Holiday money

prees

Next April we fly to Singapore to begin a holiday in 3 parts.....
3 days in Singapore + 16 nights on board an American cruise ship + 3 days in Beijing.
The cruise visits Thailand, Vietnam, China, Japan and S. Korea.

Flights, cruise and hotel rooms are prepaid via the tour operator.
Ship's account, including shore excursions, are paid at the end of the cruise.

My concerns are...
1. What is the 'best' way to source cash for casual spending, tipping etc to cover all scheduled countries?
The tour operator suggests taking American dollar travellers cheques to exchange on board. but we also have extensions either side of the cruise.

2. What is the 'best' way to settle the ship's account?
The operator suggests paying with a 'major' credit/charge card.

The tour operator's advice may be simple but ship's and Bureau de Change rates are surely not the best.

In the experienced traveller's opinion what is the 'best' way to manage this journey? I define 'best' as flexible, secure and minimal charges.

Any advice appreciated.

T.I.A.

travellerboy

I totally agree with the recommendation to take US$. If you take traveller'scheques make sure you exchange on board. Asia don't like TQ for some reason.
Pay your final onboard account with Credit Card using a visa / Mastercard exchange rate not the Cruise Line rate.

Caz3121

We did a similar trip in January but ended up in Hong Kong
Took a little Singapore, Thai and Hong Kong currency and rest in $s ($s fine in Vietnam)
We had some currency left and used it to pay towards our ship account...actually we took too much money with us and cleared our whole ship account in cash before we left (not drinkers so total bill for tours, soft drinks and a speciality restaurant was around $500 for 2 weeks)

We took cards for emergencies but didn't use them...everything was so cheap out there

have a great holiday.