How does "cash account" work?

Have been reading about those post-cruise mini-bar charges and some have said they will use a cash account instead.

Could someone explain how this works, please? How much $ do you "deposit" and do you withdraw it on the last night?

Doesn't RCI know your credit card # if you used it to pay for the cruise?

And lastly, if one is caught in this scam, is it even worth it to call RCI or just go thru your credit card company?

Thanks very much for any information!

Noreen.

You are not required to put any money down. RC will allow you to charge $500 over and above any OBC you have before they ask you to pay down the account.

They give you $500 credit on your account as long as your charges do not exceed $500 - you do not need to put down any money on the last day you pay and close your account.

No after-charge hassles!

Thank you both for the quick and informative replies. Very much appreciated!

Do you setup a cash account on the dock when they give out the room card before you board the ship? Do you still have let them make a copy of your credit credit card before you board when doing a cash account?

Do you setup a cash account on the dock when they give out the room card before you board the ship? Do you still have let them make a copy of your credit credit card before you board when doing a cash account?

You can set up a cash account pre-cruise, at check-in, or at Guest Services on board. They do not take a copy of your credit card. You do not need a credit or debit card.

You can set up a cash account pre-cruise, at check-in, or at Guest Services on board. They do not take a copy of your credit card. You do not need a credit or debit card.

They have always asked us for a credit card at the dock to pay for expenses on the cruise which they swipe before giving us are cabin card!

They have always asked us for a credit card at the dock to pay for expenses on the cruise which they swipe before giving us are cabin card!

You must have opted for a credit card account during your online check-in. Just don't opt for a credit card account. If they still tell you they need to swipe your card, just tell them you want a cash account and you don't have a credit card.

You will be allowed to charge up to $500 on a 7 day cruise or longer, for cruises of 6 days or less you will be allowed to charge $300 before being asked to pay down your account.

four of us have just completed our first cruise and we all opted for cash account when we checked in online. We were not asked for credit card at the dock. We each had $50 OBC and anything we owed after that, which wasn't much, was paid in cash the night before we left. Got the final statement emailed within 24 hours of cruise finishing and it was all correct.

With a cash account, can you still pay it off with a card at the end? And if you do that - can they then use your card for those suspicious 'extra' charges?

Not sure if that makes sense, I'm trying to avoid any extra charges after we disembark, but I will be using a card either way.

With a cash account, can you still pay it off with a card at the end? And if you do that - can they then use your card for those suspicious 'extra' charges?

 

Not sure if that makes sense, I'm trying to avoid any extra charges after we disembark, but I will be using a card either way.

Yes, you can pay off a cash account with a credit card. Supposedly, this closes the account and no charges can be made. Supposedly.

Supposedly.

That's what I figured :')

Thank you!

With a cash account, can you still pay it off with a card at the end? And if you do that - can they then use your card for those suspicious 'extra' charges?

 

Not sure if that makes sense, I'm trying to avoid any extra charges after we disembark, but I will be using a card either way.

Yes, you can pay off a cash account with a credit card. As to your second question, my guess would be yes but don’t know for sure. However, mysterious mini-bar charges should be a thing of the past. The mini-bar is no longer stocked with anything to charge you for unless you specifically ask for them to stock it.

Yes, you can pay off a cash account with a credit card. As to your second question, my guess would be yes but don’t know for sure. However, mysterious mini-bar charges should be a thing of the past. The mini-bar is no longer stocked with anything to charge you for unless you specifically ask for them to stock it.

That was probably a nice cash flow for the company while it lasted. I'm sure they can figure out some other "mistake" to make to replace the mini-bar flow.

That was probably a nice cash flow for the company while it lasted. I'm sure they can figure out some other "mistake" to make to replace the mini-bar flow.

For sure. We had a charge for Izumi (apparently a sushi cart in the promenade) show up on our last cruise final list of charges but at least it was before departure and I was able to get it removed. Definitely need to review that final list of charges.

Just want to add that mistakes do occur with over-charging. Difficult to resolve once off the ship. I always check my account during the cruise and the final statement on the morning of debarkation. Whenever I have found a mistake, it has been fairly easy to resolve (as long as you are still on the ship).

So far, any mistakes have been relatively minor so I am happy to continue to set up a credit card account to avoid having to queue to settle on last day.

We've had a couple of "phantom" charges before...a call gets them removed. It's not a huge deal!

But yes...if you want to have a cash account, you won't need to give them your credit card upon check in.

You are not required to put any money down. RC will allow you to charge $500 over and above any OBC you have before they ask you to pay down the account.

Yep!

We had something like $200 in OBC so we could charge $700 before we had to go pay some of it down. Remember that unless you've called to actually prepay tips they will be charging the tips to the room, so it's not just fun stuff like excursions and drinks going towards that amount.

We picked calm times at guest services to go pay on it through the cruise. And once we were sure we were done charging we went and put a cc down that last night.

They have always asked us for a credit card at the dock to pay for expenses on the cruise which they swipe before giving us are cabin card!

That's bc you had a cc account chosen. Doesn't happen if you choose a cash account.

With a cash account, can you still pay it off with a card at the end? And if you do that - can they then use your card for those suspicious 'extra' charges?

 

Not sure if that makes sense, I'm trying to avoid any extra charges after we disembark, but I will be using a card either way.

Even with no cc they know where to find huh. So if there are charges, suspicious or real, you'll be informed.

I've never heard of the late charges being that difficult it to deal with.