Bill - please help - regarding currency

[VickyN]

Aloha Bill,

 

I depart in a few weeks for 2 back to backs on the Quest; Hong Kong to Singapore and Singapore to Dubai. Several of our 100 plus posters at cruisecritic.com are getting a variety of answers from Azamara about getting currency on board or in the different ports we are visiting.

 

My question is this - Are we able to exchange USD for the local currency on board the ship or at the port itself in the following ports;

 

Hong Kong

Danang

Ho Chi Minh City

Bangkok

Ko Samui

Phuket

Cochin

Mumbai

 

As soon as I get your reply, I will post it to each board.

 

Thank you!

Vicky

 

P.S. Azamara is my favorite cruise line and Captain Carl Smith is the absolute best!

[Bill Leiber]

Hi Vicky,

 

I'll check this out and will let you know as soon as I get the information.

 

Thanks for your wonderful comments about Azamara and Captain Carl Smith.

 

Mahalo!

 

__________________

Bill Leiber

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

(*CBO is an authorized and compensated representative of ACC)

[Jade13]

Aloha Bill,

 

I depart in a few weeks for 2 back to backs on the Quest; Hong Kong to Singapore and Singapore to Dubai. Several of our 100 plus posters at cruisecritic.com are getting a variety of answers from Azamara about getting currency on board or in the different ports we are visiting.

 

My question is this - Are we able to exchange USD for the local currency on board the ship or at the port itself in the following ports;

 

Hong Kong

Danang

Ho Chi Minh City

Bangkok

Ko Samui

Phuket

Cochin

Mumbai

 

As soon as I get your reply, I will post it to each board.

 

Thank you!

Vicky

 

P.S. Azamara is my favorite cruise line and Captain Carl Smith is the absolute best!

 

Vicky, as far as Danang and Ho Chi Minh City, everyone takes and wants US dollars in Vietnam.

 

As far as Thailand we brought currency because we flew there from Cambodia last year and met up with the ship. But, in Bangkok the last day they had women selling goods who came onto the ship and were changing Thai Baht back to US currency. I always thought it was done as a courtesy to the guests and the vendors were told if they brought lots of US currency to exchange they could sell their goods. Because of the mass crowd it highlighted the fact that Azamara has been missing a large retail opportunity on its ships.

[tommui987]

Adding to JADE13, the Thai's prefer their own currency over US Dollars. I don't know whether Azamara had a Thai/USD exchange on ship prior to entering Thai waters as we were in Cambodia and rejoining the Quest in Bangkok. (We left the ship in Sihanokville to fly up to Angkor).

 

We did purchase Thai money with US$ while in Hong Kong - the exchange rate was very good - of course, this was in February 2010.

[little britain]

Hi Vicky - I just posted something on our RC about this from my friend on the ship....:D

[Jade13]

Adding to JADE13, the Thai's prefer their own currency over US Dollars. I don't know whether Azamara had a Thai/USD exchange on ship prior to entering Thai waters as we were in Cambodia and rejoining the Quest in Bangkok. (We left the ship in Sihanokville to fly up to Angkor).

 

We did purchase Thai money with US$ while in Hong Kong - the exchange rate was very good - of course, this was in February 2010.

 

Hi Tommui987! I understand you are leaving for Shanghai next week. Boy did we make a mistake not to join you on the March 17 itinerary when you asked a year ago. We figured we had just been in Asia and should venture to some other part of the world. We actually tried to switch to your itinerary a few weeks ago but could not make it work because of our non-refundable air and airline we were using not flying there. We would have even had a free luxury hotel to stay in pre-cruise (and post cruise) and a lot less hassles than we have now.

 

That trip with you to Angkor last year was fabulous (with the exception of the driver from Sihanoukville taking us to the genocide museum and Wat instead of Grand Palace). Sunrise over Angkor Wat was not to be missed!

 

Anyway, hope you have a fantastic trip!

[VickyN]

Hi Vicky,

 

I'll check this out and will let you know as soon as I get the information.

 

Thanks for your wonderful comments about Azamara and Captain Carl Smith.

 

Mahalo!

 

__________________

Bill Leiber

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

(*CBO is an authorized and compensated representative of ACC)

 

 

Thank you Bill!

[autumn lass]

Hi

We were on 22 Jan Singapore to Hong Kong. We changed the Singapore $ we had left after our time in port to Thai Baht at guest relations and then changed the Thai Baht we still had after leaving Thailand back to US $. We couldn't get Vietnamese currency in UK and the ship does not have this currency but we used US $. We had no problem getting currency on board for all countries except Vietnam. Guest relations have notes in the Daily newsletter giving you deadlines for obtaining the different currencies. You will love the trip.

[tommui987]

Hi Tommui987! I understand you are leaving for Shanghai next week. Boy did we make a mistake not to join you on the March 17 itinerary when you asked a year ago.

 

Thank you!

 

We are sorry we missed you when we made that emergency visit last Spring to your hometown.

 

Lots to see in Asia - you and M got to go back. Even though we were in Beijing, we missed seeing the Temple of Heaven and four days in Shanghai and we really didn't see the French Concession, the Podong area (other than a lunch) etc.

 

Have you thought abou the Elbe river cruise from Berlin to Prague?

 

Best to you and M.

[VickyN]

Hi

We were on 22 Jan Singapore to Hong Kong. We changed the Singapore $ we had left after our time in port to Thai Baht at guest relations and then changed the Thai Baht we still had after leaving Thailand back to US $. We couldn't get Vietnamese currency in UK and the ship does not have this currency but we used US $. We had no problem getting currency on board for all countries except Vietnam. Guest relations have notes in the Daily newsletter giving you deadlines for obtaining the different currencies. You will love the trip.

 

Thank you for the info. I will pass it on to both boards. It is not the information I got from Azamara so will wait for Bill to confirm as they may be changing things.

What the Azamara gal told me, after doing research and then calling me back 2 days later, was that at "most" ports the ship has local bankers bring the local currency on board for passengers to do exchanges. Nobody else on our board received that information. :confused:

[Bill Leiber]

Aloha Bill,

 

I depart in a few weeks for 2 back to backs on the Quest; Hong Kong to Singapore and Singapore to Dubai. Several of our 100 plus posters at cruisecritic.com are getting a variety of answers from Azamara about getting currency on board or in the different ports we are visiting.

 

My question is this - Are we able to exchange USD for the local currency on board the ship or at the port itself in the following ports;

 

Hong Kong

Danang

Ho Chi Minh City

Bangkok

Ko Samui

Phuket

Cochin

Mumbai

 

As soon as I get your reply, I will post it to each board.

 

Thank you!

Vicky

 

P.S. Azamara is my favorite cruise line and Captain Carl Smith is the absolute best!

Hi Vicky,

 

I am not ignoring your request, but I’m still waiting for exact details which ports currency exchange is available. Thanks for your patience and I’ll get back to you.

 

Best regards,

 

Bill Leiber

_____________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

(*CBO is an authorized and compensated representative of ACC)

[VickyN]

Hi Vicky,

 

I am not ignoring your request, but I’m still waiting for exact details which ports currency exchange is available. Thanks for your patience and I’ll get back to you.

 

Best regards,

 

Bill Leiber

_____________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

(*CBO is an authorized and compensated representative of ACC)

 

 

Thanks Bill.

I just got another report from someone on the ship which was totally different that what the gal at Azamara told me, different than what I experienced last year, and different from what others on the board were told. :confused:

Aloha,

Vicky

[Jade13]

Thank you!

 

We are sorry we missed you when we made that emergency visit last Spring to your hometown.

 

Lots to see in Asia - you and M got to go back. Even though we were in Beijing, we missed seeing the Temple of Heaven and four days in Shanghai and we really didn't see the French Concession, the Podong area (other than a lunch) etc.

 

Have you thought abou the Elbe river cruise from Berlin to Prague?

 

Best to you and M.

 

We missed the Temple of Heaven in Bejing too.

 

No, but is a Elbe river cruise from Berlin to Prague next on your agenda?

 

Our next trip includes Iceland and Greenland.

[Jade13]

Thanks Bill.

I just got another report from someone on the ship which was totally different that what the gal at Azamara told me, different than what I experienced last year, and different from what others on the board were told. :confused:

Aloha,

Vicky

 

Vicky, we picked up local currency from BofA before leaving home. I know people say to wait for a better exchange rate, but time is precious. We knew how much we needed for our private tours. If the bank did not have the currency locally than they required a minimum of $100.00 worth, such as for Thai Baht. Hong Kong money was available in any amount we wanted at our local branch. In Vietnam everyone wants US dollars. I hope this helps.

 

What did someone on the ship tell you? That would be the most accurate information since the ship is currently in Asia.

[schmidlapp]

January 2011 Hong Kong to Singapore,

Hong Kong, atm's or local currency exchange booths for HK dollars,

Airport had worst exchange rate.

Vietnam as others have posted, dollars widely accepted, Dong exchanged

at the pier in Da Nang (the currency exchange did run out of Dong after about an hour). Saigon had a lot of currency exchange "booths"

Thailand, onboard exchange at guest services. There were shoreside exchanges at a number of places as well.

Singapore, ATMs and onboard exchange as well.

Guest services did have a tip for us which was to cash in excess local currency at the end of the trip for Singapore $ which ment only one exchange fee. They were also collecting coins for a charity.

Guest services on Azamara is the best of any line, they rock!!:)

One other tip, credit cards were accepted at a lot of places but make sure the amt is listed in your currency. For instance in Hong Kong,

Make sure the credit card slip said HK$

Your credit card company may try to charge the amt in US$ which

would really hurt. Same goes for Singapore....

[Bill Leiber]

Aloha Bill,

 

I depart in a few weeks for 2 back to backs on the Quest; Hong Kong to Singapore and Singapore to Dubai. Several of our 100 plus posters at cruisecritic.com are getting a variety of answers from Azamara about getting currency on board or in the different ports we are visiting.

 

My question is this - Are we able to exchange USD for the local currency on board the ship or at the port itself in the following ports;

 

Hong Kong

Danang

Ho Chi Minh City

Bangkok

Ko Samui

Phuket

Cochin

Mumbai

 

As soon as I get your reply, I will post it to each board.

 

Thank you!

Vicky

 

P.S. Azamara is my favorite cruise line and Captain Carl Smith is the absolute best!

Aloha Vicky,

 

Thank you very much for your patience. My contact was receiving conflicting information and needed more time to ensure that the information would be accurate.

 

“At this moment the only currency available onboard is Thai Bath (Baht). It can be exchanged with the Guest Relations Desk and with local exchangers visiting the ship in every Thai port.

 

Hong Kong Dollar can be exchanged in the terminal.

 

Singapore Dollar can be exchanged in the terminal.

 

There is no close by currency exchange available in our Indian and Vietnamese ports; however, US Dollars are widely accepted in these ports.”

 

We sincerely appreciate your loyalty to and kind words about the Azamara cruise experience and wish you a wonderful and fulfilling vacation on the Azamara Quest!

 

Happy sailing!

 

Bill Leiber

_____________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

(*CBO is an authorized and compensated representative of ACC)

[VickyN]

Aloha Vicky,

 

Thank you very much for your patience. My contact was receiving conflicting information and needed more time to ensure that the information would be accurate.

 

“At this moment the only currency available onboard is Thai Bath (Baht). It can be exchanged with the Guest Relations Desk and with local exchangers visiting the ship in every Thai port.

 

Hong Kong Dollar can be exchanged in the terminal.

 

Singapore Dollar can be exchanged in the terminal.

 

There is no close by currency exchange available in our Indian and Vietnamese ports; however, US Dollars are widely accepted in these ports.”

 

We sincerely appreciate your loyalty to and kind words about the Azamara cruise experience and wish you a wonderful and fulfilling vacation on the Azamara Quest!

 

Happy sailing!

 

Bill Leiber

_____________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

(*CBO is an authorized and compensated representative of ACC)

 

 

Thank you Bill.

I will report back after the cruise.

Yes, I plan on having a great cruise! Another month on the Quest with Captain Carl and Phillip, has to be wonderful! We have large and friendly CC groups on both legs which should add a lot as well.

Aloha and thanks again,

Vicky

[Ithikan]

Vicky, as far as Danang and Ho Chi Minh City, everyone takes and wants US dollars in Vietnam. quote]

 

A bit off topic - excuse me - but "everyone takes and wants US dollars" reminds me of our Journey cruise stop in Port Said in 2009... We walked around, allowed ourselves to be talked into a buggy ride, and afterwards, paid the fare in Euros. My husband wanted to tip the driver - in dollars. He waved us off "no dollars, no dollars" so my husband persevered, indicating the tip was for Ali Baba, the horse. We began to walk away but the driver chased after us waving our dollars and shouting "No dollars! Ali Baba no like dollars, Ali Baba like EUROS!"

Humph.:o

[Jade13]

Vicky, as far as Danang and Ho Chi Minh City, everyone takes and wants US dollars in Vietnam. quote]

 

A bit off topic - excuse me - but "everyone takes and wants US dollars" reminds me of our Journey cruise stop in Port Said in 2009... We walked around, allowed ourselves to be talked into a buggy ride, and afterwards, paid the fare in Euros. My husband wanted to tip the driver - in dollars. He waved us off "no dollars, no dollars" so my husband persevered, indicating the tip was for Ali Baba, the horse. We began to walk away but the driver chased after us waving our dollars and shouting "No dollars! Ali Baba no like dollars, Ali Baba like EUROS!"

Humph.:o

 

Too funny. So, did he take your dollars or not? Well, personally I would prefer EURS too as they are worth more than US. But, in Vietnam everyone prefers US dollars over Vietnamese Dong.