Russia River Cruise - Money Needed

[lcand1923]

I will taking Uniworld's Imperial Waterways of Russia River Cruise in July, 2019.  

The only time I've been in Russia was on a Baltic Cruise that stopped in St. Petersburg in 2004. 

At that time, the currency that was being accepted at shops and with street vendors was the Euro and the USD.  Is that still

the case or do I need to get Russian Rubles?  If I do, I would appreciate some advice on what amount I should get since I know they

are not easily exchanged.   Thanks!

[Coral]

Real shops only take Rubles and credit cards. There are street vendors near Church on Spilled Blood and other "touristy areas" that will take dollars and Euros. Rubles is the official currency and you will be expected to use it in many places. For nicer stores, I did use my credit card (not AMEX).

 

I arranged to get Rubles before I left. When we arrived at St. Petersburg, they had us wait for several other flights. There was a Host from our cruise line that did take people over to the ATM machines in the airport to get cash. There were 2 docking locations in St. Petersburg and our dock did have an ATM near it. In Moscow, there wasn't an ATM machine near the dock.

 

We did use Rubles and it probably is a good idea to get some once you are over there. Our cruise line did not allow credit cards for tips so many people were struggling to get tip money the last day. There are plenty of ATM machines in the large cities, not in the small towns.

 

I think my last trip there was in 2007 or so and I don't remember how much I brought. 

Edited June 6, 2019 by Coral

[lcand1923]

Thank you, Coral.  This will be my first Uniworld Cruise, so I found your comment about tips on the last day interesting.  My two other River Cruises did allow tips to be charged to a credit card.  I know that Russia more or less controls the river cruise industry so getting "the real information" is very important.

[Coral]

41 minutes ago, lcand1923 said:

Thank you, Coral.  This will be my first Uniworld Cruise, so I found your comment about tips on the last day interesting.  My two other River Cruises did allow tips to be charged to a credit card.  I know that Russia more or less controls the river cruise industry so getting "the real information" is very important.

I would contact Uniworld on the tips. I was on Amawaterways. Uniworld has a bigger presence in Russia - Amawaterways had one ship and simply did Russia poorly IMO and are no longer in Russia.

 

 

[dogs4fun]

You will need rubles

On 6/6/2019 at 1:03 PM, lcand1923 said:

I will taking Uniworld's Imperial Waterways of Russia River Cruise in July, 2019.  

The only time I've been in Russia was on a Baltic Cruise that stopped in St. Petersburg in 2004. 

At that time, the currency that was being accepted at shops and with street vendors was the Euro and the USD.  Is that still

the case or do I need to get Russian Rubles?  If I do, I would appreciate some advice on what amount I should get since I know they

are not easily exchanged.   Thanks!

You will need rubles - we get our rubles from the ATM at the airport. I would not recommend getting too much - credit cards (visa and mastercard) are widely accepted. If you run short of rubles your cruise director will direct you to the nearest ATM. Enjoy your cruise - river cruises are an entirely different animal than the ocean cruises that dock in St. Petersburg. 

BTW - cash tips in USD and Euro are happily accepted (you need not tip in rubles).

[lcand1923]

Thank you, Dogs4fun.  I have a good idea of what to do based upon your comments about credit cards and that USD and Euro are happily accepted for tips. 

 

Between Coral and you, I know to get some rubles ahead of time, notify the credit card companies and bank that I will be travelling and take some cash, both Euro's and USD's.

 

I have been looking for advice online and kept getting conflicting information.  This is why I like the folks on Cruise Critic.  The advice I get here is always reliable. 

[SALAD MUNCHER]

We are also on the Uniworld Russian trip in July 2019 and was thinking the same thing about money. I spoke to the Uniworld representative today about it in fact! She advised that all grats (on and off the ship), excursions and drinks are included. The ship takes Visa and Mastercard or Euros. If an excursion is over a lunchtime, lunch will also be included! Therefore she said we should only take a small amount of Roubles for personal use, as if we wanted to purchase bigger things we could use a card. Hope this helps!

[lcand1923]

Thank you, Salad Muncher.  You have provided more food for thought!

[SALAD MUNCHER]

43 minutes ago, lcand1923 said:

Thank you, Salad Muncher.  You have provided more food for thought!

You're most welcome.By the way forgot to mention she said American Express cards will not be accepted on the ship.

[Coral]

12 minutes ago, SALAD MUNCHER said:

You're most welcome.By the way forgot to mention she said American Express cards will not be accepted on the ship.

AMEX is not widely accepted in Europe over all. Large hotel chains (Marriott, etc... does) but most shops do not.

[SALAD MUNCHER]

22 hours ago, Coral said:

AMEX is not widely accepted in Europe over all. Large hotel chains (Marriott, etc... does) but most shops do not.

Hi again, are you on the 3rd July trip?

[Coral]

3 hours ago, SALAD MUNCHER said:

Hi again, are you on the 3rd July trip?

Nope - I have spent quite a bit of time over in Russia though.

[lcand1923]

I have learned through the years that AMEX is not widely accepted outside of the US.  I have even noticed that Master Card is not as widely accepted as Visa.  (Of course that may just be where I have been attempting to use a Credit Card.)  Thanks for the clarification. 

 

I am not on the 3rd of July trip, either.

[Marjan1]

On 6/11/2019 at 1:38 AM, SALAD MUNCHER said:

You're most welcome.By the way forgot to mention she said American Express cards will not be accepted on the ship.

 

Australia does accept AMEX cards, but most places impose a surcharge (around 4%).