Traveler's Checks

[TravelingAngel]

Hi,

 

Is it possible to cash traveler's checks on the Marina? And if you can, do you get nice clean bills in exchange? Cruising South America and need to pay for most things in USD - that is a lot of money to be carrying!:eek:

 

Thanks! Angelika

[I_r_a]

Hi TA,

 

You can put the money into your shipboard account and take it out as you need it.

 

Does anyone sell traveler's checks anymore?

 

Ira

[beach man]

I would like to know if money exchange is offered on board ship (Marina)? This is my first cruise with "O", and a long time away from cruising. It would save time to purchase some soles before we land in Peru. I know there is a bank at the airport, but we could run into problems time wise. Does anyone know about cab fare to the airport in Lima?

[StanandJim]

I would like to know if money exchange is offered on board ship (Marina)? This is my first cruise with "O", and a long time away from cruising. It would save time to purchase some soles before we land in Peru. I know there is a bank at the airport, but we could run into problems time wise. Does anyone know about cab fare to the airport in Lima?

 

Do your money exchanging at home if you possibly can. They do it on the ship on a very limited basis, but it is expensive. I guess that what I am saying is that exchanging carfare or a small amout of pocket money for convenience is fine, but don't expect the Ship to exchange anything above a few hundred dollars.

 

We did the "put money into the shipboard account" thing, until about ten years ago, and never had any problems in getting American Currency back at the Front desk (I'm talking about under 5k here) but 5 years ago friends whom we had advised to do the same had an issue during an Asian itinerary.

I would not suggest going that route, today.

Edited December 12, 2015 by StanandJim

[BarbaraM]

If you want USD for your tours, this is on the Oceania website:

 

Can I cash a traveler’s check or personal check on the ship?

Traveler’s checks are cashed on board our ships. We do not charge a service fee for cashing the checks into US currency. A 5% transaction fee will be added to your onboard account if require foreign currency. Personal checks are not accepted.

[sitraveler]

Do your money exchanging at home if you possibly can. They do it on the ship on a very limited basis, but it is expensive. I guess that what I am saying is that exchanging carfare or a small amout of pocket money for convenience is fine, but don't expect the Ship to exchange anything above a few hundred dollars.

 

S&J, very surprised by your answer here. O only sells Euros and dollars, and the Euro is only in Europe. on RARE occasions, they may have a local money exchange board, but otherwise no.

[ronrick1943]

Don't forget the ATM's, easy way to get cash.

[newbie60]

O only sells Euros and dollars, and the Euro is only in Europe. on RARE occasions, they may have a local money exchange board, but otherwise no.

 

It may have been a fluke, but last Feb/March on Marina in the South Pacific, they brought on folks from the local banks or tourist agencies and they would exchange money right in the main lobby while passengers were getting off for the day. We purchased the local currency in the morning and then re-exchanged it for dollars for whatever we didn't spend when we got back on board.

 

I'm sure the exchange rate worked in their favor, but the convenience factor was pretty high - especially since we weren't spending a great deal of cash in those areas. It was nice to have a small amount of local currency for taxis, etc.

[RJB]

O only sells Euros and dollars, and the Euro is only in Europe. on RARE occasions, they may have a local money exchange board, but otherwise no.

 

It may have been a fluke, but last Feb/March on Marina in the South Pacific, they brought on folks from the local banks or tourist agencies and they would exchange money right in the main lobby while passengers were getting off for the day. We purchased the local currency in the morning and then re-exchanged it for dollars for whatever we didn't spend when we got back on board.

 

I'm sure the exchange rate worked in their favor, but the convenience factor was pretty high - especially since we weren't spending a great deal of cash in those areas. It was nice to have a small amount of local currency for taxis, etc.

Not a fluke. This is local tourist agency's not Oceania. Local tourist offices also will set up in the lobby in most ports with maps and directions to various places that people want to go.

[PSULion]

I would recommend finding an online brokerage or bank (I won't make a referral here, but they are easy to find with a search engine) that offers worldwide free ATM withdrawls. Keep a minimum in the account and top it off before a trip, then you can pull money out in the local currency without ridiculous transaction and ATM fees. I did it in the past on a cruise with an extended European land trip (Portugal and Spain) and didn't incur a since penny in ATM fees. Plus, ATM transactions covert the currency at a much better exchange rate than most other currency exchange venues.

 

John

[Hawaiidan]

Travelers checks...went the way of the dodo bird... use plastic

 

Plus if you dont know it the currencies in So America likeArgentina are in a huge decline and devaluation mode... Just this week Argentina money lost 30% invalue to the dollar.... If you bought any time prior to the actual purchase you be porked....... Use Plasitc its insured,and will be floating.

Id carry no cash...and use plastic because with any cash your taking a huge risk in every way.

 

Leave thetravelers checks at home...or better yet dont buy them they are very very hard to cash now... and many charge a steep commission when they do...

[RJB]

Travelers checks...went the way of the dodo bird... use plastic

 

Plus if you dont know it the currencies in So America likeArgentina are in a huge decline and devaluation mode... Just this week Argentina money lost 30% invalue to the dollar.... If you bought any time prior to the actual purchase you be porked....... Use Plasitc its insured,and will be floating.

Id carry no cash...and use plastic because with any cash your taking a huge risk in every way.

 

Leave thetravelers checks at home...or better yet dont buy them they are very very hard to cash now... and many charge a steep commission when they do...

Wow, when did that happen? Heard nothing about Argentina money woes. Been following problems in Venezuela with their money but not Argentina.

[RJB]

Travelers checks...went the way of the dodo bird... use plastic

 

Plus if you dont know it the currencies in So America likeArgentina are in a huge decline and devaluation mode... Just this week Argentina money lost 30% invalue to the dollar.... If you bought any time prior to the actual purchase you be porked....... Use Plasitc its insured,and will be floating.

Id carry no cash...and use plastic because with any cash your taking a huge risk in every way.

 

Leave thetravelers checks at home...or better yet dont buy them they are very very hard to cash now... and many charge a steep commission when they do...

Just checked CNBC currency rates and you are right. Last few weeks lost a big chunk. Guess I can't keep up with everything.

[java spot]

Travelers checks...went the way of the dodo bird... use plastic

 

Plus if you dont know it the currencies in So America likeArgentina are in a huge decline and devaluation mode... Just this week Argentina money lost 30% invalue to the dollar.... If you bought any time prior to the actual purchase you be porked....... Use Plasitc its insured,and will be floating.

Id carry no cash...and use plastic because with any cash your taking a huge risk in every way.

 

Leave thetravelers checks at home...or better yet dont buy them they are very very hard to cash now... and many charge a steep commission when they do...

 

Cash is king in Argentina- US cash. When I was there last year there was a "brown market" for U.S. currency. Yes, I got a great exchange rate using a credit card but kicked myself for not having brought cash from the ATM on board the ship (Azamara) because I could purchase 1 1/2 x more with it.

[Hawaiidan]

Cash is king in Argentina- US cash. When I was there last year there was a "brown market" for U.S. currency. Yes, I got a great exchange rate using a credit card but kicked myself for not having brought cash from the ATM on board the ship (Azamara) because I could purchase 1 1/2 x more with it.

 

The first is currency speculation.....like the commodities market, In todays serious fiscal problems for about all of SO america, ( dont forget Chinas devaluation last week,) you are rolling the dice .

Second....many of these countries have currency limits that you can bring inor out of their country... including the USA. Its a crime....money launder and criminal activity thrives in So America.. Using your dollars can be against local law

 

Third When you cut your hot deal....the change you get can be fake. counterfeit US or the local script..

 

So as Dirty Harry once said, "are you feeling lucky" cause you can get burned seven ways from sunday in our southern cousins ,FASTter than you can blink. There is no deal that is really worth the negative risk..... I use Plastic CC, no exchange fee, get mileage, product protection insurance and a 45-60 day float.

 

Done that for 30 years...and no Cash Is not king..... unless your paying for some illegal activity....

[Tansy Mews]

We have cashed USD travelers cheques on Oceania ships. No fee. Maximum of $500 per day. About the condition of the currency - okay but not new.

 

About why we wanted to do this - some port tour companies charged us in US dollars, not local currency. (Asia and Middle. east). We didn't want to carry a large amount of USD with us. And it is foreign currency for us anyway! Our bank does not charge us for travelers cheques and we can cash in any left over when we get home.

[java spot]

The first is currency speculation.....like the commodities market, In todays serious fiscal problems for about all of SO america, ( dont forget Chinas devaluation last week,) you are rolling the dice .

Second....many of these countries have currency limits that you can bring inor out of their country... including the USA. Its a crime....money launder and criminal activity thrives in So America.. Using your dollars can be against local law

 

Third When you cut your hot deal....the change you get can be fake. counterfeit US or the local script..

 

So as Dirty Harry once said, "are you feeling lucky" cause you can get burned seven ways from sunday in our southern cousins ,FASTter than you can blink. There is no deal that is really worth the negative risk..... I use Plastic CC, no exchange fee, get mileage, product protection insurance and a 45-60 day float.

 

Done that for 30 years...and no Cash Is not king..... unless your paying for some illegal activity....

 

Paying for a hotel bill with cash is illegal? You can pay 800 in cash or 1200 on your credit card. It's anyone's choice. It's nice to walk off the ship with a bit of cash so you have an option. Have been following this thread for the advice on traveler's checks being cashed on Oceania, however, and don't mean to divert the attention away from fellow traveler's advice, for which I am very appreciative.

[Mura]

We have cashed USD travelers cheques on Oceania ships. No fee. Maximum of $500 per day. About the condition of the currency - okay but not new.

 

About why we wanted to do this - some port tour companies charged us in US dollars, not local currency. (Asia and Middle. east). We didn't want to carry a large amount of USD with us. And it is foreign currency for us anyway! Our bank does not charge us for travelers cheques and we can cash in any left over when we get home.

 

 

On our Black Sea cruise on Regatta in 2012 most of our guides wanted payment in U.S. dollars but they also specified NEW, UNDAMAGED bills. Even in NYC I found it hard to get new bills at the local banks. However, even when we didn't have brand-new bills no one objected. We did carry cash with us because the cruise was only about 14 days in duration and we didn't have a tour in every port; I don't know that we'd do so for a 30-40 day cruise.

 

It does behoove those of us who carry U.S. passports that just because other passengers speak English doesn't mean they have easy (i.e. cheap) access to U.S. dollars. Thanks for reminding me!

 

You may be able to cash in unused Traveler's Checks at your home bank but we no longer can. We used to do so until about a year ago. Now our HSBC branch will no longer accept them in any denomination. (In prior years I could use smaller denomination Traveler's Checks at the local grocery markets -- $50 or less -- when making purchases, but likewise, they stopped accepting them quite a while ago.) All of this makes Traveler's Checks less than convenient for us now. So we depend on ATMs when outside of the U.S. (but we don't use our credit cards for these transactions, just debit cards associated with our bank account.)

 

In 2002 we had two road trips through France where we purchased traveler's checks payable in Euros and they were extremely convenient for the most part... but even at that time small hotels, gas stations, some restaurants, couldn't or wouldn't accept them. So we stopped doing that.

 

Mura

[Hambagahle]

When we were in Buenos Aires we wanted to withdraw local currency from an ATM using our bank card. It was really really hard to find an ATM (at the time there were restrictions on what Argentinians could do in the way of money withdrawals and transfers). Finally we found one in a shopping centre. I think it would be smart to have some US $ notes and then use credit or debit cards for all purchases.