Converting currency for 12 nt Med Cruise this month! About This Page:

[disneygirlj]

My family will be leaving soon for our first trip to Europe. I keep reading conflicting information about currency exchange and after calling DCL twice, I'm still confused. DCL says that I can bring traveler's checks and they will exchange them at guest services, with no fee and no limit, but they could not tell me what the exchange rate is that the ship is currently using. I can get my checks from AAA at no cost since I need over $1,000.

I asked my bank about exchanging at an atm which seems to be the most recommended option posted online; they said yes, my bank atm card will work, they charge a 3% transaction fee plus a $5 atm use fee and then I will also have to pay the ATM companies fee plus I need to find an atm with the best exchange rate. So, I am confused. Right now it seems like exchanging the traveler's checks onboard is the best option. However, I don't know how high the exchange rate could differ from the exchange rate at ATM machines or if there are some other hidden costs (hopefully DCL would tell me).

Does anyone know anything about the exchange rates that are on the ship and those of atm's I would find in port? I don't want to exchange my money here in NY and then carry around lots of cash in Barcelona for the first 2 days where pickpocketing is rampant. Also, we have mostly private tours scheduled so all of them ask to be paid in cash, so we need a lot of money in euros and we cannot pay them with credit cards or I would use my Capital One card.

Thank you for any insight!

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

The main thing is exchange rates change everyday so Disney can't really give you what it will be.

[chezp]

I have no idea of the exchange rate Disney gives, but I can't imagine it being very competitive. The reason I say that is that it's like airports, they have a captive market and you can't go anywhere else. I don't know about American banks, but we got a Euro travel money card, where we loaded money on it. I think we get charged about €3 every time we withdraw money, which didn't seem too bad. Given the charges you're going to incur at ATMs, Disney may not be too bad an option for you... deciding what to do.

[duck addict]

One other factor to consider. DCL will cash your travelers checks, but you are stuck with the exchange rate they give you. Off the ship, travelers checks are getting harder and harder to cash. With debit cards, no fee credit cards, etc. many banks won't cash them any more. For my european trip next year, I will get start up euros in advance, and rely on ATM's if more are needed.

[lauriep]

Originally Posted by duck addict

One other factor to consider. DCL will cash your travelers checks, but you are stuck with the exchange rate they give you. Off the ship, travelers checks are getting harder and harder to cash. With debit cards, no fee credit cards, etc. many banks won't cash them any more. For my european trip next year, I will get start up euros in advance, and rely on ATM's if more are needed.

This is so true. It used to be that you could use travelers checks just like cash anywhere. Now, as Don says, even banks give you a hard time. I always get some foreign currency before my trip from my bank just so I don't get stuck, use my credit card for most purchases (very good exchange rates) and ATM for everything else.

[modisney]

We just went to Italy and prior to the trip I went to a local bank and got a little over $100 dollars in Eruos to use. It was pretty easy. Once we used that up we just got a little at a time from ATMs and used our Visa. Our spendings weren't that large and I just stopped paying attention to the exchanges, conversions etc. What little we had left over I'm saving for our Baltics cruise next year.

[duck addict]

Originally Posted by modisney

We just went to Italy and prior to the trip I went to a local bank and got a little over $100 dollars in Eruos to use. It was pretty easy. Once we used that up we just got a little at a time from ATMs and used our Visa. Our spendings weren't that large and I just stopped paying attention to the exchanges, conversions etc. What little we had left over I'm saving for our Baltics cruise next year.

Have fun planning your Baltic cruise

[Tigger71]

We did the Med. on the Magic in 2012. We did not have traveller's cheques or very much actual cash for our family of 4.

We waited to get a good exchange on the Euro whilst we were still at home (about 500 Euros only then we got another 500).

For every purchase we just used a credit card.

We tried to use one with the lowest limit and when we had internet access (off the ship) we transferred a payment to keep card in credit. Our bank is then responsible for any unauthorised use and we had no problems getting cards accepted. We only ever used cash for very small purchases or from non card taking vendors. Both my DH and I shared cash carrying both on our person, in the fanny pack, backpack and hidden in the hotel room. We stayed in Dubai, Paris and Barcelona before our cruise without any problem. We did not have a need to use ATMs on this trip. (Our bank has very expensive fees for international use). We did have a "Visa money card" preloaded with Euros but we did not need it.

In Perth where I live, you would find it difficult to get your traveller's cheques cashed anywhere accept a major branch of a bank. Good luck.

[ferrazalves]

We often travell to europe with 1,000 euro in cash and return with half of it. We use our credit card everywhere and walk around with 1 credit card and 100 euro in cash for small expenses. The remaining we keep in the safe box at rhe hotel for security purpose. There are olaces where you can exchange traveller checks but I think the rate would be worse than using ATM - that's what we do in non-euro countries. Can't you pay the tours with credit card? I know that receive in cash would be better for then once there is no fee associated but its a risk for you to travel with a lot of cash.


Enviado do meu iPhone usando o Tapatalk

[Dave Marx]

These days, cash isn't all that essential. If you'll be out on your own, then certainly have enough for taxis and street vendors. That isn't likely to average more than 50 euro a day - I'd ignore whether you'll be at sea or not, 600 euro for the whole trip.

Now, I know it's always best when you feel you've gotten a square deal on exchange rates, but for that kind of money, exchange rate hunting isn't going to save or cost you a whole lot. Convenience and comfort may be worth more to you.

I like to go to my local bank before the trip - far less stressful than taking the time to do it while on vacation. Generally, the exchange rate is going to be as good as it'll get - probably whatever rate they're charging their business customers for international fund transfers (which is what they do for credit cards, too).

[duck addict]

Also check with you bank and find out what 'handshake' banks in the countries you stop will cause you the least amount of fees. I did that at my bank to find out which ATMs to use in Canada October and in Europe next spring. I will only pay money conversion fees, but no additional fee for the use of a 'foreign' ATM.

[disneygirlj]

Thanks for all the great advice. At this point, I think we have decided to go with security and less stress of taking traveler's checks and having DCL cash them at their exchange rate. I saw that my AAA was the same exchange rate. It's too late for us to look for another bank to get a debit that won't charge a foreign transaction fee and I think even if I had thought about this 6 mos ago, I wouldn't want the hassle of changing banks because we have our mortgage, line of credit etc with ours and they offer discounts from being all together. I did look to see if there are any "sister" banks to ours, but realized that we have a local region bank so the answer to that was no! Our biggest thing is that we are taking a lot of private tours and they will only take cash -- I have a large family, so we are talking at least 500-700 euros that we need for each guide. Some of the tours we asked to prepay like Barcelona Day tours, but others I feel it is safer to not prepay. If we were doing all DCL tours, we would just pay with a credit card but we feel private tours will be more enjoyable. I really appreciate everyone's responses and will use this on future trips.