Why do kids not get cut off with cash deposit?

[AEckhardt]

I wish I still had the copies of the forms I signed, because it very clearly stated that their cards WOULD NOT be linked to my credit card. We sailed on the Gem last September. I signed one for the family friend right at the check in terminal, then later that day, decided to also sign one at guest services for my daughter, just in case.

[rvsullivan]

I'm glad so many of you raised "perfect"children that never made a mistake. I taught high school for 25 years and im sorry to say, kids make mistakes.

 

I have a pre teen, he is very responsible, sometimes arcade equipment is at fault and sometimes a child is at fault. Now I couldp be labled an NCL cheerleader, but not on this issue.

 

Other cruiselines will set up a block after a certain amount that you the parent can request. It doesnt have to be a separate cash account, it still charges to the parent credit card. I know from personal experience as of Oct 2014 on Royal Caribbean.

 

Im sure NCL could do the same thing, but they choose not to. Im not asking NCL to parent, but if another cruiseline can do thi, it tells me they could also.

 

This may be a case of NCL trying to nickel and dime as people accuse, i never have, but in this instance i see it as a way to get more money from parents.

 

Signed a Non Perfect Parent, who knows that children are not perfect, but trying very hard to raise a good, respectful and responsible child

 

No one said children are perfect, what I did say is this:

if a child is old enough to control their own spending/charge card, they are responsible. When you tell a child to not spend more than $5 and they spend $10, it is not an accident/mistake, it is disobedience. The machines are not at fault, they only read the card and make the charge. The fault lies with playing more than allowed. If your child is going to make financial "mistakes", they probably should not have a charge card, the parent should control it. Making the cruise line responsible for how much your child charges does the child no favors.

To the OP's problem. A child cannot have their own charges unless they own a credit card or are old enough to establish their own cash card. Otherwise the ultimate responsibility lies with the parent whose card is on file. You, of course can make the entire family account cash only and when the child/family spends all the money on deposit, it will be shut down. Again, NCL is not responsible for the child, the parent is/should be.

[rvsullivan]

Guest services gave me the same spiel that any overages would automatically go on my credit card, there was no way to sever them from my account. As it turned out the kids spent less than what I was giving them but I think it's pretty crappy that they do that. Adults would be cut off from spending, kids can blow what they want to bad for the parents/guardians. I purposely gave the kids OBC so they would have a fixed amount of spending. I also offered to just add the cash to their account, again a no-go, overages would still default to me.

 

Now to all the people that turned this into parenting 101, all I can say to you is if you had nothing to contribute to the thread, lay off the keyboard.

 

If you post on here you will get responses, problem is, they don't always agree with your idea of parenting. Again, it's not an NCL issue, it's a parenting issue.

[djmess]

No one said children are perfect, what I did say is this:

if a child is old enough to control their own spending/charge card, they are responsible. When you tell a child to not spend more than $5 and they spend $10, it is not an accident/mistake, it is disobedience. The machines are not at fault, they only read the card and make the charge. The fault lies with playing more than allowed. If your child is going to make financial "mistakes", they probably should not have a charge card, the parent should control it. Making the cruise line responsible for how much your child charges does the child no favors.

To the OP's problem. A child cannot have their own charges unless they own a credit card or are old enough to establish their own cash card. Otherwise the ultimate responsibility lies with the parent whose card is on file. You, of course can make the entire family account cash only and when the child/family spends all the money on deposit, it will be shut down. Again, NCL is not responsible for the child, the parent is/should be.

 

I guess it has been a while since you have played a game in a video arcade. Have you never had a machine take your "quarter" Well, I have many times in my youth and as a parent with my child in an arcade. So, YES, a swipe can be made on a machine, it can be charged to your account, but you never received the credit to play the game. So as a kid or an adult, may swipe the card again or again until it gives you the credit. None the wiser until you go back to your stateroom see, $25 in charges over the last hour and know for a fact you only played 5 rounds of skeeball. None of this means the kid or parent is irresponsible. It is the nature of these types of games. Sometimes, they "take your quarter"

 

So, as other cruiselines are able to cap a child's account, why can't NCL?

[Casino Comp Chick]

Sorry, I'm confused.

 

Are you saying that if an adult account holder would be cut off when reaching their preset spending limit, their child would continue to have unrestricted spending privileges?

 

Or is what you are saying is that a childs account connected to an adults account cannot be seperately restricted or set with a preset spending limit?

 

That is exactly what I am saying, they would not unlink the accounts, they made me sign something that said I would be responsible for any overages. I asked multiple times why they can not be cut off like an adult would. They could/would not answer me. All they kept saying was after the initial 100 OBC it would become a "real charge" and they cannot monitor 4000 passengers, when I called them out on that statement saying you don't, a computer does and if that is the case how do they always seem to monitor adult spending? She just looked at me like I had 3 heads.

[garycarla]

Who authorized the child's card to be connected to someone's credit card?

[Hondu]

I agree with OP and the posters who pointed out that other cruise lines have a computer system that simply cuts off spending for kids. I think NCL is just being a little sneaky. The software is available in the market, but so far they have deliberately refused to install it. As an example, it should work no different than a gift card. When the amount is used up, you can't walk into a merchant and buy more stuff with the empty card.

 

All the excess hot air about parenting is just ridiculous.

Edited February 1, 2015 by Hondu

[jackparts]

I agree with OP and the posters who pointed out that other cruise lines have a computer system that simply cuts off spending for kids. I think NCL is just being a little sneaky. The software is available in the market, but so far they have deliberately refused to install it. As an example, it should work no different than a gift card. When the amount is used up, you can't walk into a merchant and buy more stuff with the empty card.

 

All the excess hot air about parenting is just ridiculous.

I am with you 100%, Other cruise lines have controls in place, should be ezy if NCL wants to do it. Seems like a small way to get bigger bucks

[swedish weave]

I am with you 100%, Other cruise lines have controls in place, should be ezy if NCL wants to do it. Seems like a small way to get bigger bucks

 

NCL gives you choices.

 

You can either control the kids spending or you can pay the bills and let them do as they please.

 

The other choice is to leave them home if they don't comply with your rules.

Edited February 3, 2015 by swedish weave

[sfaaa]

Just when does NCL provide babysitting service on your cash account? If you as parent can't handle your kids or their free wheeling spending habit, leave them at home.

[DevCruise]

I'm not sure what happened on the OP's cruise, but I've seen many people on here comment that they've had the kids setup on a separate cash account and when the money was gone, it was gone. So apparently it is possible. Maybe someone at guest services just didn't feel like it? :confused:

[Nola26]

NCL gives you choices.

 

You can either control the kids spending or you can pay the bills and let them do as they please.

 

The other choice is to leave them home if they don't comply with your rules.

 

Mistakes happen, machines "take your quarter", cards gets lost/ stolen and another kid goes to town with your money. I'm on vacation let me setup a cash account and limit my risk. I maybe willing to lose $25, but not $100 or more.

 

I will work out something, I refuse to stress out on my vacation. :cool:

[Bird in Jersey]

I have had no problem giving my daughter a budget on every cruise we have been on, except the first, when she was 9. Let me say this, at home she is horrible with my money, not hers. On the cruise, I give her $25 for the week(on my credit card). We do not drink soda's and she will have 3 frozen drinks and that is it. She has never gone over her budget and I check the account often(stateroom tv). She is usually just having a great time hanging out with friends.

Now this year, I am going with my mom and I will be watching the account more closely, because I have been to Vegas with her.(LOL).

[Godiva830]

It's not entirely true that an adult gets "cut off" from spending when a limit is reached. Last year on the BA my bf cc has a fraud protection on it and the cc will not authorize a single charge more than $500 in 1 transaction, so, forgetting he has that fraud protection on his cc, disembarkation time comes, he doesn't look at the bill left in the door, goes to swipe his key card to get off and there's a balance due of $220 something dollars. He couldn't get off until the balance was paid.

 

Also, a kids spending could be easily monitored, especially on NCL'S newer ship, by pulling up the account on the tv. There really is no blame on NCL'S part of a kid overspending. It's a parents responsibility to monitor it, not NCL'S

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N915A using Forums mobile app

[garycarla]

I'm not sure what happened on the OP's cruise, but I've seen many people on here comment that they've had the kids setup on a separate cash account and when the money was gone, it was gone. So apparently it is possible. Maybe someone at guest services just didn't feel like it? :confused:

 

 

Yes, I have seen MANY of these as well. Somebody is not sharing the all the facts or the situation(s).

[zqvol]

I just found out (I am on Breakaway) that if if I set up kid account with cash OR OBC they can continue to charge beyond the initial setup. That is such BS because if an adult orders a drink and has run out of money they will get cutoff.

Foul NCL, very Foul.

 

The problem here is that you tied their cash deposit to your account whihc had a CC backing it.

 

An adult who makes a cash deposit and then puts down a CC too, will not be cut off either.

 

What you should have done was create separate accounts for each person and not tied them together.

[AEckhardt]

The problem here is that you tied their cash deposit to your account whihc had a CC backing it.

 

An adult who makes a cash deposit and then puts down a CC too, will not be cut off either.

 

What you should have done was create separate accounts for each person and not tied them together.

 

 

Bingo

[luddite]

The problem here is that you tied their cash deposit to your account whihc had a CC backing it.

 

An adult who makes a cash deposit and then puts down a CC too, will not be cut off either.

 

What you should have done was create separate accounts for each person and not tied them together.

 

.......sooooooo.....not the fault of the company?

[AEckhardt]

.......sooooooo.....not the fault of the company?

 

 

No. It is not.

 

Ignorance of a policy does not mean you may not abide by it.

Edited February 4, 2015 by AEckhardt

[garycarla]

The problem here is that you tied their cash deposit to your account whihc had a CC backing it.

 

An adult who makes a cash deposit and then puts down a CC too, will not be cut off either.

 

What you should have done was create separate accounts for each person and not tied them together.

 

Apparently you have not read the rules here at CC. Common sense and logic are not allowed.

 

 

LOL!