Currency needed in Baltic Countries

Finland uses the Euro. Sweden still uses the Swedish Krona, and Denmark the Danish Krona, so you will need different currencies for those countries as well as Russia.
You may find some tourist orientated businesses accept Euros, but if so it will be at a bad exchange rate. No promises.
As in the rest of Europe, credit cards will be accepted in most places, but always check before ordering a meal. Some places may not accept credit cards for small purchases (less than ~€20).

Check with the cruise line. It seems to me they would help you out with small amounts in the appropriate currencies. This would help them sell their excursions.

Yes, the cruise ship will sell you some of the local currency, but at rip- off exchange rates.

We did a day trip to Tallinn, Estonia from Helsinki last September and used Euros in both places.

As already stated Danmark and Sweden are not part of the Euro, but use the Danish Krone and the Swedish Krona. Credit cards are however almost universaly accepted in Denmark and Sweden, even for small amounts. Also note that the term Baltic Countries only applies to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to avoid confusion.

We did that cruise a few years ago. In St.Petersburg the shops we went in took any currency you had, dollars, euros, pounds. They did not discriminate against any currency. They also took American credit cards. We had no rubles and had no trouble purchasing anything. Have fun!

Thanks so much for all your responses, gives me a much better idea of what to carry. I never mind bringing euros home for next time, but not as excited about several different currencies. Looks like credit cards will be my best bet with possibly buying a few Krona.

@ Fabris...Thanks for your very useful information. I had thought just as much where the locals did not discriminate against one using US dollars, Euro, or GBP by accepting them, instead of the local currency. The resulting negative exchange rate is another matter if one cares about it. In eastern Europe they always want $ or Euro, just as they did in the Cold War days welcoming payment in $ and/or the DM.

I have a no-fee ATM card, so I took small amounts out as needed in Sweden and Denmark. In St. Petersburg, sometimes US dollars were accepted (have small bills or you will end up with either tons of rubles in change - if they do accept the larger bills), sometimes credit cards, but sometimes only rubles - like at the Hermitage cafe, where I had to make an "emergency" visit to the ATM. Everywhere else, the euro is the official currency.

Another thought - you can use any "left-over" krona/krone as part of the tip you leave for ship's staff. After all, they will be back in those ports again and again. There's probably not much use for rubles, though, and it's against Russian law to take them out of the country anway. I used my last ones to buy a couple of souvenirs in the kiosks at the pier.

The three Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) are now in the euro area. Lithuania entered the euro area this very year.

Lucy, even though someone said above "i would use your credit card as much as possible", that deserves a lot of caution. Depending on your bank and credit card, and maybe other factors, using it overseas causes additional charges. So in addition to the price of the item, the bank/cc company may charge an additional fixed amount for using it out of the country ($5?) plus a percent and a half or more as a foreign transaction fee. Those two things jack up the price of a $10 lunch significantly if paid with a credit card. We try to use cash almost all the time. Have a great trip.

I did a similar cruise in 2010. You will use euros in Germany, Estonia and Finland. Russia, Sweden and Denmark each have their own currency. Although I expect many places will allow you to use euro in any of those three, the exchange rate they charge you will be much higher than an ATM. As much as possible, plan on getting cash from ATM's. Once you're in the city center,
ATM's are everywhere - so you don't necessarily need to carry a lot of cash. If you make a small purchase, I'd go with cash.

In tourist areas, however, they will accept your credit card. I now have a chip and pin credit card (necessary only for automated gas stations or metro ticket machines). I didn't then and only had one shop that didn't know how to use an "American" slide and sign credit card. I walked a block to an ATM, got cash, and went back to purchase the item.

Some local currency allows you to catch a train or bus into town when your boat docks further than walking distance from the town center. One of the things I found was cruise ports won't always have ATM's handy, like airports. If there isn't anything convenient, you will have two bad options. Get currency from the ship or use euros to get you started - either will be at a poor exchange rate.

Some cruise ships dock a considerable distance from downtown, however, so you should ask the ship's purser, the evening before, for the location of an ATM you will be able to use.

In Sweden, we docked near downtown (so it wasn't an issue) but some of the cruise ships do dock well outside of town.

In Denmark the cruise port is a short train ride into town (follow the painted line out of the port area, cross the street, go under the tracks and turn left to get to the station). I didn't see an ATM nearby, but there probably is one if you ask.

In Russia, we used Alla tours and paid in U.S. dollars. Our ship repeatedly told passengers they needed to book one of the ship's tours or they wouldn't be allowed into the country. That was completely wrong. Book ahead with a local tour company, follow their instructions exactly and you will have zero problems. Our two day tour was ten people with a guide and driver in a 12 passenger van for about half the cost of the ship's organized tours (in 60 passenger buses). We started sooner, moved more nimbly and saw more during our stay because of the smaller group.