Debit Card, Prepaid Card or Cash/Travelers Cheques

[Hoosier-Cruiser]

My family does not do credit cards. Don't have any, don't want any. All purchases, short of homes, are paid for when bought. But, this poses a potential problem. I have seen some posts stating some horror stories about holds and other issues when using a debit card to cover your onboard account.

 

A few questions,

1) Does anyone have any experience with using a debit card for their onboard account? I mean entering it into the Cruise Personalizer to cover all charges, an not going to the Purser's Desk to settle at the end.

 

2) If so, is an excessive hold put on the account or can I specify what I want to have on there?

 

3) If not a debit card, should I get a prepaid travel Visa card from AAA or is it better to get Traveler's Cheques and stop at the Purser's Desk and put some money on account that way?

 

4) If I do not use a card on the Cruise Personalizer, will I be able to print boarding passes and luggage tags or will I be holding the line up at check-in?

 

Sorry for all the questions. Last time, we actually had a credit card, but, after having issues with the issuing bank several years ago, we decided to cut that one source of stress out of our lives.

[caribill]

A few questions,

1) Does anyone have any experience with using a debit card for their onboard account? I mean entering it into the Cruise Personalizer to cover all charges, and not going to the Purser's Desk to settle at the end. You should be able to use your debit card with no problem.

 

2) If so, is an excessive hold put on the account or can I specify what I want to have on there? You cannot specify, but in general it will be no more than $50/day/person plus all onboard actual charges (shore excursions, daily gratuity, etc.) will be conditionally billed to it each evening. However, do realize that unexpected expenses can happen. For example, if you need to use the medical facilities, the charges for that will be put to your onboard account and must be settled before disembarking. This would have the same problem if using cash or travelers' checks or a pre-paid debit card.

 

3) If not a debit card, should I get a prepaid travel Visa card from AAA or is it better to get Traveler's Cheques and stop at the Purser's Desk and put some money on account that way? Nothing wrong with using Treveler's Cheques this way.

 

4) If I do not use a card on the Cruise Personalizer, will I be able to print boarding passes and luggage tags or will I be holding the line up at check-in? You will need to enter your debit card into the personalizer in order to print boarding passes and luggage tags.

 

Sorry for all the questions. Last time, we actually had a credit card, but, after having issues with the issuing bank several years ago, we decided to cut that one source of stress out of our lives.

 

see above in red

[Pam in CA]

With regards to debit cards, the issue is that if your onboard folio has an amount due, a hold will be put on the card for the amount. If you have OBC and a credit balance, no hold will be placed. Once your account has a balance due, a hold for the total amount due will be placed every day. Normally, banks release the hold in 24 hours but some banks don't. What this means is that if you have a hold for $100 on day 3 of the cruise and you book a tour and have some drinks the next day so that your total amount due is now $250, you'll have a cumulative hold of $350. If your bank doesn't release the hold the next day, you'll have the cumulative of $350 plus that day's total amount due which could be $400. This can add up very quickly if your bank doesn't release holds quickly. Princess has no control over this.

[Austcruiser84]

I also don't have a credit card. I enquired about using my debit card with Princess and Cunard and was told I was not able to use it for my on board account. Both also refused travel cards (even the ones done by a credit company and with a chip).

 

So I've used cash for all my cruises. Any money not spent I get back when I close the account. The only difficulty is having to queue up to get this done. You might have to wait a while.

[Cruise_me_Crazy]

Have u thought of a visa debit card? We used that for our Aus cruise. Had $450 additional on hold for 5 days after return, but then back into our A/C.

[Austcruiser84]

Have u thought of a visa debit card? We used that for our Aus cruise. Had $450 additional on hold for 5 days after return, but then back into our A/C.

 

Princess refused visa debit when I was on board last month.

[Cruise_me_Crazy]

Princess refused visa debit when I was on board last month.

 

:eek: oh. We left on 18.12.13 & it was all hunky with us. No dramas. Had express checkout etc. they just wanted to "sight" the card, and as it was mine I was the holder of the a/c!

[Austcruiser84]

:eek: oh. We left on 18.12.13 & it was all hunky with us. No dramas. Had express checkout etc. they just wanted to "sight" the card, and as it was mine I was the holder of the a/c!

 

Its frustrating that they didn't accept it. I'm considering getting a credit card for travel purposes. Seems easier than hauling a lot of cash around!

[Cruise_me_Crazy]

Its frustrating that they didn't accept it. I'm considering getting a credit card for travel purposes. Seems easier than hauling a lot of cash around!

 

I agree. What a pest. & our cc is high on its limit so we would have been lucky to get a days worth of expenses on it LOL! :)

[Loonbeam]

Debit cards will generally work, but some banks do not allow international or offshore transactions etc.

 

Credit cards are your best bet, in that they offer protections no other accepted form of payment does.

 

If you want to use a debit card and have the cash flow available, I recommend purchasing OBC prior to the cruise. This will limit the holds placed on board.

[Colo Cruiser]

Had friends traveling with us that used a debit card onboard and they had alot of issues.

They said never again. :(

[24639]

If you want to use a debit card and have the cash flow available, I recommend purchasing OBC prior to the cruise. This will limit the holds placed on board.

 

I have both credit and debit cards. Have used both with no problems. However, for most of my cruises I like to have everything paid for in advance so that there is no "recovery" period, as I like to call it, when I get home. I do exactly what Loonbeam suggests and send myself onboard credit. With a bit of rudimentary calculating you can pretty much anticipate what you will be spending and give it a little pad for the unexpected. I like walking off the ship owing nothing. Even better is when they pay me to get off the ship;).

Have a fabulous trip!

[Justprettynpink]

On the Ruby (12.30.13) we used Amex Bluebird which is a pre-paid card with no problems. This card has my name on it and was sent from Amex.

 

That way my debit card was not tied up with authorizations.

[caribill]

And no matter what type of card you use, let the card company know what countries you might make a transaction in.

 

Don't have to worry about the Princess charges as they will be billed out of California.

Edited January 13, 2014 by caribill