Onboard Accounts -removing cash

[adey22]

I'm a 1st time cruiser, Diamond Princess, Beiijing to Bangkok on 6th November. I have read on a thread that I now can't find about using the Casino to take out cash from onboard account. Could someone give my some advice on whether this is possible, and how to do it. The reason I ask is that placed OBC into our ship account at a great rate of 2$ to £ and would like if possible to use some of it to spend off the ship

[sept10dsm]

I'm a 1st time cruiser, Diamond Princess, Beiijing to Bangkok on 6th November. I have read on a thread that I now can't find about using the Casino to take out cash from onboard account. Could someone give my some advice on whether this is possible, and how to do it. The reason I ask is that placed OBC into our ship account at a great rate of 2$ to £ and would like if possible to use some of it to spend off the ship

I never did this, however, I believe that Princess has a 3% service charge to get cash at the casino.

[Hamburg Avon Lady]

:) You can go to the casino and ask for "X" amount of money from your account to "gamble" with. There may or may not be a service charge to do this in the casino -- we have done this on RCCL and Celebrity and

were charged 3% (for ex. $ 3 to withdraw $ 100 = $ 97 in your pocket).

You should be given cash --- how you spend it -- is your own business.

We had substantial OBC's on our last cruise this past January and used

the money to pay for our private shore excursions/tour guides. Sure,

I didn't care for the service charge but $ 3 is not going to put a real

dent in my pocket. Have a great trip. :cool:

[jfv379]

You'll have to wait for Toto2Kansas to respond. She is the one who explained how it's done some time back. It was too confusing for me to even attempt an explanation.:eek:

[Toto2Kansas]

Back online, was gone this morning! I thought my ears were ringing. :)

If you would like to take cash from your shipboard account without paying the 3% service charge, it must be done at a slot machine. If you get cash at the cage, then the 3% service charge will be deducted.

 

Open a slot bank at one of the slot machines, instructions are on the machine, or you can ask for assistance from one of the casino staff. (Your actual cruise card is used for this so no extra card is needed). Download the amount of cash you wish to take out, and it will be charged to your shipboard account, or in your case, deducted from your shipboard account. You don't even have to gamble a nickle, just cash out the machine by saving the amount showing to your card, and it will be saved to your casino bank. Then you can take your cruise card to the casino cage and cash it out without the extra fee attached and they will give it to you in cash. It sounds a lot more complicated then it is, it is honestly very simple.

[jfv379]

People talk about you when your not around.:D That will teach you to leave your computer unattended.:eek:

[Toto2Kansas]

We needed food! ;) I have to leave sometimes, it can't be helped. LOL

 

Just think, unless I get the energy to book a 'live from the Pacific Princess' the end of the month, I will be gone for over 3 weeks............... some I am sure will be glad to hear that, others won't. ;)

[jfv379]

Toto,

 

Is there a limit as to how much you can charge to your ship board account using this method?

 

Sounds better than getting travelers checks or carrying large amounts of cash.

 

What will we ever do for three weeks?:confused:

[Toto2Kansas]

I honestly have no idea what the limit is you can take from the casino, I know it's listed somewhere. Seems to me it was a daily limit of around $1500 and length of cruise limit though, which I can not remember. Hopefully someone else will know for sure.

 

What we do though to save the hassle is to just send ourselves casino credits which can be cashed in at the cage with no 3% fee. It cuts out the hassle and makes cash available when needed for the casino, or other things.

And what I like is that I can purchase them anytime I wish pre-cruise, they are charged as a purchase to my credit card (not a cash advance) and I can have it all paid off on the CC before we even leave. :) I have a large enough credit card bill when I return home, and this way, it isn't as shocking.

[103brandy]

Thanks for the info Toto.

We planned to buy USD just for the casino slots and extra tips on our forthcoming Greek Island cruise.

Don't need to bother now. Just need euros.

 

Much appreciated. Thanks again.:D

[chipmaster]

This method to get cash looks almost too good to be true. Only downside is of course you got to pre-charge it before you go and actually get the cash. So it is a bit like a free loan to Princess. As long as your billing cycle doesn't show up while you are on cruise and you get sacked with huge finance this truely is free cash without the ATM hassels or the worry carrying cash.

 

The only thing to consider is that you only get USD back. So if you do need to change from USD to Euros, Bhat, Yuan, Yen, or whatever you will still need to do that exchange. I personally found the exchange fees and exchange rate on the ship would have absorbed any savings and more then using ATM in port or converting before hand.

[JIM130]

I honestly have no idea what the limit is you can take from the casino, I know it's listed somewhere. Seems to me it was a daily limit of around $1500 and length of cruise limit though, which I can not remember. Hopefully someone else will know for sure.

 

What we do though to save the hassle is to just send ourselves casino credits which can be cashed in at the cage with no 3% fee. It cuts out the hassle and makes cash available when needed for the casino, or other things.

And what I like is that I can purchase them anytime I wish pre-cruise, they are charged as a purchase to my credit card (not a cash advance) and I can have it all paid off on the CC before we even leave. :) I have a large enough credit card bill when I return home, and this way, it isn't as shocking.

The limit is $1500 per day and $5000 for the cruise. FYI - if you are using a Princess Cruise credit card you also get 2% on your charge. That's a lot better that paying 3%.

Jim..

[Toto2Kansas]

Thanks Jim. I thought I remembered it being $1500 per day, but couldn't remember the maximum for the cruise. ;)

 

Chipmaster, Yes it does take a bit of planning to make sure it is paid off before our billing cycle ends if you are sailing on a long cruise. We have found it to be the easiest and handiest way so we don't have to carry a ton of cash with us or bother with travelers checks. We have done this for several years now, and we love this method.

[jfv379]

Open a slot bank at one of the slot machines, instructions are on the machine, or you can ask for assistance from one of the casino staff. (Your actual cruise card is used for this so no extra card is needed). Download the amount of cash you wish to take out, and it will be charged to your shipboard account, or in your case, deducted from your shipboard account.

 

What we do though to save the hassle is to just send ourselves casino credits which can be cashed in at the cage with no 3% fee. It cuts out the hassle and makes cash available when needed for the casino, or other things.

And what I like is that I can purchase them anytime I wish pre-cruise, they are charged as a purchase to my credit card (not a cash advance) and I can have it all paid off on the CC before we even leave. :) I have a large enough credit card bill when I return home, and this way, it isn't as shocking.

 

Only downside is of course you got to pre-charge it before you go and actually get the cash.

 

Chipmaster,

 

I think Toto is saying you have two differnt options.

 

One pre paid and the other charged to shipboard account.

 

Either way, I like it. Now I just have to talk the financier into it.:D

[jfv379]

You posted as I was typing.:D

[adey22]

Thanks to all who who replied, in particular Toto. I think I should be able to do it now

[bhopal21]

The limit is $1500 per day and $5000 for the cruise.

 

The limit is actually passenger specific. I know as mine was quite a bit more.:o

 

Mike:)