currency question

[Travels with Lisa]

good morning

 

We will be cruising to Cuba at the end of the month.  My husband has read that the custom officials will not allow you to bring Cuban currency back onboard the ship.  Has anyone heard this or had experience with it?

 

thanks

[ParadiseElaine]

We had no problem bringing CUC’s back onboard Empress when we went to Havana in July.

[farmerj]

Just returned from Cuba (Mach1) and no problems with bring out CUC.  

Even went to port exchange CUC to USD (1-1) and CUC to CUC (new bills) before reboarding the ship for the US.

 

Enjoy your trip!

[pbenjamin]

Depending upon your itinerary and plans, you are likely to pass though Cuban customs multiple times.  In our case we went through customs in Santiago, Cienfuegos and each time we re-boarded in Havana.  Technically you are not supposed to leave with CUCs but they really have no way of knowing what you are up to.  Having said that, I inadvertantly left 100 CUCs in the safe on the ship and didn't find it until we had left Cuban waters.  I ended up selling it on Craig's List.  

[ParadiseElaine]

Thanks for sharing the "technical"  info, Cool Cruiser!   As we live in SW Florida & cruise a lot, being able to drive to several cruise ports...& as we LOVE Cuba, especially the people ...& intend to return many times, having extra CUC's for the "next trip" just makes it easier when we return, one less line to stand in,...BUT, having said that I always like to post totally accurate info, so thanks for clarifying! 

[scpirate]

Why would they care? It only has value in Cuba.they already got your money.

[nicedream]

I brought both CUP and CUC back from Cuba with no problem.

As a previous poster said, some cruises have multiple stops in Cuba where passengers would spend more of their money, not to mention the cruises that have overnights in one city, or passengers on one day visits that may just need to return to the ship for whatever reason before going back out. What are they going to do? Search everyone's pockets and purses for bills and loose change?

I suspect that Cuba doesn't mind tourists leaving with Cuban money, as that probably means their US dollars, Canadian dollars, Euros, etc. on the island.

Sent from my AOSP on msm8996 using Tapatalk

[Roce48]

We brought back a few Cuban coins as souvenirs. Also being older now, and having tooooo many souvenirs from our travels, we only bought a few trinkets therefore not spending much money. We spent $5.00 on a bicycle taxi going from the Old Town Square to the San Jose Market.

   

The bicycle taxi told us $10.00 from the Old Town Square to the San Jose Market, but I had asked a local how much and they said $5.00. I simply told the driver that $10.00 was to much, and he said Ok how about $5.00. I gave him six and he seemed happy.

 

Leaving the San Jose Market I walked up to a Coco Cab and said I would give him $5.00 for a ride back and he said OK. I also gave him $6.00.

 

Lunch at the Don Eduardo Alegre Restaurant was VERY inexpensive. We sat on a balcony overlooking the Old Town Square

 

Currency

We exchanged $150 USD and got $130 Cuban dollars.

Then we exchanged $80 Cuban back and got $77 USD.

   

 

 

[dcherry]

I don't even see how this is avoidable in some cases. The overnight cruise stops in Havana leave at something like 6:00 a.m. so how would you even change your Cuban bills back to US dollars if there is no exchange open?

[Roce48]

3 minutes ago, dcherry said:

I don't even see how this is avoidable in some cases. The overnight cruise stops in Havana leave at something like 6:00 a.m. so how would you even change your Cuban bills back to US dollars if there is no exchange open?

Our February NCL Sky overnight in Havana cruise did not depart Havana until 12 noon. All the other cruises seem to leave port as you menton.

[ParadiseElaine]

It is a little tricky knowing how many CUC’s you will need...how spoiled we have become using our credit cards for everything 😁.  We love Cuba so much, we know we will be returning several times so, for us, taking some home is not an issue.  

[Houndfish]

On ‎3‎/‎5‎/‎2019 at 4:00 PM, farmerj said:

Just returned from Cuba (Mach1) and no problems with bring out CUC.  

Even went to port exchange CUC to USD (1-1) and CUC to CUC (new bills) before reboarding the ship for the US.

 

Enjoy your trip!

I thought the 10% surcharge for USD applied on exchanging CUC back to USD. Is that not the case?

I brought my leftover CUC back home as we were planning to return to Havana and would use them then.

[pbenjamin]

It is NOT the case. The 10% occurs only when exchanging USD for CUCs. 

[Roce48]

On 3/15/2019 at 3:16 AM, pbenjamin said:

It is NOT the case. The 10% occurs only when exchanging USD for CUCs. 

 

 Here is a receipt for exchanging USD to Cuban Currency.

 

 

Here is a receipt for changing Cuban Currency back to USD.

[pbenjamin]

Exactly 

[Sunsher28]

Living near the Canadian border I was thinking of exchanging some USD for CAN before we sailed. Does anyone know if I exchange CAN for CUC when I get off the ship, can I exchange any left over CUC for USD when we get back on the ship? Do they make you show ID when you exchange money?

[pbenjamin]

Yes, you can change CUCs back to USD. I don't remember showing ID. 

[Oviedo32765]

On 4/13/2019 at 2:53 AM, Sunsher28 said:

Living near the Canadian border I was thinking of exchanging some USD for CAN before we sailed. Does anyone know if I exchange CAN for CUC when I get off the ship, can I exchange any left over CUC for USD when we get back on the ship? Do they make you show ID when you exchange money?

 

Our Bank of America exchanged USD to Euros for us.  I understand you can do the same thru Wells Fargo Bank.  We had no problem exchanging Euros in Cuba, and there was no 10% surcharge either.

[OHCruisinDad]

On 4/13/2019 at 2:53 AM, Sunsher28 said:

Living near the Canadian border I was thinking of exchanging some USD for CAN before we sailed. Does anyone know if I exchange CAN for CUC when I get off the ship, can I exchange any left over CUC for USD when we get back on the ship? Do they make you show ID when you exchange money?

 

You can do both.  I took CAD with us to save the 10% tax on USD.  I bought my CAD at my local bank for about a 2.5% fee, well less than the 10% fee for USD in Cuba.  We do live fairly close to the Canadian border so obtaining CAD is quite easy for us.

[LadyLauren75]

The official exchange rate between USD and CUC is fixed at 1 USD: 0.87 CUC.

It does not make any difference if you change at the terninal, in a bank or in any hotel.

You will always get 0.87 CUC for any USD you wanna exchange.

 

 

[nicedream]

16 minutes ago, LadyLauren75 said:

 

The official exchange rate between USD and CUC is fixed at 1 USD: 0.87 CUC.

It does not make any difference if you change at the terninal, in a bank or in any hotel.

You will always get 0.87 CUC for any USD you wanna exchange.

 

 

 

The actual exchange rate is 1USD=1CUC.

 

There is a 3% conversion fee that applies to all currencies. Then an additional 10% fee/tax that only applies to USD. That's why you get 0.87CUC for each USD. 

[Cienfuegos]

I did not see anyone presenting ID before exchanging money.

 

there is sometimes a bit of distance between the rules in the book, and how things 

play out on the field.

 

on the first day in Cienfuegos, there were several immigration inspectors reviewing each visa. Carefully.

 

Day 2? They had vanished. Even though some guests had not presented on the previous day.

 

[csk47]

Before we left for our cruise on April 22, we changed our dollars for euros at our local Wells Fargo bank at the going exchange rate,  When we got to Havana we traded those euros for CUC and saved the 10% fee charged for changing US dollars into CUC.  So for the amount we exchanged we saved about $16.   (The Cuban exchange charges a 3% fee for exchanges for all currency..euros, Canadian, etc but US dollars are charged the 3% plus 10%).  When our day in Havana was complete we exchanged the CUC back into US dollars for only a 3% fee.  The whole money exchange at the pier was very easy and quick.

[Kosh III]

We cannot use credit card.

We cannot use US dollars

Will a  merchant(cigar/souvenir) accept Euros? Or do we go to a bank prior and get Euros which can be exchanged for Cuban currency at the cruise port. 

 

Correct? 

[Houndfish]

On 3/5/2019 at 4:50 PM, pbenjamin said:

Depending upon your itinerary and plans, you are likely to pass though Cuban customs multiple times.  In our case we went through customs in Santiago, Cienfuegos and each time we re-boarded in Havana.  Technically you are not supposed to leave with CUCs but they really have no way of knowing what you are up to.  Having said that, I inadvertantly left 100 CUCs in the safe on the ship and didn't find it until we had left Cuban waters.  I ended up selling it on Craig's List.  

In what category on cl did you list them?