Onboard Expense Account questions

Hi everyone,

Hopefully someone can answer some of my questions, as we only have 4 days until we set sail! Just have a few questions in regards to the onboard expense accounts, and could not find answers on RCI's website, nor CC.

1. My grandma set up her account saying she will be paying in Cash. She actually wants to put it all on her credit card, but does not want anything automatically charged. She didn't understand that nothing will be charged until the last night, and now wants to change it, but being 4 days out, we need to change it now. On the last day, can she go to whatever desk she has to pay at and just pay with her credit card, or can she change it at check in (we have online check in all done, never done that before through Carnival so we don't know what will be done at check in), or should we change it now and reprint everything?

2. My expenses are also listed as cash. I do not have a credit card, only a debit card, but that really isn't an issue other than the fact that I am limited to money I currently have, not money that I promise to pay back. I am not charging a lot, I have $25 OBC and only plan on using about $75 tops, as we are not doing excursions through RCI, no drinks, no specialty restaurants, etc. I want to charge anything to my debit card or use cash that I carry, but I won't know how much cash I will have left until day 5 or so, so it is possible I will not have any cash left and will have to use my debit card. Basically, I will not have anything to put down as a deposit until day 5. I also cannot afford having holds put on my debit card. Being a student whose only source of income is during the school year, I only keep about $60 in my checking account, with a larger amount in my savings. When necessary, I transfer money, but I will not have internet or phone for a week to transfer it during the cruise. I can put another $100 in my checking, but I cannot afford having a $250 hold on my account if that may be the case. Does anyone have a suggestion as to how to do this?

Thanks for any advice you can give me! First RCI cruise, and first one as an adult where I'm responsible for my own charges (Mommy and Daddy used to do it, too bad they aren't coming with us :/ ). What an interesting experience this will be.

Hi everyone,

Hopefully someone can answer some of my questions, as we only have 4 days until we set sail! Just have a few questions in regards to the onboard expense accounts, and could not find answers on RCI's website, nor CC.

 

1. My grandma set up her account saying she will be paying in Cash. She actually wants to put it all on her credit card, but does not want anything automatically charged. She didn't understand that nothing will be charged until the last night, and now wants to change it, but being 4 days out, we need to change it now. On the last day, can she go to whatever desk she has to pay at and just pay with her credit card, or can she change it at check in (we have online check in all done, never done that before through Carnival so we don't know what will be done at check in), or should we change it now and reprint everything?

 

2. My expenses are also listed as cash. I do not have a credit card, only a debit card, but that really isn't an issue other than the fact that I am limited to money I currently have, not money that I promise to pay back. I am not charging a lot, I have $25 OBC and only plan on using about $75 tops, as we are not doing excursions through RCI, no drinks, no specialty restaurants, etc. I want to charge anything to my debit card or use cash that I carry, but I won't know how much cash I will have left until day 5 or so, so it is possible I will not have any cash left and will have to use my debit card. Basically, I will not have anything to put down as a deposit until day 5. I also cannot afford having holds put on my debit card. Being a student whose only source of income is during the school year, I only keep about $60 in my checking account, with a larger amount in my savings. When necessary, I transfer money, but I will not have internet or phone for a week to transfer it during the cruise. I can put another $100 in my checking, but I cannot afford having a $250 hold on my account if that may be the case. Does anyone have a suggestion as to how to do this?

 

Thanks for any advice you can give me! First RCI cruise, and first one as an adult where I'm responsible for my own charges (Mommy and Daddy used to do it, too bad they aren't coming with us :/ ). What an interesting experience this will be.

1). Change it now if you can, else do it at check-in. You can wait until you are onboard also. Not a big deal.

2). Use a cash account and pay at the end with cash and/or debit. Do not give them your debt card at the beginning of the cruise to secure the account, because you might have holds applied.

You don't need to do anything now...it can all be done at check in..no problem!

As far as YOUR account...leave it as cash...they allow you to charge quite a bit before asking for actual cash...whatever you need to pay on the last night...go ahead and use your debit (or bring the cash to avoid ANY "holds"!) and take care of your balance then.

If you have the cash on hand in the bank...bring it with you...you can redeposit any you don't use when you get home...that will avoid any ATM fees, too!

1). Change it now if you can, else do it at check-in. You can wait until you are onboard also. Not a big deal.

 

2). Use a cash account and pay at the end with cash and/or debit. Do not give them your debt card at the beginning of the cruise to secure the account, because you might have holds applied.

Great, thank you! I will change my grandmother's now and reprint it if I can, and wait for my own. Thanks for the help!

You don't need to do anything now...it can all be done at check in..no problem!

 

As far as YOUR account...leave it as cash...they allow you to charge quite a bit before asking for actual cash...whatever you need to pay on the last night...go ahead and use your debit (or bring the cash to avoid ANY "holds"!) and take care of your balance then.

 

If you have the cash on hand in the bank...bring it with you...you can redeposit any you don't use when you get home...that will avoid any ATM fees, too!

Awesome. Good thing I checked with the good members of CC before I got held up on that, I only own one debit card... I don't have cash on hand right now, but need to go later today to get some gas (good ol' cash is cheaper than credit for gas...)... $3 in my wallet and had $20 in my account this morning... oops. Thanks!

Awesome. Good thing I checked with the good members of CC before I got held up on that, I only own one debit card... I don't have cash on hand right now, but need to go later today to get some gas (good ol' cash is cheaper than credit for gas...)... $3 in my wallet and had $20 in my account this morning... oops. Thanks!

Have you prepaid your Gratuities? If you haven't, that will add $12.95 - $15.00 to your account for each day. :cool:

They are not going to actually "charge" anything to your Grandmother's account, but each night they will get "holds" to cover whatever she charged that day. Then at the end they will put through the actual charge, which is the total of all her spending.

The holds show up on our credit cards as pending transactions.

And yes, as another said if you have not pre-paid your gratuities you will pay them at the new higher rate, which is $12.95 per person per day for a regular cabin or $15.95 per person per day for a suite.

I would never use a debit card as different banks have different policies as to how fast the holds come off if a corresponding charge does not arrive. If I were you I would put down cash and then if you spend that add more cash later in the cruise and pay it off the night before you get off the ship.

Just be glad it is not HAL. They get a pre-authorization on credit cards for $30.00 per person X the number of days. We had one cruise where they had a pending hold on our credit card for $1350.00. 3 people X $30.00 X 15 days. Not a problem with our lines of credit, but it could be for others and could be a disaster for a debit card holder.

Hi all, on the subject of loading on board credit what happens if you do not use all you have loaded. Can you get it back?

Hi all, on the subject of loading on board credit what happens if you do not use all you have loaded. Can you get it back?

Yes, fully refundable. Either cash on the last day or back to the credit card used to secure your onboard account.

Yes, fully refundable. Either cash on the last day or back to the credit card used to secure your onboard account.

Thank you for your prompt reply efficient as always.:D