July 6, 2010 - 7/6/2010 ~ Pounds to Rubles ~ Mickey invades the Baltic Sea

[DisTeach]

Paris sounds nice, but I don't think we'll be venturing there. I'm already quite excited for London as I've never been there. Also thinking of picking up some Euros with all the rate changes...!

 

[yargrnhoj]

Hi everyone! No confirmation here yet, but we booked through DVC so that may make a difference. I am anxiously awaiting it..

Chilly and frosty here in Chicago this morning - 28 degrees on our way to work yikes.

Hope everyone has a nice evening. Off to tape The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown and then to watch Dancing With The Stars!

Yes, indeed. My daughter is going to be trick-or-treating as Eskimo Hannah Montana if the weather doesn't warm up in Chicagoland by Friday (although Skilling claims it'll be warmer by Friday).

 

[nzdisneymom]

My boys are going as pirate / skeleton pirate for Halloween this week. Which is great because this is the third year that the skeleton pirate pants will be used, and the rest of the pirate stuff will be packed for our Christmas cruise coming up in under two months. It's cold (for north Florida) this morning - my weather-bug thing says 29-degrees.

I hadn't thought about exchanging currency early for this trip. And to show my ignorance, what currency is accepted in each country?

England
Norway
Denmark
Russia
Germany
Finland
Sweden

And someone educate me on exchange rates so I'll know what to watch for in terms of when it's good to buy. I never have been able to work it out in my head to know if I would get a good a good deal or not.

 

[sharper_fin]

what currency is accepted in each country?

Russia is Roubles, here in England we still have good old Pounds Sterling, and the rest (I believe?!?!?!) are Euros.

As for exchange rates, well if the pound is strong against the dollar (eg £1 = $2) then that's good for me here in England. Conversely if, as is the case at the moment, it goes to £1 = $1-50, then I'd get fewer dollars for my money.

Which would be better for you. So you want a weak pound (or Euro or whatever) and a strong dollar.

Hope that helps?

 

[nzdisneymom]

Russia is Roubles, here in England we still have good old Pounds Sterling, and the rest (I believe?!?!?!) are Euros.

As for exchange rates, well if the pound is strong against the dollar (eg £1 = $2) then that's good for me here in England. Conversely if, as is the case at the moment, it goes to £1 = $1-50, then I'd get fewer dollars for my money.

Which would be better for you. So you want a weak pound (or Euro or whatever) and a strong dollar.

Hope that helps?

It does!

So I would want to get more Euro's for less dollars. So it's better if $1US buys 2-euro than $1US buying 1-euro.

We'll need to figure out how many pounds we'll want for three days in London pre-cruise and how many Euro's we'll want for the other ports, and what to do about Rubles. Guess there is plenty of time to do it, but perhaps we should start watching so we can get an idea of when things might become a "good enough" deal for us.

Kinda like the thread on the main board that is watching the price of oil in hopes of getting fuel supplements refunded for upcoming cruises.

 

[sharper_fin]

So it's better if $1US buys 2-euro than $1US buying 1-euro.

Exactly right for your trip here. The opposite for my trip to WDW in May.

I would say that the pound is at it's weakest against the dollar for nine years at the moment. Which is terrible for me, but I guess great for you? See what your fellow Americans think on that one.

 

[CarolAnnC]

Paris sounds nice, but I don't think we'll be venturing there. I'm already quite excited for London as I've never been there. Also thinking of picking up some Euros with all the rate changes...!

Good idea to pickup the Euros, and the Pounds too! Paris..hmm......

Exactly right for your trip here. The opposite for my trip to WDW in May.

I would say that the pound is at it's weakest against the dollar for nine years at the moment. Which is terrible for me, but I guess great for you? See what your fellow Americans think on that one.

WooHoo...sorry, lol. But if I can grab some Euros at a better price, well I think I will stash them away. Same for the Pounds, sorry all my UK friends.

 

[nzdisneymom]

WooHoo...sorry, lol. But if I can grab some Euros at a better price, well I think I will stash them away. Same for the Pounds, sorry all my UK friends.

I was just trolling through the Med thread from last year to see if I had posted what we got our Euro's for, but I didn't - I just posted that we ordered them on July 6th and received them via FedEx on July 9th.

 

[din]

I was just trolling through the Med thread from last year to see if I had posted what we got our Euro's for, but I didn't - I just posted that we ordered them on July 6th and received them via FedEx on July 9th.

We did ours about one week before you did and I recall it being in the $1.43-$1.46 range.

 

[tinkerbell_29]

I haven't even thought about the fact we will need different types of currency. I guess I'll have to start watching the exchange rate to get Euro's and Pounds. As for Rubles I don't think you can get those outside of Russia. I think I remember reading somewhere that it is illegal to take them in or out of the country. Can you imagine being put in jail for bringing ni the countries currency? That would be one way to ruin a vacation.

Lissa

 

[CarolAnnC]

I was just trolling through the Med thread from last year to see if I had posted what we got our Euro's for, but I didn't - I just posted that we ordered them on July 6th and received them via FedEx on July 9th.

When we turned in our Euros at the airport in Barcelona, they would not take the coin. Therefore, we have a nice plastic baggie of coin Euros, lol. There is no predicting how this currency market will go, so I will probably just pickup a few at a time while they are low.

I haven't even thought about the fact we will need different types of currency. I guess I'll have to start watching the exchange rate to get Euro's and Pounds. As for Rubles I don't think you can get those outside of Russia. I think I remember reading somewhere that it is illegal to take them in or out of the country. Can you imagine being put in jail for bringing ni the countries currency? That would be one way to ruin a vacation.

Lissa

Oh, awful to think of the Russians carting one off to jail, lol. I have read in a few spots that it is illegal to take them out of Russia, too. I really have to read up on travel there - I have little idea of what it is like for US citizens touring around, in a group or not.

 

[denise]

I don't believe that the Euro is good in all the countries we are going to. I googled and came up with the following (rates as of today, 10-29-08) Unless I did something wrong we are going to need all kinds of different money!

England use Pound Sterling..........exchange rate $1.00 US to .607425 Pounds

Norway uses the Norwegian Kroner...exchange rate $1.00 US to 6.7077 NOK

Denmark uses the Danish Kroner....exchange rate $1.00 US to 5.7972 DKK

Germany uses the Euro.........exchange rate $1.00 US to 0.78229 Euro

Sweden uses the Swedish Krona....exchange rate $1.00 US to 7.6814 SEK

Finland uses the Euro...exchange rate $1.00 US to 0.78229 Euro

Russia uses the Rubble...exchange rate $1.00 to 26.72 Rubble

Depending on the web site I get slightly different exchange rates...
here's one site http://www.xe.com/ucc/convert.cgi (green for money )

 

[nzdisneymom]

I googled "can you use euros in norway?" and got a link to Rick Steves which has this:

Euros
Fifteen European countries — and more than 300 million people — use the same currency. Using euros, tourists and locals can easily compare prices of goods between countries. And we no longer lose money or time changing money at borders.

Not all European countries have switched to euros. As of now, major holdouts include the United Kingdom, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland. Each of these countries has its reasons for choosing not to use euros. Other countries, which have only recently joined the European Union — such as the Czech Republic, Poland, and Hungary — will adopt the euro in the next few years.

But even in some non-Euroland countries, the euro is commonly used. For example, some Swiss ATMs give euros, most prices are listed in both Swiss francs and euros, and travelers can get by in that country with euro cash.

 

[DisTeach]

As far as loading up on Euros for the Med. cruise last year, we bought Euro packs from AAA that came with a variety of currency bills. I can't remember how much we paid and how much we got, but it was convenient.

 

[goingsouth]

Thank you Denise and Cindy for gathering all that information. It sounds like we will need to handle more than just euros and pounds. I am definitely bringing a currency calculator!



joanne

 

[nzdisneymom]

As far as loading up on Euros for the Med. cruise last year, we bought Euro packs from AAA that came with a variety of currency bills. I can't remember how much we paid and how much we got, but it was convenient.

Kristen - we did the AAA pack, too. And will likely do that again as it was easy enough to do.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Scottishwee35


Your PM BOX is full I could not reply!!!!!!

But 'understood'.

 

[DW2DH&DS]

Something I found very interesting...and didn't know...

Just like our state quarters, the back of the Euros are unique to the country they originate from. I never knew until my sister brought some back for me from her recents several trips to Europe. I collect forein coins and was examining them. Some of the Euros were from countries she had never been to. Makes perfect sense if they are circulated all over Europe.

We are looking forward to this trip...we haven't been to Europe since our honeymoon 10 years ago. Just happy our DS Jack is now old enough to remember and appreciate the places we are going to see. We have been waiting a long time to return and what better way than a Disney cruise.

I know there is a lot of chatter about London pre/post stays. Is anybody considering Disneyland Paris?

Again off topic...What are your kids dressing up as for Halloween?
Jack is dressing as Darth Vader!!

 

[scottishwee35]

Something I found very interesting...and didn't know...

Just like our state quarters, the back of the Euros are unique to the country they originate from. I never knew until my sister brought some back for me from her recents several trips to Europe. I collect forein coins and was examining them. Some of the Euros were from countries she had never been to. Makes perfect sense if they are circulated all over Europe.

We are looking forward to this trip...we haven't been to Europe since our honeymoon 10 years ago. Just happy our DS Jack is now old enough to remember and appreciate the places we are going to see. We have been waiting a long time to return and what better way than a Disney cruise.

I know there is a lot of chatter about London pre/post stays. Is anybody considering Disneyland Paris?

Again off topic...What are your kids dressing up as for Halloween?
Jack is dressing as Darth Vader!!

My daughter worn the pirate dress half pirate half halloween and she won the best dress at Brownies!!

I didnt take the photo of her but same photo last year I will show you later

Remember show us the photo of Darth Vader!!

Scottishwee35

 

[OurDogCisco]

That's cool I'll have to look at our Euros... I don't even think we turned ours back in after the trip. We either brought too much or didn't spend much on the Med. cruise. I only bought 3 things in France and it was pottery and I didn't have enough Euros and the lady would only take cash so, I ended up going to an ATM to get the money. So, I'm not sure how much we'll bring this time especially since there is so many different kinds of currency this time around.

Anyways... I'm done sewing my youngest Halloween costume. Talk about cutting it to the last minute. Anyways.. she wanted to be the Queen of Hearts... definitely not a costume you can buy. My oldest is Dorothy... I'll post pictures after Halloween.