Best Way To Withdraw Cash On Ship

[Garycruz]

I will be sailing on the Sunshine in a couple of weeks and I’m trying to figure out how much cash to bring. I don’t like to travel with a lot of cash so I plan on using either my credit card or my Sea Pass card at some point during the cruise to withdraw cash for things I do in port.

 

What is the best way to get cash while on the cruise? Should I go to the casino and use my Sea Pass card? Is there are charge for doing this? Or am I better off going to an ATM and using my credit card? I’m assuming the charge to my Sea Pass card from the casino would be less than if I go to an ATM. Am I right about that and does anyone know what the charges are to withdraw cash on the ship?

 

Thanks in advance for any help.

[MrsPhoenix91]

The only way to withdraw cash for free is to do it at one of the electronic games (for example slots and video poker). You transfer money from your S&S account to your Player bank, then cash out the Player bank at the cage. However, it would be wise to play at least once before trying to cash out. Not playing at all can get you noticed in the wrong way.

[skittl1321]

Our bank reimburses ATM fees, so we just use those.

[Sparky2]

The only way to withdraw cash for free is to do it at one of the electronic games (for example slots and video poker). You transfer money from your S&S account to your Player bank, then cash out the Player bank at the cage. However, it would be wise to play at least once before trying to cash out. Not playing at all can get you noticed in the wrong way.

 

Yes, and they might not let you withdraw more at the slot machine, if you do it this way without playing a little bit.

[cb at sea]

There is a safe in your cabin for storing cash and valuables. Much cheaper and easier to bring what you need.

[volmoma]

There is a safe in your cabin for storing cash and valuables. Much cheaper and easier to bring what you need.

 

 

That's what we do....Never had anything come up missing, even when we forgot to put it up.....poker chips etc.

[stev5138]

This always works for me. Go to the casino. Purchase the amount in casino chips. The denominations are 5.00 25.00 etc. Hold them for awhile then cash them in.

[volmoma]

This always works for me. Go to the casino. Purchase the amount in casino chips. The denominations are 5.00 25.00 etc. Hold them for awhile then cash them in.

 

 

That sounds easier than the slot machines....[emoji620]

[D4]

I think their fee is $7 or $10 per withdrawal. Our bank reimburses those fees so I don't pay attention to the fees.

[Honolulu Blue]

I will be sailing on the Sunshine in a couple of weeks and I’m trying to figure out how much cash to bring. I don’t like to travel with a lot of cash so I plan on using either my credit card or my Sea Pass card at some point during the cruise to withdraw cash for things I do in port.

 

What is the best way to get cash while on the cruise? Should I go to the casino and use my Sea Pass card? Is there are charge for doing this? Or am I better off going to an ATM and using my credit card? I’m assuming the charge to my Sea Pass card from the casino would be less than if I go to an ATM. Am I right about that and does anyone know what the charges are to withdraw cash on the ship?

 

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

First of all, to nitpick, Sea Pass is the trademark for a different line. Carnival uses Sail & Sign cards.

 

Carnival's FAQs provide most of your answers if you are able to sift through them: https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/category/session/L3RpbWUvMTQzODgwMTM5My9zaWQvWGNoWnVhdG0%3D/c/475 . To summarize:

 

* Casino - slots are free, table games will cost 3%. There may be consequences if you just debit and immediately cash out, but you'll have to ask a real gambler about those.

 

* ATM - Carnival will charge $6 for this privilege. Your bank will probably add an extra fee. There's a $500 daily limit.

 

* Credit/Debit card - Their charge is 5.5% with a minimum of $5.50. Your bank might charge extra interest and/or fees.

 

* Personal check - Treated like a debit card, so see above.

 

* Traveler's checks - Carnival doesn't charge a fee for exchanging these, but there's a $1000 limit per day.

[NCTribeFan]

I don't like to carry wads of cash when traveling, either. I usually bring only large bills and just enough small ones to get me on the ship and be able to tip taxi/shuttle/porters.

 

Once on board, you can break large bills at either the service desk or the casino window.

 

You may use the already-mentioned casino method for loading your card in a machine and then cashing out, but I know from personal experience that HAL doesn't want you using the slots as an ATM (I was even playing and they locked me out until I discussed it with the casino manager), so I don't try that very often on Carnival. If I win, I may cash out some of the funds, but I only do that when I'm playing.

 

You can also purchase gift cards and take them with you and just apply to your S&S account if you don't want to carry the cash. Bear in mind that they are same-as-cash and if you lose them, you're out of luck.

[Garycruz]

This always works for me. Go to the casino. Purchase the amount in casino chips. The denominations are 5.00 25.00 etc. Hold them for awhile then cash them in.

 

This sounds very easy but for some reason I thought that was some kind of penalty for doing this. I thought the casino either takes out a percentage or that you have to gamble before cashing in the chips. But I guess there would be no way for them to know if you gambled or not.

 

This certainly does seem to be an easy method of withdrawing money without paying a fee.

[stev5138]

Exactly! They dont ask for anything upon redemption of of chips. They just hand you the cash.....KAAA CHING!!

[HawkIVette]

Last cruise, I tried to to buy chips at the craps table like I have in the past. They sent me to the cashiers cage to request chips, ran the paperwork for the chips and sent me back to the table for the actual transaction to get the chips. Therefore , the pit boss and dealers seen if I played or not (which I did).

I just played for a while and left with half of my chips to cash out as planned.

 

BTW, there is a 3% fee for getting chips this way. Goes on your S & S card as "entertainment" so not considered cash advance by your credit card company.

Edited August 5, 2015 by HawkIVette

[IFlyHarder]

The best way to withdraw cash is to "bump" into the person in front of you at the buffet.

[freedomcruiser891]

We used the atm once and of course our bank is cheap and didn't cover the atm fees......now we just bring extra cash. If you have too much you can always apply it to your s&s account to pay part of your final bill.

[dmdiver]

We take whatever cash we think we might need & keep it in the safe. We don't ever take all of it into port, again, just what we think we might spend. We don't do a lot of shopping, just excursions or food & drink while we are in port. We save the receipts for everything to help us keep track of what we've spent. Sometimes we use a notepad, sometimes an iPad.

[kicia]

The easiest way is to use your Sign and Sail card the slot machines. Set up an account and apply money from your Sign and Sail account to your Player's Bank. It doesn't matter if you don't have the funds on your S&S account because it is just charged as entertainment and it is added to the final amount you owe on your credit card.

 

We've done this on Carnival a few times and on HAL just a couple of weeks ago. There is no charge for this. We've also done this when we have too much non-refundable OBC that we're not going to use and obviously don't want to lose it.

[n6uqqq]

We take whatever cash we think we might need & keep it in the safe. We don't ever take all of it into port, again, just what we think we might spend. We don't do a lot of shopping, just excursions or food & drink while we are in port. We save the receipts for everything to help us keep track of what we've spent. Sometimes we use a notepad, sometimes an iPad.

 

This is the correct way;). Why have to resort to complicated schemes to get your own money? A few hundred dollar bills( which can be broken down at no cost onboard) take up just about zero space in your wallet and require no effort to run to the casino. The safes come in very handy for what you don't need to take ashore.

[Flatbush Flyer]

The only problem with much of the above advice is that it assumes you're going to ports that accept USD.

While I agree that it makes sense to bring some Euros or Pesos or XXX with you for emergencies, you will (with very few exceptions) always get a better exchange rate at a port's foreign bank ATM than at US banks.

[coevan]

if we are talking Caribbean, dollars are taken most everywhere.

[dmdiver]

I haven't been to a Caribbean port that didn't accept USD. Sunshine looks like it only sails Caribbean & Canadian itineraries.

[NCTribeFan]

Martinique is very French. No, Carnival doesn't sail there very often (our stop there last November was the first in many, many years; even had an official Welcoming group and news coverage), but you'll need Euros there.

 

Anyway, as noted, yes you CAN use the casino. Like everything else, it seems that using the slots as an ATM can vary widely in how it's treated, so I just don't bother any more.

 

Trust me, talking to a casino manager and getting my account unblocked was a lot more trouble than taking large bills and breaking them at the cage.

[Hoosierpop]

If you do the casino approach of putting money on your card at the slots and then cashing that out, keep in mind that the people at the cashier may question it if it looks too suspicious. I did it on the first day of my last cruise on got questioned about it since I only played a few minutes of slots. But when I did it mid week, wasn't questioned at all. I think they know people are doing this to avoid any fees.

[summersigh]

We take whatever cash we think we might need & keep it in the safe. We don't ever take all of it into port, again, just what we think we might spend. We don't do a lot of shopping, just excursions or food & drink while we are in port. We save the receipts for everything to help us keep track of what we've spent. Sometimes we use a notepad, sometimes an iPad.

 

Sounds much like us. We take a pile of small bills for tips, some $10s and $20 to use in ports ... anything more we take is $100s that we can break at the front desk if needed. We too take what cash we think we'll need for a port then we always leave extra cash in the safe.:)