Settling Account On Star Princess

[torty]

Can anyone help. I'm sure I've recently read a review from someone who'd returned from a Baltic cruise on Star Princess in which reference was made to settling the on-board account at the end of the trip. I think mention was made of a surcharge if this account was settled in cash or by cheque as opposed to debiting the amount to the credit card number demanded at the start of the cruise although I may have been mistaken. I've spent ages trawling through the message boards trying to locate this particular message all to no avail so would be really grateful for some advice on this matter.

[mycruz]

Having just returned, I don't recall any surcharge for settling with cash. The ship did send a reminder out that it would be more convienent to have a CC on account for faster check out and to avoid the lines that form the night before. I actually made a cash payment towards the balance on day 8 and the remainder was left on the CC. The ship did not charge me any extra when I made a cash payment. (Thank you Grand Casino!)

Mary

[sultan_sfo]

First of all -- Cash is King. So, if you pay cash in $ there can be no surcharge. If you use a US$ based credit card, again there is no problem.

 

You may have seen posts about credit cards that are non-US$, for example Canadian $ or Euros. The ship uses its conversion rate. Then what happens is a double conversion. Say in St. Petersburg if you use non-cruise lline tours and charge the tour fees. First the $ amount that is agreed is converted to Rubles using 30 Rubles to a $. This is charged in Rubles to your credit card. Then the Credit card company converts it back to $ using say 27 Rubles to a $ and they charge another 3% foreign exchange transaction fee. /Sultan