Currency Exchange on Board

[Bwana Tom]

I'm assuming you can get you currency exchanged at service desk on board the Princess ships. If so, how is the rate of exchange?

[Micahs Grandad]

terrible

[memoak]

It can also be done via a kiosk on many ships but the exchange rate will be much less than you would get at a bank

[msmoger]

Try to use an onshore ATM. You'll get a much better rate than the ship.

[skynight]

A lot depends on where you are and what currency you need. Not every currency is available. If you advise you might get more precise answers. My experience is that it is better to use a banks ATM on shore.

[sprinkles]

Also they tend to have large denominations. At the end of my transatlantic, I was selling some small bills to friends, as the ship only sold them large bills. I always order from my bank beforehand AND ask for smaller denominations

[Pam in CA]

I'm assuming you can get you currency exchanged at service desk on board the Princess ships. If so, how is the rate of exchange?

Awful exchange rate plus there’s a service fee. I think it’s $3/transaction. Use only if you are desperate and have no other options.

[riffatsea]

I have never found a good exchange rate anywhere except at an ATM or in some countries at their own local change bureaus. Cruise ships are not the place to get currency!!

[PoohUnderstands]

Can anyone out there give me an example. So I can decide cost vs. convenience?

 

For example, today, $500 would get me $625CAD at my bank. What would an ATM off ship get me? What would doing it onboard ship get me? I mean, if doing onboard ship would get me $600 say, than it might be worth it to me. Can anyone help here with some idea of the differences?

 

Pooh

[Colo Cruiser]

On our cruises we have not seen any money exchange available at the customer service desk.

There are currency exchange machines onboard for appropriate funds for the current cruise.

There is an ATM onboard as well. Sometimes not working.

Rates are really bad!!!

[Pam in CA]

Can anyone out there give me an example. So I can decide cost vs. convenience?

 

 

 

For example, today, $500 would get me $625CAD at my bank. What would an ATM off ship get me? What would doing it onboard ship get me? I mean, if doing onboard ship would get me $600 say, than it might be worth it to me. Can anyone help here with some idea of the differences?

Rates change constantly. Not all currencies are carried in the machine plus its not unusual to run out of some currencies. Just not worth taking the chance. An ATM off the ship will have current exchange rates.

[paul929207]

Sorry, cannot remember the last exchange rate we got. It fluctuates daily, so it is difficult to lock in.

[satxdiver]

An onshore bank ATM should give you the current conversion rate plus charge a convenience fee. I have an ATM card where the bank refunds the service fee up to a very high limit making the exchange reasonable plus I don't have to carry a lot of USD.

 

In some countries (mostly latin America) they have cambios that want USD and can sometimes give you a great rate. In places like Europe they do not want USD and will penalize you for using USD.

 

If you go the route of exchanging USD for local currency be aware that they will not accept bills that are torn, wrote upon or well used. They have to be bills in good condition but not necessarily new.

 

The exchange rate on the ship if they will even have one is worse than horrible and the convenience fee is quite high. With the proliferation of ATM machines on shore, Princess and other cruise lines have all but abandoned the ship exchange.

[satxdiver]

Someone mentioned CAD. I was in Canada last month on a land trip. I needed some loonies so I used a bank ATM. For $40 CAD I paid $33.30 USD and my bank returned the $2.30 transaction fee making the exchange $31 USD for $40 CAD which is near the current exchange rate today. CAD does not fluctuate a lot.

[memoak]

On any Med cruise just get Euros from ATM's in town

[trbarton]

I’m going on a cruise on the Majestic from Sydney Australia in March of next year.

Since I’m going to be there a few days before the cruise I’m thinking to get some currencies from my bank beforehand.

If you’ve been to Australia before what did you do?

Tom🤔

[Colo Cruiser]

I’m going on a cruise on the Majestic from Sydney Australia in March of next year.

Since I’m going to be there a few days before the cruise I’m thinking to get some currencies from my bank beforehand.

If you’ve been to Australia before what did you do?

Tom��

 

I Lived in Sydney and Melbourne......

Google currency exchange locations for Sydney then look at the reviews for each one.

You will get a pretty accurate readout that way.

Best rate and customer service etc.

We do this often.

I tried the going to my bank route once, never again.

[trbarton]

I Lived in Sydney and Melbourne......

Google currency exchange locations for Sydney then look at the reviews for each one.

You will get a pretty accurate readout that way.

Best rate and customer service etc.

We do this often.

I tried the going to my bank route once, never again.

 

What about doing an exchange at the airport? Good idea?

Tom🤔

[Colo Cruiser]

What about doing an exchange at the airport? Good idea?

Tom

 

 

Convenient yes, they do a big business because of all the foot traffic.

There is really no incentive for them to offer low rates.

There probably is not much competition in the airport.

Best rate no. But probably better than your bank. ;)

[thinfool]

What about doing an exchange at the airport? Good idea?

Tom🤔

Depending on where you are, we have often found bank connected ATM's at the airport.

However, Travelex has begun to tap that market... and their rates are high.

If you use an ATM at the airport try to determine if it is a 'bank' ATM or a Travelex clone.

 

For others following this thread, shipboard conversion rates often fall in the 8-10% range.

[wheezedr]

Depending on where you are, we have often found bank connected ATM's at the airport.

However, Travelex has begun to tap that market... and their rates are high.

If you use an ATM at the airport try to determine if it is a 'bank' ATM or a Travelex clone.

 

For others following this thread, shipboard conversion rates often fall in the 8-10% range.

Very good information. You can usually check out airport maps prior to your arrival. Sometimes they just indicate an ATM, which may not be helpful if it is Travelex, but sometimes they list them or have a guide which indicates specific bank names. If the latter you can expect to get bank rates which should be more favorable.

[GUT2407]

I'm assuming you can get you currency exchanged at service desk on board the Princess ships. If so, how is the rate of exchange?

You can

 

Exchange is generally poor.

 

But if you just want a few $$ walking around till you get to an ATM it’s an option.

[IECalCruiser]

What about doing an exchange at the airport? Good idea?

 

 

Tom[emoji848]

Exchange rates at currency exchanges like Travelex are very bad. On several occasions I have found major bank ATMs at airports and used them.

 

 

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[caribill]

Can anyone out there give me an example. So I can decide cost vs. convenience?

 

For example, today, $500 would get me $625CAD at my bank. What would an ATM off ship get me? What would doing it onboard ship get me? I mean, if doing onboard ship would get me $600 say, than it might be worth it to me. Can anyone help here with some idea of the differences?

 

Pooh

 

The following example is not with today's exchange rates and the fees may be higher today.

 

It may be convenient, but using a ship's currency exchange machine (it is not an ATM) is about the most expensive way to exchange currency.

You put currency in to get currency out. There is a limit of inserting ten bills per transaction. There is a service fee of $4.50 per transactions. It is obviously better to insert ten $20 bills than twenty $10 bills as the latter transaction would require paying two service fees.

 

The Interbank rate the day I checked for selling Euros was $1.13204 for one Euro.

 

ATM debit cards used on shore will usually have a foreign transaction charge from your bank of from 0% (CapitalOne, for example) to 3% (Bank of America, for example).

 

So if your financial institution charges the full 3% rate, one Euro would cost $1.1660.

 

This compares (as shown below) to the Princess rates: one Euro would cost $1.2046, 6.4% over the Interbank rate. (The Princess service fee is in addition to that.)

 

The Princess currency exchange machines had the following rates that day. (I do not know how often they may change.)

 

To purchase Euros, you will pay $1.2046 for each Euro. Compare this to what using your ATM debit card on shore might cost. To sell Euros back to Princess, the machine will give you $1.0306 for each Euro, 14.44% less than you paid for them. Of course you will pay the $4.50 Princess transaction fee for both buying and selling the Euros. If you converted $100 into Euros and then back into US $, including the transaction fees you would end up with $77.21.

 

To be noted is that the machine does not say you are paying $1.2046 for each Euro. It shows the rate as $1 buys you .83015 of a Euro. Unless you have a calculator with you or are a certified MENSA member, you will not know that .83015 translates to paying $1.2046 for a Euro. Many people see the $1.0306 value for selling Euros to Princess and assume they are getting a great deal on purchasing Euros.

 

Of course you can buy Euros with other currencies. I did not look into those rates, but you should expect a loss of value of 14.44% plus the transaction fees. The machine also accepted the currencies of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Japan.

[caribill]

On any Med cruise just get Euros from ATM's in town

 

Whether in Europe or elsewhere the best option is to use a debit card at an onshore ATM. If possible, have a debit card with no foreign transaction fees (Capitalone debit cards have no fee).

 

Very important: If the ATM gives you a choice of making the transaction in the local currency or with a stated conversion to US $ (or whatever you home currency is), always select the local currency and let your bank do the currency conversion. The ATM conversion shown is at a ripoff rate.