Baltic Cruise: Money/Credit Card Questions

[montanarose12]

My husband and I are sailing from Copenhagen to Stockholm on the Voyager later this summer and are wondering how to handle money issues, especially in the port cities en route (Ronne, Visby, Riga, Tallinn, St. Petersburg, Helsinki).

 

We've gotten quite spoiled in recent years traveling in Europe, the Caribbean, and Central America, where major credit cards are accepted just about everywhere. But Regent's online description of most of the shore excursion warns that credit cards may NOT be accepted by local cafes, shops, etc. So do we need to stock up on Euros or other forms of local currency? We always get a stash of Euros to use for cabs, tips, etc. when abroad, but generally assume we can use our credit cards for most meals and purchases.

 

I imagine that Copenhagen, Stockholm and, perhaps, Helsinki will be easy to navigate with credit cards; it's the more remote stops -- including St. Petersburg -- that we're worried about.

 

Thanks, in advance, for any guidance!

[Travelcat2]

Hi and welcome to CruiseCritic:) You are booked on our "almost" first Regent cruise and it will be wonderful (we cruised on the Paul Gauguin -- managed by Regent in 2004 before sailing on the Voyager to the Baltics in 2006).

 

You have a few choices on your upcoming cruises. As you probably know, the Euro is not a very stable currency at the moment. Although you can purchase Euros prior to leaving on your cruise, the exchange rate may be poor and you may pay a lot for the transaction. For countries in the "Euro zone", I recommend using ATMs and not buying more Euros than you think you will need since there are ATMs everywhere and you can always get more. The fee charged for using the ATM is generally less than any foreign exchange kiosk you will find. We were in Europe last month and saw how quickly the Euro was devaluing so we tried to spend everything we had. We ended up with 20 Euro (not too bad:-) and gave it to a friend who will be in Europe in November. I cannot imagine what it will be worth then.

 

Russia is a different situation. We used a private tour guide in St. Petersburg and they requested U.S. dollars for payment. When we wanted to purchase anything, our guide paid for it and we reimbursed her in dollars. Hopefully someone who has taken Regent tours can post and let you know how they paid for items other than the excursion. When we were in St. Petersburg (2006), there were very few "tourist" stores. The few we saw did take credit cards.

 

Tallin uses the Estonin Kroon. Here is a link to a website that talks about obtaining their currency, credit cards, etc. http://www.tallinn-life.com/info/money.php . Tallin was our favorite port on our cruise -- an incredible place with a history that should be a movie. Be sure to take an excursion where you will learn about their life under the Soviet Union and how far they have come today.

 

Hope these few tips are helpful. Have a great cruise:D

[hueyandhenry]

I believe the currency for Tallin is the Euro.

[rogerstone]

The countries currently using the Euro are:

 

1) Andorra

2) Austria

3) Belgium

4) Cyprus

5) Estonia

6) Finland

7) France

8) Germany

9) Greece

10) Ireland

11) Italy

12) Kosovo

13) Luxembourg

14) Malta

15) Monaco

16) Montenegro

17) Netherlands

18) Portugal

19) San Marino

20) Slovakia

21) Slovenia

22) Spain

23) Vatican City

[Travelcat2]

Sorry about the misinformation -- have to blame it on Google. We actually did not spend money in Estonia:confused:

[TWG_ag]

We will be on Stockholm to Southhampton and I have similar concerns. A neighbor just back from a Celebrity Baltic said they had no trouble using their credit card if they had a four digit pin and could enter it like a debit. I have one and hope it works for me as well. Also they tipped in dollars and (Euros for the half of the ports that take Euros) and guides seemed fine with it. Still I will likely have some cash, Euros that I get for tip money and Swedish Krona for my overnight in Stockholm. Since I always make a cash contribution to the crew fund, I was assuming I would simply turn over any minor surplus foreign cash along with dollars until I get to the amount I have designated for my total. Not sure if others have done this, but surely Regent won't charge me a conversion fee for taking non-dollars for a crew fund donation. Anyone ever done this?

TW

[forevertravel]

We did that cruise two years ago. It was wonderful! We found out that in Stockholm and Copenhagen credit cards needed a pin number. However, we had no issues at restaurants and major shops. We couldn't use the card at this store (Wallmart like) in Copenhagen. The airline missplaced my husband's suitcase and we had to buy undies, toiletries, t-shirts, etc. We had to use cash (euros) to pay. At the biggest department store in downtown Copenhagen the sales person knew how to use the credit card without the pin. We paid for cash in all the other ports. We exchaged money at Regent's and their exchange was decent. Incidentally, my husband did get his suitcase the night before the ship left. I was so glad and thankful we were in Copenhagen three days prior to cruise. We flew SAS business class three on Saturday for Wednesday cruise and my suitcase arrived but not his. His arrived Tuesday night. We found all the ports excellent. We were glad we were in St. Petersburg for two nights. We got to see all the major sights. We stayed in Stockholm for three days. Stockholm is beautiful and highly recommend a few days there. Everything is extremely expensive in both Copenhagen and Stockholm (food, drinks, shopping). A pair of Docker pants costed 125 euros in Copenhagen. Food was very expensive in both cities.

[ChatKat in Ca.]

We arranged with our bank to buy currency for all of the ports when we did the Baltic; We had a minimum of $100 to buy; We ate lunch and went shopping in Tallinn and it was a perfect amount for us. I do forget which port had an official banker on board to buy back excess and exchanged it for US Dollars.

 

We have had no problem using our US Credit cards. We do have a separate bank account we set up just for travel to Europe. It is not linked to any of our regular bank accounts for using an ATM or needing a PIN. You do not have the same rights in Europe for credit card fraud. This way we have no problems should our card be stolen, or the ATM have a reader to have our information stolen.

 

In most of the cities - even without being in the Euro-zone - they accepted the Euro as currency.

[Travelcat2]

We have used ATM machines with our debit card all over the world without a problem. Prior to leaving on a cruise we advise our bank/credit union of our itinerary. I would not be overly concerned about using a debit card, however, some credit cards can be a bit tricky when using them in an ATM machine.

[ChatKat in Ca.]

The reason we have a separate account for using the ATM is that in case of fraud or theft of the card or fraudulent access into our bank account - our other accounts cannot be accessed, money transferred and our automatic debits for bill payments won't be affected. We know several people who just use the ATM card for their accounts at home when traveling. If you have many accounts which are active or set up for automatic debits, you can have all your accounts wiped out and since you are away traveling it would be impossible to deal with easily.

[Lvtocruize2]

In St.Pete, we had arranged for a two day private tour company to see the spectacular city. One aspect of our payment to them was that all American bills must be "new".....no crumpled, folded,bent or writing on any of our American dollars. I carried these around like babies until we were able to utilize the safe in our suite. When I posed the question to our guide about the bills, she said Russian banks implement this rule. So much for that but they did take our credit card at the several shops we went into.

You will fall in love with the Baltic region!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk