Getting Euros on Oceania

[Nana4x]

Does any one have a current rate for buying Euros on O's ships?  Please share. 

 

BofA will charge me $7.50 to ship to my branch unless I get 1,000 E.  I do not need that many.

The rate as of today is  1.1835.  500 E will cost me $591.75 plus $7.50.

 

I might use an ATM but we are doing so many all day tours and it may get complicated.

 

[rallydave]

17 minutes ago, Nana4x said:

Does any one have a current rate for buying Euros on O's ships?  Please share. 

you should

BofA will charge me $7.50 to ship to my branch unless I get 1,000 E.  I do not need that many.

The rate as of today is  1.1835.  500 E will cost me $591.75 plus $7.50.

 

I might use an ATM but we are doing so many all day tours and it may get complicated.

 

Your bank is trying to rip you off.  The current rate today is 1.1247  and changes from minute to minute so could be different in an hour.  If there were Euros on Oceania, there probably would be a surcharge as well.  Buying from an ATM is what is recommended by all knowledgeable travelers as you get the million dollar trading rate so would get close to 1.12 depending on the swing that day.  A simple way would be to get the Euros at the airport before heading for the ship.  All airports these days have ATM's and many in Europe don't even have any fees.

 

Your bank like many other in the US try to rip off their customers.  Should you not get to an ATM at the airport which is highly unlikely, you should see ATM''s around during your tours.   And, we have found that credit cards work at most places and would rather delay payment and get the coveted points for using credit cards.  Have gone to foreign countries and paid for everything with my credit cards and never needed foreign currency.

 

[sitraveler]

Today's rate is about $1.13,  so they are charging you about 5%.    Use atm's in Europe.  O's rate is worse.

[Hawaiidan]

Money rule #1    use a debit card in an ATM ashore, or in airports or banks.   Never use a credit card in an ATM because its a "cash advance "  at a high interest rate and fee.     Your tour operator will  stop by an ATM for you if asked.

Money  rule#2    In foreign  places  use a Credit Card as much as possible with a no charge conversion  Book as many tours as possible with the card if you have to cancel, or like the ship misses the port.    A real possibility you need to consider.

Money rule#3  remember that you will get charged a3-5% commission  to convert any  un spent foreign bills back to your home currency....... no one will convert coin.. if you dont use it  it becomes an expensive fishing weight.

Cash in Europe  today  is not your friend   even taxi's take  credit cards.

[CintiPam]

Any tour operator is happy to stop at an ATM on the way back to the ship to receive cash payment for the tour.

[pinotlover]

We’re talking Euros here people not Thai or FP money! Is the OP expecting this to be a once in a lifetime trip to Euroland? What difference does it make if they go home with a few Euro, coin or paper? 

 

I bought extra Euros back when they were much lower. I still use the cash as needed. I use my cc as much as practical and then cash. I have zero problem taking home extra Euros that I can buy st a good rate. Having paid near 1.4 in the not so distant past, bringing home a few extra Euros at 1.13 doesn’t bother me at all. Some need to get a grip!

[LHT28]

once we get home tomorrow I will check the CURRENTS to see what O was charging  but most places accepted CC

or just hit an ATM for cash

JMO

[Kate-AHF]

The whole cash/credit card issue is getting very frustrating for me.  Oct. 2018 I made a fairly substantial currency order with my bank before leaving, because the cash discount for our pre-cruise hotel easily beat the currency order surcharge.

 

On that cruise, my cc was skimmed when I used, for the first (and last) time the ATM at one of the cruise ports.  Normally it's bank ATM's only.

 

The cruise before in May 2018  it was skimmed at a restaurant.  I'm getting really, really tired of talking to credit card fraud departments while on vacation, and having to check activity on the card constantly throughout the vacation.

[Paulchili]

1 hour ago, Kate-AHF said:

The whole cash/credit card issue is getting very frustrating for me.  Oct. 2018 I made a fairly substantial currency order with my bank before leaving, because the cash discount for our pre-cruise hotel easily beat the currency order surcharge.

 

On that cruise, my cc was skimmed when I used, for the first (and last) time the ATM at one of the cruise ports.  Normally it's bank ATM's only.

 

The cruise before in May 2018  it was skimmed at a restaurant.  I'm getting really, really tired of talking to credit card fraud departments while on vacation, and having to check activity on the card constantly throughout the vacation.

Kate - were these Chip & PIN cards or magnetic stripe?

[rallydave]

5 minutes ago, Paulchili said:

Kate - were these Chip & PIN cards or magnetic stripe?

Paul, unfortunately it doesn't matter in the US since the chip and pin cards all also have the magnetic strip since so many retailers have failed to get chip & pin readers in the US.  Once the US catches up with the rest of the world and uses only chip readers we will be subject to this issue.

 

Believe it was in October 2016 when federal law required chip and pin readers with the only possible penalty that the retailer and not the bank would be responsible for fraudulent  cards.  Need to make the penalty stronger and also require restaurants to have the portable chip readers brought to your table such that your card is never out of your sight and out of the possibility of skimmers in the back room stealing your information.

[Kate-AHF]

Paul, they were chip and pin

 

[pinotlover]

The larger problem is that US credit cards aren’t really chip and PIN, in the sense of real c&P cards, but chip only. A pin is only required for atm withdrawals, but the US is too technologically backwards ( or just too cheap) to employ the true system that eliminates 99+% of the fraud. 

[Nana4x]

11 hours ago, pinotlover said:

We’re talking Euros here people not Thai or FP money! Is the OP expecting this to be a once in a lifetime trip to Euroland? What difference does it make if they go home with a few Euro, coin or paper? 

 

Hey thanks for your concern or is that snark? 

OP has been across the pond more times than she can count.  Has  Euros on hand but needs more for our next BtoB cruise.

 

I bought extra Euros back when they were much lower. I still use the cash as needed. I use my cc as much as practical and then cash. I have zero problem taking home extra Euros that I can buy st a good rate. Having paid near 1.4 in the not so distant past, bringing home a few extra Euros at 1.13 doesn’t bother me at all. Some need to get a grip! AS DO YOU

 

[pinotlover]

Nana;

 

sorry if I seemed snarky. It has been my experience that Oceania sells Euros for about a 5% Premium as a matter of convenience to its cruisers. So with a 1.13 official rate, O will often charge 1.13x 1.05= 1.1865 rounded to $1.19 per Euro. If the market has been falling rapidly, say from $1.15, over the last couple of days, one may well pay 1.15x 1.05= 1.2075, so 1.21. Oceania isn’t a bank and doesn’t hedge these sales of convenience. 

 

Beware that in some instances ( countries) where O has decided ( or is forbidden from) against offering this convenience, I’ve seen outside companies come aboard and charge up to a 30% Premium! Each individual has to choose how important or how costly that Premium is.

 

When leaving Europe or GB we always tend to depart with Euros or pounds we didn’t use on the trip. It’s good that we do so imo. I don’t like using the atms in the airports or train stations and prefer finding a major bank’s ATM in town to use. Having some, typically 100 E or less, means I have no immediate needs upon landing.

 

I remember a few years ago landing in CDG and since we had a couple of hours wait to catch the bullet train to Avignon, I decided to buy extra Euros there. It took some searching because many of the atms were not major bank atms with MasterCard/ Visa affiliation thus they came with heavy user fees.

[Paulchili]

10 hours ago, rallydave said:

Need to make the penalty stronger and also require restaurants to have the portable chip readers brought to your table such that your card is never out of your sight and out of the possibility of skimmers in the back room stealing your information.

Amen to that. It’s time we get our credit cards into the 21st century and catch up with the rest of the “civilized” world. If Canada and Europe can do it why can’t we?

Edited April 22, 2019 by Paulchili

[CintiPam]

39 minutes ago, Paulchili said:

Amen to that. It’s time we get our credit cards into the 21st century and catch up with the rest of the “civilized” world. If Canada and Europe can do it why can’t we?

It almost is 20 years since I worked for a year as a bank lawyer and was asked to prepare several memoranda regarding European “chip and pin” security.  And still not in the US.  Why?  Because of the expense involved for American business.  (The answer usually is money. Anyone remember the anticipated conversion to the metric system in the 60’s?)

[Paulchili]

1 minute ago, CintiPam said:

It almost is 20 years since I worked for a year as a bank lawyer and was asked to prepare several memoranda regarding European “chip and pin” security.  And still not in the US.  Why?  Because of the expense involved for American business.  (The answer usually is money. Anyone remember the anticipated conversion to the metric system in the 60’s?)

That's what I hear but I don't buy it.

One can use a debit card just about everywhere these days and those require CHIP & PIN cards - the conversion has already been done (mostly). The prevention of losses of the credit card companies in covering fraud should more than pay for those conversions, IMO.

I think they fear losing online business (huge) which does not require either CHIP or PIN.

[rallydave]

25 minutes ago, Paulchili said:

That's whatI hear but I don't buy it.

One can use a debit card just about everywhere these days and those require CHIP & PIN cards - the conversion has already been done (mostly). The prevention of losses of the credit card companies in covering fraud should more than pay for those conversions, IMO.

I think they fear losing online business (huge) which does not require either CHIP or PIN.

Pam hit the nail on the head with money or lack of it being the problem.  Yes, ATM's regularly require chip and pin but, those are large machines that can't be moved and are funded by the deep pockets of banks.  The problem really is that when the US Government set the date of September 30-October 1, 2015 as the date chip cards had to be accepted by all businesses. 

 

The penalty for non-compliance is that the responsibility for fraudulent usage of credit cards is on the merchant if they don't have the chip readers.   It is now April  2019 going on 4 years and many thousands or more of businesses have failed to invest in the required readers as evidently the cost of the switchover is, in their belief more than the risk of fraudulent cards is less than the cost of getting the required readers.  Have not been, in the US to any restaurants that bring the terminal to the table like it is done throughout the rest of the world.  Don't believe there is any law mandating that necessary requirement.

 

It is all about MONEY and businesses are taking the risk.  Our Government needs to toughen the law like Canada did so that merchants bite the bullet and purchase the necessary hardware and credit card issuers need to remove the horrid magnetic strips.  Sorry Paul but, to me it is clear that businesses do not believe that buying the necessary hardware will cover the conversion costs and we are not even close to be done with the conversion.  YMMV.

[pinotlover]

US banking customers don’t really have true chip and PIN cards with current technologies. USAA credit union offered one for a short time but pulled it from the market. We have credit cards with chip and signature options. The technology, verification, and validation processes included with real chip and PIN, as utilized elsewhere in the world , is completely different from the poor excuse we have in the US.

 

The pin requirements with atms is completely different than transaction processes of a true chip and PIN credit card. It’s like comparing a horse and buggy to a car. I have a chip and signature card and a pin for it. I do not have a chip and PIN card. We had sales employees that worked internationally that would open accounts with banks such as Deutsch Bank or Bank of Canada so to get real chip and PIN cards to conveniently us when traveling aboard. 

 

In the US, we currently have three major intermediating companies that work between the retailers and the credit card companies to facilitate transactions. None of those intermediaries have upgraded their systems for true chip and PIN, only chip and signature. The retailers that refuse to upgrade to even chip readers are the smaller portions of the true problem. 

 

The current risk to those small retailers , for not upgrading to chip, is tiny. Most have little to no capital or assets so there is nothing to obtain from them in a breech! 

[neilrr]

I will throw in my 2 1/2 cents...😀 We travel to Europe at least once per year.  We always buy our Euros through our bank here in the US (without any fee, other than the one calculated into the rate which is minimal). I have also used AAA in the past, where you can mix and match different currencies, if you are visiting different countries and they deliver it right to your door for $10 or less depending on amount ordered. 

 

We try to bring enough in the currency to generally get us through the trip. Some people (as we have seen) either don't bring any currency for the countries being visited  - which is foolish - then we see them hunting for currency or try to use US $. Also, break bills into coin for tips and miscellaneous items.  Upon return, we then keep the currencies for future trips (my foreign currency stash😊) as the banks charge you to sell it back - which is crazy. We generally estimate about $50 per day in Euros (more or less the same for other countries' currencies). If we are staying a few days -- other than a day here or there on a cruise ship we take a bit more per day. 

 

Always, make sure your rooms in the hotels have an in-room safe, only carry copies of your passports (if needed) and leave originals in safe and carry one Credit Card and some currency when going outside. Also, avoid wearing flashy/any jewelry. Keep everything in front pockets or fanny pak - as the pickpockets are notorious in Rome and Barcelona... Avoid people standing too close to you and take note of surroundings..  

 

As for Credit Cards - we do use them and we avoid the foreign transaction fees by using Capital One and/or one of the Amex cards that waive them (though many merchants in Europe will not take Amex).  In my opinion, It is safer to use the credit card then to give thieves access to your checking account through a debit card -- and money is harder to recover on a debit card from your bank. 

 

Good luck and happy travels....😁 

Edited April 22, 2019 by neilrr

[LHT28]

Last week the rate  was

1Euro = $1.18  plus a 5% service fee  to buy on Oceania

[Mura]

And according to xe.com the euro was exchanging around 1.13 last week.

[LHT28]

2 hours ago, Mura said:

And according to xe.com the euro was exchanging around 1.13 last week.

Mura  the trouble with  sites like XE & Oanda etc..

they are for those that are buying  $10,000 +

 

"All figures are live mid-market rates, which are not available to consumers and are for informational purposes only. To see the rates we quote for money transfer, please select Live Money Transfer Rates. "

https://www.xe.com/

[rallydave]

3 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

Mura  the trouble with  sites like XE & Oanda etc..

they are for those that are buying  $10,000 +

 

"All figures are live mid-market rates, which are not available to consumers and are for informational purposes only. To see the rates we quote for money transfer, please select Live Money Transfer Rates. "

https://www.xe.com/

Lyn, Mura's rates are accurate if you use an ATM to get cash or use credit cards to pay.  Both give you the million dollar exchange rate and thus are why many of us strongly recommend as much as you can to pay with a credit card, if you need cash use ATM's when you arrive in the foreign country and NEVER agree to make your purchase in your home dollars when charging something and the clerk offers as those exchange rates are as bad as they get.

[Mura]

Even if the rates I've used weren't accurate -- thanks Rallydave, by the way for your input -- for MY purposes it doesn't matter that much.  I keep track of several currencies just for information and the euro is one of them. I also have seen that the rates change frequently during the day (although not by much).  I just want to have a general idea of the exchange rate.