City Forex Foreign Currency Service

Reading the small print of the Gazetteer in the Fred Olsen Cruise Brochure I noticed that Fred have appointed City Forex as a provider of foreign exchange services, who offer a service for passengers of being able to order foreign currency before the cruise departs and it will be available at Reception at the beginning of the cruise.

I have compared their rates with high street rates and they are very favourable, eg Euro rate today is €1.3970 to the £. Think they add 40p to the final bill.

We are going on a Baltic cruise with about 6 different currencies and at face value this seems to be a good offer.

Has anyone used this facility before and what comments would you make about it?

We used this a couple of months ago to buy Euros. It works very well with no problems at all. We just collected them from Reception on our first day at sea.

Wanted our currency for the Fred Baltic cruise, and Thomson's were offering 1.36 per pound, but wouldn't let me have any without my passport so I was going tomorrow, to find out now the rate looks as if it is dropping. Why do some need a passport and some don't? Keeping my fingers crossed that the euro table I found on a BBC website was a blip and I get a decent rate tomorrow.

Wanted our currency for the Fred Baltic cruise, and Thomson's were offering 1.36 per pound, but wouldn't let me have any without my passport so I was going tomorrow, to find out now the rate is dropping. Why do some need a passport and some don't?

The rate is rising, Gill. I have XE app on my iPad which gives the bank exchange rate which is usually about 3 cents (€) higher than high street rates. It's showing €1.429 now. Don't know why you need your passport as I've not needed to use mine but have usually had to give my address.

I was so annoyed that they wouldn't give me currency without the passport. They have the passport details on the booking, but rules are rules. I can buy with a debit card and no passport from Sainsburys, but not Thomsons. A driving licence will do too, but mine is an old one with no picture so not acceptable.

I was so annoyed that they wouldn't give me currency without the passport. They have the passport details on the booking, but rules are rules. I can buy with a debit card and no passport from Sainsburys, but not Thomsons. A driving licence will do too, but mine is an old one with no picture so not acceptable.

At my usual Foreign Exchange I can swap cash for cash (pound notes for euros say) with no ID whatsoever (I do have to give my address but they don't check it). However if I use my debit card (which is itself a form of ID) then I also have to show my driving licence or passport.

This strikes me as crazy, but that's what they say. I now just withdraw the cash from the ATM next door and exchange that for my currency.

We always get our foreign currency from Thomas Exchange Global as they are the best I can find. Their Euro rate today is 1.41. Never have to show any ID when getting the currency.

We also have 2 CCs which make no charges for foreign transactions.

I've used CF on a number of occasions. I haven't compared rates in detail, but the real plus is that the ship will buy back unused currency at the original rate* so, for me, that's a bonus.

Shame about the handling charge.

*Assuming they're allowed to handle it, considering the norovirus situation.

I've used CF on a number of occasions. I haven't compared rates in detail, but the real plus is that the ship will buy back unused currency at the original rate* so, for me, that's a bonus.

 

Shame about the handling charge.

 

*Assuming they're allowed to handle it, considering the norovirus situation.

What handling charge? The 40p? And what Norovirus ? 😳😳

I was going to have a go at buying my currency from CF today but have been too busy. However, when I checked the exchange rate tonight the £ has risen again. 😀😀

Thank you to everyone for your replies.

I got my euros from Sainsbury's yesterday (with passport) and happy to have checked another "to do" item off the list. Labels arrived from Fred yesterday. Roll on 9 August and Braemar!

For our next cruise, we shall take just a little foreign cash as we are going to Norway and we don't buy much when we are there and we certainly don't eat lunch off the boat or have a quiet lunchtime drink in a local bar! And for the amount we are likely to spend in October on the next cruise, we have some euros left from last year for the odd onshore treat.

For small amounts, we have decided just to go to the Post Office or Ramsdens as we haven't got the energy or inclination to hunt around! ( Very poor shoppers!! ) :o

Our real concern about next week is the norovirus situation on Boudicca. Does anyone know if she is clear of the dreaded bug? We would appreciate knowing.

Used the City Forex service on our recent Iceland cruise and it worked perfectly. Currency waiting at Reception and the best thing is that you can return any unused currency to Reception and change it back for the SAME RATE at which you purchased it. Unbelievable!

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Used the City Forex service on our recent Iceland cruise and it worked perfectly. Currency waiting at Reception and the best thing is that you can return any unused currency to Reception and change it back for the SAME RATE at which you purchased it. Unbelievable!

 

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I agree, great service and I use it when possible.:)

City Forex ....

We are going on a Baltic cruise with about 6 different currencies and at face value this seems to be a good offer.

Has anyone used this facility before and what comments would you make about it?

I usually use my local branch of Thomas Cook, for our recent Baltic cruise I just needed a small amount of currency in Euros, Danish & Swedish Kroner & Roubles, all got OK from Thomas Cook except for the Roubles which they no longer order in so i went on the Fred website and ordered them through City Forex & collected them onboard ship, it worked very well and I cashed them back onboard, I only ordered a small amount as we were doing excursions the whole time in St Petersburg so I only bought a few books, I could have used a credit card but preferred not to in Russia.

We always have a supply of Euros at home, but these days find we never need local currency. Our last two cruises have been to the Baltic and Iceland.

Both involved various currencies, but we just used our CCs even for the smallest transactions as they have no charges on foreign transactions.

It is much easier than messing about with lots of different currencies.