heatherb1958 Posted January 27, 2017 #1 Share Posted January 27, 2017 Hi there experienced MSC cruisers. Our first MSC cruise is fast approaching, I have done a general Google search for this but the posts were more than 4 years old. We always have a cash account when cruising, it works for us. We are not big spenders onboard , have already pre purchased enough drinks packages to satisfy our needs so there will just be the odd incidental expense. On RCI you can run up a bill of $500 before you need to do anything which rarely happens to us. We go an pay off the bill on the second to last day knowing we are clear for disembarkation. Do we need to actually put anything on account with MSC? Is there a minimum? I have read that credit cards have to be activated in a machine once you are onboard ship. We are on Splendida out of Barcelona Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skier52 Posted January 27, 2017 #2 Share Posted January 27, 2017 (edited) Hi there experienced MSC cruisers.Our first MSC cruise is fast approaching, I have done a general Google search for this but the posts were more than 4 years old. We always have a cash account when cruising, it works for us. We are not big spenders onboard , have already pre purchased enough drinks packages to satisfy our needs so there will just be the odd incidental expense. On RCI you can run up a bill of $500 before you need to do anything which rarely happens to us. We go an pay off the bill on the second to last day knowing we are clear for disembarkation. Do we need to actually put anything on account with MSC? Is there a minimum? I have read that credit cards have to be activated in a machine once you are onboard ship. We are on Splendida out of Barcelona yes you must have some means of payment, cash / CC, for your account you can use cash for your account at customer relations and I believe there is a minimum of $/€ 200 Don't forget that the daily service charge at 10 euros per day per person will use 140 euros per cabin leaving only 60 for other items. Pete Edited January 27, 2017 by Skier52 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chinita415 Posted January 28, 2017 #3 Share Posted January 28, 2017 (edited) I have the dailies from the Splendida from my cruise last week. Will pull the bit about cash account and settling before departure for you. Edited January 28, 2017 by chinita415 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chinita415 Posted January 28, 2017 #4 Share Posted January 28, 2017 Hmmm... I guess what I have is not that detailed. I don't have the "Onboard Payment" flyer mentioned. Don't know what the min cash deposit is required. You should call them. But daily service charge was €9 per person per day. You can check your running total via the interactive TV in your room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chinita415 Posted January 28, 2017 #5 Share Posted January 28, 2017 From embarkation The night before disembarkation Again no specific dollars mentioned for deposit. Sorry if this was not more helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Beamafar Posted January 28, 2017 #6 Share Posted January 28, 2017 Hmmm... I guess what I have is not that detailed. I don't have the "Onboard Payment" flyer mentioned. Don't know what the min cash deposit is required. You should call them. But daily service charge was €9 per person per day. You can check your running total via the interactive TV in your room. It's increasing to €10pppd from 'Summer 2017' (though the OP may be sailing earlier than the instigation of the increase). http://www.msccruises.ie/en-ie/Already-Booked/General-Information.aspx#service-charge Scroll down to 'Useful information' and click on 'Service Charge' for the full range of charges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heatherb1958 Posted January 28, 2017 Author #7 Share Posted January 28, 2017 Hi there, thank you for all the replies. We sail in Feb. We usually prepay gratuities but there wasn't a facility to do that when we did the online booking or at least we did not see it. So I guess we will put on account the total gratuities to start off with and go from there. Thanks guys. Our cruise docs arrived by e.mail today, it is definitely happening. Going to feel like a fish out water for a couple of days, lol. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Beamafar Posted January 28, 2017 #8 Share Posted January 28, 2017 Hi there, thank you for all the replies. We sail in Feb.We usually prepay gratuities but there wasn't a facility to do that when we did the online booking or at least we did not see it. So I guess we will put on account the total gratuities to start off with and go from there. Thanks guys. Our cruise docs arrived by e.mail today, it is definitely happening. Going to feel like a fish out water for a couple of days, lol. Sent from my iPad using Forums Hope you have a great cruise! Perhaps you'll come back and let us know how it went. I'd be interested in a comparison between it and your Thomson cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heatherb1958 Posted January 28, 2017 Author #9 Share Posted January 28, 2017 Hope you have a great cruise! Perhaps you'll come back and let us know how it went. I'd be interested in a comparison between it and your Thomson cruise. Cheers, our Thomson cruise was around the Red Sea many moons ago on the Celebration, all I can say is we loved it, no complaints whatsoever, food , entertainment,inside cabin , service were all fab. It would be hard to compare a Med company with one geared for the Brits but will try. I am going to do a comparison for RCI cruisers. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Beamafar Posted January 28, 2017 #10 Share Posted January 28, 2017 .............I am going to do a comparison for RCI cruisers. :) Well, if you post it on the RC boards, post a link here - I'd be interested in reading it. Thanks for the comments on your Thomson cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Beamafar Posted January 28, 2017 #11 Share Posted January 28, 2017 (edited) Double-post Edited January 28, 2017 by Beamafar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chinita415 Posted January 28, 2017 #12 Share Posted January 28, 2017 Whenever I get organized I will do a trip report. My last cruise was on the Allure a year ago. So RCI was definitely on my mind. We had a great time. Wish we were in the tropics but that dang Zika virus... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teachmath1 Posted January 29, 2017 #13 Share Posted January 29, 2017 In one of the posts above it says that kids cards can be used for purchases. Is there a way to disable this? I don't want someone to find my kids card somewhere and have a good time on my dime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chinita415 Posted February 2, 2017 #14 Share Posted February 2, 2017 In one of the posts above it says that kids cards can be used for purchases. Is there a way to disable this? I don't want someone to find my kids card somewhere and have a good time on my dime. Don't know but maybe someone will know with this bump. They do advertise a teen cruise card that you can purchase with 30 Euro prepaid credit that also works as a room key. But that is assuming you want this for your kids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AEckhardt Posted February 2, 2017 #15 Share Posted February 2, 2017 In one of the posts above it says that kids cards can be used for purchases. Is there a way to disable this? I don't want someone to find my kids card somewhere and have a good time on my dime. It's my understanding that you can deactivate charging privileges on the kiosk you use to link your credit card. You just click or unclick those in your party. I'm still about 3 weeks from sailing, so I may be wrong, but that's what I've gathered on here. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chinita415 Posted February 2, 2017 #16 Share Posted February 2, 2017 It's my understanding that you can deactivate charging privileges on the kiosk you use to link your credit card. You just click or unclick those in your party. I'm still about 3 weeks from sailing, so I may be wrong, but that's what I've gathered on here. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Oh... that sounds kind of familiar. But I checked yes for the husband so can't tell you about the other options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare little britain Posted February 3, 2017 #17 Share Posted February 3, 2017 Cheers, our Thomson cruise was around the Red Sea many moons ago on the Celebration, all I can say is we loved it, no complaints whatsoever, food , entertainment,inside cabin , service were all fab. It would be hard to compare a Med company with one geared for the Brits but will try. I am going to do a comparison for RCI cruisers. :) Looking forward to reading that Heather as I'm also swapping to the dark side( or should that be Black side!) for the first time later this year!!! Have a good cruise [emoji568] Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heatherb1958 Posted February 3, 2017 Author #18 Share Posted February 3, 2017 Looking forward to reading that Heather as I'm also swapping to the dark side( or should that be Black side!) for the first time later this year!!! Have a good cruise [emoji568] Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Thank you. Got our cruise docs now for both cruises, all our purchased packages are clear in the docs. Thumbs up already for MSC's paperwork. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M8lyx Posted February 7, 2017 #19 Share Posted February 7, 2017 We usually prepay gratuities but there wasn't a facility to do that when we did the online booking or at least we did not see it. Sent from my iPad using Forums Hi. If you phone MSC up you can pre book gratuities up to 5 days before your cruise. We did and it cost £49 each and no service charge saving us quite a bit. Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heatherb1958 Posted February 8, 2017 Author #20 Share Posted February 8, 2017 Hi. If you phone MSC up you can pre book gratuities up to 5 days before your cruise. We did and it cost £49 each and no service charge saving us quite a bit. Sent from my iPhone using Forums Thanks for that. Will remember for future reference. All relevant docs are printed , we leave next Friday.:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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