First Time Cruiser--Credit Card Question

[aemcruiser]

I am going on my first cruise in a little over a week. As I was filling out my fun pass, I came to the onboard account section. I fully understand what this is, but I was just curious as to what many of you think? Do you usually set up a cash account, or go ahead and put up a credit card for your cruise expenses?

Thanks!

[Bob M]

We use a Debit Card, Carnival will lock up funds in your account for the cruise...
I beleive it is $200 a person so that means you have to have at least $400 in the bank...
I may be wrong on the $200 amount though....
You can also do the Cash...
Happy Cruise...

[johnthed0g]

I would say that most people will register a credit card onboard, you sign for everyyhing on the ship & they just take it from that card at the end. I would advise against a debit card as any amounts taken are taken directly from your personal account, any amounts taken "on account" in advance are also your actual money, as are any amounts taken in error. This can seriously affect your finances, payment of regular bills etc

[Paul Motter]

As a first time cruiser you are probably worried your spending will go out of control.

First of all - I do not how anything about your financial situation so I should not make assumptions.

I will tell you I always just use a credit card and I try not to think about budgetting. I look at the cost of everything, but I do not keep a running total in my head. Some people do - and you can probably access your acct anytime you want on your TV.

Remember, they will add gratuities to your acct at $10 per guest per day. Plus your drinks and shore tours. It can add up quickly. But also remember that you paid a lot of money just to be in the Caribbean - so don't skimp on a once in a lifetime opportunity you really want to do. You may not be back for a long time.

[katlady]

Paul I'm some people, I can't help it my brain keeps a tab of all the charges without meaning to. I also use a credit card I won't use a debit card as it's easier to dispute charges on a credit card. You can use the Folio number on your sail and sign card to access your account on your cabin's TV. If you have any questions you can go down to the purser's office to discuss any issues. I hope that helps.

[blueliner]

I always use a Credit Card now. On one cruise I used a Debit Card and near the end of my cruise my onboard card was denied because as my account went up, they increased the hold on my card every night to the point where it eventually overwhelmed my checking account to which my debit card was attached. My $500 onboard account had over $1500 in holds on my card! So now I only use a credit card.

Here is a couple of ways I keep my onboard account in check now. First, I have a neat little app for my IPod Touch called "Cruise Card". It keeps track of your onboard account. With each purchase, you enter the amount and the catagory into the app, and at any time you can see what you have spent and what you have spent it on. Second, I now try to do as much pre-purchasing as possible. I download the shore excursions and tr to reserve the ones I want and pre-pay for them, along with stuff like specialty restaurants and stuff like that.

[lhp]

We have always used a credit card.

[Paul Motter]

I download the shore excursions and tr to reserve the ones I want and pre-pay for them, along with stuff like specialty restaurants and stuff like that.

Which cruise lines allow you to do this now? I know RCL does, but I also know NCL did not pre-charge my credit card when I made reservations online pre-cruise (they all went on my onboard acct)

[aemcruiser]

Thanks everyone! I will definitely have to check into that App. I have an IPod Touch, and I think that would be great.

Paul, I am one of those people that definitely keeps up with it in my head! Just can't help it!

[blueliner]

Originally Posted by Paul Motter

Which cruise lines allow you to do this now? I know RCL does, but I also know NCL did not pre-charge my credit card when I made reservations online pre-cruise (they all went on my onboard acct)

Primarily RCI. On many cruises, RCI lets you reserve shore excursions, specialty restaurant dining times, and even spa appointments. In each case, they will require a credit card and charge your credit card. We are doing this for our upcoming Europe cruise. 2 years ago on the Adventure OTS, we could only pre-purchase shore excursions and specialty restaurants, Spa was not yet available then. Last year on the Ruby Princess, we reserved some shore excursions, but Princess did not require a credit card and charged them to our onboard account, although due to the weather and cancelled port stops, we were never charged at all as we never got to take the excursions.

In both cases, all our reservation tickets and confirmations were waiting for us onboard. I know someone will ask about cancellation for pre-paid excursions and other reservations. I do know that on RCI, we were able to turn in a pair of pre-paid excursion tickets and have the amount paid applied toward other excursion tickets because we just wanted to switch excursions. We didn't try, but I am fairly certain I remember a disclaimer when we purchased the excursions that sales were final unless the excursion was cancelled by the cruiseline. But as I said, they did let us turn them in for other excursions. I don't know about the specialty restaurants or the spa appointments, my educated guess is if you pre-pay for them, they will not let you cancel and get your money back.

Also, neither RCI or Princess would allow you to reserve anything until AFTER final payment was made. I do not know about Carnival. My one Carnival cruise on the Carnival Liberty did not allow any pre-purchases. I have not looked into anything for my upcoming Carnival Spirit cruise, as I am sailing that cruise solo, and I have little intention of even getting off the ship.

[Snoozeman]

Just checked out the iPod app. Looks good. Thanks for the info.;-)

[blueliner]

A couple of add ons here. The Cruise Card App also has a neat cruise countdown clock on it. You can do multiple cruise countdowns on it. (Disclaimer - I have nothing to do with the owners of this app, I had no hand in its creation or in selling it and I make no money from it. I'm just a fan of it)

Looking at the RCI web site this morning, looks like you can also pre-purchase drink and wine packages before your voyage. There is also a link to pre-purchase "Gifts and Gear" as well. I don't know if this is for every RCI cruise, or just selected ones.

Of course I don't want to pre-purchase everything. I do have a nice $450 OBC to use, so if I purchase everything ahead of time, what will I use the OBC for? We are not big drinkers! However, I do like the option of being able to get some shore excursions reserved before they sell out, reserve a spa appointment or specialty restaurant dining time ahead of the sailing to ensure we get the times we want. Not having to run all over the ship on our 1st day to make these reservations is kind of nice. The price is the same pre-purchase or onboard.

[jacdenv24]

Last year on Celebrity we pre-purchased our shore excursions, put them on our credit card and paid the bill before we cruised. Nice not having that HUGE on board account to deal with when the cruise is over. I assumed all cruise lines did this but apparently not:eek:

[johnthed0g]

Don't see the point of pre-paying anything, why give 'em the money any earlier than you need to?

[blueliner]

Originally Posted by johnthed0g

Don't see the point of pre-paying anything, why give 'em the money any earlier than you need to?

To get the shore excursions, specialty dining times and spa appointments we want. They may be sold out if I wait until the cruise.

For my wife and I, it has almost become a ritual where when we get on the ship, we first have to go to the shore excursion desk, spa and specialty restaurant to make reservations. Now, we do that ahead of time before the cruise and when we get onboard, we can just relax and enjoy lunch at the buffet.

It's just a matter of preference. It doesn't cost any more or less to do it this way.

[johnthed0g]

Don't mind pre-booking it's the pre-paying bit I don't like!! Thing is with P&O you can book excursions & pay on board, can't pre-book restaurants though. Our recent Celebrity cruise we could pre-book everything but had to pre-pay, it was no big deal!!

[Paul Motter]

Hi John - I thinkyou contradict yourself (not a big deal, though).

with RCL & Celebrity you will be pre-charged when you make a reservation online. I agree with you that I dont really like that, but my understand is that if you change your mind onboard it is not a big deal for them to take the charge off BUT I believe they claim a 24 or 48-hour window before the reservation event after which you cannot cancel.

But - my gut feeling is that if you reserve and pay for something 2 months ahead, and then get on the ship and have to cancel (say a shore excursion) the same afternoon that they will take it off your bill. They just had your money for two months, but you got it back.

This is NOT verified though (read my disclaimer below). They can always so "so solly, we got youl money and you ruse"

[Fern]

We always use a credit card. It's easier to dispute (although we've never had to) and we get Princess Points on our card.

Pre-booking is good, pre-paying, not so much... . Unless we MUST, we don't pre-pay anything. We prefer that our $ work for us in our bank account. We know how much we can spend and (usually ) stay within that amount.

Maybe it's because we're "old" and experienced in cruising!

[DeepSpace]

My wife and I always use a Credit Card, we also make sure that when we board our balance is "0" just in case we go over a little. We also keep track of our spending, but we always have a great time, always. Have a great trip, and keep cruising.

[johnthed0g]

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Hi John - I thinkyou contradict yourself (not a big deal, though).

I said I didn't like it not that I never did it!
Both systems work fine, on =X= I could book restaurants which was important especially for Qsine on the inaugral of Eclipse, on P&O you can't pre-reserve restaurants but you can book trips without payment.

[am588]

With the prebooking, I made reservations a few weeks ago for the Steakhouse and don't have to pay until we are onto the ship. I guess it depends on what is being booked beforehand.

[briguy]

Seems silly to prebook and prepay dinner reservations. Even spa appts can wait till you board. I have never had an issue getting into the Supper Club. Reserving a day before I want to eat has never been a problem. Just be a little flexible in your dining times and all will be well. Now if you want to prepay a popular shore excursion or one with a small amount of people allowed on the tour I can see the advantage of that. Otherwise wait till you board.