Baltics/Money Matters help

[lisalovlee33]

Hey Fellow Cruisers:

Got a few questions about money matters:

Will be at the following ports:

denmark

nynashamn

helsinki

st.petersburg

tallinn

gdynia

oslo

 

Star Princess ship.

 

Denmark

Well be flying into denmark and taking the train to Central Station where the hotel is. So, there should be ATMs around the airport or the train station I'm assuming right?

 

Nynashamn

We already got the Stockholm card. So, we;ll be rushing off to catch the first train and arriving in Stockholm. Does anyone know if there are ATMs (or currency exchanges) in the Stockholm station (or the nynashamn station if we have time to look for it before the train arrives?)

 

Helsinki

Euros - Got them

 

Talinn

Estonian Kroon (EEK). Seems that we can take taxis to the Old City. Does the cabbies take Euros or USD? I found out on this board http://www.cruisecritic.com/ports/newport.cfm?ID=87#sec1t that there are ATMs in the banks in the Old City. Most shops takes the Euro. Is this true?

 

Gdynia

It's about 40 mins to Gdansk. Do the cabbies take Euros or USD to Gdansk? Where (Gdynia or Gdansk) would I find currency exchanges or ATMs?

 

Oslo

Norwegian Krone. I read that there are plenty of ATMs. Is this true?

 

Thank you all for your inputs in advance.

[Marzipan]

There are ATMs everywhere. Tallin is such a short walk from the port that if there are not mobility issues you don't need a taxi.

[MTemple212]

DOn't buy any money ahead of time as you just don't need to do that. We went over with only about $200 and came back with a lot of it. We did bring lots of $1's, $5's for tips,etc. We just hit an atm in whatever country we were in when we needed it. ATM's are all over.

 

I would not recommend taking the train from the airport to Central Station unless you have very little luggage. We had 5 pieces so we took a taxi to our hotel which we got on priceline. We got the marriott which is a 4star for about $95. We found out that if you put in 4 star as the search in priceline you will get the Marriott. The Marriott is less than a half mile walk to Tivoli and the center of town and it right on the canal. Copenhagen itself is a very walkable city and user friendly. But very EXPENSIVE!!!! About $3.50-$5.00 for a bottle of water or soda!!

 

Getting back to the airport thing, we took a taxi to our hotel and all taxi's have a credit card machine and that is the way to go as far as I'm concerned. Try and charge everything you can and just pay the bill when you get home. It think it was about $35 for the taxi to our hotel.

[lisalovlee33]

DOn't buy any money ahead of time as you just don't need to do that. We went over with only about $200 and came back with a lot of it. We did bring lots of $1's, $5's for tips,etc. We just hit an atm in whatever country we were in when we needed it. ATM's are all over.

 

I would not recommend taking the train from the airport to Central Station unless you have very little luggage. We had 5 pieces so we took a taxi to our hotel which we got on priceline. We got the marriott which is a 4star for about $95. We found out that if you put in 4 star as the search in priceline you will get the Marriott. The Marriott is less than a half mile walk to Tivoli and the center of town and it right on the canal. Copenhagen itself is a very walkable city and user friendly. But very EXPENSIVE!!!! About $3.50-$5.00 for a bottle of water or soda!!

 

Getting back to the airport thing, we took a taxi to our hotel and all taxi's have a credit card machine and that is the way to go as far as I'm concerned. Try and charge everything you can and just pay the bill when you get home. It think it was about $35 for the taxi to our hotel.

 

Thanks for the information. We got rooms at the Palace Hotel and was told that it's right next to Central Station. In fact, some rooms look into Central Station. So, I think that should be OK. When you say ATMs are all over, does that also apply to Tallinn, Gydnia and the rest of the ports?

Thanks again.

[lmt1022]

We used dollars in almost every one of the ports... In Copenhagen, we figured we would need DKK, but ended up not even bothering as everyone took USD and credit cards. The train to town took a credit card, the boat canal tour took USD and Tivoli and the restaurant took a credit card.

Everywhere we looked there were Visa/Mastercard signs. We used our Debit card and then when we got home saw the transactions posted online and it turns out we got a very good rate... better than what the ship was offering to exchange.

[MTemple212]

yes, this applies to all ports. We never had a problem locating a ATM. I must tell you that I was not at all impressed with Central Station in Copenhagen. Very dirty with trash all over the place! People lounging out on the steps outside, you know, kids that are in their early 20's and weird looking in my opinion. The wife and I walked thru the station and couldn't believe how messy and dirty it was as most train stations in europe are spotless and efficient and organized.

[zaban3]

If you want to buy knit goods from the vendors in Tallinn, they will not take charge cards. They will take USD.

[dakrewser]

While it's not difficult to use dollors or euros, you will get a horrendous exchange rate from merchants. So it really is your choice - convenience or cost.

 

We used local currency in almost all ports (exception, only one purchase in Gdansk and I used euros for that) obtained from the readily available ATMs. Any small change left over made excellent souvenir gifts for nieces, nephews and grandchildren.

[Balliett]

I just got the credit card bill, having charged stuff in Denmark, Sweden and Russia. The exchange rates were great: 26 rubles per dollar, for example, when the hotels were giving 22. Capital One rate for a charge in Danish Kroner on Aug 12, 2006 was 5.857 DKK per dollar, with no fee. The ATM rate for Danish Kroner on Aug 11, 2006 was 5.79 DKK per dollar, and "NYKREDIT-HOTEL M" tacked on a "foreign transaction fee" of $5.18 for a 1000 DKK withdrawal from my checking account. Ouch.

 

Bottom line: you will get a much better rate for your dollars by using a credit card which has no added fee for foreign exchange (capital one is one of the few), than by using the ATMs, local banks, exchange bureaus, or especially the ship.