Converting Euros to US Dollars

You could save them for your next trip - then you wouldn’t have to find an ATM upon arrival.

I would also suggest saving them for a future trip.

Or find a friend or acquaintance who is going over soon and sell to them.

Or, we could simply answer the OP’s question…… I would exchange them at the location that is most convenient for you. You could look up the current rates being offered by all these locations and compare, but the reality is that you will pay to convert everywhere. You are paying the cost for getting too much cash in an increasingly cashless society. Unless you want to hold on to these euros, which your question implies you do not, exchange them and don’t look back.

The worst deal will be in the UK because they will first convert the Euros to Pounds and then convert the Pounds to Dollars.

Call your bank, ask how much they will give you for x amount of Euros. Don’t get hung on exchange rate or fees – all you need to know is the final sum due to you.

Then ask the same question at the various bureaux de change and compare. I doubt you’ll get a good deal on the ship. My vote would be in Athens.

We always bring Euros home with us for the next trip so we don't have to worry about finding a Teller to get them out as soon as we land. You'll lose money trying to exchange them over there.

Or, we could simply answer the OP’s question……

Or we could answer the OP's question by offering a suggestion that he may not have thought of and which may be a better option than the ones he provided. No-one went off topic and the answers were helpful. These forums don't work on a strictly binary concept of "answer the question as posed or nothing" because if that was the case then there'd be a complete lack of useful and welcoming suggestions and alternatives that others may not have thought of or knew about.

It wouldn’t have occurred to me to save leftover Euros from one trip to another, except for something I read on this Forum. I just toted up 130 Euros and change from a trip to Ireland in 2018, which I hope to use in France this October. So yes, what JC said.

That’s a lot of cash in an increasingly cashless world. And, yes I know, not every place takes cards or phone pay. I’d first change some to pounds, don’t look at the exchange rate. It’s going to suck, but the Euros are now a sunk cost.

For the rest, I’d probably go the route of finding someone that’s going to the Euro zone and sell at least part of it to them. The Euro zone isn’t aggressive about chasing their bank notes, so you should be fine keeping it for another trip.

Converting will be costly, so I'm all for the other options. However, if I had to convert, I'd expect to get a somewhat better deal in Europe than in the US (there's more demand for the service there, so perhaps a bit of competition on rates). I'd expect to pay more than average to convert money on a cruise ship or in an airport. Those are just generalities, but I think they'll hold true more often than not.

Use the place most convenient to you -- I would suggest the cruise and use the Euros to pay part of the bill if possible instead of exchanging. This way there is a minimal numbers of conversions.

Of the dismal options, probably near the port in Athens. Airports typically have terrible rates, who knows what the cruise ship does (It may be OK).

I wouldn’t do any of those. You’re going to lose too much money on converting them so why not save them for your next trip to one of the many European countries whose currency is the €.

As a base line guide, here is what B of A will give you --https://www.bankofamerica.com/foreign-exchange/exchange-rates/

Basically an even exchange-- 350 euro gets you $351.50 US

EDIT for clarification ( I hope)

At the 'official' rate ( today) 350 euro = $368.20

This is meant to be a tool to use for comparison to what the other options might offer
. Other US banks will probably be close, some a bit better , others a bit worse.
OP did not mention what his bank back home is, so I just used B of A as it was the easiest.

here is what B of A will give you

That is dependent on IF you have a BofA account . Not everyone does. :-)

The best rates for buying dollars are at...

A Casino!

Ridiculous, but true! These would be casinos in the US. I did it a couple of times when I lived not too far from the big Indian casinos in Connecticut. Technically you may have to buy chips, but those are denominated in USD and can be directly exchanged for cash.

They give a good rate planning to make their money at the tables. (The trick, then, is to skip the tables!)

Scudder, that is fascinating!