charge- frineds kids

(JUST POSTED IN CUISINE BY MISTAKE!)

Wondering if anyone has any info to help me with this subject. We are traveling with our 3 kids and 2 of their friends on RCCL next month. The friends' parents have paid me for the cost of the cruise and we realize we will end up covering some of their expenses inevitably because it will all be charged to our accounts, and it will be awkward to charge the parents after the fact. While we don't necessarily have an issue with having to pay for the friends' tips or soda cards, we don't really want to pay for shore excursions or other bigger expenses. We will also be covering the friends' expenses for the days before and after cruise.
My question: does anyone know if it's possible to list more than one credit card for a particular cabin - so that if charges are made my by daughter Crissy, the charge will go to MY credit card, and if charges are made by her friend Melinda, they will go to the parent's charge card? (Then, I can just ask the parent for their credit card number before we leave)....
Thanks for any info

This is a very good question. Could your friend Melinda possibly give you some money for those extra expenses to put down as a deposit against what the child might put on the sign & sail? Many people don't use a charge card to cover sign & sail, they put down a cash deposit..... How old is this young lady? Could they possibly get her a charge card with her name on it and a very low credit limit............?? Very good question somebody..........You are very sweet to take them with you. Make sure you get a medical release from your friend in case of an emergency.........

Thanks for yor thoughts - I'm planning to give our credit card number for our cabins, and I presume the moms will give their kids some "spending money" to - I was just wondering if I could somehow "separate" out the expenses with two separate credit cards - to minimize the "damage"!

Hey, you know I think I might talk to the Mom about the sign & sail thing, the fountain card, etc. You could figure out how much they could use of their "spending money" to put down as sign & sail cash deposit (since they will get their own card....) and what to keep in pockets for shore spending. You know everything you buy on the ship goes on that sign & sail................If they are issued their own sign & sail card, can't they have a separate account on the boat without you having to put down your CC#?????Even if the girls are staying in the same room, can't her S&S account be different than your daughters????I'm really curious now. We've never taken a friend on a cruise, but we have taken lots of friends to the beach, etc. It is amazing how much I felt like I needed to cover for my two daughters' friends, going out to eat, go karts, etc............maybe Carnival reps or some of the experts here can answer this......I'm really curious now. Surely this can be done either with cash deposit from Mom or a low credit limit card with child's name...........

[Darcy]

You can get each sign and sail card's charges put on separate credit cards. I cruised with a friend once, sharing a room, and we each had our charges put on our own credit cards

that is great news - thank you Booster Mom and Darcy for your responses.

That will make me much more comfortable to know that I can ask the moms for their credit card numbers for incidentals (inc. shore excursions/coke card) and they can be charged directly to them (and I don't have to feel like a cheapskate asking for additional money after the fact, since as I said we'll be covering all the before and after day expenses!)

Remember that you may need more than just their credit card number written down. She might need to get some type of authorization letter from her CC company. I think I'd call your cruise line and tell them the situation and ask what type of authorization you and the "little cruiser" would need in order to set up a sign & sail account. I still think it's really sweet of you to take friends for your kids. It will be a trip you will all remember.

[Darcy]

As I recall we both had to show our credit cards at check-in so Boostermom is right, just having the numbers written down might not work. I would call Carnival and ask them.

American Express has those new Cards that you can fill with a preset amount of money. Like a paperless travlers check. If my son were going on a cruise I would get him one of these cards to send with him to use for Sail and Sign and also a certain amount of mad money to keep in his pocket. Also I am a big worry wart so I would also have a second American express travelers card with a certain amount of money I could give to the parents for emergency expenses they might incur.

[neatzi]

the last idea sounds best. If I remember correctly the credit card has to be in the travelers name. You can't bring your mom's card. It will have to be cash. The only other things is to try to figure the amount they spend on your sign and sail number from the itemized bill and good luck with that.

What a great idea! See, these folks here are so helpful.

[LisaK]

most banks offer a "gift" type credit card. It has a set limit and is used just like a credit card, it has the credit card logo on it. This might be your solution as the card would be in her name.

[tracy 421]

the card that i believe you are all talking about is called the "visa buxx card".

We took a fairly large group of h.s. seniors and a variety of parents on a March cruise 2 yrs. ago. The kids w/out parents could NOT use their parents' cards unless they were authorized signers on the card. With under age kids, a parent or guardian over 25 HAS to be responsible for them. There are suggestions above regarding other alternatives such as the pre-purchased spending limit cards. But what I had several parents do (this was RCCL) was to call RCCL and purchase a "gift" account. The parents put down a certain amount of money on their credit cards over the phone, stating their child's name.. In other words, their kids had an acct. that their purchases were charged against. Anything NOT spent was not taken out of their parents' card as I understood it. There is a folio number on EACH cruiser's card. Kids', too. We made sure the kids tracked what they spent (with help from us for the 4 in our extra cabin) and figured out what each girl owed. Then sent them to the purser's desk at the end of the cruise to make sure their amount came out of their gift account. I'm not going to say there wasn't some hassle w/this early on as RCCL messed up in the beginning. They had agents who, when people called the appropriate RCCL dept., didn't know anything about how to set it up. Then the computers on the Explorer were down when we boarded the ship. SOME of the students' accts. were o.k. from the start. Some required correction. In the end, though, if a kid goes over their limit, the guardian of them on the cruise is ultimately responsible. We have traveled for several yrs. w/teen "friends" of our daughter's and they nearly always pay for all of their excursions. Sure, there are a few things we pick up the tab for, but do not hesitate to tell the parents of possible expenses that you don't want to cover for their child. I've always tried to talk over a few excursions that might be likely and give the kid/parent an idea of what money might be spent while on the cruise. Their child then has to budget and decide where he/she wants to spend their money. Good luck w/this. I have felt very frustrated at times because SOME parents act like they are doing YOU a favor by allowing their child to go w/you, instead of realizing what YOU are doing taking THEIR child, with all the responsibility that goes with it. Hope you have grateful parents to work with!

[gb52877]

Next time I would get the money situation settled with the parents before you make actual cruise arrangements. Let the parents know what exactly you will cover and what you expect from them that way you will not have any misunderstandings. Also, if the parents have never cruised before they may not know of all the extra charges and this would be a good time to explain all this to them.

fyi - update. Hello all.
I called C&A to confirm these ideas and suggestions. I was told that I cannot use another person's charge card without an over-18 year old signing for that card (not helpful in our case as one friend is 17, the other 16). I was told I could not use mlb's idea..... (too bad! it sounded perfect)
The folliwng were suggested by the C&A rep - 1) A cash amount can be put "on account" for the on-board charges or 2) I can utilize a different charge credit card account (of my own) so the charges are separated from ours and I can get reimbursed after the trip. Either sounds like a good idea and I will give the parents the option. Thanks to all