Russian River Cruise August 2015

[Hydrokitty]

Thanks for the Panama info.....I am pretty sure I will 'convince' my wife to go but it will probably be a few years before we do it. As I mentioned, we are trying to do Europe, then move back this way.

 

As to Visa / MasterCard restrictions.....that would be a real bummer not to be able to use the machines/or to charge things..... And have to carry a lot of 'cash' during the trip is not the best idea either.

 

Well all we can do is hope things settle down soon..

 

I don't imagine canal is going anywhere! New canal lanes supposed to open this year but judging by what we saw last April I don't think so!

 

Interesting about credit cards....first place I'd go is the issuing bank, followed by Dept of State, and confirm with AMEX.....even if you're not a card holder they would know. Since I am a cardholder, I cannot say with certainty that they would help you if you were not....but worth a try.

[Buck1949]

A few days ago..... One of our friends here on Cruise Critic sent along a link to some awesome photos that were taken with a drone and camera above locations in St. Petersburg, Russia. Thought I would share the link for all to see.

 

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2014/03/st-petersburg-from-above/100705/

[Hydrokitty]

Wow, Bill, that was amazing! Brought back many memories of our trip there. I hope yours is as great as mine was.

 

Judy

[Buck1949]

Wow, Bill, that was amazing! Brought back many memories of our trip there. I hope yours is as great as mine was.

 

Judy

 

I hope so too.... but sure doesn't look like things are going to settle down in that region any time soon.

 

We shall see....

[Buck1949]

We would agree about the Panama Canal. We did the train trip from west to east and then a bus back to the ship. It stopped at one of the locks and you could go into an area above the lock to watch ships pass through as a guide explained the lock's operations. Then sitting on deck going under the Bridge of the America's, really impressive.

Last thing I've heard about Russia is the "Visa and Master Card" restrictions to the banking industry. Not sure if that will mean we can't use credit cards there and or can't get money from ATMs or ??? Oh, well , there are so many other places to see in this would.

 

 

 

I was just cruising around the NCL site, and noticed a 13 day Panama Cruise that starts in Los Angeles, and ends in Houston.... seems like a lot of sea days...but those start/stop locations would be pretty convenient to us in Phoenix.

 

Anyone taken that particular cruise?.... just curious since there has been a bit of Panama discussed here.

[pbnjrockette]

A few days ago..... One of our friends here on Cruise Critic sent along a link to some awesome photos that were taken with a drone and camera above locations in St. Petersburg, Russia. Thought I would share the link for all to see.

 

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2014/03/st-petersburg-from-above/100705/

 

 

Awesome pictures! Have been to St. Petersburg twice---truly an amazing city!

 

And definitely find a way to do the Panama Canal, so worth it!!---we just did it this past January with Holland America (agree with HydroKitty...don't think the new lanes will be finished this year--the 100th anniversary). Ok… now I'm drooling for Panama buns!!

Edited April 12, 2014 by pbnjrockette

[Buck1949]

Awesome pictures! Have been to St. Petersburg twice---truly an amazing city!

 

And definitely find a way to do the Panama Canal, so worth it!!---we just did it this past January with Holland America (agree with HydroKitty...don't think the new lanes will be finished this year--the 100th anniversary). Ok… now I'm drooling for Panama buns!!

 

We were in St Petersburg for 2 days back in 2009...... Thus my desire to go back and see the whole area to include Moscow. I was amazed at the beauty and history of the city/country. Back then I did not get the type/quality of photos that I hope to get this time. I'm a bit more 'photo' proficient, and have a much better camera.

 

So let's just hope that the trip does not get cancelled.

 

Panama buns huh? Will have to check the internet for that.

 

Thanks for the input!!

[Buck1949]

I have a Euros question.

 

Has anyone purchased Euros here in the US to take with them? Which also leads to the REAL question - did you pay a special fee beyond the 'going' exchange rate to get them....service fee, transaction fee, transfer fee, or what is sometimes referred to as the retail sales/buying fee?

 

Our bank wants to charge an additional (approximate) 6 cents per euro dollar for this retail fee. So instead if paying today's $1.38 US to the euro, they want to charge $1.44. - which works out to an Additional $60 on $1000 (US) / $723 euros. We figured to pay a flat service fee plus the daily rate, but what our bank wants to charge seems excessive.

 

Thoughts???

[Host Jazzbeau]

I have a Euros question.

 

Has anyone purchased Euros here in the US to take with them? Which also leads to the REAL question - did you pay a special fee beyond the 'going' exchange rate to get them....service fee, transaction fee, transfer fee, or what is sometimes referred to as the retail sales/buying fee?

 

Our bank wants to charge an additional (approximate) 6 cents per euro dollar for this retail fee. So instead if paying today's $1.38 US to the euro, they want to charge $1.44. - which works out to an Additional $60 on $1000 (US) / $723 euros. We figured to pay a flat service fee plus the daily rate, but what our bank wants to charge seems excessive.

 

Thoughts???

 

Sounds like a bad deal to me. This is why we have always relied on Rick Steves' advice:

"Don't bother changing money before you leave home--ATMs in Europe are easy to find and use. And skip traveler's checks--they're a waste of time (long waits at slow banks) and a waste of money in fees."

 

We have a debit card from Schwab that refunds ATM fees from anywhere, so we just go to any bank ATM. We also have a Chase debit card that would be fee-free at certain networks (network logos are affixed to the ATMs).

[Buck1949]

Sounds like a bad deal to me. This is why we have always relied on Rick Steves' advice:

"Don't bother changing money before you leave home--ATMs in Europe are easy to find and use. And skip traveler's checks--they're a waste of time (long waits at slow banks) and a waste of money in fees."

 

We have a debit card from Schwab that refunds ATM fees from anywhere, so we just go to any bank ATM. We also have a Chase debit card that would be fee-free at certain networks (network logos are affixed to the ATMs).

 

Thanks for the feedback. We are thinking the ATM machine may be the way to go overall........as we are in process of leaving for an Italy vacation in a few weeks, with stops in France and Spain. That in and of itself is not the issue...... the issue is that we have 5 Private tours scheduled, and each requires Cash Euros at the end of the tour, which amounts to quite a few $$$$, several $$$$ since there are 6 of us traveling. We would need to withdraw from the ATM's a lot, and were concerned that if something did not work with our cards, or if the particular ATM machine only allowed a small amount of withdrawals during each transaction, that this would be a pain also.

 

While I am not in favor of carrying a lot of cash around, I am just trying to be ready for any situation beforehand. Also due to the fact that each of the tours are in ports (we are on a cruise for 7 days of our 14 day trip where the majority of the 'cash' tours are being done) we won't have a lot of flexibility to track down machines all the time.

[Hydrokitty]

I have a Euros question.

 

Has anyone purchased Euros here in the US to take with them? Which also leads to the REAL question - did you pay a special fee beyond the 'going' exchange rate to get them....service fee, transaction fee, transfer fee, or what is sometimes referred to as the retail sales/buying fee?

 

Our bank wants to charge an additional (approximate) 6 cents per euro dollar for this retail fee. So instead if paying today's $1.38 US to the euro, they want to charge $1.44. - which works out to an Additional $60 on $1000 (US) / $723 euros. We figured to pay a flat service fee plus the daily rate, but what our bank wants to charge seems excessive.

 

Thoughts???

 

Hi Bill:

 

Don't buy that many Euros in the US! If you're a AAA member you can buy a starter pack that will give you enough Euros to enable you to buy a coffee and snack at the airport, give a tip, and hire a cab if you need to. I found my bank was outrageous too and AAA not as bad. Jazzbeau is right there are ATM's everywhere, just like here, and you'll get the best rate at a bank ATM. Schwab card is fine, but not everyone has one. Good alternate is the Capital One, which is free and allows you to buy things in local currency which they will convert to US without charging any fees! We usually travel with about 50E each and visit bank ATM's as necessary. Airport kiosks will also change money for you but do not always give the best rates. Be mindful if in a non-Euro country that any money you take out will be in local currency and may or may not be usable in a Euro country. If I have any left-over Euro I bring them home and keep them with my passport so I have them for next trip. Another thing I learned the hard way: if you're using an ATM be aware of how much money you are withdrawing in local currency. My card was turned down in Egypt and I was in panic mode.....then I discovered that I was asking for $200 which exceeded the maximum withdrawal allowed!

[Buck1949]

Hi Bill:

 

Don't buy that many Euros in the US! If you're a AAA member you can buy a starter pack that will give you enough Euros to enable you to buy a coffee and snack at the airport, give a tip, and hire a cab if you need to. I found my bank was outrageous too and AAA not as bad. Jazzbeau is right there are ATM's everywhere, just like here, and you'll get the best rate at a bank ATM. Schwab card is fine, but not everyone has one. Good alternate is the Capital One, which is free and allows you to buy things in local currency which they will convert to US without charging any fees! We usually travel with about 50E each and visit bank ATM's as necessary. Airport kiosks will also change money for you but do not always give the best rates. Be mindful if in a non-Euro country that any money you take out will be in local currency and may or may not be usable in a Euro country. If I have any left-over Euro I bring them home and keep them with my passport so I have them for next trip. Another thing I learned the hard way: if you're using an ATM be aware of how much money you are withdrawing in local currency. My card was turned down in Egypt and I was in panic mode.....then I discovered that I was asking for $200 which exceeded the maximum withdrawal allowed!

 

What we decided to do was open up a separate travel checking account that's tied in with an ATM/Debit card. (JUST FOR TRAVELING) We will put a certain amount of $$ in the account before our trip and withdraw via ATM's while there. We are not putting any overdraft protections etc on the account in case a card is stolen or lost or 'whatever'. The foreign exchange rate is 3% anywhere in the world (outside the US of course)....... At the end of the trip we will just keep the minimum balance in the account until our next trip. We also recently obtained a Visa card from a bank different than our regular bank and they will waive the foreign transaction fees on purchases....so will use that wherever we decide to charge something.

 

This appears to be about the best we could get for now. We will see how it works out.

[Hydrokitty]

What we decided to do was open up a separate travel checking account that's tied in with an ATM/Debit card. (JUST FOR TRAVELING) We will put a certain amount of $$ in the account before our trip and withdraw via ATM's while there. We are not putting any overdraft protections etc on the account in case a card is stolen or lost or 'whatever'. The foreign exchange rate is 3% anywhere in the world (outside the US of course)....... At the end of the trip we will just keep the minimum balance in the account until our next trip. We also recently obtained a Visa card from a bank different than our regular bank and they will waive the foreign transaction fees on purchases....so will use that wherever we decide to charge something.

 

This appears to be about the best we could get for now. We will see how it works out.

 

Sounds like a plan. Have a great time.:D

[Buck1949]

Sounds like a plan. Have a great time.:D

 

We are still going to look at the Capitol One 360 information when we get back from this trip..... that looks like it could be a good alternative to paying a lot of fees. It could come in handy next year, as we have (2) major trips planned... at least my DW has !

 

Thanks for the idea !!!

[Host Jazzbeau]

We are still going to look at the Capitol One 360 information when we get back from this trip..... that looks like it could be a good alternative to paying a lot of fees. It could come in handy next year, as we have (2) major trips planned... at least my DW has !

 

Thanks for the idea !!!

 

I'm not familiar with the CapitalOne 360 subsidiary, but the main bank's CapitalOne Quicksilver credit card is ideal for travel and near-ideal for everyday use too: no annual fee, no foreign transaction fees, 1.5% cash back on every purchase.

[Buck1949]

I'm not familiar with the CapitalOne 360 subsidiary, but the main bank's CapitalOne Quicksilver credit card is ideal for travel and near-ideal for everyday use too: no annual fee, no foreign transaction fees, 1.5% cash back on every purchase.

 

Thanks for the info... I may have the name of the type of card/account wrong...but will definitely take a look at this and all that are out there.

 

Thanks again.

[H2Otstr]

Thanks for the info... I may have the name of the type of card/account wrong...but will definitely take a look at this and all that are out there.

 

Thanks again.

 

It IS the Capital one 360 Card :).

[Buck1949]

Wow.....the Euro vs dollar just keeps creeping up. It is $1.3925 as of today. :eek: Won't be long before it will get too expensive to travel over to Europe altogether.

 

We just decided for our current trip to use the ATM machine while there for cash, and take along what euros we have now. Will charge everything we can on our credit card. Add to all of that the cost of air travel - who knows where it will end.

[Buck1949]

I just noticed that this topic has over 13,000 views...there must still be a lot of interest in the Russian River Cruise even with the issues in the region.

 

We are going to be looking at alternatives to the August '15 river cruise if things don't settle down or if they get worse.

 

QUESTION - What other cruise would you consider if you had to change from the Russian River cruise next year?

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

[Buck1949]

Now that we are back from our Med. cruise, my wife and I can get more involved in planning this cruise.

 

Hopefully there will be more people that will join in the discussion....and it does not have to be this particular cruise...but anything to do with Russian River cruising could be an interesting conversation.

 

With over 14200 views since I started this topic there has to be others that have an interest........ or were interested enough to take a peek.

 

We have over a year to plan and discuss this trip......:)

Edited June 19, 2014 by Buck1949

[tidwood]

I have a question. What did anyone do or is planing to do about the tip for crew members since it would need to be in Rubles, but the ship doesn't take credit cardsor have an ATM?

Get them in US or in Moscow?

[Buck1949]

I have a question. What did anyone do or is planing to do about the tip for crew members since it would need to be in Rubles, but the ship doesn't take credit cardsor have an ATM?

Get them in US or in Moscow?

 

 

Hmmmm very good question. I am not sure if our ship... River Victoria with Uniworld does or does not take credit cards. Never thought about it, but will for sure check on that. We will most likely convert some monies into Rubles when we get there......... (or even get some here before we travel) much like we did when we recently went to Italy. ATM's were virtually everywhere in Italy....and should be pretty accessible even in Russia. If I find out differently then will have to reconsider.

 

One thing we did before our recent trip was to get a couple of NEW accounts set up so that we would not have anything tied into any existing checking - savings - or credit card accounts that we use on a daily basis. What that meant was...we got a Credit Card for charging things with a good line of credit issued to us from a bank that was not our normal bank (this was not necessarily by choice, but this Credit card, had the best reward points, and no foreign transaction fees, or annual fees etc. that our bank did not offer)....and then we set up a Travel checking account (this was with our bank) and had ATM cards issued to go with the checking account. In fact our bank labeled it "Travel Account" - and we only put in a certain amount of money - also we made sure there was no overdraft protections or anything similar attached to this account. This way we had ATM/Cash availability - but if the card were lost or stolen, we would not have to deal with concerns of having any of our accounts being drained etc by the time we could take any action. When we returned home, we took all but the minimum amount out of the Travel account and will only use it for future travel. One interesting thing our bank allowed for was for us to put a personal photo on our ATM cards. We put photos of Both of us, from our previous trip on each card for 2 reasons.... we could immediately see which card we needed to use for ATM etc...and hopefully if someone that did not look like us would try to use the card it would be caught right then.

 

Anyway...I would be interested to hear what you decide on the Rubles issue.

[H2Otstr]

I have a question. What did anyone do or is planing to do about the tip for crew members since it would need to be in Rubles, but the ship doesn't take credit cardsor have an ATM?

Get them in US or in Moscow?

 

Does your handbook say it HAS to be paid in Rubles? We just returned from a Vantage trip and we paid the tip for the crew in US Dollars. The tip is placed in an envelope and the envelope is placed in a box at the reception desk. No one has any idea how much or what currency is used or who it comes from.

[tidwood]

Actually H2Oster, I think it says you can pay/tip in Rubles or Dollars. Will have to check on that when we get back to California.

Bill, that is a great suggestion and we have a Capitol One card we use for travel and a Chase card tied to a checking account that was only opened to get a "special" new account bonus and is what we use for traveling when we need to use ATM's and transfer cash. Neither have foriegn transaction fees nor are used when not traveling, so should work.

Thank you both for the thoughts ans suggestions!

Terry and Dee Ann

[4774Papa]

I have a question. What did anyone do or is planing to do about the tip for crew members since it would need to be in Rubles, but the ship doesn't take credit cardsor have an ATM?

Get them in US or in Moscow?

The tip doesn't need to be in Rubles. We gave the tip in dollars. ATMs are available in Moscow and STP, we used them successfully.