Can I Use US Dollars in Ports of Call?

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Visiting foreign countries is an enriching experience in so many ways. The memories of experiencing a different culture, beautiful nature, and places of historical interest stay with you long after you’ve stepped off the ship and headed home. If you’re lucky enough you’ll find that special something to purchase, a trinket, a piece of art, an indigenous handicraft, which can be lovingly displayed as a conversation piece about your trip.

 

Are you able to use American currency to buy these wonderful conversational pieces, or must you convert it every time you stop at a different port of call?

 

If you’re traveling to the Caribbean every port there will accept US currency. However, passengers are often warned by cruise director staff during port shopping seminars to use small bills when purchasing items, especially if you’re off the beaten path at a store used by the locals. Using a $20 bill to purchase a $3 item will likely result in $17 worth of change in local currency. Great for souvenirs in scrapbooks. Not so great if you’re working off a budget.

 

My wife and I learned this the hard way on our very first cruise. We failed to bring enough one or five dollar bills with us when we disembarked at St Maarten. When our tour stopped at a tantalizing bakery in the French side of St Maarten we followed the crowd to purchase a delectable pastry. Armed with nothing but a twenty dollar bill we found ourselves with plenty of interesting, but ultimately useless, French bills and coins.

 

When traveling in Europe it will be necessary to convert your American cash to Euros. You can use your ATM card abroad, but be aware that if your bank charges a fee for using your card at an ATM outside your network, your withdrawal will incur those charges as well. Plan your withdrawals accordingly so that you’re not making lots of small transactions where fees quickly add up.

 

There may also be additional transaction fees for doing an international exchange either by your bank, by the owner of the foreign bank, or both. Recommendations from the experts state you should withdraw an uneven amount from the ATM, for instance $90 instead of $100, so you have a mix of bills that will be easier to break.

 

As always, no matter where you travel, alert your bank to your planned itinerary so they do not put a freeze on your funds when transactions begin popping up from other countries.

 

So go ahead and splurge on that unique piece of jewelry or that duty-free bottle of spirits. Follow these guidelines and you’ll come home with only what you mean to come home with.