Travel Tips

Paying for Cruises in Dollars or Euros

It’s bad enough that the cost of a cruise doesn’t include shore excursions or onboard amenities, but once you hop onboard a European-based cruise line, you may end up paying for those things in Euros.

On MSC cruises, for example, they accept Euros on European itineraries and dollars on most other sailing, such as Caribbean and trans-Atlantic crossings.

On Costa cruises, expect to pay for onboard amenities and shore excursions in Euros, unless you’re sailing to and from the Caribbean.

But even if you’re paying in dollars, just how far does the dollar go on a European cruise line?

The way MSC does it is to figure out the conversion rate at the beginning of the year.

So when they’re quoting a dollar figure for fares or onboard amenities, it’s actually based on an exchange rate that may not even be accurate by the time you take the cruise.

But there’s some good news.

Remember, if the dollar is weak, you’ve just saved money.

Not so much if the opposite is true, but you can’t say you weren’t warned.

For more, check out our Cruises section.

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