The Currency Exchange

There is a trip to Cuba in our future and we've been exploring (doing our homework) to make the most of our trip. On one of the cruise boards I saw a discussion of currency exchange. People were worried about how much it would cost to exchange US Dollars for Cuban currency. This is also complicated by the fact that there are two types of Cuban currency the Cuban Peso and the Cuban Convertible Peso. Different parts of the country accept one or the other. It costs more to exchange USD for the CUP or CUC than it does to exchange Euros. Some were considering getting Euros to exchange instead.

Since we are not really spending a lot of time on our own in Cuba I don't think we will worry too much about it. Ship's excursions will take care of a lot of the extra cost.

According to another article written in 2016, there are more ATMs being added in the tourist areas and more places are beginning to take credit cards. Of course all of this (trip included) could fall through if our US relationship with Cuba is somehow disrupted.

Usually when we travel we use our debit card and find ATMs for any cash that we need. Currency exchanges are much more expensive at the places in the airport that offer the service. And we use our credit card whenever we can for purchases. The bank rate for the currency exchange is much lower and is usually whatever the going rate was for the date of purchase or withdrawal. This trip may be a little different because of the lack of  convenient ATMs. I'm sure we'll survive however.