The difference in the rate between Canadian & US money changes all the time.....sometimes even in the same day. Drives this American/Canadian crazy as I constantly go back and forth between countries. One thing for sure....when the exchange rate is close, changing money @ a Canadian bank, is a no win situation. To buy US from Canadian dollars they charge extra & if you want to give them US to get back Canadian, you get less then the US dollar is worth!! ( gotta know the banks always come out ahead )

T 

LOLOLOL! Now that WOULD have been stupider, true! 

Thanks for the info on the Canadian money. I don't mind getting change in Canadian, I'll just use it before we go.  

That being said, you will probably get your change in CDN dollars and coins, so perhaps getting some Canadian money would be good.  As I said in an earlier post you can access your US account at any ATM and it will give you CDN money.....usually a decent exchange rate as well....better than any merchant will give you.

Some local knowledge here for the Olivia gals.  We replaced our $1 bill with a coin about 15 years ago.  The symbol on the coin was a loon swimming in a lake.............so of course it is called a loonie.  Then we came out with a $2 coin a few years later.....take a guess....a "Toonie". 

JMHO  Heather

...but I'm going to ask anyway. 

 We intend to spend a few days prior to the cruise enjoy and discovering Vancouver. Now, if we were in any other country we would automatically obtain that country's currency.

Is that what we should do with Vancouver? I've had people (not Canadians) tell me we can use US dollars as they are universally accepted. I'm not sure I believe that as we don't accept them here (other than small coins) as an across the board form of payment.

So, can anyone tell me for certain that I can use US dollars? At this point we intend to obtain some Canadian currency, but wanted to still expose my ignorance and ask.

Thank you for all replies!