Who's in for GREECE and TURKEY, June 15 2003????

[nzdisneymom]

How/where did you order your Euros? What exchange rate do they use and what fees apply? How long does it take? Thanks!

We ordered ours thru AAA which uses TravelEx. It's two-day delivery and depending on how much you order, that can be free shipping. It tells you what the exchange rate is, usually a little higher than ATM would be, but no extra fees besides delivery, so do the math to decide what is best. We paid with debit card so it would not appear as cash advance on credit card.

 

[lllpath]

How/where did you order your Euros? What exchange rate do they use and what fees apply? How long does it take? Thanks!

We use Bank of America. You can order online. They don't charge a fee if you have an acct there and order a certain amount. It only takes a couple of days and you pick the euros up at the branch you choose. They will also exchange what you have leftover when you return (paper only...no coins).

 

[DL1957]

We ordered ours thru AAA which uses TravelEx. It's two-day delivery and depending on how much you order, that can be free shipping. It tells you what the exchange rate is, usually a little higher than ATM would be, but no extra fees besides delivery, so do the math to decide what is best. We paid with debit card so it would not appear as cash advance on credit card.

I picked up our AAA TravelEx yesterday. I got 2 separate accounts to divide our money so if one gets hit the other is still available. Sue

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[abayaflowers]

I just read that the dollar is falling: 1.30325. So, we are going to wait until we arrive in Spain to get the best exchange rate through the ATM. Our bank does not charge foreign currency transaction fees.

Here's the website to see the most recent USD to EUROs exchange rate:

http://www.forex.com/index.html

 

[nzdisneymom]

I just read that the dollar is falling: 1.30325. So, we are going to wait until we arrive in Spain to get the best exchange rate through the ATM. Our bank does not charge foreign currency transaction fees.

Here's the website to see the most recent USD to EUROs exchange rate:

http://www.forex.com/index.html

We got what we knew we had to have early on and will hit an ATM in Barcelona, and we're planning to also exchange on the ship if they have a decent enough rate as we need to - we have a few days in a row where we're booked solid so we want to have enough Euro to cover those days in the event we can't get to an ATM.

 

[puredata]

A group-buy form for Cruise Shirts has been set up on Facebook, and it was requested that it be shared here, too.

The link contains the cruise logo for the shirts, as well as colour samples and sizing information...

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/15IwqDJ6uLyWhzt5GDFR3MUOlA-lE_M-n0EyQCQPrBOA/viewform

If anybody is interested in cruise shirts, please fill out the form ASAP, it will only be live until May 14th at Midnight EST in order to give time to collect orders and get everything done in time...

 

[nzdisneymom]

A group-buy form for Cruise Shirts has been set up on Facebook, and it was requested that it be shared here, too.

The link contains the cruise logo for the shirts, as well as colour samples and sizing information...

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/15IwqDJ6uLyWhzt5GDFR3MUOlA-lE_M-n0EyQCQPrBOA/viewform

If anybody is interested in cruise shirts, please fill out the form ASAP, it will only be live until May 14th at Midnight EST in order to give time to collect orders and get everything done in time...

Puredata - thanks so much for doing this!

 

[canadakath]

For folks on Disney excursions, do you plan on tipping guides in US$ or Euros?

 

[mindelmouse]

For folks on Disney excursions, do you plan on tipping guides in US$ or Euros?

I would think they should be tipped in Euros. $'s are worth less obviously and then they will need to get them translated. The guides are usually local vendors.

 

[DL1957]

For folks on Disney excursions, do you plan on tipping guides in US$ or Euros?

We tip in Euros but your question reminded me of our Baltic cruise where an old clueless couple tipped the guide in St. Petersburg with Disney $$ and was explaining to her what they were!

 

[mindelmouse]

We tip in Euros but your question reminded me of our Baltic cruise where an old clueless couple tipped the guide in St. Petersburg with Disney $$ and was explaining to her what they were!

They tipped in disney $. How strange

 

[canadakath]

Thanks - my assumption had been to tip in Euros. I might wait to get lira on the boat for Kusadasi though - only one half day tour there and I have heard Euros are widely accepted in port anyways...

I certainly never would have thought to tip in Disney $ though - that is one of those head shaking "clueless tourist" moments for sure!

The boys and I are having our movie night tomorrow - three episodes of "Travel with Kids" downloaded from iTunes - Rome, Athens and Paris. We will be assembling FE gifts too. Hopefully it will get them really excited. Only 35 more sleeps until we get on the plane!

 

[nzdisneymom]

I saw on cruise critic that La Spezia opened a dock last month for ships. Some itineraries on other lines have changed from tendering status to docking. I wonder if we might be as lucky... I would love to have easier access to shore in the morning.

 

[nzdisneymom]

We tip in local currency unless we are out of it. In that case, we will tip in $$ rather than no tip.

 

[abayaflowers]

I saw on cruise critic that La Spezia opened a dock last month for ships. Some itineraries on other lines have changed from tendering status to docking. I wonder if we might be as lucky... I would love to have easier access to shore in the morning.

That's what I also heard and read.

I read that everyone can leave the ship as early at 7:15 a.m.

 

[Meum]

I saw on cruise critic that La Spezia opened a dock last month for ships. Some itineraries on other lines have changed from tendering status to docking. I wonder if we might be as lucky... I would love to have easier access to shore in the morning.

ohhhhhhhhhhh, that would be soooo cool!!!

please, please, please!


see ya, marianne

 

[puredata]

Puredata - thanks so much for doing this!

No problem!

Reminder: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/15IwqDJ6uLyWhzt5GDFR3MUOlA-lE_M-n0EyQCQPrBOA/viewform <-- Order form will only be up another couple of days for those interested....

 

[lambego]

We are flying in June 14 and staying at the Hilton Diagonal Mar - does anyone have affordable options about transportation to the hotel and then to the port on June 15? And the reverse for when we return, we are staying the the Marriott Renaissance Barcelona, then flying out June 28. Thank you!

 

[canadakath]

So the boys and I had movie night last night - watched Travel With Kids episodes from Rome and Vatican City (on YouTube), Athens ($2.99 on iTunes) and Paris (free on iTunes). For those of you going to Florence or Venice, those are available on iTunes as well.

The kids LOVED watching other boys around their ages running around all of these sites they will be going to. They got some good ideas about what they want to do (unfortunately we can't fit Gladiator school into the schedule in Rome... but definitely gelato!) and picked up some historical tidbits too. I highly recommend it for those of you with kids in the <10 years old set.

We didn't get many FE gifts done because we were too interested in the shows, so I'll just have to keep working away at them. For those of you who end up with some with crooked stickers, my apologies but my 6 year old REALLY wanted to help...

Happy Mother's Day tomorrow to all you moms out there! On Father's Day we'll be in France!!!

 

[MinnieDiva]

We are flying in June 14 and staying at the Hilton Diagonal Mar - does anyone have affordable options about transportation to the hotel and then to the port on June 15? And the reverse for when we return, we are staying the the Marriott Renaissance Barcelona, then flying out June 28. Thank you!

Don't know how large your party is, but a plain old taxi isn't a bad option. They had different sizes at the airport to choose from. There are companies that have transfer services, but they can get pricey, unless you have a very large party, then they may be the way to go.