In Reply to: Bali Currancy posted by pepelapoo on Thursday, 23. June 2011 at 11:14 Bali Time:
I was on the Sun Princess in October and they have currency exchange but sometimes not a lot of local currency and often run out. the cruise ship drops anchor 4 Km off shore and uses the ships tenders plus usually local operator Bali Hai Cruises to ferry passengers to and from the ship. If you get the Bali Hai it only takes20 mins and you can buy Bintang on board as soon as you board. If you get the ships tender it will take 30 mins. Either way they all land you at the Bali Hai wharf in Benoa and there is usually a bit of a quue to get transport from there to whatever part of Bali you wish to visit.
The normal metered taxis seem to be barred from picking up there so you are obligated to use the private vans that charge $20- each (minimum of 2) if you want your own van or $10 each if you wait for 8 to 10 people to fill the mini van. thats the price to Kuta area. If you walk out of the enclosure you can barter with other private operators who have not been allowed in. Its a bit of a walk and you wont have luggage but it will be quite daunting so I suggest you pay the $10 - $20 each and take away the stress. You can pay in A$. once you get to where you are going you can readily change A$ at the money changers. Getting back is no problem. Just hail a cab and ask them to take you to the Bali Hai terminal in Benoa, they will know exactly where that is.