Since this is our first time cruising Europe (Voyager Aug 31 Dover to Rome) I was wondering if those who have cruised on Voyager in Europe could give me a little advice.

We will be on London two days prior to the cruise - we will probably have British pounds, since it doesn't appear that the UK participates in Euro dollars. Will the ship be able to exchange any left over pounds for euros? Will they be able to cash travelers checks into Euros so that we have euros while touring and in port? Or should we get euros before leaving home. We plan on using credit card when possible, but in some of the ports and cities, especially smaller ports, I know there are restaurants that don't take credit cards, and obviously we might need money for cabs, buses, tips, etc. If we should get them before leaving home, how much should we plan for things like that, we will be cruising for 17 days and then 3 nights in Rome post cruise.

Thanks for any help and suggestions. :D :D

Well, I don't know what the current wisdom is about getting the best rates, but I would imagine that you could just pick up some Euros at Heathrow on the way in. Or, you could take a couple of hundred Euros to get you started, and then depend on ATMs, which are no doubt all over the place and usually give you good rates.

Can't comment on the ship, but I'm betting they will exchange money for you, and also tell you where the best place to change money in port. You can always pick up more Euros once you are in Rome, at an exchange or at an ATM.

Also can't comment on how much you might need, but if you are going to be in Rome for three days, paying your hotel by credit card, but perhaps not restaurants. My experience in Athens is that they take credit cards even for admission to historical sites, I'm betting museums do the same, but maybe not all those beautiful churches in Rome. Maybe a couple of hundred a day?? Not sure, that may be too much, but Europe is expensive for we North Americans, for sure.

Interested to hear the result, since we may do a pre-cruise in Rome next year.

Most places in London accept Euros too..but wouldn't hurt to have pounds just in case.
I am not sure how good an idea it would be to have the ship do a currency exchange ( pounds to Euros) or if they do that?
travelers checks may be hard to use in port ( many places request your passport for ID when trying to use them, which is usually held thru-out the cruise by the ship.. so makes it difficult. Easier to just credit card eveything.
Would suggest if you want to use them that you make copies of your passport to carry with you ( infact do it anyway -good to have).

I stopped using traveler's checks years ago when it became such a hassle to try and change them into local currency. You get the best exchange rate by using your ATM card at a local bank. You may incur a charge of something like $3 per transaction but that will be FAR less than using a bank or a cambio to change TC's or US dollars. There are always ATMs in the airline terminals.

Just make sure you call your local bank and tell them that you are traveling abroad and will be using your ATM card overseas (they will probably ask you when you are leaving/returning and what countries you will be visiting) so you don't get "cut off" after a few days (they may assume your card has been stolen). Also be sure and call your credit card company and let them know you will be charging things abroad so the same thing doesn't happen.

I always make a photocopy of the information page of our passports and write down the account numbers as well as the 800 numbers or "call collect if overseas" numbers of the credit cards we will be carrying, just in case.

Two years ago my wallet was stolen from my purse 5 minutes after I claimed my suitcase at the Paris airport precruise. By the time I reached my hotel 40 minutes later I learned from the credit card companies that over $3000 had been ATTEMPTED to be charged on each of my cards. Of course the cash I was carrying to pay my private guide is Saint Petersburg was history. Not a great way to begin a holiday...

When I travel, I take a few traveler's checks, some cash, my ATM card, and credit cards. Once at the airport, I get cash from an ATM. Ship will exchange money, but not at a good rate. I almost never cash the traveler's checks. You will find ATM's plentiful in the cities you are visiting, so you don't have to be carrying around a lot of money, and you won't have much left at the end to cash back into dollars. Have a wonderful time...that is a great itinerary!

If you run short on dollars, the ship allows you to put $400 on your account.

Thanks for all those quick responses and suggestions. I didn't even think of using our ATM card. As I said we will credit card everything we can, but in reading about restaurants, in Rome for instance, a lot of the smaller places don't accept credit cards. Think we might just get some Euros before we leave, will take some traveler's checks to cash onboard the ship if we need, and of course credit cards. Yes, we had thought of and will call the CC company ahead of time to let them know we are traveling.

WOW Suzanne that would just set me off to a bad start for sure. How did the CC company know it wasn't you, since you had obviously let them know you would be traveling? Sounds like they declined all attempts and you got ahold of them quickly enough to take care of it.

We are also planning on taking copies of our passports and the numbers for the credit card companies, just in case, we had been advised to do that the one time we went to London.

Thnaks again.

Also, depending on the countries you are visiting, you may want to change your ATM Pin to a 4-digit one. I did that last year when I went to Greece and Turkey, after reading that a 5-digit Pin would probably not work. Also, if make sure you know your Pin numbers, if you use an "alpha" mnemonic for your number (I got stuck that way in England once, hit a numeric-only ATM, and could not remember which letters correspond to which numbers!)

JoAnn,

I was very lucky that the credit card companies picked up on "unusual" activity. Some of the attempted purchases were over the internet in France and the address to be shipped to was not mine. Others were so large the merchant was instructed to call the credit card company for approval. They were asked if the purchaser was present and the person with my credit cards couldn't tell them my mother's maiden name when asked. WHEW!

They didn't try to use my ATM card.

It may sound stupid but, if you're going to be using your ATM card don't forget to make sure you have enough money in your account!! You may not be able to transfer funds between linked accounts when you're not using your home bank's system.

Another suggestion is to call your CC companies and bank, advising them of the countries you will be visiting and the dates you will be there.

If you carry a debit card, put a maximum daily use on it and also associate it with a pin. This gives you a cash reserve and protects your cash as well.

I then use my debit for cash and never bring traveler's checks either. Go to an ATM and request money in the currency of the country you are in. The best deal? It differs from country to country. For pounds, we found the best deals near the train station at the brokers.

Suzanne,

Not stupid at all about having enough in your account; had things all planned (I thought) for online bill payment with reserve for ATM use next 2 wks, when I received an unexpected large bill. Off to the bank in the AM to make a deposit! Glad I have the extra day!

Actually, We decided to open a special travel account with a different ATM card than we'd normally use on our regular accounts.

If our card were lost or stolen there'd be a limit of how much cash was in the account
There would not be a problem with any automatic payments or identity fraud because it would not be linked to any other accounts - actually I'd flag it for NO transfers. I'd take traveler's checks as a backup - you still can cash those on ship or at a bank - not as easy as in the past - but they do still work
I would prepare a deposit at home for someone to mail to the bank if I spent more than my cash limit so there'd be more available if I needed that.

While away for almost 4 months on the WC we used our ATM for cash exclusively for smaller purchases and incidentals (better bargaining when shopping with CASH) and paid 99.9% of our larger on shore expenses with our AmEx (we were happy we also had a Mastercard as there were a few parts of the world that didn't accept AmEx). We also paid all our bills on line from the ship (carefully planning ahead of time) and had as much as possible set up for auto payments on our AmEx or auto withdrawal from our checking. The one and ONLY bill we pre-paid was our gardner whom I pre-dated checks for 4 months on the 1st of each month so our yard was maintained while we were away. We even filed an extension for our 2004 IRS taxes (but made sure no $ was owing so we didn't incur penalties).

The one bill we missed and didn't plan for was our car registration which came due while we were away. It never even occurred to us. By the time we returned, it was already delinquent so we bit the bullet and paid the late fee when we returned. Look ahead and anticipate what bills may arrive while you're away. Other than this, I think using ATMs for various currencies/cash is the best way to go. Whenever possible, use credit cards for larger purchases.

I also gave our Vet pre-authorization in the event of any emergency with our pets. All of this planning sure gave us peace of mind and it really wasn't that difficult!

Thanks again all of you. I think we will be fine now with all those great suggestions and ideas. I'm glad I posted this question here, as I knew there would be many experts to advise us.

:lct: :lct:

I agree that using an ATM for cash is the best approach. But I did get into a bit of a pickle with my ATM in Venice a few months ago. When I put my card in, there was no option (that I could find) to have the instructions in English--they were all in Italian. I did the best I could to try to translate, but somewhere in the process I hit the wrong button and the ATM ate my card. Bummer!!! The bank where the ATM was located was open, so I went inside to see if they could retreive the card. They told me to come back at 4:30 and they'd get it out. I went back at 4:30 only to find that the bank had closed at 4:00 and there wasn't a soul there except the janitor. (As a result of this incident and several others while we were there, I have a really bad taste in my mouth for Venice--but that's another story). The upside is that I wasn't too concerned about my ATM card--other than the inconvenience of not having it to use--because the card was inside a bank. When I got home, I got a new card. Nobody had ever tried to use the "captured" card.
Anybody got any tips on using ATM's in foreign languages??

What a mess Peggy! Luckily I've never encountered an ATM without an English option. What Tom and I have done is take 2 cards each just incase one doesn't work or gets demagnetized. If one goes bad, we have 3 more that access the exact same checking account to fall back on!

Really good topic and great responses.My tip is to take a few cards some curencey from each country and photo copy every thing and keep in suit case and at home and in carry on,also I always wear pants while in transport that has several pockets (some along side leg, in seams with zippers).Spread all your important papers and monies around so if someone snatches your purse ,fanny pack, wallet, back pack or carry on they will not get every thing.Macy

Foreign languages on machines can be a problem.
Once in Switzerland we used an atomatic gas station.
I fed in the 20 swiss franc note & got the screen to show me what to do IN GERMAN!
By the time I almost began to figure it all out, it ate my money! As if gas in Europe wasn't expensive enough!

With a ATM that won't speak your language, I would suggest you hit the cancel key with all do haste!(& hope)

Doug

Thanks for that tidbit of information. Will definitely keep that in mind.

Actually many say that the ATM gives the best exchange rate. HOWEVER, after messing with a few we have kind of given that up. It can be such a hassle and it is so easy to POP into a bank. We have an ATM card but really dont use it that much.

We do not seem to use that much foreign money anyway when we travel. Just for small items, bus fares, entrance fees etc. Most taxis take credit cards or US dollars and street vendors seem to really like US dollars. We always have some left and bring it home and have a "baggie" collection of many different currencys.

I am really learning some great info - thanks everyone. I think we will take our ATM card, but if the machine doesn't speak english, may just go to a bank, and carry some travelers checks and a combination of cards, cash, etc. My husband has a fanny pack, the new kind with the metal strip inside the strap, and I have a purse that has has the metal strap, which I will wear across my chest. We will definitely make copies of all our travel docs, usually do that anyway, and most of my travel books make a point to just NOT set anything down, even for a minute. I also read in Rome to walk away from the street and toward the inside of sidewalks. I think too that at both hotels we will check on safe deposit boxes for documents and stuff, as we don't want to just leave them in the hotel room, I worry about that kind of thing when we are in the US!