Debit Card

[ronandcarla]

I'm sure this has been discussed before, but no time to research: Can you settle all of your charges at the end of the vacation, while on board the last day with a Debit Card?

[Clarea]

I'm sure this has been discussed before, but no time to research: Can you settle all of your charges at the end of the vacation, while on board the last day with a Debit Card?

Yes, but if you use the debit card to secure your SeaPass account, Royal will put a hold on it for a certain amount, something like $500. Then when you pay off the SeaPass account, you will be charged for that, in addition to the amount being held. The hold takes some time to expire, so you will be without access to those funds being held for several days.

 

It might be possible to designate your SeaPass account as a cash account, and then use the debit card to make payments as the ship requests it. This may avoid the hold part. I don't have direct experience with this, so maybe someone else will comment on whether this might allow the use of a debit card without incurring the hold.

[tx_sweetpea]

Here is a link to another thread.

[cb at sea]

To avoid any "holds" on your account, if you have a credit card, give it to them. Nothing will actually be "charged" until the cruise is over. You can go to the desk on the last night, and pay it off with your debit card....same as cash, basically! That's the easiest way!

[#1packerfan]

I have posted this many times on various threads. I have used 2 different debit cards from 2 different banks on several different cruises. I have never had any type of hold put on my card, ever. Most of the time, I put cash on my account and use my debit card for any "leftovers". But even on the occasions I did not do this, I still did not have any holds placed on my card.

 

I do not use credit cards, nor will I ever, so this works for me. I have read many times about holds being placed, but just wanted to say in the 7 or 8 cruises I have used a debit card for, it has not happened at all to me. The only charges I have ever had was the little bit that was left at the end of my cruise if the cash ran out, or whatever else I still owed. On the couple of cruises where I had some OBC left, it was credited back to my debit card account within a few days.

 

That being said, I also do not tell them it's a debit card. I use it as a credit card (my card doesn't say debit card, it just says MC) so maybe that's why I haven't had any holds placed.

[Gator0178]

It may depend on how YOUR financial institution handles Debit Card authorizations.

[ryano]

I have posted this many times on various threads. I have used 2 different debit cards from 2 different banks on several different cruises. I have never had any type of hold put on my card, ever. Most of the time, I put cash on my account and use my debit card for any "leftovers". But even on the occasions I did not do this, I still did not have any holds placed on my card.

 

I do not use credit cards, nor will I ever, so this works for me. I have read many times about holds being placed, but just wanted to say in the 7 or 8 cruises I have used a debit card for, it has not happened at all to me. The only charges I have ever had was the little bit that was left at the end of my cruise if the cash ran out, or whatever else I still owed. On the couple of cruises where I had some OBC left, it was credited back to my debit card account within a few days.

 

That being said, I also do not tell them it's a debit card. I use it as a credit card (my card doesn't say debit card, it just says MC) so maybe that's why I haven't had any holds placed.

 

Ditto this.........I have never noticed any "hold" either.......I dont even own a credit card but I do have a Visa card from my credit union that is my "cruise" card and tied straight to a checking account. Its not my regular checking account and i only use it for cruising mostly.

 

The total charge for my Seapass account was deducted out of my account the day of embarkation.

 

I also agree that it may be up the the individual bank or credit union....I always tell them before I leave that Im going on a cruise and using my card to secure my onboard account.

[#1packerfan]

Ditto this.........I have never noticed any "hold" either.......I dont even own a credit card but I do have a Visa card from my credit union that is my "cruise" card and tied straight to a checking account. Its not my regular checking account and i only use it for cruising mostly.

 

The total charge for my Seapass account was deducted out of my account the day of embarkation.

 

I also agree that it may be up the the individual bank or credit union....I always tell them before I leave that Im going on a cruise and using my card to secure my onboard account.

 

I also notify my bank before we leave that I will be using the card. I too have a separate card that I now use strictly for travelling that is tied to a different checking account at a different bank than my primary household checking. That way, if it is compromised in any way, it doesn't affect my bill paying account. I also agree, it may depend on your bank. My bank does not even place a hold on my card when we use it for gas like alot of banks do.

[Agr8RN]

Some debit cards have daily limits attached to them; so if your final bill is $700 and you have a daily limit of $300, you would have a real problem on the last day.

 

I've avoided this by having them charge it a few times throughout the cruise.

 

Sometimes you can preauthorize a larger daily limit with your cardholder prior to the cruise.

[LittleMissS]

Excuse my ignorance, as my first cruise is still a few months away, but couldn't all of these issues be avoided if one used a preloaded Visa / ATM card? This is my current plan (unless all of you change my mind with better ideas!;)).

[monn_a]

I've used debit cards, credit cards and prepaids...no problems with any of them. I've never had a big hold put on my debit card, i have had daily holds amounting to what I spent that day, and the total bill gets charged at the end of the cruise, but my bank drops holds within 72 hours, so it works out.

 

As for limits...ATM limits are different from daily charge limits...most banks charge limits are around $2000-2500 per day while atm limits can be anywhere from $300-1000. Both USAA and Citibank have $1000 atm limits and $2500 daily charge limits...ifyou use a debit card the most important thing is know your limits and keep track of spending...

[Maybaybie10]

Excuse my ignorance, as my first cruise is still a few months away, but couldn't all of these issues be avoided if one used a preloaded Visa / ATM card? This is my current plan (unless all of you change my mind with better ideas!;)).

 

See, I love this idea as well, but I have read on these boards many times that you cannot secure your seapass card with a prepaid ATM/debit card.

Does anyone know for sure?

[OrangeSquirrel]

I used a pre-paid card to secure (and settle) my SeaPass account last year on a 7-night Freedom cruise. Plan to do so again this year. We DID have holds placed on the funds we had spent each day; each hold dropped after 7 days. Therefore, it's important we load the card with more than we think we'll need (at least for the pre-paid card we use).

[thelion]

Yes, but if you use the debit card to secure your SeaPass account, Royal will put a hold on it for a certain amount, something like $500. Then when you pay off the SeaPass account, you will be charged for that, in addition to the amount being held. The hold takes some time to expire, so you will be without access to those funds being held for several days.

This is no longer accurate. RCI does not place one large hold, they place daily holds that equal your daily spending. This can sometimes cause a bit of a hiccup at the end here is why:

 

Day 1: $100

Day 2: 80

Day 3: 100

Day 4: 100

Total spent: $380

Total holds: $380

Total charge: $380

 

Now, on shorter cruises like the above, some of those "holds" may still be on your account (merchants can take up to three days to release them). So now you have $280 (three days) worth of holds and $380 worth of charges. Say you had a balance of $1,000. Your available balance will now be $340 instead of the $520 it would be without the holds. Of course, they typically drop off by the end of the cruise, but this is the risk.

It might be possible to designate your SeaPass account as a cash account, and then use the debit card to make payments as the ship requests it. This may avoid the hold part. I don't have direct experience with this, so maybe someone else will comment on whether this might allow the use of a debit card without incurring the hold.

 

Cash is a good option but remember your SeaPass will work like a debit card. You put up $X (however much you want) and you can spend that much. When you run out, you need to either put up more cash or stop spending.

 

 

See, I love this idea as well, but I have read on these boards many times that you cannot secure your seapass card with a prepaid ATM/debit card.

Does anyone know for sure?

 

You can use most but Amex prepaid cards were not accepted, last I checked, due to a weird expiration date and a notification from Amex that their prepaid cards should not be used for these services.

[LittleMissS]

So essentially, I can take my prepaid Visa, withdraw 300 Euros and use that cash to establish my sea pass account? (Will they take Euros onboard?) This way my Visa won't have any holds on it. And if I start running out of money on my sea pass account, I can just remove more Euros from my Visa and pay in cash? Will they allow me to do this on a longer cruise? And if I don't spend the 300 Euros I put on the sea pass, will I get that back at the end of the cruise? Thanks in advance!:)