Sea Pass Card

This sounds crazy....I am cruising 10/11 on RCCL. I will only have @ $200 in my checking account at the time of departure. We arrive back on Saturday morning. I have direct deposit and will have plenty of money in my account then. When they issue the sea pass card, do they put a hold on any funds or just see if the card is legit?? Please help!!

They absolutely will put a hold on the funds.
Depending on the cruise line the will also put the tips on at embarkation.
Just be prepared.
mcboo

Also I beleive there is a $250.00 min down on the cruise card per person.

When I traveled on RCCL's Voyager of the Seas in April 2003, I had the same amount of funds in my checking account. I gave my debit Visa card and enjoyed my cruise. As far as I know, no funds were held. At the end of the cruise, if there are no charge disputes, they debit/charge the card you provided when you checked in. There is always the option of paying cash/travelers checks to the guest services desk for the amount due, rather than have it charged to your credit/debit card. So, don't worry about it and definitely, enjoy your cruise!!

Aloha,
Jim

Jim: Do you have a daily limit on your card? Thats where the problem comes in for some people. If the limit is only 200- they will run into a problem if they spend over the 200. Cruise lines only hit the account once. If you spend over your limit thats where the hold comes in. I have a 200 limit on my account. 1 month before I leave on my cruise I ask the bank to take the hold off so I dont get hit with that hold.

JSumner: How do you pay for your excursions? (as long as you are careful and not spend over that 200. I think you should be fine. Some cruiselines check to make sure the available balance is 250 for a 7 day cruise.

They do put a hold on your funds at the start of the cruise---some are as small as $50 and some are $250. A debit card is not at all the best thing to use on a cruise to secure your sign and sail card. Most debit cards have a very small amount they allow you to charge at any one time, and if your ship charges go over that amount, you will have a lot of problems. Call your bank and see what their maximum amount is---if you usually only keep a small balance in that account on a monthly basis (that is when you add all your deposits and all the withdrawls you get the average that's in your account per month), the amount they will allow for one time charges is usually quite small. If you are only allowed a small amount, you might want to consider using a regular charge card, or you will have to carefully watch what you spend and not go over that amount for the entire week.

Hi:
Easiest method....if you have one...use a credit card. Otherwise, pay cash.
Good luck.

I agree with Kitty and FamGuy. I have both credit cards and a debit check card, but even if I didn't have a credit card, I would never use my debit card for my sea pass, but that's just a personal choice.

~C