End of Cruise Bill

[notentirelynormal]

You would think this would be an issue for both parties. The person who lost the money in the casino and the cruise line for allowing it to happen in the first place. If it were me running the cruise I would definitely have a tighter plan to just keep from any mishaps. This all boils down to Princess trying to get you to get their credit card that I have seen promoted around and on the ship lol. Anyone else ever think the same thing?

 

Ummm, I'm sorry, I don't understand these comments. No matter how you slice it, if you walk into a casino, sit down and play anything in there then YOU are responsible for your losses and no one else. Princess does not require you to be there. That was a choice you made - you were not forced. Tighter plan? You spend money, you owe it. They follow up on you paying. Where are you missing this?

 

Your on board account can be paid with ANY credit card, cash or debit card. It certainly does not have to be the one that Princess promotes. I've never seen or heard of anyone getting pressure to use that one.

[melodyina]

What happens if you can't pay it? Hyperthetically speaking of course. I use a cash account so that wouldn't happen to me but does anyone know if money just got out of hand? Would they never let you off? As if that will be such a big deal haha.

 

Hello,

Besides notifying your credit card company that you are traveling you should also keep in mind two additional items that may cause a declined transaction:

 

1. Single Purchase Limit

2. Daily charge limit.

 

For example, if your credit or debit card has a single purchase limit of $500.00 and your end-of-cruise total is $505.00 and the cruise line runs your bill through as one charge - you will be declined.

 

So before I travel, I always check the daily charge limit, single purchase limit and of coarse - amount available for credit or debit charges.

[FLACRUISER99]

What happens if you can't pay it? Hyperthetically speaking of course. I use a cash account so that wouldn't happen to me but does anyone know if money just got out of hand? Would they never let you off? As if that will be such a big deal haha.

You have to Clean the bilge.

[cruisedad521]

Thank you for that information. That's what I'm afraid of - it's the card we plan to use in Europe and I had planned to call ahead of time (used to doing it with our Citicards card because they watch the account like a hawk).

 

I was afraid we'd run into the same problem - called ahead and then possibly denied. With the language barrier, this could be a bit of a problem.

I called all my credit card companies and banks before traveling on a med cruise this summer and gave the list of countries and dates. As mentioned by others above, they locked the cards anyway after a few days of traveling. Citibank was especially annoying as it was my only Visa card which most of the vendors required. I called and unlocked it (and the bank debit cards) but I was trying to avoid long distance calls. The only one that did not lock up was Amex, but that is not taken by many vendors abroad.

[Coracii]

Probably "B of A", probably the most inconvinient bank open.

 

Guess it's a matter of opinion and/or luck. I've been with B of A for 15 years and CitiBank for longer than that and neither has ever given me an ounce of trouble throughout my travels. Chase and Capitol One, on the other hand, were absolutely horrible for the brief time I dealt with them.

[Coracii]

You would think this would be an issue for both parties. The person who lost the money in the casino and the cruise line for allowing it to happen in the first place.

 

It isn't the cruiseline's responsibility to keep people from getting themselves into financial difficulties while onboard. If people can't restrain themselves to stay within their budget they shouldn't be on the ship. It's personal responsibility, and too many people are lacking in it.

[ONT-CA]

Having process our credit card at the registration desk, we borded the ship only to find out, after sailing, that the card was left at the registration desk. Panic. We advised Princess of the problem and they gave us free ship to shore calls to our bank to cancel the card. Then we had to arrange for a replacement card identity to give to Princess and an amount of credit to keep on sailing. We signed off this amount upon disembarkation and found our new card waiting for us as we arrived home. We have to give Princess top marks for the way they guided us through this.

[Ruste]

On a similar vein, what do you do with the hotel swipe cards that have all your information on them? Do you hand them back when you check out or do you take them with you? We take ours with us now after finding out that the hotel may not clear your information off until the card is used again.

[Coracii]

On a similar vein, what do you do with the hotel swipe cards that have all your information on them? Do you hand them back when you check out or do you take them with you? We take ours with us now after finding out that the hotel may not clear your information off until the card is used again.

 

Keep your room key card and bring it home with you (they only cost pennies to make, the hotel and/or ship doesn't need them back). Then if you are one of the scrapbooking types you have a souveneir, if not it makes a fun noise when it's being shredded.

[luvs2travl]

On a similar vein, what do you do with the hotel swipe cards that have all your information on them? Do you hand them back when you check out or do you take them with you? We take ours with us now after finding out that the hotel may not clear your information off until the card is used again.

 

 

Yeah - I learned about the hotel swipe card thing many years ago at a state Women's Conference seminar. ALL your home info as well as your credit card info (if you used one to check in) is contained on that magnetic strip. There was a very large ID theft ring in Houston a couple of years ago that was "busted" for this. Seems hotel desk clerks working in some pretty pricey hotels, (as well as in some "not-so-pricey" hotels), in and around the Houston area, were getting paid for getting these hotel ID cards back from guests and passing them along to the ID theft ring.

 

You don't necessarily have to take them with you (we do!), but the police lieutenant that gave the seminar said to just "mess up" the magnetic strip by swiping it over a cell phone that is turned on, or passing it over something else that is magnetized such as a TV screen or even one of those magnetized bracelets that so many folks wear for arthritis, etc. Or, better still - just take something sharp and rake it across the strip a couple of times.

 

Main thing is NOT to return or merely toss out those hotel cards or any other type card with a magnetic strip before doing something to deactivate the strip. Even tho' ours go through the shredder when we get home, we have already "defaced" them by scraping through the strip on the back.

[rocket girl]

sometimes you call ahead and it's not the right department. they won't tell you that when you call. check with the bank that issued the card. Call them direct or better yet go in. We called before our 3 mos Europe trip to inform them. they said okay, they'd note it.

then 2 days before we left while at the bank we were told that wasn't the right department = we had called the number on the card. Bank said there is another department that makes those decisions to lock or not. They gave us the number. We called. Were asked to list all the countries we would be visiting and our date of departure and arrival back to states. We had NO problems!!!!!

[Colo Cruiser]

On a similar vein, what do you do with the hotel swipe cards that have all your information on them? Do you hand them back when you check out or do you take them with you? We take ours with us now after finding out that the hotel may not clear your information off until the card is used again.

 

 

Not true, this is a myth.

[cruisin36]

Not true, this is a myth.

 

Agreed!! Don't know where he got that from.

[Coracii]

Not true, this is a myth.

 

Agreed!! Don't know where he got that from.

 

It's one of those urban legends that has taken hold even though it's been proven false time and time again. I always take mine just to keep them, never have worried about the card being stolen since there's nothing to be read from them. For all the details and true facts:

 

http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/hotelkey.asp

[Pam in CA]

On a similar vein, what do you do with the hotel swipe cards that have all your information on them? Do you hand them back when you check out or do you take them with you? We take ours with us now after finding out that the hotel may not clear your information off until the card is used again.

First, they don't have your personal info on the card; second, the card is automatically de-activated at Noon on your check-out date (or whenever the official check-out time is.) If you change your mind or have to stay an extra day or two, you have to get your card re-activated. Keep the card as a collector's item but there is no personal info on that magnetic strip.

[luvs2travl]

It's one of those urban legends that has taken hold even though it's been proven false time and time again. I always take mine just to keep them, never have worried about the card being stolen since there's nothing to be read from them. For all the details and true facts:

 

http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/hotelkey.asp

 

Thanks for the information. I've been destroying those little plastics swipe cards for the past several years under the impression that they did, indeed have encrypted information on them. I wonder why a representative from our police department would have told so many people at a State-wide conference something that wasn't true? :confused:

[Coracii]

Thanks for the information. I've been destroying those little plastics swipe cards for the past several years under the impression that they did, indeed have encrypted information on them. I wonder why a representative from our police department would have told so many people at a State-wide conference something that wasn't true? :confused:

 

Quite frequently people that should be "in the know" hear something that sounds quite feasible and don't double-check to make sure the information is accurate before passing it along. On the face, it definitely sounds like it makes sense that information would be stored on the card so most people aren't going to question it, even police officers. That's the whole premise behind good urban legends, they are realistic to be believed even when being patently false.

[luvs2travl]

Quite frequently people that should be "in the know" hear something that sounds quite feasible and don't double-check to make sure the information is accurate before passing it along. On the face, it definitely sounds like it makes sense that information would be stored on the card so most people aren't going to question it, even police officers. That's the whole premise behind good urban legends, they are realistic to be believed even when being patently false.

 

Hi Coracii,

 

Thanks for the nice reply. He sure made it sound like destroying those swipe cards would help protect identity theft - even threw in the story about the ID theft ring in Houston. Oh well - live & learn! One would think it would be OK to trust in something a police officer tells you about your own personal safety tho' - makes me a bit disappointed. :(

 

I think I'll start doing what a few other CC'ers do and just keep them for the scrapbook now.

 

Thanks again for being so considerate in your response. It is greatly appreciated. :)

[Proudairborne/RangerMom]

I use my on board cards when I get home by putting a magnetic strip on the back and turn them into magnets. Now we have a ship magnet of every cruise we've been on.

[ibfern]

Me three!

 

I am betting it's either Chase, or B of A.

 

I've had this happen to me with my Princess Visa from Barcleys! It may have to do with the number of cruises and FCCs I buy while onboard. :D

 

Amelia

[ibfern]

On a similar vein, what do you do with the hotel swipe cards that have all your information on them? Do you hand them back when you check out or do you take them with you? We take ours with us now after finding out that the hotel may not clear your information off until the card is used again.

 

I did not realize this but it makes sense, thanks for this invaluable info! I'll never leave another one behind.

[Coracii]

I did not realize this but it makes sense, thanks for this invaluable info! I'll never leave another one behind.

 

See posts #62 through #67 in this thread, the information is not encoded on your cruise card or your hotel room key card. It's an urban legend that has been proven false countless times.

[ibfern]

See posts #62 through #67 in this thread, the information is not encoded on your cruise card or your hotel room key card. It's an urban legend that has been proven false countless times.

 

I know, for shame I did not read the whole thread and respond. Oops :o

I have to say I will probably be neurotic and not leave them...

[Crown Prince]

First, they don't have your personal info on the card; second, the card is automatically de-activated at Noon on your check-out date (or whenever the official check-out time is.) If you change your mind or have to stay an extra day or two, you have to get your card re-activated. Keep the card as a collector's item but there is no personal info on that magnetic strip.

Another Use:

 

Take it on your next trip to use in your pre- and post-cruise hotel to keep the air conditioner on.

 

I don't stay in 4 or 5-star hotels. I would rather have a balcony cabin on board. Some of the cheap Hotels in Europe have the automatic cut-off for electricity to your room when you remove your Hotel Room Card. Then it is hot when you come back (works the same for the Heat too).

 

Use one of these old, defunct cards to keep the electricity on for your air conditioning or heating unit.

 

I accidently discovered this when somebody had left an old card (not a room card - just an ad) in a drawer in a hotel. It doesn't even have to be plastic, just enough weight to trip the lever inside the little box.

 

Even our nice rooms at the Crowne Plaza, in Bejing, had this disability.

 

:D:D;):D:D

[paul929207]

I did not realize this but it makes sense, thanks for this invaluable info! I'll never leave another one behind.

I hope you read the other responses. The hotel key cards DO NOT have your personal info on them. They are deactivated when you check out.