Purchases before adding cash to account

[sragu01]

Hi, my family will be on the Magic in July and we are planning on doing a cash account this time instead of using our credit cards. I have heard how busy guest services is at boarding so I thought we might want to wait for the line to die down some before adding cash to our account. Will we be able to purchase things with our s&s card early that first day if we don't put cash in our account immediately? Also, can you use the kiosks near guest services to put cash on your account? Thanks for the info, we have never done it this way before.

[agc291]

I believe when you check in you add the cash. That is how it worked on both my cruises.

 

Also, if you make a purchase that exceeds your limit, they let you purchase it and politely tell you to go to the guest services desk to add more money.

[lizziez00]

You can purchase Fun Ship dollars on the Carnival web site and have them added to your account before you cruise (Up to a week before sail) so you will have $$ right away when you get on the ship. I believe you have to go to the Guest Services Desk to do a cash account on the ship...but if you have the funship $$ in already, you can wait to do this when the lines die down...and still be able to purchase things right away

[lauraezzell]

We were unable to purchase anything until we actually had cash on our account. DH tried and was told he needed to go to Guest Services concerning our account.

[deborahjo]

We added cash to the Kios when we checked it. You can always do this so when you get on board you can spend the money.

[lizziez00]

We were unable to purchase anything until we actually had cash on our account. DH tried and was told he needed to go to Guest Services concerning our account.

There was a whole fight about this in a thread that I asked about a cash account in...lol

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1652039

[chasinraynbowz]

And I have heard that you have up to 24 hours before you have to put cash on your account..... lol.

 

Op, we always use cash. We usually try to board early. There is rarely a long line, maybe 3 or 4 in front of us... at the most. I understand some of the ports have kiosks that allow you to put cash on your account. Not all ports have the kiosks though. Either way, you won't have to wait long.

 

You can also do like Lizzie asked about and purchase OBC for yourselves. That way, you won't have to wait in any line at all.

 

Whatever you decide, have a great cruise!!!

[Mom2JJandJ]

Call 1-800-906-7603 during the following hours: Monday - Saturday 8:00am - 8:30pm, Eastern Time

 

Phone orders are accepted up to one week prior to sailing.

 

You can add OBC via a debit/credit card over the phone.

[cruiseaholic76]

Hi, my family will be on the Magic in July and we are planning on doing a cash account this time instead of using our credit cards. I have heard how busy guest services is at boarding so I thought we might want to wait for the line to die down some before adding cash to our account. Will we be able to purchase things with our s&s card early that first day if we don't put cash in our account immediately? Also, can you use the kiosks near guest services to put cash on your account? Thanks for the info, we have never done it this way before.

 

 

We always use a cash account and the last time we cruised almost 2 years ago on the Valor the lady at check in said you can use your card and just add cash later. I think there was a limit of like 100 bucks though. Not sure if they still do this though. This was the first time anyones ever told me that.

[CheckersMidwest]

Just returned from our cruise a 2 weeks ago. We used cash.

 

I called ahead and put $$ on our onboard account. My receipt said "Gift Certificates". We were aboard early and the guest services line was not long. I confirmed our amount again and added more cash toward the end.

 

We also prepaid gratuities and some excursions so when I asked if we had $xxxx amount on our sale account.....the actual amount was much more. They didn't take out those 'pre' charges until we sailed. A bit confusing, but was very accurate otherwise.