just a quick q...

this is probably a question that has been asked a million times, but cant seem to search here....

The money issue on board? the p&o website say:

How do I pay on board?

Welcome to cashless cruising! All shipboard expenses are charged to your personalised Cruise Card. Your Cruise Card is linked to your on board account and can be settled with cash, traveller’s cheques or the following credit cards: Visa, MasterCard or American Express. When using credit cards, we obtain pre-authorisations and some banks hold these for up to 30 days. Debit cards, Pre-paid VISA cards and Travelex VISA cash passports are not accepted onboard. Please be aware there are no EFTPOS facilities available on board our ships. ATM facilities are now available on board.

I have a visa debit card that i always use when travelling, i can select savings or credit when using it...is this considered a debit card that they will not except?

And also if i am using the cruise card do i put money on it or pay it off at the end of the cruise? is there a way to check how much money you've used on it through out the day? how does it all work?

thank you cruisers!!

Hi Austraveller

Your card will be fine to use as it is a Visa card. Therefore P&O won't know it's a debit card. The debit cards that can't be used, in my understanding, are the ones issued by financial institutions that aren't Visa, Mastercard etc eg Keycard or Handycard

You pay the bill near the end of the cruise when an invoice will appear in your cabin. you can check the balance at any time at the Guest Relations desk

There was something about P&O putting a hold on your card which could affect people with a low amount of funds but maybe someone else can shed some light on that.

this is probably a question that has been asked a million times, but cant seem to search here....

The money issue on board? the p&o website say:

 

How do I pay on board?

Welcome to cashless cruising! All shipboard expenses are charged to your personalised Cruise Card. Your Cruise Card is linked to your on board account and can be settled with cash, traveller’s cheques or the following credit cards: Visa, MasterCard or American Express. When using credit cards, we obtain pre-authorisations and some banks hold these for up to 30 days. Debit cards, Pre-paid VISA cards and Travelex VISA cash passports are not accepted onboard. Please be aware there are no EFTPOS facilities available on board our ships. ATM facilities are now available on board.

 

I have a visa debit card that i always use when travelling, i can select savings or credit when using it...is this considered a debit card that they will not except?

 

And also if i am using the cruise card do i put money on it or pay it off at the end of the cruise? is there a way to check how much money you've used on it through out the day? how does it all work?

 

thank you cruisers!!

Hi, i havnt sailed with P&O, only Princess, but i am assuming it would be the same. Maybe some other cc`ers could confirm if what i am saying is not right. I have the same type of card and it worked fine on our last cruise on the Sun Princess. Worked the same as a credit card. What they do to stop you from over spending is at the end of each day they will hold the amount on your card that you used that day on the ship...for example..i checked my internet banking everyday and everyday there was a new transaction showing that Princess had `on hold` a certain amount of money. Heres the interesting part, at the end of the cruise for about a 10 days all the money they had held for the duration of the cruise was put back in my account, and then withdrawn as 1 huge amount. Very strange as i could have quite easily have overdrawn my account...i suppose i was hoping they had made a mistake and given me the money back :D To see what you are spending, the pursers desk can give you a print out each day of how much damage you have done to your savings hehe. Hope this helps

Thank you!

Hi, i havnt sailed with P&O, only Princess, but i am assuming it would be the same. Maybe some other cc`ers could confirm if what i am saying is not right. I have the same type of card and it worked fine on our last cruise on the Sun Princess. Worked the same as a credit card. What they do to stop you from over spending is at the end of each day they will hold the amount on your card that you used that day on the ship...for example..i checked my internet banking everyday and everyday there was a new transaction showing that Princess had `on hold` a certain amount of money. Heres the interesting part, at the end of the cruise for about a 10 days all the money they had held for the duration of the cruise was put back in my account, and then withdrawn as 1 huge amount. Very strange as i could have quite easily have overdrawn my account...i suppose i was hoping they had made a mistake and given me the money back :D To see what you are spending, the pursers desk can give you a print out each day of how much damage you have done to your savings hehe. Hope this helps

Yes, same with P&O... You need to be sure you have sufficient funds from Day 1 - particulary if you've pre-booked shore tours... These will be charged to your account on the first day, which will push the first day's hold up quite a bit. I fell into that trap on our cruise in January I booked shore tours for 4 people for 2 ports so I had $1000 on my account on the first day - and that was more than I had availabl in my Visa Debit/savings account.... It was my mistake though, I used the wrong card at checkin (I used my Visa Debit when I meant to use my Mastercard Credit).

this is probably a question that has been asked a million times, but cant seem to search here....

The money issue on board? the p&o website say:

 

How do I pay on board?

Welcome to cashless cruising! All shipboard expenses are charged to your personalised Cruise Card. Your Cruise Card is linked to your on board account and can be settled with cash, traveller’s cheques or the following credit cards: Visa, MasterCard or American Express. When using credit cards, we obtain pre-authorisations and some banks hold these for up to 30 days. Debit cards, Pre-paid VISA cards and Travelex VISA cash passports are not accepted onboard. Please be aware there are no EFTPOS facilities available on board our ships. ATM facilities are now available on board.

 

I have a visa debit card that i always use when travelling, i can select savings or credit when using it...is this considered a debit card that they will not except?

 

And also if i am using the cruise card do i put money on it or pay it off at the end of the cruise? is there a way to check how much money you've used on it through out the day? how does it all work?

 

thank you cruisers!!

In regards to debit cards (etc Visa debit cards), I have one of these too so understand that you can generally use them the same as a credit card. On a previous cruise, one of my friends was unable to use her visa debit card as P&O wouldn't accept it. Can someone here confirm that they have recently been able to use their Visa / Mastercard debit cards onboard?

I would recommend to make sure it will be accepted before your cruise as you don't want to get onboard and be told that you can not use your card.

The good thing about the cashless onboard system is that you don't need to carry cash and just sign for all your purchases.

You can either top up your onboard account on the first day with cash, and spend that amount. You can then add more if you need too. Or you can register a credit card on the account, and then on the last day of the cruise, decide if you would like the balance charged to your credit card or instead paid in cash.

I don't think you can just settle the account at the end of the crusie unless you have a credit card registered, so that way they have a backup incase you are unable to settle the account.

Something to remember is that if you top up your onboard account with cash, it is possible to spend more than you have on the account.

If at any time you want to have a look at your account, you can request a print out form the Pursers desk.

Hopefully they accept debit cards, but you just want to be sure. Hope this helps :)

I used a Visa Debit Card on my last P & O cruise in March. I think the only reason I was able to use it was because it is an older card and does not state Visa Debit on the card. The disadvantage of using the Visa Debit was that P & O withdrew the full amount owing about 4 days after the cruise finished but the pre authorisation for the same amount in my account took about four weeks to be cleared in full. This is ok so long as you dont need to access your money when you return.

Pat

thank you for your input! i will be checking with P&O directly, because this is the only card we have! so i dont want to be stuck too late.

I do have another question. what security measures are taken when youre using your cruise card? does it have a pin? or any thing like that?

thank you for your input! i will be checking with P&O directly, because this is the only card we have! so i dont want to be stuck too late.

 

I do have another question. what security measures are taken when youre using your cruise card? does it have a pin? or any thing like that?

You sign whenever you use the cruise card & receive a receipt on the spot. Most people wear their cruise card around their neck on a lanyard so no-one else can get hold of it. I've been on 6 cruises and never had an issue with anything being wrongly charged to my card.

You sign whenever you use the cruise card & receive a receipt on the spot. Most people wear their cruise card around their neck on a lanyard so no-one else can get hold of it. I've been on 6 cruises and never had an issue with anything being wrongly charged to my card.

i was given somebody elses card by mistake when ordering a drink . i was only drinking a bottle water . the bloke that got my card was hitting the hard stuff . by the time we realized that cards were swapped he had $50.00 booked up on my card .went straight down to the pussers desk and they straightened it out real fast .just check the name on your card name every now and then u just never know

There is no pin. Keep all your receipts so you can check your statement (you can ask at the pursers desk for one). Your card doesn't have your cabin on it just your name so if you lose it or it is stolen they can't find your room. Make sure you report a lost card asap so no charges can be made on it. They will print you up a new one straight away.

Another option if they dont take debit cards is perhaps you can withdraw cash using the atm onboard to place on your onboard account?

Not sure if the atms are reliable or charges involved, but may be another option to look into.