Cash??

[thall1719]

Do most people take cash, I know you need some but I'm talking about the bulk of our vacation money. We have been saving along time and most of it's in cash.

 

Deposit in the bank and use our debit cards?

 

Deposit in to a secured card account?

 

Do travelers checks still exist?

 

What do most do?

 

Thanks

[Micahs Grandad]

Use CC for shipboard expenses and cash for private excursion and tips to people like piano bar entertainer.

[cuyahoga11]

Credit card and a little cash

[lizardhowson]

Credit card and a little cash

 

It depends on your spending habits and destination.

 

There are many places I would never use a credit card while on cruise - so depending on how you spend money, you might need more cash.

[MissCruiseAddict]

I rather use cash on most of the port stops over credit cards. Even though I tell my bank I'll be traveling and where I don't need them putting a stop on my card or anything. And the cash comes in handy for tips to your tour guides.

 

Also have a few $1s. Have some to tip the porters for your bags when you arrive for embarkation. I tip $1 a bag. Also if you plan on going to the piano bar or ordering room service it's customary to tip $1 or 2.

[Saint Greg]

I bring cash for tips and what i'm planning to spend at the ports.

[Working 2 cruise again]

I use a CC for my sign and sail account originally. However I always take cash. I use this cash to shop in port and for tips. I also take cash and apply it to my S&S account so that I have very little on my credit card. We save cash leading up to our cruise and I prefer not to actually put much on my cc if possible. I always make sure that I keep enough to get home with as well.

[Gamecock_Cruiser]

Absolutely, you can take cash. That is what we have done in the past. We put some cash on our account once we arrived, and kept some cash out for the table games in the casino, tips, and to spend in ports.

[GradUT]

Taking a large amount of cash (which it sounds like you have) is never a good idea.

 

Traveler's checks have pretty much gone the way of the dinosaurs. No stores or restaurants will accept them as payment. About the only places they can be cashed are in banks (where you waste time in line and have to go during banking hours) and at Guest Services on the cruise ship.

 

 

I think most people use their credit card for purchases and carry a small amount of cash for tips and incidentals in port. But, if you do not have a credit card and cannot get one before you leave, then you could use your debit card (which does not afford the same protection as a credit card if it is lost or stolen) or you could buy some traveler's checks and cash them onboard as needed.

Edited August 8, 2016 by GradUT

[maldenmusic]

Don't do traveler's checks. Take cash to use in your ports instead of a credit card.

[Senoj84]

I use cash for everything...I still have my cards but I always use cash.

[TX Catty Cruiser]

I use my CC for my S&S account and bring travelers checks as a safe way to travel, but always cash them at guest services before heading into a port. I do bring a small stash of cash to begin the trip for tips, etc. I try to use cash for purchases in ports, but use a credit card for large purchased, like jewelry :o :)!!!

[jmcancruise]

Because we prefer cash we take most of our money in travellers cheques and cash them as we need them at guest services. It has worked very well for us. They may no longer be in vogue, but they have worked very well for us.

[Floating Lanai]

On the 7+ day cruise we take at least $200 cash. $1s for tipping steward and waiters since we do your time dining. And we take even more cash if we booked our excursion direct instead of through carnival, sometimes you pay in cash at arrival. Plus spending money in Port shopping.

 

 

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[almitra]

On a 7 day cruise, I bring $20 in one dollar bills for tipping, shopping at small shops in port (they never seem to have change for 5's, 10's, or 20's...LOL), etc. I also bring some $5 bills for excursion tipping (per person), and about $50 additionally (in 5's and 10's) for buying some souvenirs. I use my world Mastercard w/no foreign transaction fees for use in the "recommended" shops that the cruiseline endorses. I realize they get kickbacks, but I do know that I have the assurance of a mediator in the event I am overcharged or something.

Edited August 8, 2016 by almitra

[RedBeard78]

Cash for casino (then wife doesn't know how much I spent!)

[torwa]

We always deposit the cash we have saved into our bank and use our cc for sign & sail. We get cash back on purchases on our cc. It's a win/win for us, we have the cash in the bank to pay the card off and get money back on all the purchases we made on the cruise. We do bring cash for tips, about $200. Have a great cruise!

[DebJ14]

On a 7 night cruise we take about $2000 in cash. We anticipate spending about $500 of it for extra tips, taxi fares and meals in port. The rest we consider "emergency" money. We figured that if one of us ended up in the hospital the other would need cash for taxi fares, meals etc. Thankfully, we have not had that happen, but are prepared. Once we gave $1000 to our steward on HAL because he had a family emergency at home.

[rjrpar]

Use CC for shipboard expenses and cash for private excursion and tips to people like piano bar entertainer.

 

 

Agree

[cb at sea]

I would NEVER use a debit card outside of my local area...too much trouble...they put holds on your funds!

 

Bring cash....you will have a safe to store it. Larger bills are easier to carry. The ship can break them down, if you need smaller denominations.

 

Use a credit card for onboard expenses....

 

We never go out of town without at LEAST $1000...usually more, especially, if a casino is in the picture!

 

Cash is KING!

[smyliecruising]

We split the cash up between us. But 2 of our excursions we have to pay for in cash when we get there so we must take cash. We take cash for port restaurants, shopping, excursions, taxis, and small bills for tips. I give carnival a credit card and not my debit ( just so they don't tie up my bank account if they make a mistake). Then I pay off the credit card when I get home.

 

 

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[msmayor]

We'll carry cash for all port stops, all our casino play, tips for porters as well as the extra we give to bar tenders, servers and our stateroom attendant. It usually totals at least $1800 and depending on trip length will be more.

 

Its all organized in envelopes...one for each day's casino budget, one for each port stop (sometimes no more than the tip for a tour guide and $20 for a cold drink while ashore) and one with the small bills for our extra tips.

 

We're strict with our casino budget, and using an envelope for each day ensures we won't run through our casino money early on. Anything we win or leave the casino with at the end of the day goes back into the safe into the 'final' envelope, and on the last full day of the cruise we take that 'final' envelope and pay down our on board bill. We've never left the ship with more than a $50 or so charge on our card as a result.

[lolavix]

For all of you who are saying that traveler's checks are a thing of the past,what would you do here?

 

We are a family of five, doing the Southern Caribbean itinerary. There are five ports plus Puerto Rico as the point of departure and we are doing independent excursions in all five ports.

 

We have three days in Puerto Rico before we board the ship, so I didn't want to have to keep track of so much cash before the cruise. In Puerto Rico, we plan on using our credit cards for our expenses, but the vendors in the ports want cash for the tours we've booked. Again, there are five of us, so each tour is going to be several hundred dollars.

 

I was planning on getting traveler's checks and just cashing them as we needed them. Is there a better option?

 

Thanks.

[GradUT]

For all of you who are saying that traveler's checks are a thing of the past,what would you do here?

 

We are a family of five, doing the Southern Caribbean itinerary. There are five ports plus Puerto Rico as the point of departure and we are doing independent excursions in all five ports.

 

We have three days in Puerto Rico before we board the ship, so I didn't want to have to keep track of so much cash before the cruise. In Puerto Rico, we plan on using our credit cards for our expenses, but the vendors in the ports want cash for the tours we've booked. Again, there are five of us, so each tour is going to be several hundred dollars.

 

I was planning on getting traveler's checks and just cashing them as we needed them. Is there a better option?

 

Thanks.

 

In your particular circumstance, using traveler's checks is a viable option--much better than carrying the amount of cash you would need for all these excursions.

 

As I said in my earlier posting, traveler's checks are pretty useless in ports, BUT you can cash them at Guest Services. Just go to Guest Services the day before your excursion, cash the amount of traveler's checks for what you will need the next day, and put the cash in your safe overnight.

 

A cruise is about the only place where taking traveler's checks makes any sense and only because Guest Services will cash them for you.

[mpdog42]

I rather use cash on most of the port stops over credit cards. Even though I tell my bank I'll be traveling and where I don't need them putting a stop on my card or anything. And the cash comes in handy for tips to your tour guides.

 

Also have a few $1s. Have some to tip the porters for your bags when you arrive for embarkation. I tip $1 a bag. Also if you plan on going to the piano bar or ordering room service it's customary to tip $1 or 2.

 

Sorry but $1 per bag for the Porters is Horrific......So 25 years ago....I tip at least $5 per bag or more...I could go on.....