Credit card travel alert, what country is the ship?

[wyndstormhuntress]

I'll soon be on the Celebrity Summit on the itinerary that starts in Barbados. In preparation I'm putting a travel alert on my credit card so that they know which countries are safe to receive charges from. I plan to tie my Seapass to my credit card, but I wasn't sure what country or city/state to indicate for the travel alert

 

For those who have been on the Summit, from what city/state or country did the shipboard credit card charges originate? I tried calling Celebrity but the person I spoke with didn't know what I was talking about, so I don't trust her answer.

 

Also, the travel alert requires a phone number to contact me in case of potential fraud. I wasn't planning on bring my cell phone with me, so any ideas of what number I should provide?

 

Many thanks!

[dkjretired]

Anything you purchase on the ship will generate one bill at the end of the cruise out of Miami.

[Gordoncruickshank]

I tried to do this for a cruise last year but could only do things like cruise Miami with CC company. I got fed up and did nothing about it.

[Kartgv]

Assuming you're a US citizen, the ship charges will show as USA charges the entire time you're on board. If you never got off the ship, you wouldn't need a travel alert. Put the travel alert on for any country where you'll go ashore and possibly make charges. Another tip is to take a credit card other than the one you tie to your SeaPass card to take ashore; that way if the card is compromised, you can still pay your ship charges with no problem and take care of the other card issues when you get home.

 

If you don't plan on taking your phone, the only other choice is giving them an email address and planning on checking email on the ship once a day.

[need2bespoiled]

You can use you cell phone on any of the islands or on the ship just plan on charges of about $2-2.50/minute. Since it's so expensive, we have our voicemails forwarded to use via email (we get recordings) using apps available for android or iPhone. Works great. Then return calls when we want via Skype (off ship).

 

The ships charges should not cause any fraud alerts but charges you make in port may. Oh, and Puerto Rico may be an issue. I think your cruise starts there, not Barbados.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

[CHEZMARYLOU]

Give them a general itinerary such as; "cruising on Celebrity to various Caribbean Islands". With some companies you can list each island if you feel it is necessary. Your charges from Celebrity will originate in the US. They generally put a hold on your card each day to cover incurred charges. We don't give a phone number when traveling because we do not have international calling on our cell phones. We have our credit cards set up to notify us via e-mail any time the card is used for an international charge or when it is not swiped. Works well when we are traveling.

[az_tchr]

Wow! What bunch of interesting comments.

 

You are taking a vacation and travelling. Tell your credit card company you will be on a cruise ship (anything from Celebrity should not generate any questions and have never seen anything pinged on my card until the one charge) and then list the places where you will visit - ALL of them including airports you will visit.

 

Anything in the US is unlikely to generate much interest unless someone else on your account uses the card in a different state from where you use the same card.

[BSinPNS]

If you are talking about using your card in an ATM on the ship, a few months ago they were Wells Fargo - US.

[TravelerThom]

As others have stated Celebrity on-board charges for a Caribbean cruise will post in US$ (unless you have chosen to have X submit the bill in another currency) in Miami. It will be a single charge, unless you purchased another cruise while on board - that would appear as a separate charge. I am Elite Plus and it has been that way every cruise no matter where in the world I was cruising - except it is possible that Celebrity Xpedition (flagged and sailing exclusively in Ecuador) may post elsewhere (it would still be in US$, as that is the only currency Ecuador has, but if it is posted in Ecuador you could be subject to Foreign Transaction Fees). I cruised Xpedition in 2009, but I don't save my credit card accounts from that long ago - maybe a more recent traveler could confirm if Xpedition is posted in Miami. RCI and Azamara charges also are posted in Miami, but I suspect that Pullmantur, CDF and TUI are posted elsewhere (all these are RCCL companies).

 

I can find the Celebrity Summit cruises out of San Juan stopping in Barbados, but I can't find Bridgetown offered as an originating port. Is Bridgetown Barbados offered as an originating port to cruisers from outside the US, or is a downstream boarding involved?

 

Thom

[wallie5446]

P&O embarks in Barbados, Celebrity visits, ports for a day.

[miched]

We always call our CC companies informing them about our travel plans. They will ask what islands you will be stopping at and the times.

 

Celebrity generates one Foiio or invoice and that will be charged at the end of the cruise. I think it will pass thru their offices in Miami. The only thing charged on board that will not be on the folio is a future cruise booking, that is charged directly to the CC.

 

Discover does not charge any foreign transaction fees, some cards do such as AE. We always try to use Discover because of that.

 

happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌞

[LabGuy64]

Bring your cell......my last cruise had problems because while we were in europe..and I had notified my card company of this, and that we would be on a cruise...there were charges being made by Royal Carribean, with the charges originating out of Florida.

The anti-fraud programs shut my card right down....I was pretty pissed having given them notice. I would have figured they would know how to handle Cruising tourists by now

 

 

 

 

I'll soon be on the Celebrity Summit on the itinerary that starts in Barbados. In preparation I'm putting a travel alert on my credit card so that they know which countries are safe to receive charges from. I plan to tie my Seapass to my credit card, but I wasn't sure what country or city/state to indicate for the travel alert

 

For those who have been on the Summit, from what city/state or country did the shipboard credit card charges originate? I tried calling Celebrity but the person I spoke with didn't know what I was talking about, so I don't trust her answer.

 

Also, the travel alert requires a phone number to contact me in case of potential fraud. I wasn't planning on bring my cell phone with me, so any ideas of what number I should provide?

 

Many thanks!

[helen haywood]

When I have purchased insurance for a trip, such as a trans-atlantic cruise, I was told first to select the destination where we would spend the most time. I said that would be the Atlantic. Not an option to choose. So then I was told to pick the first port stop. But the main thing I was told is that I would be covered wherever I would be during the dates I'd selected on the insurance policy. Meaning if we went to St. Thomas instead of St. Maartin as an unscheduled replacement stop I would still be covered there.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

Bring your cell......my last cruise had problems because while we were in europe..and I had notified my card company of this, and that we would be on a cruise...there were charges being made by Royal Carribean, with the charges originating out of Florida.

The anti-fraud programs shut my card right down....I was pretty pissed having given them notice. I would have figured they would know how to handle Cruising tourists by now

 

This happened to us on a b2b cruise. Celebrity called the credit card company for us.

[wyndstormhuntress]

Thank you for all the fantastic advice! I will definitely be making use of it.

 

Apologies for the confusion on where my trip is originating. It is sailing out of San Juan but my understanding is that the Summit has done two different loops out of San Juan in the past. I was trying to be a bit more clear but ended up being more confusing - sorry!