daily authorisation on account- what is this?

[cruisin'77]

Hi

This is from RCI :

 

"Holding Charges

Whilst you are onboard, your daily spend will be authorised at the close of business each day. Your card provider, as part of their standard procedures, may retain these authorisations for up to 28 days and this is outside of the control of RCL Cruises Ltd. For this reason, you may wish to set up a cash only account or register a credit card rather than a debit card at the start of your sailing. You may also wish to contact your bank at the end of your cruise to assist with any outstanding authorisations"

 

 

Does this mean I will encur credit card charges everyday as it will look like I am using my cc daily? I'm from the UK so wanted to only make one payment at the end of the trip to reduce the charges the cc company will throw me.

 

Thanks

Confused Crusin'77

x:confused:x

[serene56]

You can use cash to open your account. You can also charge throughout the week and pay cash on the last night.

 

The card will "HOLD" every 24 hours but the charges go through on the last night (early morning)

 

a debit card can be quite messy as many of those cards have a daily limit- onthe last day this limit may go over the daily amount allowed which in turn freezes your account.

[Hlitner]

Some cruise lines will not even accept Debit Cards because they may lack this "hold" feature. Major credit card companies allow merchants (in this case the cruise line) to put a "hold" on a specific amount of your credit limit. One line in particular, Holland America, fully discloses their policy of putting a $60 per day hold (per person) on cruises shorter than 25 days. This means that they submit this hold to your credit card company who electronically sets aside that amount of money out of your approved credit limit. This is not an issue for those with high credit limits, but folks with very low credit limits would be well advised to request an increase on their limit before they leave home.

 

Hank

[John Bull]

I may be wrong - I often am :rolleyes: - but I think this "hold" only applies to DEBIT cards. And this seems to tie in with the RCI policy as noted in the original post.

 

Since credit limits on credit cards are high (for example my monthly card spend is way under £1000 & the limit is £15000) its not generally a problem for the ship if they don't put on a hold, or for the cruiser if they do.

 

But debit cards rely on sufficient money being in the cruiser's bank account, so some cruiselines put on a hold at the outset to avoid problems for them if the cruiser doesn't have the money in the bank at the end of the cruise. This can lead to big problems for cruisers who are unaware of this policy, & who are relying on salary payments etc going into their account during the cruise to pay the on-board account at the end of the cruise. The problems can include inability to draw from ATMs during the cruise, and regular payments out of their account during the cruise, such as monthly mortgage payments not being honoured.

So do make sure you have enough funds in your bank account to allow for this if you plan to register just a debit card with the ship when you embark.

I'm pretty sure (but don't flame me if I'm wrong) that there's no charges involved in the cruiseline putting on a hold - just the charges & embarrassment involved in payments drawn on the bank account being dishonoured etc. On all cruises, including RCI, the only entry on my credit card statement has been the single lump sum charged at the end

 

Do be very aware of those potential consequences of registering a debit card - it's a very long walk from, eg, Rome to port if you can't draw cash from an ATM :eek:

 

BTW, since RCI's currency is US dollars, paying in cash is fiddly & expensive cos you'll need to change enough for your planned expenditure -overcalculate & you'll have to change the leftover back to sterling, undercalculate & you'll be paying some in sterling at truly rotten ship's exchange rates.

So use your credit card - and decline RCI's offer to convert the card charge to sterling, leave them to charge the card in dollars & your card company will convert at a much better exchange rate.

 

JB :)

[paul929207]

A hold can be applied to either a credit or debit card.

 

Its purpose is to insure that a transaction up to the hold amount will be accepted at a future date (usually within 28 days I believe). Without the hold, the cruise line could check the card and be told it is good, but by the end of the cruise, someone could have made a number of charges. In that case, there might not be enough credit left to cover the cruise charge.

[cb at sea]

The "hold" IS only applied to debit cards.....not to credit cards. That's why they recommend you use credit instead of debit to hold your account.

 

Because a debit card is like a checking account, you could show that you have money today, but spend it tomorrow and they would have no way to recoup the money you own them. Just like a checking account, what your account shows is NOT necessarily what you have to spend!

[Hlitner]

Do not underestimate the effect of credit card (or debit card) holds. Many folks might think their credit limit is high enough, but there are many folks whose credit limit is only in the 1 - $4000 range. Now this might sound high, but it really is not. Here is an example. Say a couple takes a 15 day cruise on a Holland America ship (just as an example) and uses a single credit card for both folks (normal for most couples). HA will immediately put a $1800 hold on the credit card account. The couple then gets to an island or port and decides to rent a car for the day. The rental car company immediately puts a $1500 hold on the account (an example of what can happen if you decline CDW) and now the couple has a $3300 hold. That same couple then decided to make a $1000 purchase (say they found a beautiful necklace) and BINGO, they have now exceeded their $4000 limit and the purchase is denied. This happens all the time. For most folks it just takes a simple phone call to get their credit limit increased, and for frequent travelers it is a good idea to have a high credit limit even if you never plan to use it! Keep in mind that many young couples (and some older folks) have relatively low credit limits (sometimes as low as $1000) and this can become a major problem.

 

Hank

[cruisin'77]

Thanks for the responses. Sounds like RCI will try and squeeze every last dollar out of you!

Does anyone know the actual hold charge per day? I've put my cc against 5 people's acct to mimimize the overseas transaction fee. Now I'm wondering if that was such a good idea if they will hold for 5 people at a time.

Thanks guys

Cruisin'77

x:cool:x

[sail7seas]

The "hold" IS only applied to debit cards.....not to credit cards. That's why they recommend you use credit instead of debit to hold your account.

 

Because a debit card is like a checking account, you could show that you have money today, but spend it tomorrow and they would have no way to recoup the money you own them. Just like a checking account, what your account shows is NOT necessarily what you have to spend!

 

It is same for a credit card.

You may have a $10,000 limit and on Monday, there was plenty credit left to satisfy the cruise line 'hold'. On Tuesday, you could make a major purchase which depletes the available credit.

 

Most people are not aware hotels all around the world do this, car rental companies etc You are only actually billed what you spend but a reserve is placed to cover what is anticipated to be what the 'average' person spends per day on a cruise. If you do not spend that much, you will not be charged anything more than what you actually spend. That is put through last day.

[paul929207]

Thanks for the responses. Sounds like RCI will try and squeeze every last dollar out of you!

Does anyone know the actual hold charge per day? I've put my cc against 5 people's acct to mimimize the overseas transaction fee. Now I'm wondering if that was such a good idea if they will hold for 5 people at a time.

Thanks guys

Cruisin'77

x:cool:x

I don't know what amount RCI puts a hold on. However, it is probably in the $50 to $100 per person per day. For 5 people that would be $1750 to $3500 on your card.

[dzcruisers]

The "hold" IS only applied to debit cards.....not to credit cards. That's why they recommend you use credit instead of debit to hold your account.

 

Because a debit card is like a checking account, you could show that you have money today, but spend it tomorrow and they would have no way to recoup the money you own them. Just like a checking account, what your account shows is NOT necessarily what you have to spend!

 

On the Jewel in May the daily holds were on credit cards. I have one with a fairly low credit limit that we only use for cruises. I got a call on it. A quick call to the credit card company fixed everything. RCI was putting a nightly hold on credit cards for that day's expenses. I had not experienced this on X.

[Hlitner]

Regarding the RCI question, we do not recall anywhere that officially discloses their policy (unlike HA which clearly posts it on their website). My suggestion would be that you simply call RCI (they have a toll free number) and ask.

 

Hank

[hladygirl]

2 years ago on my first cruise i called my bank to get an increase in daily purchase allowance due to using only a debit for the cruise. they said "sure, your $3,000 per day isn't enough?" i assumed my spending limit was $400 per day as it was years ago. i have used only debit on last 2 cruises without any issues or holds. i do notify my bank of my travels so they don't see suspicious activity and stop the account. last year our bill for onboard purchases was $2,200 and had no holds at the end of the cruise.

[cruisin'77]

My cc will cover all 5 of us as I get more dollars for my pounds. I will though look at putting down cash in dollars at the end of it as well depending on what we spend.

 

Everywhere I have read have advised not to convert to pounds as the ships exchange rate is atrocious so I will use my UK card to pay in dollars and use my cc companies exchange rate which will be much better.

 

Happy cruisin

x:eek:x

[paul929207]

My cc will cover all 5 of us as I get more dollars for my pounds. I will though look at putting down cash in dollars at the end of it as well depending on what we spend.

 

Everywhere I have read have advised not to convert to pounds as the ships exchange rate is atrocious so I will use my UK card to pay in dollars and use my cc companies exchange rate which will be much better.

 

Happy cruisin

x:eek:x

You are correct. Do not let the ship convert your charges to your currecy. Their exchange rate is horrible.

[John Bull]

Regarding the RCI question, we do not recall anywhere that officially discloses their policy (unlike HA which clearly posts it on their website). My suggestion would be that you simply call RCI (they have a toll free number) and ask.

 

Hank

 

 

Hi Hank,

On RCI's UK website it's in the FAQs "top 25".

Unlike their tipping policy, which doesn't figure in the FAQ at all, or anywhere else except their terms & conditions. But that's another subject for another thread. :rolleyes:

The hold is also mentioned in more detail in their terms & conditions. But no figures are quoted &, as per the OP, its unclear whether it applies to credit cards.

We all seem to have our own ideas about that, but dz's post rather demonstrates that it does.

 

So I guess the frequent references I've seen to grief with debit cards, & until dz's post on this thread no problems with credit cards, plus RCI's recommendation to use cc rather than dc, is because of the higher limits on credit cards.

 

I'll second the recommendations by Paul & others that non-US pax should allow their card to be charged in dollars, & leave their card supplier to convert to the card's currency. I seem to recall that RCI ask you to mark your preference on one of the forms they provide at the start of your cruise.

RCI's rates are poor and they also make an admin charge (figure not quoted on their website)

Some card companies, such as Capital One or the Post Office (credit, not pre-paid), are better than others

 

Getting bored with this thread now. I think I'll go find one on smoking or smuggling. Much more lively :D

 

JB :)