Cash needed for ports

[Snappy51]

We will be taking the 12 night Baltic Cruise and are trying to figure how much cash would be needed for the various stops. Any suggestions?

 

 

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[gsrunyan]

Our experience on our Baltic cruise is everybody takes Euros and stores take Master Card and Visa. In St Petersburg, no one wanted rubles!!

 

If you run out of Euros, find an ATM to get more. They take debit/credit cards marked with MasterCard (MAESTRO) and Visa. Make sure your pin is at least 4 digits long: anything less will not work in European ATMs.

 

Glenn:cool:

[CaveDiving]

We will be taking the 12 night Baltic Cruise and are trying to figure how much cash would be needed for the various stops. Any suggestions?

 

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Not having the slightest idea of what you would like to do or how expensive a restaurant or tourist attraction you'd like to participate in, I'd say USD $1,000 a day would most likely cover it.

 

Scott & Karen

[cruz chic]

Not having the slightest idea of what you would like to do or how expensive a restaurant or tourist attraction you'd like to participate in, I'd say USD $1,000 a day would most likely cover it.

 

Scott & Karen

 

$1000 should cover any budget:D. Wow, that is a lot!

[Lizzie68]

$1000 should cover any budget:D. Wow, that is a lot!

 

Agree - that's a ridiculously high amount, especially to carry around, in countries outside of the US. They have a different currency.....

[sail7seas]

Will you be doing pre-paid ships excursions or arranging private tours you will need to pay in cash at the time of the excursion? Will you be eating nice lunches? Shopping? Riding Taxis? Museum entrance fees?

 

The more info you can provide about the sort of days you have planned, the better we can give a suggestion as to how much cash you may wish to have on hand.

[boards]

how expensive a restaurant or tourist attraction you'd like to participate in, I'd say USD $1,000 a day would most likely cover it.

 

Scott & Karen

 

You have got to be kidding or dare I say bragging!!!! Sorry I just find that a ridiculous amount to suggest to someone you will need.

Edited June 1, 2014 by boards

[USN59-79]

Depending on the length of the cruise, I take between 1 and 2 thousand in cash with me. All in fairly new 50 and 100 dollar bills. Stash it in the cabin safe and go to the front desk for small change so I have some dollar and five dollar bills for tips and small purchases. If in Europe I change a couple of hundred into euros or England into pounds. Try to change at a bank as you usually get a much better rate than at the front desk of the ship. When I go ashore I use an extra wallet with about $100 or equivalent, one credit card, an old ID, and a copy of my passport. I carry it in a small cloth case inside my shirt with a string around my neck. Much less likely to lose it that way, but if I do, it won't ruin my vacation. I have no problem bringing back unused currency, as it is handy for a taxi or whatever the next time I am in that country.

[catl331]

We will be taking the 12 night Baltic Cruise and are trying to figure how much cash would be needed for the various stops. Any suggestions?

The acceptance of credit cards is so universal today that you really only need cash for local public transportation such as bus/train/metro/ferry (cabs take Visa/MasterCard) and small purchases. Many places on the Baltic itinerary accept $US or Euro. In St Petersburg our HAL tour bus stopped at a gift shop that would not take Rubles, only $US, Euro, or GB Pounds. DH bought postcards at kiosk at Catherine's Palace using $US. Of course the exchange rate is terrible, but who cares?

 

One way to get a small amount of cash is to purchase something in a gift shop using a US $20, and getting your change in the local currency. For example, we did that in the Stockholm Vasa museum to get small cash for a ferry.

Edited June 1, 2014 by catl331

[cruz chic]

The acceptance of credit cards is so universal today that you really only need cash for local public transportation such as bus/train/metro/ferry (cabs take Visa/MasterCard) and small purchases. Many places on the Baltic itinerary accept $US or Euro. In St Petersburg our HAL tour bus stopped at a gift shop that would not take Rubles, only $US, Euro, or GB Pounds. I bought postcards at kiosk at Catherine's Palace using $US. Of course the exchange rate is terrible, but who cares?

 

One way to get a small amount of cash is to purchase something in a gift shop using a US $20, and getting your change in the local currency. For example, we did that in the Stockholm Vasa museum to get small cash for a ferry.

 

I like to give my credit cards a vaycay when I go on one. That is the only time they get a rest. I take a combo of travellers cheques that I cash on the ship and cash. I don't like using my credit card aboard. I do realize that this may not be the way that other people like to travel.

[Boytjie]

I like to give my credit cards a vaycay when I go on one. That is the only time they get a rest. I take a combo of travellers cheques that I cash on the ship and cash. I don't like using my credit card aboard. I do realize that this may not be the way that other people like to travel.

 

My credit cards don't need a vaycay, they work for me without getting tired! :D I use it for it's convenience and will use an ATM card to get local cash.

[cruz chic]

My credit cards don't need a vaycay, they work for me without getting tired! :D I use it for it's convenience and will use an ATM card to get local cash.

 

Maybe yours don't get as much of a workout as mine:D;):p.

Edited June 1, 2014 by cruz chic

[Boytjie]

Maybe yours don't get as much of a workout as mine:D;):p.

 

I don't know... I charge everything (points, points, points)! As RuPaul says: "you better work!"

Edited June 1, 2014 by Boytjie

[Krazy Kruizers]

$1000 should work for buses, tips to drivers, tips to tour guides, etc.

Maybe you can get Travelers Checks, cash them on board for whatever currency you need. It will cost you a little to change from US to local currency.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Our experience on our Baltic cruise is everybody takes Euros and stores take Master Card and Visa. In St Petersburg, no one wanted rubles!!

 

If you run out of Euros, find an ATM to get more. They take debit/credit cards marked with MasterCard (MAESTRO) and Visa. Make sure your pin is at least 4 digits long: anything less will not work in European ATMs.

 

Glenn:cool:

 

 

And back in the 80's and 90's Russia only wanted Rubles. DH was the only on one of our tours who had Rubles. People were asking him for Rubles and when he got back on the ship and figured out the exchange rate -- he ended up making $5 US -- we had a good laugh over that one.

[grsnovi]

As I recall, we left from Copenhagen and I ordered some Danish cash from my bank before we left ($200 or so). I had Euro's left over from other trips, we took that. We also did a cash exchange in Estonia because (as I recall) at the time, they weren't yet on the Euro. Be assured that 99% of the places you'll go will take your plastic and many will take your dollars although you may not do well on the local exchange rate. Enjoy your Baltic trip - we sure did!

[CI66774]

Our experience on our Baltic cruise is everybody takes Euros and stores take Master Card and Visa. In St Petersburg, no one wanted rubles!!

 

If you run out of Euros, find an ATM to get more. They take debit/credit cards marked with MasterCard (MAESTRO) and Visa. Make sure your pin is at least 4 digits long: anything less will not work in European ATMs.

 

Glenn:cool:

 

I just got back from St. Petersburg and all the merchants were happy to take rubles. No dollars and no Euros taken in several of the places I shopped. Other "touristy" places took dollars and Euros. So it just depends.

[PathfinderEss]

Credit cards............works for me.:):D:eek:

[DeckLife]

For our Mediterranean cruise, we did a day-by-day spreadsheet to figure up how much cash we would need. We did not want to use credit cards if possible. Since we needed only Euros, we made the tally in USD and then converted to Euros. Then we had the bank order the Euros for us.

 

The kinds of items we had on our day-by-day list included transfers between hotel, airport and ship (plus tips), hotel tips (bellhop, housekeeping), tips to ship tour guides and drivers, any meals on shore and a category we called pocket money, which covered things like small souvenirs, a soda, a water, or whatever might tempt us. We also listed our private excursion fees, tips and entrance fees.

 

For meals, we figured we would have lunch on board most of the time, and that's how it worked out, thanks to hearty breakfasts.

 

Because of more cash purchases than expected (who'd've thunk it), we went to an ATM just once just for an extra cushion, and we ended up not using much of that cash.

 

If you have need of other currency, just chart that in as well.

[chrispb]

Not having the slightest idea of what you would like to do or how expensive a restaurant or tourist attraction you'd like to participate in, I'd say USD $1,000 a day would most likely cover it.

 

Scott & Karen

 

Would that be per person :D:D:D?

[donaldsc]

We will be taking the 12 night Baltic Cruise and are trying to figure how much cash would be needed for the various stops. Any suggestions?

 

 

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How can any of us have any idea what you will be buying or doing or eating or drinking? Without that sort of data, how can you expect an intelligent answer.

 

I should say that if you are going to stop at any of the Scandinavian countries, everything will be more expensive than you can possibly imagine. We had lunch at a museum which consisted of a very nice sandwich and a non-alcoholic drink and the bill was about $45 with tax.

 

DON

[nojoke]

We order some Euros from our local bank. It’s nice to have some money on arrival at the airport--might want to use the restroom or have a coffee or pay for a taxi. Then, we use a card to get 200 Euros at an ATM. It will usually spit out the change in 20’s--only once did we get two 100 Euro bills. Just replenish as needed. We’re not heavy souvenir buyers, so the 200 Euro last us for several days--also, we eat on the ship most of the time. I think it is an inconvenience to the local merchants to try to use dollars in Europe. ATM’s are everywhere. We do take some dollars to use as tips on the ship--but not for local purchases.