A trip around the Caribbean
I recently took a Caribbean cruise and discovered a few useful travel money tips that I hope will help any fellow travellers taking a cruise to these amazing islands. Cruising the Caribbean is a relaxing way to see an infinite variety of beautiful places in one holiday and you will find different ways to pay on the many different islands.
I strongly recommend that when travelling to the Caribbean you take both foreign currency and payment cards. On my recent cruise we visited a number of islands including Antigua, Barbados, Martinique, Tortola (British Virgin Islands), St Kitts, Dominica and Saint- Martin which were all beautiful and unique in their own way. They were also slightly different in terms of their card acceptance and in some cases their preferred currencies.
For the islands on my itinerary the official currencies are (you can click through to see the best prices) :
Do you really need to bring all these currencies with you for a holiday?
From my experience I would say the best way to make cash payments in most of these islands is to use the US dollar which is widely accepted and preferred. The only exception to this rule is that you may want to take a supply of Euros for use in Martinique which is an overseas department of France. You may also find Euros useful if you visit the French half of the island of Saint-Martin which is also an official part of the eurozone.
Where might I need to use cash in the Caribbean?
Most shops in the main tourist areas accept cards but there are many instances where you will find it very useful to have cash available. The more common reasons for using cash are:
Taxis and minibuses – Organised tours from cruise ships are often at a premium price so many passengers prefer to book taxi tours of the islands which are cheaper and usually require payment to be made in cash. It is also very common for tourists to share minibuses and so cash is again very handy for the purposes of fare splitting.
Tour guides tips – On organised trips you will encounter many excellent tour guides that you may want to show your appreciation to by tipping -it is also not uncommon to tip coach drivers. Many day trips include short sea cruises where drinks are served or entertainment is provided and again you may want to tip the crew.
Beach visits – Beaches can be in remote locations where card acceptance is limited or not available so it is useful to have cash available for sunbed hire and vendors selling food and drinks etc.
Onboard your cruise ship – You are unlikely to need much cash on board your cruise ship as most purchases will be automatically billed to your pre-registered credit card details. However, there are a few circumstances where you may want to use cash such as tipping your cabin steward or bar waiting staff who are usually more attentive if you provide cash tips when ordering drinks.
Cash is also useful for haggling for the best price in shops (you can often get a discount for cash) and for emergencies (e.g. on one of the coach trips there was a 1$ US dollar fee to access the toilets and a few people were caught short!).
Where should I buy my cruise currency?
To get the best exchange rates you are almost always better off purchasing your currency in advance of your holiday. Most cruise ships have a “bureau de change “service on board but the exchange rate offered is usually much worse than you can get by purchasing your currency before you travel. To get the best exchange rates we recommend you use a travel money comparison such as besttravelmoney.com which will show you who is offering the best deals.
Cards and other forms of payment
As with most places around the world you tend to find that Visa and MasterCard are the preferred international payments cards although you will also find acceptance for other cards such as American Express. The 3 main tips I would highlight when using your cards are :
- Understand the fees charged by your bank for using your card abroad. This link provides more advice on this topic
- If you are offered a choice of paying in pounds or the local currency always choose the local currency as this will usually be a better rate. See here for more information on this topic
- If you need to use your card to withdraw cash from an ATM make sure you understand the additional fees that you may incur – see here for more information on this topic.
Apart from cash and cards, innovative new forms of payment are beginning to become visible and for instance in Antigua I saw a shop advertising acceptance of “bitcoincash”(see picture attached). This is perhaps a very niche form of payment but it shows that payment options in the Caribbean are evolving all the time and merchants are keen to take your money in whatever form they can
Final thoughts
The Caribbean is a wonderful place to visit and by making a few smart choices with your holiday money you can easily make your budget stretch further to boost your spending power.
These are my personal tips picked up on a recent cruise but if you have been to the Caribbean and have some advice of your own to share we would love to hear from you at hello@besttravelmoney