janieanderson

We are doing the Baltic and Russia on Princess in August--starting in Copenhagen while some will have started in Berlin? Interesting how that works?
I read on another blog that in some countries the taxis didn't take USD or Euros. What money will I need in advance and for which countries? Sweden krons maybe?
Any other pointers, things you wished you'd known?
I hear you need to see the Peterhof Palace but the tours are just the gardens and fountains....is that what they mean?

janisj

I suggest you re-post on the Europe forum since you are asking about currency in the various countries and sightseeing. It is a much more active board.

RoamsAround

jacketwatch

You can find out on the ship and can get appropriate currency from guest relations or I think ATM's on board but do be aware the rates will not be so good.

As for cabs I think you can use a credit card but best if you have one with no foreign transaction fee.

Consider ATM's on shore too or exchange kiosks.

HappyTrvlr

Eschew

I exchanged for multi currency before I leave. As it turns out, it was both a blessing and a nuisance. We ended up running out on some and have left over for others.The blessing is your money is readily accepted, but how much in each currency? We planned it so we have so much for cab fare, meals, tips etc. for each stop; but the amount is never precise so I always ended up using Euro and US$ and it worked fine in most situation to supplement when we were short. Unless you plan to stay extensively in Denmark before the cruise, you can get away with carrying US$ and Euro and a credit card. The cab driver in Demark would only take local currency but gladly accept credit card payment. The local restaurants will take Euro, especially those in tourist areas. They even have menus printed to show Euros if you ask in some places. The Russians gladly take US$ anywhere. The ship have ATM that dispense local currency but they charge a high fee for that convenience.
Hope this helps.

burta

Princess' Baltic cruises previously were all round trip from Copenhagen. However, I have noticed that they now do a round trip Berlin and, interestingly, a round trip St. Petersburg. There are interesting stops along the way. You will enjoy it.

Princess has some very good tours in St. Petersburg. The trip to Peterhof and the Hermitage are wonderful. The city tour by bus and boat are wonderful as well. If you can squeeze in Catherine's Palace in the evening, I understand that is a must see as well--we did not have the energy to do it, and regret it to this day.

fmpden

Keep in mind that if the country accepts euro or dollars, you will be on the very short end of the exchange rate. For small items probably not a big deal but you will pay a premium for more expensive items. When we were in Russia "supposedly" it was illegal to transact any business in anything other than rubles but street vendors easily took dollars. Generally it is a good idea to use the currency of the country you are in.

Eschew

We booked through Alla tours and they were excellent, and what they charge is much cheaper than the ship. Your excursion voucher is your Russian visa. We heard of them from a friend and others who had used them. We will definitely use them again. We took the small group tour and we asked to to see the subway and they did that. I saw that they have added riding the subway to their itinerary.

Peterhof Palace is the summer palace and yes, there are many fountains and gardens. It is a bit out of the way, but the way Alla tour did it, was we wnet there by car, and return by hydrofoil and the car wait for us at the terminal on the other side making it a real quick trip rather than bus the whole way there and back. You can google Peterhof Palace and look at the pictures and see if it interest you. They have people dressed in period outfits and parade/marching bands etc. during the tourist season. The famed amber room is also at the Peterhof Palace. The amber room is restored but not the original as it was stripped. Typically you spend some time inside and looked at the palace, then outside on the fountain and garden, a walk along the seaside to the hydrofoil terminal for a 20 minutes ride back to St Pete.

angie7911922

Each country has its own type of money, so be prepared for that. We mostly just hit ATMs once in the country and took what we needed (which wasn't much).

If your tour is telling you that you are only touring the outside of Peterhof, then you should try another tour. We used Anastasia's Travel when we were in St. Petersburg, and our guide took us inside. It was beautiful. I know a lot of tours do the outside because of the amazing gardens, but if you are there, you really should do the inside as well.

doug_stallings

To be honest, I doubt you'll need any currency except in Russia. Most of the Nordic countries use credit and debit cards widely ... Sweden, Norway, and Denmark are actually encouraging the movement to a non-cash economy, so cards are virtually universal (and always accepted in taxis). The Baltic States (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland) all accept euros, so if you have euros, bring them or you can get some from an ATM. If you buy anything in Russia you'll need rubles, which are not easily convertible outside of the country, so make sure you spend all your cash. When I travel internationally, I rarely bring anything other than leftover foreign currency that I can spend in the country I'm visiting and about $200 in US dollars (ideally 50s and 20s). You might also bring a few dollar bills for tips for room service. But if I need cash, I always use an ATM. I NEVER get foreign currency before I leave because of unfavorable exchange rates.

Also, if you are asked and have the option, never accept dynamic currency conversion ("pay the amount in your home currency"), which usually includes both a hidden fee and a bad exchange rate. In an ATM, you're being dynamically converted if the ATM displays the equivalent of the amount in your home currency. If you withdraw 200 euros, choose "200 euros" not the US$ equivalent (i.e., "$200 in euros").

Dave_Ohio

I second Doug's advice. We took a similar cruise a year ago, and I posted this same question:
Baltic Cruise: Managing multiple currencies and internet/mobile connections
You can see what we ended up doing towards the end of the thread.
Have a great trip!