Currency on Baltic Cruise

[Neuhoftraveler]

Fascinating.

[roothy123]

The whole thing is so complicated that we ended up taking a good amount of USD and then exchanged money as needed, but relying on our no-fee credit card when we could. I agree that you need to be sure you know what your bank will charge if you're able to use that chipless, pinless credit card or debit card that most of us have.

 

I don't know if you're going to Gdansk, but if so, exchanging money in Gdynia was really easy and quick - no paperwork, just find a "kantor" in Gdynia for the exchange. We did not need much money in Gdansk. Cab drivers in Gdynia accepted euros; not sure about Gdansk. I took the local commuter train, and needed zloty for that, so I exchanged a $20 bill.

 

Our cruise line exchanged some money (Swedish kroner, Danish kroner, euros) but not all that we needed (lats, zloty). I think it depends on the cruise line. Don't depend on it! Ours charged 5% to exchange money.

 

In Riga, Latvia, a rep from a Latvian bank came on board to exchange money.

 

In SPB, it was what a poster above mentioned - the shop quoted in euros, dollars, etc. - but charged in roubles.

 

We really didn't use a lot of local money while in the Baltic. We used our no-fee credit card when we could and only exchanged a little bit of U.S. for euros, DKK, SEK, lats, and zloty. We're not big shoppers, and mostly ate on the ship, so we didn't need a lot of money.

[bflowngs]

Do not worry about currency or credit cards in the Baltic ports....they are willing to work with you!!!

 

Credit cards......I used mine in CPH and most of the other ports. You just need to tell them you don't have a chip and pin card...they will will it as a swipe. I even did this with the taxi in CPh, as well as an ice cream stand!!!

 

Currency......I took some Danish Krone and Euros for spending money, and did not need to get any more once there, because of the ease of using the credit cards.

 

Currency exchange....I brought a small calculator and wrote the exchange rates for each country on a slip of paper and taped it to the back. This was very helpful. Many shops will even put some of their prices in Euros and dollars to help you out, and some will even take dollars, but don't count on it.

 

Russian Rubles.....dont worry about getting these.....most souvenir shops that your guide will take you to will accept credit cards, and some even took dollars and euro. They even posted the prices in Euro or dollars, but your credit card will reflect Rubles

 

Hope this helps!!

[SuzanneFern]

We definitely needed rubles in St.Petersburg!

[sippican]

We definitely needed rubles in St.Petersburg!

 

We did not.

We used USD or a credit card in the shops and restaurants.

[Ashland]

We did not.

We used USD or a credit card in the shops and restaurants.

Same here..however at a Russian Bakery and at Stolle our private guide with TJ Travel paid in Rubles (as she offered so we didn't have to exchange any money) and we gave her US $'s at the end of our tour for any out of pocket expenses she covered...Just another example of the great attention to detail that a private tour offers.:)