Currency Question

[Silver Queen]

We will be sailing on the Fantasy next month and were wondering what the currency was on St. Maarten/St. Martin. Can anyone help?

 

[wdwwishes]

I don't know about their currency but I thought most Caribbean islands did their currency or dollars.

 

[Silver Queen]

Okay, I did more research and found out that the official currency on St. Maarten is the Antillean guilder and the official currency on St Martin is the Euro. The source that I found said, however, that both sides of the island will usually take US dollars.

 

[bats]

We will be sailing on the Fantasy next month and were wondering what the currency was on St. Maarten/St. Martin. Can anyone help?

We have used US$ for the 2 visits we've done.

 

[icesk8abc]

We used US dollars without any issues in St. Thomas and St. Maarten. Most places we visited listed the prices in US dollars only. If you are going somewhere that doesn't usually attract tourists, you may need to convert the prices, but they should accept dollars with no problems.

 

[Savikins]

We used US dollars without any issues in St. Thomas and St. Maarten. Most places we visited listed the prices in US dollars only. If you are going somewhere that doesn't usually attract tourists, you may need to convert the prices, but they should accept dollars with no problems.

I would hope St. Thomas takes US dollars, considering they're part of the US!

But yes, I've had no problems using US dollars in any of the Caribbean ports I've been to.

 

[Silver Queen]

Thanks, everyone! We knew that St. Thomas and Puerto Rico were US territories, but weren't sure about the currency situation on the other islands. One less thing to think about.

 

[SuperDry]

It's often the case in tourist places that take USD where the local currency is something else, the merchant's exchange rate has a lot of profit in it for them. Especially if the merchant takes credit cards, you'd be wise to price things out in local currency as well and figure out what commission they're adding to accept USD: the most expensive forex charge on a credit card is 3%, so if the merchant is charging more than a 3% markup to pay in USD, you're better off using a credit card.

This isn't an issue in the Bahamas: although the local currency is the Bahamian Dollar, it always trades 1.00 to 1.00 with the USD, so there's no opportunity for a merchant to hide a conversion fee if they accept USD (that is, no merchant in the Bahamas that accepts USD seems to have the nerve to do so other than at parity).

As for St. Maartin/Martin, my experience is that most things on the Dutch side are priced in USD, and USD is used as a common currency, even though there is a different official currency. Even things like regulated taxi fares are in USD. On the French side, the Euro is not only the official currency, but seems to be what's used in everyday commerce, with items priced in Euro (although any place a tourist is bound to go will likely take USD, at a cost).

 

[Jk125]

I don't understand, why would you not take some of the currency of the country you are going to? Most places take credit cards so you will only need a small amount.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

We have never had any problems anywhere in the Caribbean using the US dollar. Most places, even outside the tourist spots have $ prices marked along with local currency.

AKK

 

[Silver Queen]

It's often the case in tourist places that take USD where the local currency is something else, the merchant's exchange rate has a lot of profit in it for them. Especially if the merchant takes credit cards, you'd be wise to price things out in local currency as well and figure out what commission they're adding to accept USD: the most expensive forex charge on a credit card is 3%, so if the merchant is charging more than a 3% markup to pay in USD, you're better off using a credit card.

This isn't an issue in the Bahamas: although the local currency is the Bahamian Dollar, it always trades 1.00 to 1.00 with the USD, so there's no opportunity for a merchant to hide a conversion fee if they accept USD (that is, no merchant in the Bahamas that accepts USD seems to have the nerve to do so other than at parity).

As for St. Maartin/Martin, my experience is that most things on the Dutch side are priced in USD, and USD is used as a common currency, even though there is a different official currency. Even things like regulated taxi fares are in USD. On the French side, the Euro is not only the official currency, but seems to be what's used in everyday commerce, with items priced in Euro (although any place a tourist is bound to go will likely take USD, at a cost).

This is good to know. We have some leftover Euros so maybe we'll just bring some along.

 

[SuperDry]

I don't understand, why would you not take some of the currency of the country you are going to?

Because of the hassle and expense. Most banks in the US don't have foreign currency on hand - it must be ordered in advance and they charge for this service. The currency windows at US airports typically charge around 15% commission, despite the sign that says "0% commission" - they just build the commission into the conversion rate rather than charging separately for it but it's the same result: you lose 15% of your money. Perhaps Guest Services on the boat has a more reasonable rate.

We have never had any problems anywhere in the Caribbean using the US dollar. Most places, even outside the tourist spots have $ prices marked along with local currency.

It's not an issue of it being a problem per se - it's more of an issue as to the cost. For example, the current exchange rate for the Mexican peso is 14.741 peso = 1 USD. It would not surprise me at all for many businesses in Mexico that accept USD to do so at 14 peso per dollar. That adds an additional 5% to the posted price if you pay in USD. A business that does so at 13 peso per dollar is adding over 13% to the price. If you're just buying lunch it probably doesn't matter.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

We never buy big money items on a cruise so a few percent mark up is not a problem, especially since where ever you buy your currency there is some mark. We just keep the normal exchange rate in our minds to make sure we are not being taken to much!

I can see the point if your going after big ticket items like diamonds, it would be more of issue.

AKK

 

[scgustafson]

Have searched this forum, but I can't find the answer to this, but which currencies do they have onboard Disney Fantasy at Guest Services? Do they actually have pesos, Cayman Island dollars, and Jamaican dollars available for purchase?

 

[Jk125]

Try to take some local currency but credit cards work well too.

You will pay for exchange regardless of how or where transaction takes place. At home you will pay bank fees, likely the cheapest, at the vendor you won't pay fees but will get a less favorable rate (hidden fee).

 

[scgustafson]

Try to take some local currency but credit cards work well too.

You will pay for exchange regardless of how or where transaction takes place. At home you will pay bank fees, likely the cheapest, at the vendor you won't pay fees but will get a less favorable rate (hidden fee).

On our Eastern Caribbean cruise on Disney Fantasy as well as Med and Northern Europe cruises on Disney Magic, I have always used my credit card with no foreign transaction fee or brought local currency. I was just wondering if Disney Fantasy actually carried the local currencies for the Caribbean countries it visited so you could get them at Guest Services.