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Currency at ports


AjG

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Hi first time cruiser, sailing at the last week of the month. At the ports I read that having cash is strongly recommended but unsure if I need to have local currency or if USD is fine to buy souvenirs. I don't imagine us leaving the tourist area, but just in case would I have to change my USD to pesos?

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Also don’t forget to try to pay with a credit card when you can. Not everybody will take credit cards because they have to pay fees but many will and that way you won’t have leftover change. Especially during COVID times, people are trying to handle money less which can theoretically transmit disease. 

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@AjG also, use extreme caution when making purchases. My dumb@ss move, I am so embarrassed but if I can help anyone else. Cozumel, June 2021 off the ship and shopping I purchased an eye serum that I researched before hand for what I was told was 350.00 but it was amazing, right? Then I looked and after tax and everything else my credit card was charged 400.00, okay my bad...but it gets worse. The package was beautifully wrapped, just gorgeous so I did not open until I arrived home in the States, utilized the little samples they gave me, well you guessed it arrived home to an empty tube! Totally my fault I should have checked, I felt so violated. After over a month working with the credit card after a dispute I could not ultimately prove so I lost the dispute loosing the $400.00. I hate that the world is still like this and again MY FAULT I should have checked but be aware sadly they saw me coming a mile away, boy oh boy my loving husband will not let me forget, just be careful. @Reigert2008says pay with the small bills when using cash also, they will use interesting math to make change. Just be aware, I will continue to enjoy my port shopping just being a bit less trusting. 

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49 minutes ago, Neesa said:

@AjG also, use extreme caution when making purchases. My dumb@ss move, I am so embarrassed but if I can help anyone else. Cozumel, June 2021 off the ship and shopping I purchased an eye serum that I researched before hand for what I was told was 350.00 but it was amazing, right? Then I looked and after tax and everything else my credit card was charged 400.00, okay my bad...but it gets worse. The package was beautifully wrapped, just gorgeous so I did not open until I arrived home in the States, utilized the little samples they gave me, well you guessed it arrived home to an empty tube! Totally my fault I should have checked, I felt so violated. After over a month working with the credit card after a dispute I could not ultimately prove so I lost the dispute loosing the $400.00. I hate that the world is still like this and again MY FAULT I should have checked but be aware sadly they saw me coming a mile away, boy oh boy my loving husband will not let me forget, just be careful. @Reigert2008says pay with the small bills when using cash also, they will use interesting math to make change. Just be aware, I will continue to enjoy my port shopping just being a bit less trusting. 

OMG that is horrible.  Scram from the start to the finish.  I learned my lesson about buying "pharmaceuticals" in Coz too.  I had read of so many people buying their Z Pak's in Mexico so I bought 3 of them on one of our trips.  When I used them, they were absolutely 100% useless.  Obvious fake.  Never again.

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2 hours ago, Neesa said:

@AjG also, use extreme caution when making purchases. My dumb@ss move, I am so embarrassed but if I can help anyone else. Cozumel, June 2021 off the ship and shopping I purchased an eye serum that I researched before hand for what I was told was 350.00 but it was amazing, right? Then I looked and after tax and everything else my credit card was charged 400.00, okay my bad...but it gets worse. The package was beautifully wrapped, just gorgeous so I did not open until I arrived home in the States, utilized the little samples they gave me, well you guessed it arrived home to an empty tube! Totally my fault I should have checked, I felt so violated. After over a month working with the credit card after a dispute I could not ultimately prove so I lost the dispute loosing the $400.00. I hate that the world is still like this and again MY FAULT I should have checked but be aware sadly they saw me coming a mile away, boy oh boy my loving husband will not let me forget, just be careful. @Reigert2008says pay with the small bills when using cash also, they will use interesting math to make change. Just be aware, I will continue to enjoy my port shopping just being a bit less trusting. 

omg I'm so sorry that happened to you! That's definitely not something you should blame yourself for...when you spend money you expect to be getting product! They (the ones who scammed you) are the bad people here and the only ones who need to feel blame and guilt.

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While in Port at Falmouth Jamaica my friend purchased something at a shop and got change back in JMD but paid in USD. The change wasn't even close to right. It cost like 8 bucks and she paid with a 20 and got 12 bucks back. But in JMD to USD conversion she got about 12 cents back as change. 

 

Another note. If you need local currency ATM's have a decent exchange rate and if you use a bank that refunds ATM fees they are hard to beat. I was in Jamaica for a couple weeks and took a few hundred in cash and exchanged at the airport. The rate was like 112 to 1 or something like that. The rate at the atm was closer to 135 to 1. Even with an ATM fee I was better off that way than the exchange places. 

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I had this happen to me on an Egyptian river cruise. We had exchanged money at our hotel in Cairo but need a little bit more cash. So we used an exchange vendor in Luxor, at the time it was 18 EGP to $1. We traded in $50usd expecting about 860 EGP and got back 356; which was less than half of what we exchanged. We had to get someone from the port to fix it and to say that the man was pissed was an understatement. This also happened to me once on a Bahamian excursion, we paid in USD and later learned from a crew member they charged us 3x the amount. Not only do I always do my research, I purposely carry $1, 5 and 10s now. 

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34 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

I had this happen to me on an Egyptian river cruise. We had exchanged money at our hotel in Cairo but need a little bit more cash. So we used an exchange vendor in Luxor, at the time it was 18 EGP to $1. We traded in $50usd expecting about 860 EGP and got back 356; which was less than half of what we exchanged. We had to get someone from the port to fix it and to say that the man was pissed was an understatement. This also happened to me once on a Bahamian excursion, we paid in USD and later learned from a crew member they charged us 3x the amount. Not only do I always do my research, I purposely carry $1, 5 and 10s now. 

Do you recommend a good website to look up the currency rates?

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3 hours ago, BrianB said:

I sailed out of New Jersey and tried to exchange my currency to the local Port Canaveral currency but couldn’t find anyone who would make the exchange. They just looked at me funny like…I couldn’t figure it out.😜

 

1 hour ago, Ampurp85 said:

@BrianBPort Canaveral currency is Mickey ears, that's why they were looking at you funny.

D'oh.

CwN3bX5UAAAowzs.jpg

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