Pay cash for on board account

[msmayor]

I'm confused! So you're saying that your bill had not yet reached $1,000?? This should not have made any difference. But, you gave them the $1,000 anyway ...... but only got credited for the amount you had spent to date and the rest got charged to your credit card?? What happened to the rest of your $1,000. Really confused!!! I'm thinking you got a desk person who was just VERY confused! :D

 

To answer OP's question, applying cash to an account at ANY time and in ANY amount should not be a problem. We've done it before.

 

However, I would suggest that you do NOT wait until the last morning to do this. The lines at the desk are brutal!! On the last night, just pull up your balance on your cabin's t.v., then pay this amount (plus a little for last night's cocktails :D) and let a small balance go to your card. This way you can avoid the craziness at the desk the morning of debarkation.

 

We had already come pretty darned close to $1,000 by the time I hit the win. Tips for four of us, a tuxedo rental for my son, vest set rental for my husband, dinner at Chops, liquor, soda cards for the kids, some souvenirs...the final charge to the AMEX account was about $175 which meant our total on-board spending was $1,175.

 

Had we NOT spent the $1,000 they would have refunded to me in cash. I just honestly thought better to put that kind of dough on my account where it was 'safe' instead of hang on to it in my room. Yes, I could have kept it in the room safe, but this way I wasn't even tempted to give any of it back to the casino.

 

That winning hand was my last play in the casino that trip. My husband was amazed I had the will power, but I told him going home a winner and having Royal Caribbean pay most of our on-board account was the best souvenir ever.

[irishred]

I had similar questions and e-mailed RCL to see if they require $XXX to set up a cash account and/or is I used my debit, would they place a hold for $XXX amount immediately. Below is the official response. This was just a few weeks ago so I presume it is up-to-date information. I hope this helps...

 

Dear Sir or Madam:

 

Thank you for your email.

 

Royal Caribbean International does not predetermine an authorized deposit amount for guests using a debit card for their onboard expense account. The system will only obtain authorization for what has actually been purchased by the guest, and a hold will be put on the account for that amount. Each evening, the system will obtain authorization for the amount spent by the guest that day. By the end of the cruise vacation, the ship will have authorizations for the exact amount of the individual guest's purchases. The amount of time these debit card holds will remain on an account varies from bank to bank; however, most will release within 48 hours. A running tab of all purchases will be kept under separate folio numbers for each guest, and an itemized statement will be left in the stateroom the night before departure. If a guest provided a debit card and there are no discrepancies, the final amount of the guest's expenses will be charged to the guest's account on the morning of departure.

 

Guests are strongly encouraged to place a deposit on their account if they are paying for their SeaPass account with cash; however, there is no minimum deposit to set up a cash account. There is a $500.00 daily limit on cash accounts for 7+ night sailings and a $300.00 daily limit for 2-, 3-, 4-, 5- and 6-night sailings. Once the daily cash limit is reached, we will call and inform the guests that the limit has been reached. Guests who agree to pay for their purchases with cash will settle their SeaPass account at a designated area on the last morning of the cruise vacation.

 

Sir or Madam, thank you for choosing Royal Caribbean International.

[CruisinGerman]

Dear friends:

 

That answer from RCCL basically supports exactly what I have been saying.

 

The only difference is that I didn't know the limit was lower for cruises less than 7 nights ($500 vs. $300). That makes sense.

 

However, I would like to offer a very important warning to passengers who pay with debit cards that are not from the United States and based in other currencies such as euros, pounds, etc.

 

The charging system used in the international authorization system for credit cards and debit cards is based on matching authorizations previously taken with actual charges. Because exchange rates between the dollar and other currencies can vary, even if just slightly, from one day to the next, it is quite frequent that on day 1 dollars authorized might equal one hundred pounds, but by day 7 when the charge is actually processed, the same amount of dollars authorized might equal ninety-eight pounds, just to use an example. In this case, the system will not find a match and it is very frequent for you to have both the charge AND the previous authorization. This authorization, which blocks your money, sometimes takes quite a long time to disappear. People paying with high-limit or no-limit credit cards do not notice this, but when paying with a debit card, you are actually deprived of use of your money while this happens.

 

Therefore, my advice for those paying with debit cards, especially if they are not dollar debit cards, would be NOT to post the card at the beginning of the cruise, and only pay the actual charge once either at the end of the cruise, or once you hit the $500 limit. That way you will avoid the potential duplicate authorization and potential freezing of your own money.

 

Kind regards,

 

Gunther and Uta

[Clarea]

...Therefore, my advice for those paying with debit cards, especially if they are not dollar debit cards, would be NOT to post the card at the beginning of the cruise, and only pay the actual charge once either at the end of the cruise, or once you hit the $500 limit. That way you will avoid the potential duplicate authorization and potential freezing of your own money.

 

Kind regards,

 

Gunther and Uta

Gunther, I think this is sound advice. I had wondered if this would be a good technique to avoid the duplicate authorization issue with the use of debit cards.

 

The only potential downside I see to using a cash account would be the inability to use the Seapass card on disembarkation day. For us, this is not an issue because we're not purchasing anything on that last day.

 

Bob

[pltag]

With two nights left in the cruise, I hit a very lucky hand of Let It Ride in the casino and took the cash right to Guest Services to apply to our bill...it was $1,000.

Thanks ..... MS, I misunderstood. I thought you took $1,000 in winnings to the desk and they wouldn't accept it because your bill hadn't reached that yet.

 

By the way nice LIR hand! 4 of a kind?? I was in Vegas recently playing LIR w/ the 3-card bonus. I drew three 7's. I went to lay down my "no-brainer" and the guy across the table flashed me the 4th 7 after asking me what I had ..... therefore telling me I couldn't draw the fourth 7. I sat back to wait on my winning payout only to have the dealer flip Jack ........ Jack!! The table was happy because EVERYONE won and I had just drawn a Full House! I got up shortly after that one ....... also! :D

[olibubble]

I don't care what RCI customer service may be trained to say.

 

I was on Grandeur in April 2011;

 

Liberty in May 2011;

 

Freedom in June 2011

 

It worked just the way I said on all three cruises -- three different ships, three different continents, and three different target customer groups.

 

Did not put any money or credit card down during any of the cruises until I reached $500 spending, at which point I paid the account down. On Liberty I never reached $500, so I just paid on the last night.

 

It was Eric, the Guest Relations Manager on Grandeur, who explained the system to me just as I have explained it in these posts.

 

Kind regards,

 

Gunther and Uta

 

i was on libery in may too!

 

I called up and asked and i got told i could put down whatever i want, if i wanted to!

[tx_sweetpea]

I agree with Cruisin German.

 

On the Oasis this past March, I had a cash account. When I checked-in, I asked the shore representative if I needed to put cash down and she said no. I was told I could charge on my SeaPass until it reached $300. The last day I paid my balance and had no issues, I never hit the $300. I was worried about using cash prior to that cruise but it was very easy and would probably do it again.

[5kids2dogs]

This has me very concerned about our kid's seapass account. We were thinking it might be safer to put a little cash on their account instead of linking it to our credit card. If I'm reading this thread correctly my kids can spend up to $500 the first day no matter how much cash I put on their account. This doesn't help with limiting their spending. Is this correct?

[bigque]

On my cruises I used a debit card. I thought I would have bill for what spent at the end but what they actually do is run your debit card each night and it is debited for the purchases made that day. The only thing I had left to pay the last day was the purchases made the night before which was to be debited that day. There was no hold put on the card because of the nightly transmissions.

[nhamer04]

I love these forum boards. Ive been trying to find an answer for this question for ages and have come across it here.

 

I dont have a CC and want to pay in cash only but was worried I would have to put down $1000's at the start even though we are going to purchase the alcohol & soda drinks packages. We are cruising as a family and on a budget so was worried about paying for them as well as a large cash deposit for anything else we wouldnt be buying!!

 

Thanks all.