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We will visit Copenhagen , Stockholm and Oslo on our Baltic cruise. I like to buy currency locally and bring it with me. As we are also spending time in London and have a follow up Mediterranean Europe cruise, could I get away with just buying Euros? Would this be acceptable for the touristy outlets in the 3 Scandanavian countries we visit?

Edited by Kinkacruiser
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We will visit Copenhagen , Stockholm and Oslo on our Baltic cruise. I like to buy currency locally and bring it with me. As we are also spending time in London and have a follow up Mediterranean Europe cruise, could I get away with just buying Euros? Would this be acceptable for the touristy outlets in the 3 Scandanavian countries we visit?

 

I don't quite understand what you mean by "touristy outlets". Restaurants will usually accept credit cards or local currency ... not euros unless you are in the Euro zone. Same with stores & shops I have frequented. It is possible that some vendors may accept euros (I have never tried) but you wouldn't get a very good exchange rate.

Perhaps someone who has attempted to use euros successfully will respond.

 

UK = GP Pound

Norway = Norwegian Krone

Denmark = Danish Krone

Sweden = Swedish Krona

Edited by dogs4fun
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I don't quite understand what you mean by "touristy outlets". Restaurants will usually accept credit cards or local currency ... not euros unless you are in the Euro zone. Same with stores & shops I have frequented. It is possible that some vendors may accept euros (I have never tried) but you wouldn't get a very good exchange rate.

Perhaps someone who has attempted to use euros successfully will respond.

 

UK = GP Pound

Norway = Norwegian Krone

Denmark = Danish Krone

Sweden = Swedish Krona

No doubt we'll be on a tour and just like to buy the odd souvenir or drink. I have to buy a minimum of Krone (to the value of AUD 100)...or take a bottle of water ashore and skip the tea towel purchase :rolleyes:

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We were in Copenhagen last year and I don't remember any place taking Euros. Everywhere wanted Kroner but it is so easy to go to an ATM and get out as many Kroner as you think you will need. Not sure what your bank charges but mine is only $5 per transaction.

We do usually get Euro's in advance if spending time in Europe but when visiting any non Euro country for a day or two we just use the ATM if we don't use credit cards.

Edited by Kenato
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We were in Copenhagen and Stockholm on a cruise in September and hadn't bought any local currency, but used our CC. In Stockholm we bought a pass for the public transport, but you can buy tickets with CC at the bus stops.

 

In Copenhagen we used the HOHO bus which will accept Euros, but we paid with CC. If you want to have a drink or buy anything you will need local currency or pay with CCC or debit Card.

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The chances are your cruise line will exchange currency on board - and take it back if you don't use it. Check with them.

 

Both in Scandinavia and in England, virtually every permanent shop and some market stalls will take plastic. There might be a charge for using credit card for amounts under £5 or £10.

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Don't know if I've mis-read your post but you will certainly need sterling in London.

 

Don't know about Oslo, but best to have some Danish & Swedish krona in your pocket, though on a tour you'll only need a few & I can see your difficulty with your bank's minimum.

 

You'll get by with euros (though ask first) at bars & shops in tourist areas, but probably exchange rates will be rounded upwards.

And to LondonTowner's "Copenhagen ho-ho buses accept euros", add Stockholm ho-ho ferries even price in euros.

 

Consider getting local money from an ATM with a debit card.

Or for small amounts ship's exchange might be handy, though the rate will be poor. And you may get a double-dose of poor rates - Aus$ to ship's currency to local currency.

Some outlets have a minimum spend for a credit card, though that'd give you a good rate.

Some cards don't have a foreign currency charge & for an extensive tour it might be worth getting one for the purpose.

 

JB :)

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As has been said many times here, use your credit card as much as possible. That said, if that is your plan, try for a card that doesn't charge the 3% foreign transaction fee, like the CapitalOne card. Easy to get and can save you a few dollars in fees.

 

Also some one mentioned changing money on board your ship. That is an easy way, but usually very costly. We sailed NCL and they charged $10per transaction. So for every differednt currency it was $10. Then to exchange it back, more $10 charges. I understand some don't mind the fees for the convenience, but we did. You can hit any ATM in the port you are in, or do what we did, exchange some money before we went. We took about $50 in several different currencies and only had to hit an ATM once.

 

Most countries will accept US dollars, but that is up to the individual shop, and as John said, in Britian, only Pounds will be accepted.

 

Cheers

 

Len

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As has been mentioned, the easiest (and often cheapest) way to get currency is to simply use an ATM. This has become the primary cash getting mechanism used throughout Europe and most of the world. We used to get some foreign currency before leaving home, but gave-up that inefficient and expensive practice about thirty years ago. These days ATMs rule. Since we do a lot of travel we now carry 3 different ATM cards (drawn on different accounts from different banks) 2 of which charge no fees for foreign exchange. We have also noticed a trend where banks in Europe refuse to do currency exchange or cash Travelers Checks.

 

And I can no longer agree with Len's comment that "most countries will accept US dollars." We have been to many places where it was nearly impossible to use US dollars.

 

Hank

Edited by Hlitner
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Hank

 

I was referring to most of the Baltc countries. It's been 3 years since we traveled, so if anything has changed I'd be happy to know also.

 

Cheers

 

Len

 

We have not been in the Baltic countries in a few years. Technically that would be Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and we did not know this is what your post was referencing. But if you are talking about the Scandanavian Countries (Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, there has been a gradual move away from the dollar..probably caused by the popularity of the Euro. One can find it difficult to spend dollars..even in popular tourist cities like Oslo. We actually got ourselves into a bit of a complex situation when we wanted to take a boat across the water to the pier near the Viking Ship Museum. As we walked on the boat we were surprised that they would not sell us a ticket for either US Dollars or Euros. And they would also not take a credit card. I had to run about 2 blocks to find a working ATM where I could quickly get some Norwegian Krone. This kind of thing is becoming more common and for those of us who do things on our own (no tours) it is becoming more and more important to always have some local currency. It is the same situation when trying to use local buses or trams where you need local currency.

 

We have also run into the opposite problem of converting local currency to something else. The last time we cruised in Scandinavia, our last port (before heading back to the Euro countries) was Bergen. Since I had about $100 in Krone, we decided to try and convert it to Euros. We quickly found that none of the local banks would do such a transaction and we could not find any currency kiosks that were open and willing to do the conversion. We finally were told that the "only place in town to do currency conversions" was at the local tourist office...which was about a 10 min walk. When we got there it was so busy we had to take a number and wait about 30 min to finally get to a counter where they did change my money. But the cost of doing this conversion was pretty high (I think it was nearly 10%) which did not make me a "happy camper."

 

If I had known how much of a hassle (not to mention a terrible waste of valuable port time) it was going to take...we would have simply spent the money or saved it for another visit.

Hank

Edited by Hlitner
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Also some one mentioned changing money on board your ship. That is an easy way, but usually very costly. We sailed NCL and they charged $10per transaction. So for every differednt currency it was $10. Then to exchange it back, more $10 charges.

I didn't realise some lines were so avaricious. The British-based lines that I have travelled on (P&O, Voyages of Discovery, Cruises & Maritime) may have an unfriendly rate of exchange, but they don't charge commission and they will re-exchange unused currency at the same rate. Therefore more expensive than on land, maybe - but not by more than a couple of pounds.

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I've rarely had a problem using card in Stockholm, Copenhagen, or Oslo.

 

Sure, the ferry conductor or bus drivers in Oslo might not be able to take card, but you can buy tickets from any convenience store using a card. Norwegians tend to stick to card almost exclusively and are often surprised to find so many cash-only transactions elsewhere in Europe.

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I've rarely had a problem using card in Stockholm, Copenhagen, or Oslo.

 

Sure, the ferry conductor or bus drivers in Oslo might not be able to take card, but you can buy tickets from any convenience store using a card. Norwegians tend to stick to card almost exclusively and are often surprised to find so many cash-only transactions elsewhere in Europe.

 

 

I agree with this, most places will take both cards and cash but some smaller kiosks or gatukök might not accept cards at all, others might only accept card if the purchase is above

a minimum sum (usually like 50SEK/€5.5/$7.7) and buses/trams i Stockholm does not accept neither cash or cards.

Edited by Desdichado62
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I agree with this, most places will take both cards and cash but some smaller kiosks or gatukök might not accept cards at all, others might only accept card if the purchase is above

a minimum sum (usually like 50SEK/€5.5/$7.7) and buses/trams i Stockholm does not accept neither cash or cards.

 

Ahhh, but this opens up an entirely different subject which is about the fact that nearly no USA issued credit cards contain an EMV Chip. We have been to some European establishments that will refuse a magnetic strip US issued credit card...even thought it is possible for them to manually process the thing.

 

Hank

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  • 3 weeks later...

There have been many posts about chip and pin credit cards on Cruise Critic. If anyone is a member of USAA (association for US military and their families) you can apply for a chip and pin Master Card. There is a 1% foreign transaction fee on all purchases. As has been noted, the Capital One cards don't have a foreign transaction fee but they don't offer chip and pin cards. There is no yearly fee for my USAA Master Card. It was very easy to get. I will take both the USAA card and my Capital One card to give me options.

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There have been many posts about chip and pin credit cards on Cruise Critic. If anyone is a member of USAA (association for US military and their families) you can apply for a chip and pin Master Card. There is a 1% foreign transaction fee on all purchases. As has been noted, the Capital One cards don't have a foreign transaction fee but they don't offer chip and pin cards. There is no yearly fee for my USAA Master Card. It was very easy to get. I will take both the USAA card and my Capital One card to give me options.

 

 

Andrews Federal Credit Union offers a chip and pin card with NO annual fee, NO foreign transaction fee, and NO cash advance fee. I just got one for our upcoming trip in July on Royal Princess.

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Andrews Federal Credit Union offers a chip and pin card with NO annual fee, NO foreign transaction fee, and NO cash advance fee. I just got one for our upcoming trip in July on Royal Princess.

 

Thank you for this information. Friends of ours reported having a difficult time in Denmark this past August on a land trip. He is from Denmark, but had not been back in a while. He had US dollars and the Credit Card (no chip n pin).

 

On our recent trip, we needed £,€, and a small amount of Lira. Wells Fargo gave us all three no charge. But the total was over $1000.00 I think. I like to carry some local currency so I do not spend time looking for an ATM. I can do that at home. Still needed more €s in the end. Having too much fun! LOL

 

 

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