Cash deposits

[marchamona]

Friends travelling on HAL, but no credit card. I read they have to pay up front $60 per person per day. They are Eurozone residents and the ship is doing a totally Eurozone cruise. Why $$$? So they have to exchange euro into $$$ to begin, then I assume that any remaining credit will be refunded in $$$ which they have to exchange once again back to Euro.

 

Can any of their family deposit money by way of a credit card not belonging to the specific passengers?

 

thanks

[lazey1]

A family member would be able to "gift" your friend onboard credit. I don't know if the onboard credit gift would allow your friend to avoid paying the hotel charge upfront in cash. Just a thought, would the family member allow your friend to use their credit card for all onboard expenses. Another suggestion is for your friend to purchase a specific $. amount credit card for their cruise.

[Globaliser]

Friends travelling on HAL, but no credit card.

Do they have a debit card? If the bank account to which it's linked has enough headroom to cover the $60 pppd authorisation, then the card should only be charged once at the end of the cruise for the total amount needed to settle the onboard account. This would avoid having to change cash twice.

[1of4]

Not sure how they paid for the cruise without having a credit card, I wouldn't be able to do it. We travel as a family of 4 and since I don't want the children to have charging rights on their room cards we only put a credit card number down on DH and I. We mark "cash" for both children. We then go and buy onboard credit equal to the HSC for the cabin.

 

Doing this, we have never been asked to produce $120/day and we have never had an issue.

 

Not sure if this is helpful as DH and I have registered a credit card but thought I would share just in case.

[Mary Ellen]

Sorry, the onboard currency for all HAL ships, worldwide, is the USD. Since our accounts are in the USD I can't help you with that aspect of your question. Hopefully some non-US posters could provide answers.

 

It is very easy to pay for a cruise without a credit card. HAL and TAs also accept cash and check. :rolleyes: Since our TA is in another state I prefer the ease and security of paying by credit card. Also the miles we get from the CC are nice, but since we pay our CC in full each month we could just as well write a check to our TA if we lived in the area. If we dropped in to pay in cash no doubt they would provide a receipt. I sure can't understand questioning how anyone can buy things without a CC.

[1of4]

I sure can't understand questioning how anyone can buy things without a CC.

 

Sorry, I meant t no offence and I didn't intend to sound like I was questioning. I was more in awe if anything. Since we live in Canada and our TA is in the USA and we don't have a foreign bank account we can not pay by cheque or cash. When we had a local TA they wanted debit card or credit card so they wouldn't have to do the conversion to US $ so that is what I was thinking.

 

I was only trying to provide what has worked for us in hopes it would help them, meaning put OBC in the amount of the HSC for the 4 of us in the cabin. But come to think about it, we use a credit card to do that so I guess I should have kept my "mouth" shut in the first place. :o

[Linda&Vern]

Sorry, the onboard currency for all HAL ships, worldwide, is the USD. Since our accounts are in the USD I can't help you with that aspect of your question. Hopefully some non-US posters could provide answers.

 

It is very easy to pay for a cruise without a credit card. HAL and TAs also accept cash and check. :rolleyes: Since our TA is in another state I prefer the ease and security of paying by credit card. Also the miles we get from the CC are nice, but since we pay our CC in full each month we could just as well write a check to our TA if we lived in the area. If we dropped in to pay in cash no doubt they would provide a receipt. I sure can't understand questioning how anyone can buy things without a CC.

I'm pretty sure that is not how it was phrased. I believe she was trying to be helpful as someone who lives outside the U.S.

[sapper1]

Sorry, I meant t no offence and I didn't intend to sound like I was questioning. I was more in awe if anything. Since we live in Canada and our TA is in the USA and we don't have a foreign bank account we can not pay by cheque or cash. When we had a local TA they wanted debit card or credit card so they wouldn't have to do the conversion to US $ so that is what I was thinking.

 

I was only trying to provide what has worked for us in hopes it would help them, meaning put OBC in the amount of the HSC for the 4 of us in the cabin. But come to think about it, we use a credit card to do that so I guess I should have kept my "mouth" shut in the first place. :o

 

Gail, don't feel bad. We use a Canadian agency but book in US dollars and Credit card is our only option too. Since the agency does not accept cash to be forwarded on to HAL we use a card that is charged directly from HAL. The agency's name is not on our CC bill; it is HAL that appears on the bill.

 

We would never use an agency that acted as a financial middle man whether with cash or a credit card. There were several horror stories regarding such a scenerio on Cruise Critic a few years ago. I consider it one of the most valuable lessons I have learned on here.

[Mary Ellen]

I'm pretty sure that is not how it was phrased. I believe she was trying to be helpful as someone who lives outside the U.S.

I'm pretty sure that is exactly how it was phrased.

Not sure how they paid for the cruise without having a credit card, I wouldn't be able to do it.

Now that more context has been given, I understand the intention behind that statement. Still, it makes no difference how or why someone paid for their cruise without a credit card.

 

Maybe I'm overly sensitive but I've seen too many threads questioning "why" whatever... At this point the only thing pertinent about them not using a credit card to pay for the cruise is that they don't have a credit card.

 

What the OP wants is information from those who have paid a cash deposit and their currency is not the USD. Canadians who have paid their cash deposit in CAD would have some insight. Canadians who have used their credit card - not much help.

[1of4]

I'm pretty sure that is not how it was phrased. I believe she was trying to be helpful as someone who lives outside the U.S.

 

Thank you. I tried to share how we deal with the $60/day for 2 of the 4 in our cabin being non-American. I hope it provided the alternate perspective, as requested by the OP.

[1of4]

I'm pretty sure that is exactly how it was phrased.

 

reply 1

 

You seem to be the only one reading anything into an innocent comment I used to begin my reply. I actually looked for something to start my reply knowing the OP was not from North America. I don't like playing semantics so you can believe what you want, but make no mistake, your belief doesn't make it a fact.

 

What the OP wants is information from those who have paid a cash deposit and their currency is not the USD. Canadians who have paid their cash deposit in CAD would have some insight. Canadians who have used their credit card - not much help. [/size]

 

reply 2

 

Everyone has a right to their opinion, sensitive or not. But not providing information so people can make up their own mind is not the way to go. I don't see how anything you shared about how an American pays for their cruise in American dollars to an American travel agent has any bearing to the issue raised by the OP.

[cruz chic]

Thank you. I tried to share how we deal with the $60/day for 2 of the 4 in our cabin being non-American. I hope it provided the alternate perspective, as requested by the OP.

 

I think most of us can see that you were being helpful. Sometimes I wonder why people get so bent about so little but it seems to happen a lot on here.

[sapper1]

I'm pretty sure that is exactly how it was phrased.

Now that more context has been given, I understand the intention behind that statement. Still, it makes no difference how or why someone paid for their cruise without a credit card.

 

Maybe I'm overly sensitive but I've seen too many threads questioning "why" whatever... At this point the only thing pertinent about them not using a credit card to pay for the cruise is that they don't have a credit card.

 

What the OP wants is information from those who have paid a cash deposit and their currency is not the USD. Canadians who have paid their cash deposit in CAD would have some insight. Canadians who have used their credit card - not much help.

Even if I booked and paid in Canadian dollars the agency would not accept cash and act as a middle man. You have to use a credit card and have it directly paid to Holland America and not the agency. You don't give them your money and have them give it to HAL in return.

[kazu]

Even if I booked and paid in Canadian dollars the agency would not accept cash and act as a middle man. You have to use a credit card and have it directly paid to Holland America and not the agency. You don't give them your money and have them give it to HAL in return.

 

Agreed.

 

OP - the $60 per day is only a hold - it isn't charged.

 

What you could do is buy sufficient on board credit to cover it and then what is left over would be refunded to you.

 

If you could pay for your cruise with cash then I would think that the TA who booked this could buy the obc for you?

 

Very easy - I do it on line - and again, I am foreign and a Canadian so I do use a credit card.

 

That will alleviate part of the problem I hope.

[kazu]

I'm pretty sure that is exactly how it was phrased.

Now that more context has been given, I understand the intention behind that statement. Still, it makes no difference how or why someone paid for their cruise without a credit card.

 

Maybe I'm overly sensitive but I've seen too many threads questioning "why" whatever... At this point the only thing pertinent about them not using a credit card to pay for the cruise is that they don't have a credit card.

 

What the OP wants is information from those who have paid a cash deposit and their currency is not the USD. Canadians who have paid their cash deposit in CAD would have some insight. Canadians who have used their credit card - not much help.

 

We all pretty much have to use credit cards - but just the same we can try to help.

 

Sounds like you are having a bad hair day;)

 

I thought anyone could try to help or contribute. I guess the rules changed on the CC boards and I missed it:p