Is Princess now charging your credit card daily for onboard charges?

[Jersey42]

On all of our Princess cruises we leave a credit card to settle our onboard account and Princess makes one credit card charge for the balance at the end of the cruise. Sometimes we may have had temporary holds made against the card during the cruise, but no actual charge. The only exception I can think of is the purchase of a Future Cruise Credit which has never been charged against our onboard account.

 

The reason I ask, is two posters in this thread http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2453537 indicated their card was charged daily on their recent cruise. One US poster was on a cruise departing from Australia. He was very specific with details. The other was on a Regal Princess Caribbean cruise. Another poster recently off of the Regal in the Caribbean said they only had one credit card charged at the end of the cruise. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=52218717&postcount=61

 

Does anyone know if this is a policy change? If not, what has been your experience during recent cruises?

[skynight]

This was a response from Princess Guest Logistics yesterday.

"Princess is NOT charging daily for on board expenses - only at end of cruise with the exception of shore excursions."

 

To me the excursion comment was not totally clear as to when the charge actually will hit your credit card, all at once at the beginning of the cruise, when your OBC's are used up, or when you actually take the excursion. I have requested more details. Will report back if and when I receive them.

[jagoffee]

I was recently on a non Princess cruise and I received various "pending charges" during the cruise, but they did not actually turn into real charges. I monitor all charges via notices as I have had some unauthorized charges in the past. I wonder if this may be confusing some people? Most people never see the "pending charges" unless they look on line as they do not necessarily turn into charges. For instance at gas stations (initial $1 charge) and restaurants (initial charge without the tip).

[Jersey42]

This was a response from Princess Guest Logistics yesterday.

"Princess is NOT charging daily for on board expenses - only at end of cruise with the exception of shore excursions."

 

Sknight - I would be curious if you hear anything additional about shore excursions. I wonder if this is a new policy, or if Princess is just referring to pre-paid shore excursion reservations. If it is a new policy, then this could be the reason I have heard different answers regarding charges from people on the same ship.

 

I was recently on a non Princess cruise and I received various "pending charges" during the cruise, but they did not actually turn into real charges. ... I wonder if this may be confusing some people? Most people never see the "pending charges" unless they look on line as they do not necessarily turn into charges.

 

Jagoffee - Could be, but one of the posters who said they were being charged, specifically said is was not the "pending charges" or "temporary authorizations/charges" that many people have seen in the past.

Edited February 7, 2017 by Jersey42
typo

[azdmelani]

Off the regal last week and I did get daily charges pending on my account, however there was one big charge at the end on my CC.

[Thrak]

Just out of curiosity can someone tell me why it would be a big deal if the card was being charged daily? Is it a question of interest payment or something? I'd prefer a single charge at the end as usual but I'm unclear as to what the actual issue would be in the other scenario.

 

Not trying to be snarky - just wondering.

[Loonbeam]

They run approvals as needed, which could be daily, but except for two situations the final charge is processed End of Cruise. This is simply to make sure you cannot overcharge.

 

Shore excursions or Casino charges may be done prior, just to keep the balance from getting too high. Excessive onboard shopping could trigger it as well.

 

Whether it shows up as a pending charge, approval, etc is determined by the issuing bank of the card. Some do consider approval requests as purchases until taken off as opposed to pending until processed.

[Jersey42]

Just out of curiosity can someone tell me why it would be a big deal if the card was being charged daily? Is it a question of interest payment or something? I'd prefer a single charge at the end as usual but I'm unclear as to what the actual issue would be in the other scenario.

 

Not trying to be snarky - just wondering.

The primary reason I asked was to know if there was a recent change. I do this sometimes when I post "wrong answers" and I can't confirm that my answer was wrong. I had told people that they would see one charge at the end, but several posters responded that this was not their experience. To me it would not be a big deal if they started charging daily, but if I had a choice, I would prefer a single charge at the end of the cruise. Here are two reasons:

• It is simpler. I only have to compare one credit card charge to the bottom line of my folio. No checking daily totals to be sure they are all correct.
  
• It never hurts to have the charge post at the latest possible date. Depending on the cruise dates and the credit card billing date, I might get an extra month to pay some or most of the charges to the credit card company.
  

[Jersey42]

For whatever it is worth, one of the posters who said they were getting daily credit card charges on a recent Regal cruise in the Caribbean looked again and now realizes that these were only temporary authorizations that were never converted into actual charges.

 

I have a strong suspicion there has been no change in the policy.

[Colo Cruiser]

For whatever it is worth, one of the posters who said they were getting daily credit card charges on a recent Regal cruise in the Caribbean looked again and now realizes that these were only temporary authorizations that were never converted into actual charges.

 

I have a strong suspicion there has been no change in the policy.

 

 

Correct. Pending only. ;)

[lovevacadays]

They only did pending charges when I cruised the Regal and then did a final charge at the end. It took a few days for the pending charges to drop but that could just been my bank's delay.

[riclop]

On all of our Princess cruises we leave a credit card to settle our onboard account and Princess makes one credit card charge for the balance at the end of the cruise. Sometimes we may have had temporary holds made against the card during the cruise, but no actual charge. The only exception I can think of is the purchase of a Future Cruise Credit which has never been charged against our onboard account.

 

The reason I ask, is two posters in this thread http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2453537 indicated their card was charged daily on their recent cruise. One US poster was on a cruise departing from Australia. He was very specific with details. The other was on a Regal Princess Caribbean cruise. Another poster recently off of the Regal in the Caribbean said they only had one credit card charged at the end of the cruise. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=52218717&postcount=61

 

Does anyone know if this is a policy change? If not, what has been your experience during recent cruises?

No they don't.

[aquilegia]

The charges show up as daily amounts on your folio but they aren't charged to your credit card until the global amount is taken at the end of the cruise. I must say I have always found it very irritating that they display it this way. When I'm checking the bill it's annoying to go through s long sheet with gratuities tacked on each day. I don't understand why they don't just put a single gratuities figure at the end.

[Clampram]

It is very worthwhile to use the Princess intranet daily on laptop/device to verify your daily tab. On our recent Royal cruise, we were charged for someone else's laundry and then another day, a bar fee that was not ours. I think you really have to keep an eye on what they are charging. A trip to the service desk to clear this up is easy on Day 2 or 3 but more painful on the last day of the cruise

[skynight]

This was a response from Princess Guest Logistics yesterday.

"Princess is NOT charging daily for on board expenses - only at end of cruise with the exception of shore excursions."

 

To me the excursion comment was not totally clear as to when the charge actually will hit your credit card, all at once at the beginning of the cruise, when your OBC's are used up, or when you actually take the excursion. I have requested more details. Will report back if and when I receive them.

 

More on the shore excursions:

If you pre order a shore excursion and do not pre- pay for it, it goes on your onboard account & the excursion will be subtracted from your on board account as always. Not placed directly on the credit card you have on file.

 

Regarding Thrak's comment of why daily vs end of cruise charges to the credit card matters

If you go on long cruises, over a month as we do, daily charges could hit your credit card account before the monthly billing date, with payment due before you arrive home. You would need to know this process if it was actually happening. But, according to my research isn't.

[Loonbeam]

This one I can answer! It's the way the tracking system is designed in terms of having one process regardless of cruise length AND has to do with the fact that crew in the pool may depart a ship mid cruise (remember not everyone in the pool is someone you interact with daily, servers and stewards tend to be synched to cruises but not back of house always).

 

In addition, some people depart a cruise early, etc. So each day the system charges and totals up the pool, tracks employees in the pool that day and assigns credits.

 

It sounds complicated but when you look at 19 ships or whatever sailing multiple itineraries with multiple lengths of cruise and differing crew schedules it makes sense.

 

There's also a secondary factor.. If they do it end of cruise it can be a big surprise to people who aren't aware or who may have run up other large charges and perhaps left cash or were using OBC, etc. Helps prevent a bit of sticker shock (not as big a deal on short cruises, but on a 15 day with 4 in a cabin.......)

 

 

The charges show up as daily amounts on your folio but they aren't charged to your credit card until the global amount is taken at the end of the cruise. I must say I have always found it very irritating that they display it this way. When I'm checking the bill it's annoying to go through s long sheet with gratuities tacked on each day. I don't understand why they don't just put a single gratuities figure at the end.

[easyboy]

This one I can answer! It's the way the tracking system is designed in terms of having one process regardless of cruise length AND has to do with the fact that crew in the pool may depart a ship mid cruise (remember not everyone in the pool is someone you interact with daily, servers and stewards tend to be synched to cruises but not back of house always).

 

In addition, some people depart a cruise early, etc. So each day the system charges and totals up the pool, tracks employees in the pool that day and assigns credits.

 

It sounds complicated but when you look at 19 ships or whatever sailing multiple itineraries with multiple lengths of cruise and differing crew schedules it makes sense.

So it is tied up to gratuities?

[Loonbeam]

The daily service charge, or hotel charge, or autotip, yes. That's why it is posted daily instead of a lump end of cruise (plus the sticker shock item I noted).

 

The process of charging to a CC is independent of gratuities and based more on balance.

 

So it is tied up to gratuities?

[aquilegia]

That's interesting, Loonbeam. It makes sense.

[skynight]

The daily service charge, or hotel charge, or autotip, yes. That's why it is posted daily instead of a lump end of cruise (plus the sticker shock item I noted).

 

The process of charging to a CC is independent of gratuities and based more on balance.

Yes, gratuities are posted to your on board account daily. Then on the last day of the cruise, disembarkation day, the full amount is charged to your credit card. Your credit card is not charged daily, however there may be holds placed on the credit card based on your account's additional daily net balance.

[RDC1]

They put a hold for the amount charged at various intervals, as often as daily, to make sure that there is adaquate credit to cover the final charge.

[casofilia]

We have booked shorex on two cruises we are doing with Princess this northern summer. Rather than pay in advance we will get currency just before boarding, we will get interest for as long as possible, and put it onto our folio on the first day. We also have a certain amount of non-refundable OBC.

 

I presume the non-refundable OBC will be used first as we do the shorex (and for any other on-board spending) and then our deposited funds will be used when that runs out. Then at the end of the cruise any remaining debit will be charged to our credit card or any credit returned in cash.

 

Do I read the situation correctly please?

[caribill]

I presume the non-refundable OBC will be used first as we do the shorex (and for any other on-board spending) and then our deposited funds will be used when that runs out. Then at the end of the cruise any remaining debit will be charged to our credit card or any credit returned in cash.

 

Do I read the situation correctly please?

 

Yes

[satxdiver]

It is a standard accounting procedure to add the daily gratuity to the bill every day. Hotels do the same procedure for the daily room charge at least here in the USA for the same reason. When you first board the ship, Princess will get a temporary charge against your credit card which may or may not show up on your credit card website. There is a point where Princess will go back to the credit card company for a further temporary charge if your onboard expenses becomes too high. They do this to make sure you have enough credit to pay your folio at the end. The temporary charge never becomes actual until the merchant (Princess) processes the final amount. The temporary charges will go away if the merchant does not process the actual submittal for payment. It works this way with most merchants and credit card companies. As long as you have a sufficient available credit amount, there is not a problem. All of this is how business is completed in this country and probably the rest of the world.

[caribill]

It is a standard accounting procedure to add the daily gratuity to the bill every day. Hotels do the same procedure for the daily room charge at least here in the USA for the same reason. When you first board the ship, Princess will get a temporary charge against your credit card which may or may not show up on your credit card website. There is a point where Princess will go back to the credit card company for a further temporary charge if your onboard expenses becomes too high. They do this to make sure you have enough credit to pay your folio at the end. The temporary charge never becomes actual until the merchant (Princess) processes the final amount. The temporary charges will go away if the merchant does not process the actual submittal for payment. It works this way with most merchants and credit card companies. As long as you have a sufficient available credit amount, there is not a problem. All of this is how business is completed in this country and probably the rest of the world.

 

Whenever a tentative charge is made to your credit card, the amount of your remaining credit will be reduced by that amount. So if all you look at is how much credit you have remaining, it might appear to you that the charge has actually been made.

 

-- Ever fill up your car at a gas station and pay at the pump with a credit (or debit) card?

 

-- When you do, there will be a tentative charge made to your credit (or debit) card of $100 or even $150. Only the actual charge for the amount of gas you purchase will be actually charged, but it may take a day or two for the tentative charge amount to go away.

 

(I have no idea why the XY is at the start of some lines. Must be a "feature" of this new Cruise Critic format when I put in a blank line using the return key.)