Excursions and cash

[FigmentSpark]

We have a couple of excursions planned, one for St. Thomas and one for Tortola. At home, I usually rely on my plastic for purchases, but, of course, I know we'll need some cash on our excursions.

First, how much cash, say for tips and incidentals should we bring on excursion.

Second, do most shops, restaurants, et. al. accept credit cards (and is it safe to use there) or is cash strongly preferred or only accepted?

Finally, I expect USD is the currency of choice in St. Thomas, but what about Tortola?

 

[MickeyEarrings]

St. Thomas is in the US Virgin Islands. US dollars are quite welcome there.

 

[Amanda129]

St. Thomas is a US territory, so USD is used. Tortola also widely accepts USD (the only time you might have trouble using USD is if you go way off the beaten path).

Tips for excursions are at your discretion, and will vary depending on the level of service you receive. I'd use the same judgement you would if you used a similar service at home.

And yes, most shops and restaurants should accept major credit cards (Visa/Mastercard - they may or may not take AMEX or Discover as these aren't as widely accepted, so bring a backup if one of these if your preferred card). I work at a bank, and rarely see suspicious card activity from those areas, but if you're worried about your card/account information, I would recommend that you regularly check your account and make sure you have the customer service phone number for your bank with you, just in case there are any issues using your card. I also highly recommend you contact your bank and credit card companies before you go and place a travel alert on your accounts - otherwise your transactions are more likely to be blocked.

 

[FigmentSpark]

What I meant about tips is whether they should be in USD or some other currency. Sorry I was unclear.

So you don't think I need extra cash while on excursion, just a card, tip money and maybe some incidental money?

 

[Shanti]

What I meant about tips is whether they should be in USD or some other currency. Sorry I was unclear.

So you don't think I need extra cash while on excursion, just a card, tip money and maybe some incidental money?

I tipped our Tortola excursion host in U.S. dollars & he seemed pleased. The island hosts primarily American tourists & is right next to the U.S.V.I., so American currency is no problem for use in tourism sectors (excursions, taxis, tourist shops, etc.) We stopped in one shop during our excursion & all prices were in dollars.

You should definitely always carry some (not a ton) of cash on a public island, just in case of the unlikely event you get left behind by an excursion group or something (better safe than sorry). You could use cash to get a taxi back to the ship. You should also tip your excursion host, & you might want to buy food or a drink. Dollars are more welcome than credit cards on the islands.

 

[FigmentSpark]

That is what I suspected, Shanti. Thanks for the confirmation.

 

[Sytrace]

I bring a total of $ 100.00 cash for tips and souvies. Smaller denominations for tips like 5's and 10's. I also bring a credit card, but have never used it to date. Cash does the trick.

 

[clten]

We always make sure we have enough cash for a taxi ride back to the ship in addition to what we think we will need for excursion tips (make sure we have some smaller bills). We are not big shoppers but bring one credit card just in case we see something we must have.

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

The credit cards were widely accepted (and the exchange rate they gave was excellent for destinations that had a different currency), but Amanda is right. Call your CC companies ahead of time. Both of our cards were cut off within 24 hours, even though most times when I travel the CC companies don't care. What's more, when we called the CC companies from the phone at guest services, both companies told us the same thing: "Give us your cell phone number and we'll text you a verification code." We are at sea, cell phones turned off. One company said no problem and verified us verbally with questions, the other made us wait until we got home the following week to get the card turned back on.

But bring cash for tips, definitely. Everyone we encountered were fine with US dollars.

 

[Amanda129]

What I meant about tips is whether they should be in USD or some other currency. Sorry I was unclear.

So you don't think I need extra cash while on excursion, just a card, tip money and maybe some incidental money?

No, I don't think you'd need to bring a ton of extra cash. What everyone else has said is reasonable, IMO. You could always use an ATM while you're there if needed

 

[FigmentSpark]

I will definitely be letting my CC company know about our trip, but I worry, too. I once had them call (our home number!) to verify a charge along our trip. They were about to cut off our card, but we happened to check the voice mail and get back to them in time.

I also heard a story of a guy that was going to Japan to buy a bunch of computers (this was about 10-15 years ago). He told his CC company what he was doing and they still cancelled his card when he attempted to put the charge through. Very frustrating. I would hope that systems are more sophisticated now, but you never know.

 

[bumbershoot]

The *one* place we ever had a CC (and it was actually BOTH CCs) not work...and this is after years of DH traveling literally all over the world while I was home using my CC while he was using his and we never told the CC companies of his travels...was in San Juan. Which is, of course, part of the US. And we were at one of the most touristy, non-scammy, places to go there (Cariloha for bamboo sheets). Thankfully since it was the US and they got denied right there we were able to call and get it worked out but MAN was it obnoxious. DH went to Novosibirsk, which is Siberia, and was able to get lattes with our CC without letting them know, but buying sheets in a territory was denied?

You just never know.


We had one excursion on our recent cruise and we took the cash to pay for the rest of it, plus more than what I thought was needed for a tip (which I ended up giving to them b/c the one dude saved me from a panic attack while snorkeling and it was the least I could do), plus just a bit more. We weren't going anywhere after the excursion returned, and after reading MANY tripadvisor reviews that said they were perfect at getting cruisers back on time (even the few negative reviews didn't indicate they got them back late), so I wasn't overly worried about cash.

 

[timrousbeastie]

I have not yet been on an Eastern itinerary so I can't help with those specific ports. However, I would not count on using ATMs in locations that you are not familiar with. During our most recent cruise, we were on an excursion in Jamaica with a family that didn't have cash to pay for water shoes at a stop. I paid for them and they were very thankful and apologetic. Later in the day, the father came up to me and said that the ATM was not working, but they would drop off the money to our stateroom later. In the end, I never heard back from them. It was just a small amount, like $30, but I felt bad for them as I have no doubt that they would have paid me back if there had been an ATM on the ship or at Castaway Cay. In the odd case that they happen to be reading this, I just want to say that it is no problem at all: I just don't want them to feel bad about it.

 

[wombat_5606]

Guest services used to be able to cash a check for you up to $100. Does anyone know if they still do this?

 

[timrousbeastie]

Guest services used to be able to cash a check for you up to $100. Does anyone know if they still do this?

I don't know, but that's a good idea. Come to think of it, the staff in the concierge lounge helped me get around $100 in cash because I wanted to tip one bartender who was not in their system (the other bartender was). They charged the amount to my account and gave me cash that I then put in one of the small envelopes for tipping and handed it to the cast member. All the other tips went through my account as usual. I didn't ask, but I got the feeling that they might have been able to help with a general cash advance. And, if they do, perhaps guest services might as well(?).

 

[sabrecmc]

We did excursions in St. Thomas and Tortola, and yes, take cash. ATMs were not readily available on our excursions and there wasn't a lot of time. Used the cash for tips, a t-shirt for my daughter on the pirate snorkel thing and a couple of postcards and a drink from the gift shop at the beach we went to. I could have used a CC there, in theory, but it was such a small purchase. On the pirate boat, it was cash only.

 

[MunFam]

We get enough local currency for an emergency taxi ride from our bank prior to departure for the best exchange rate. Typically, we do local excursions or go out on our own, never through a cruise line, so we bring extra cash for that...and to buy street food as well as street wares. I collect city-scape art from each place we travel and I try to find street artists, so I bring enough to pay the artist.