First cruise solo with kids

[roks]

Hi everyone, first post and first cruise later in the year.

 

I'm having a bit of a panic as I had to give my credit card details on my 3 children's accounts as part of their personal information. I don't want them to be able to charge the card at all. The threads that come up are all pretty old when I search (must need better search terms) so just wondering if there is any new information and any options I may have. Kids are 13, 10, 10. I'm assuming there isn't cash onboard?

 

Sailing on Ruby Princess in November. Very excited to do something new but have 9 months to worry about stuff that is most likely a non issue for regulars.

 

Thank you!

[champagne123]

Welcome to cruise critic.

 

You can go to guest services when you board and you may put "cash" on their account.

 

For example: If you want to give each of them $200 to spend on board for the week, you give the cash to guest services to put on their card. If there is anything left over, they give it back to you the night before the cruise is over.

[paul929207]

I would suggest a discussion with the kids as to what they can spend on the ship.

[Tigerlily75]

I've only cruised Carnival, and under each additional person in the online check in, it asks if I want to allow that person charging privileges on the same account. I would ring Princess, as I'm sure they would have options for minors, whether it is to prevent them charging at all, or the option to limit their charging to a certain amount.

 

I didn't enter a credit card at all, as I prefer to put cash on my account which I'll do first thing after boarding. I just prefer no surprises at the end! My daughter is 16, so I allow her to charge to the same account, but I had the option for hers to be separate and I could have put a certain amount of cash on it in that case.

 

Just give them a call, it will set your mind at ease!

[Tigerlily75]

And just to clarify, no you don't use cash on board, you'll use your "sail and sign" card, (that's what Carnival calls it) which is also your room key, and use that to pay for any extras. Your kids will each have their own card.

 

But you can use cash to put a balance on your card/s. Given Princess comes under the Carnival Corp umbrella, I'm assuming their processes are similar.

[leaveitallbehind]

Most cruise lines allow you to limit spending on any person's room key card so that they can spend as little or as much as you want. The information you are providing is to define who will be on your account, but you are in control of who has what spending limits on board. Set that up with guest services once you board.

[cb at sea]

That's right...everything is charged to your cabin. You can set up cash accounts for the kids, once onboard...when the money is gone...it's gone, and they won't be allowed to charge.

 

And yes...a good discussion of what will be allowed BY YOU is in order!

[roks]

Thank you everyone, that does ease my mind a lot. I didn't tick the charging box for everyone in the room and I'll have the discussion with the kids about what amount in cash would be reasonable. They have pocket money saved up but the cruise is at the beginning of a 6 week trip so I would hazard a guess they wouldn't want to spend the lot on arcade games and sodas :D

 

Next non-issue question. I've prepaid gratuities but have since read a thread re: extra tipping in the room. Usually on land I tip $1 pp, plus up to an additional $5 p/day dependent on how messy we leave the room (try to keep it tidy but sometimes we are out the door at a very early hour). I'm unsure if the prepaid tips include housekeeping - so would the tipping I use on land be acceptable for on sea as well?

 

Last non-issue question. Kids wear - mainly the boys in the MDR. Would cargo pants/tees/trainers be acceptable. I'm trying to limit the amount we will pack due to having to pack for NYC/Niagara etc as well. Any tips hugely appreciated :)

 

thank you!

[Schoifmom]

Next non-issue question. I've prepaid gratuities but have since read a thread re: extra tipping in the room. Usually on land I tip $1 pp, plus up to an additional $5 p/day dependent on how messy we leave the room (try to keep it tidy but sometimes we are out the door at a very early hour). I'm unsure if the prepaid tips include housekeeping - so would the tipping I use on land be acceptable for on sea as well?

 

Your room steward is included in your pre-paid gratuities. If you receive exceptional service or require services that go above and beyond (have a lot of special requests, etc), then an additional cash tip at the end is acceptable.