cards at least once in each city. I have a B of A card with a chip (apparently chip and signature) which I used a few times. I remember one time she tried swiping and ended up inserting the chip instead. Sometimes we would sign. Sometimes they would ask for a PIN. Sometimes neither. Experiences kind of varied but never had an occasion where we couldn't end up using the card.

I might have to backtrack a little on my response. I have been reading some other threads that made it sound like in Helsinki you can't use magnetic cards at all not even in ATMs. I'm thinking we might not have even tried using a credit card in Helsinki. I think we just used cash. The only place we used an ATM was Tallinn. So, it might be a good idea to have plenty of euros on hand when you arrive in Helsinki. Maybe somebody else on our cruise can comment on their experience.

You mentioned that you used your ATM PIN number when they asked. Are you sure you weren't charged as a cash advance?> Idf so, they carry hefty fees?

Cheers

Len

You mentioned that you used your ATM PIN number when they asked. Are you sure you weren't charged as a cash advance?> Idf so, they carry hefty fees?

 

Cheers

 

Len

My husband just looked at his Capital One statement and they weren't charged as cash advances.

We were also in Berlin, Tallinn, St. Petersburg, Helsinki, and Stockholm. Also Reykavik (sp?) airport. We had no Icelandic money so had to charge there. I think we probably used credit cards at least once in each city. I have a B of A card with a chip (apparently chip and signature) which I used a few times. I remember one time she tried swiping and ended up inserting the chip instead. Sometimes we would sign. Sometimes they would ask for a PIN. Sometimes neither. Experiences kind of varied but never had an occasion where we couldn't end up using the card.

So what did you give as a pin for the B of A card?

So what did you give as a pin for the B of A card?

I actually don't think I was ever asked for a PIN with the B of A card. I think I always either signed or the charge was low enough that I didn't have to do anything.

ahh ok.