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From: Jean O'Boyle on 21 May 2010 23:43 "Ari" <AriSilverstein(a)yahoo.com> wrote in message news:85olsaF26sU1(a)mid.individual.net... > On Fri, 21 May 2010 19:06:25 -0400, Charles wrote: > >> In article <85o8j1Fq15U1(a)mid.individual.net>, Ari >> <AriSilverstein(a)yahoo.com> wrote: >> >>> On Fri, 21 May 2010 08:48:31 -0700, John Sisker wrote: >>> >>>> The bottom line is, we just put most purchases on >>>> a credit card, and get some extra one's and five (USD) for tipping. We >>>> saw >>>> a >>>> lady on one of the shore excursion do this, so figured, why not! No >>>> shore >>>> excursion guide seem to turn down an American five for a tip. >>>> >>>> We also knew that using a credit card overseas comes with an extra >>>> cost, >>>> but >>>> it still seemed a lot easier to us than worrying about all the >>>> different >>>> currency and difference exchange rates. >>> >>> Question: Is this really breaking news for this NG? >> >> There is nothing wrong with him posting it but holy cow.....he is >> supposed to be a travel agent and has no clue........ > > It's Usenet, people can post anything they want, I'm just trying to > get a lay of the land around here. > > If this post is considered real news, then everyone must be > laying...down. > -- > Ari's Fun Times! > http://tr.im/hrFG > Motto: Run, rabbit, Run! I don't know who you are nor where you came from...you just recently started posting here. You say people can post anything they want. Assailing other's characters with untruths and slander is not right anywhere, not just rtc. It creates an unpleasant environment within the group. You might try contributing some cruise information or asking some questions pertaining to cruising instead of stirring the pot. If you can't do that, you might follow your motto! ;-) Many of us here know each other well and have cruised together often. --Jean
From: gmbeasley on 22 May 2010 08:10 On Fri, 21 May 2010 16:26:09 -0400, Ari <AriSilverstein(a)yahoo.com> wrote: >On Fri, 21 May 2010 08:48:31 -0700, John Sisker wrote: > >> The bottom line is, we just put most purchases on >> a credit card, and get some extra one's and five (USD) for tipping. We saw a >> lady on one of the shore excursion do this, so figured, why not! No shore >> excursion guide seem to turn down an American five for a tip. >> >> We also knew that using a credit card overseas comes with an extra cost, but >> it still seemed a lot easier to us than worrying about all the different >> currency and difference exchange rates. > >Question: Is this really breaking news for this NG? You seem to making the mistake that a newsgroup is about news. It isn't.
From: rieker on 22 May 2010 08:29 >We even heard of some > passengers who were saying, that as soon as they were ashore, they were > going into town to find a bank, and much better exchange rates. Is this > what you do, Experienced travelers, not just cruisers, overwhelmingly use onshore ATM's while traveling. They get the latest, most current exchange rate at market prices. No 'currency exchange' or cruise ship markup. While everyone pays an 'exchange fee or %age', it is far less than what the ship charges or what taking a 'cash advance' on a CC would be. Some folks are happy to pay an extra fee to AAA or their local bank to have euros or other local currency in their pocket when they arrive overseas. We find that the plethora of ATM's, esp. in Europe, makes this unnecessary for us. Using local currency gives us more bang for our buck when bartering with local merchants. It takes away their opportunity to set their own exchange rates! :) --- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: news(a)netfront.net ---
From: gmbeasley on 22 May 2010 08:37 On Fri, 21 May 2010 08:48:31 -0700, "John Sisker" <jsisker(a)sprynet.com> wrote: > >The Pursers Deck on the ship would help exchange one currency for another, >plus there were a couple of machines set up on the ship to do so as we. >Naturally, the exchange rate was not very good. We even heard of some >passengers who were saying, that as soon as they were ashore, they were >going into town to find a bank, and much better exchange rates. Is this what >you do, or do you simple bite the bullet and take the rates that the cruise >line offers? > The purser's desk charges a fee for getting money in addition to not having a good exchange rate and the ATM machines on board also charge a fee. Absolutely the most expensive way to get local money. Do not do that except as the last resort. On a cruise ship you usually don't need local money. You go to the shops on the pier and you can almost always use US$. In Estonia they had an exchange booth right at the pier. >However, we found a middle road that worked for us. At first, we were very >conscious of just the right money in the right place. Yet, we seldom bought >more that cheap souvenirs anyway. So we quickly gave that up as an >unnecessary hassle for us. The bottom line is, we just put most purchases on >a credit card, See the other discussion about what credit card fees are. A debit card would be better in some cases. What I buy is mostly gifts for our family. Christmas or birthday depending on when the cruise is. I spend about what I would spend if I were at home which is $25 to $50 a person. I have 11 grandchildren and four children and inlaws, so this can add up pretty quickly. My grandson and I bought an expensive piece of glass at Murano as a gift for his parents, but even the T-shirts and the like add up pretty quickly - enough to make it worth while to figure out what the least expensive card to use would be. Most of the time when I'm traveling, I not only pay by credit card (even when there is a fee for credit card use as there is in some places outside the US), but I don't buy the items unless the seller will ship them home for me, or unless they are really tiny. I just don't have room in my luggage for bulky souvenirs and gifts. >and get some extra one's and five (USD) for tipping. We saw a >lady on one of the shore excursion do this, so figured, why not! No shore >excursion guide seem to turn down an American five for a tip. We always carry some small bills for tipping, even in the US. Taxi drivers, baggage porters and the like all need tipping and you don't want to give them a $10 and ask for change. The small bills are part of my "walking around" money that I take when getting off the ship. There is a problem in Russia with any kind of money. Not only do the ATMs charge an extra fee (over and above the actual ATM card fee that your home bank charges), but the banks will charge 10% if the bills that are turned in to exchange for rubles have any kind of marks or wrinkles or tears. The bills must be absolutely new and pristine if they are to be exchanged at par. So if you give a guide an old wrinkled $5 bill, they will get only $4.50 out of it. >One thing we did note however, which would have been a little embarrassing >to us, after a ten and a half hour shore excursion, one lady cut in front of >everyone else, to give our guide a dollar tip. We found that rather cheap - >considering, but to each their own I guess. This lady didn't seem to bat an >eye in this regard. Oh well, hopefully we helped make up for that somewhat. >We believe rewarding good service. > If there is a bus of 40 people and each give the guide $1, that's $40.00 over and above what the person is paid. I think $1 is fine for a half day tour, although for a longer tour I might make it $2 provided that the guide was reasonably believable. For a private tour I would tip 5-10% of the tour price. I do base my tip on how good the guide is. If they do a crappy job, I don't tip them. I do think there's such a thing as over tipping- especially if the country you are in doesn't do tipping. I was told by the wheel chair man in Denmark that I should not tip in Denmark. I'd rather be thought cheap (which is true) than be thought to be profligate.
From: Sandy on 22 May 2010 09:07
Thanks Jean, for saying that. I agree. I llearn a lot from John's posts as well as the other regulars. Sandy in St. Augustine "Jean O'Boyle" <job1930(a)yahoo.com> wrote in message news:ht7jtq$vu1$1(a)news.eternal-september.org... > > "Ari" <AriSilverstein(a)yahoo.com> wrote in message > news:85olsaF26sU1(a)mid.individual.net... >> On Fri, 21 May 2010 19:06:25 -0400, Charles wrote: >> >>> In article <85o8j1Fq15U1(a)mid.individual.net>, Ari >>> <AriSilverstein(a)yahoo.com> wrote: >>> >>>> On Fri, 21 May 2010 08:48:31 -0700, John Sisker wrote: >>>> >>>>> The bottom line is, we just put most purchases on >>>>> a credit card, and get some extra one's and five (USD) for tipping. We >>>>> saw >>>>> a >>>>> lady on one of the shore excursion do this, so figured, why not! No >>>>> shore >>>>> excursion guide seem to turn down an American five for a tip. >>>>> >>>>> We also knew that using a credit card overseas comes with an extra >>>>> cost, >>>>> but >>>>> it still seemed a lot easier to us than worrying about all the >>>>> different >>>>> currency and difference exchange rates. >>>> >>>> Question: Is this really breaking news for this NG? >>> >>> There is nothing wrong with him posting it but holy cow.....he is >>> supposed to be a travel agent and has no clue........ >> >> It's Usenet, people can post anything they want, I'm just trying to >> get a lay of the land around here. >> >> If this post is considered real news, then everyone must be >> laying...down. >> -- >> Ari's Fun Times! >> http://tr.im/hrFG >> Motto: Run, rabbit, Run! > > I don't know who you are nor where you came from...you just recently > started posting here. You say people can post anything they want. > Assailing other's characters with untruths and slander is not right > anywhere, not just rtc. It creates an unpleasant environment within the > group. You might try contributing some cruise information or asking some > questions pertaining to cruising instead of stirring the pot. If you > can't do that, you might follow your motto! ;-) Many of us here know each > other well and have cruised together often. > > --Jean > |