Maasdam Transatlantic Cruise

[JLT]

I am very grateful for all the information and tips that cruisers on previous North Atlantic crossings have provided. As the time grows closer, I have some more questions. Are there shuttles at any of the ports and do you remember which ones? Will I need to change money at each port or will I be able to use dollars for small purchases like post cards, stamps, and small souvenirs? I will get Canadian Dollars, Euros, Pounds, and Kroner in Norway but I wonder about Iceland, Greenland, and the Faroes? Can I use an ATM card for purchases and get change in local currency like I do in the states? Thank you all for the postings and pictures from last year's trip. I am so looking forward to this adventure.

[Aussie Gal]

I think Greenland had their own Kroners and the banks did not open until 10am so a lot of the passengers didn't have money for the small items there. We did find a small shop that took U.S. dollars and we were able to buy postcards.

 

In Greenland, we tendered to shore and once there Nuuk is right near the dock and it is an easy walk into the small town.

 

In Iceland, we were able to use credit cards at the thermal pool where there was a shop. The ship is docked at a pier here but it is a good walk from Reykjavik. I cannot remember if there was a shuttle because we did one of the ship's tours here.

 

 

Jennie

[grannynurse]

JLT,

The Kroner used in Greenland, Iceland, and the faroes are all different. The Norwegian kroner are at an even higher exchange rate. Iceland is expensive.

In Reykjavik we each had a sandwich, I had coffee and he had a beer which added up to $50 US, and if you're not a mayonnaise lover, watch out they slather it on everything.

The days of the free shuttle, I'm afraid, are long gone. In some ports you could charge it to your room card, in other ports you pay with local currency. It ran between $3 pp and $8, one way. In Reykjavik, we waited an hour for a pick-up to return to the pier and then grabbed a cab with some other cruisers. We were charged $3 pp but it was worth it as it was cold and windy. We've been there 3 times but the last time, shuttles were not dependable. NewFoundland, in St Johns, and St Anthony it's easy to get around walking. Cornerbrook does have a shuttle, and we charged it to the room.

In Torshavn Faroes, it's a short walk into town. In Greenland the towns are so small, once you tender in, you're there. In Norway, Tromso is quite a walk from the pier, Stavanger is the same, but we took the fjord cruise so didn't have time to go downtown.

 

HAL has a currency exchange onboard, but there is a surcharge, we did a little exchanging on board but mostly used ATM's in port. We checked with our bank before leaving to make sure our card would work, and it did. Some people could not use theirs. The trouble is, no one will re-exchange coins, so unless you want them for souvenirs, spend coins. We had no trouble with euros in the other countries. British pounds are expensive and they vary in Scotland and Northern Ireland. (Belfast). In Stornoway Hebrides the Bank of Scotland had a similar exchange rate but they really prefer Scottish pounds. Lerwick Shetlands took our British pounds. Euros are used in the Republic of Ireland (Dublin, Cork etc).

Hope this helps, I wish we were going this summer. Have a great trip.

GN

[JLT]

Thank you both so much. I shall add this info to my cheat sheets for each port.