Sail & Sign - Caution if Sharing Cabin

[Daphne'sMom]

Just got back last week after a wonderful week on the Splendor. Really could not ask for anything more. My only complaint about the cruise itself was that I had booked my Mother (her first cruise) and myself in a spa cabin. We did the spa tour on the first day and what started out as a group of 4 got added to and we ended up with way too many people and hard sell on products rather than the amenities included with our cabin. I could not convince her to go back to the spa so that was a bust. The ship, the weather, ports & excursions,the crew, and all but one ;) fellow passenger were the best.

 

My tale of caution is to make sure you have your sail and sign account set up correctly when you board. I purchased the cruise on-line and couldn't find any options other than "CASH" when signing up our cruise. I knew in the past that when my husband & I took our kids, Carnival would get all of that information when we boarded and so was not worried. We would pay for their cruise & excursions but they would use their credit cards for their purchases.

 

My Mother & I each checked in separately and each gave our own credit card that we wanted used. I noticed when I checked my account on board that it listed all of my purchases, my mothers purchases, plus the prepaid gratuities, excursions, port fees, etc. When I looked at her folio, it only listed her items so I "assumed" that the charges were all going to the correct accounts. I had purchase a large amount of Carnival gift cards that I had applied to my account during the cruise.

 

Today in the mail, I received a check for $142 from Carnival. That is the balance left over on my gift cards minus all purchases made by my Mother & myself. They apparently set up the account with all charges going to my account and are not able to charge her credit card now without an authorization form from her. Why would we each check in separately with our own credit cards if we wanted this all on one account???

 

I should have gone down to guest services but thought I had seen someone else post on here how confusing the folio's are on the tv screen. They listed everything that I had already paid for along with a credit, credits for port fees. I did not see the credits for my gift cards for several days. This is not the first time I have shared a cabin with someone other than my husband. Did not have any problems before so not sure what went wrong this time. If you do not catch it and get it fixed on board, Carnival apparently is unable to fix it later.

 

AGAIN - I SHOULD HAVE GONE TO GUEST SERVICES. I know that now but am trying to help anyone else that may be sharing a cabin with friends or family to avoid having to sort through charges to see who owes who for what. I know my Mother is good for it but she will be having surgery and I don't want to bother her. I have cruised with people before who put things on a credit card because they didn't want to pay for it right away.

[lizardhowson]

Whomever checked you in did not set up your accounts as you intended. And yes, when you realized the issue, you should have gone to guest services.

 

The good part - it shouldn't be difficult to collect the money from your Mom for the items she purchased.

[Muumuu]

I booked 9 family into 3 cabins. I did all the pre check in for all. Each person was set up as cash. When we checked in I gave them my cc for my cabin of 3. Come to find out all 9 were on my cc. Very easily fixed next day. This has never happened. Just very odd!

[sanger727]

Since you checked in separately with your own cards is it possible that it was set up this way - but instead of putting all of your gift card balances on your account only it split them? I've shared cabins before with people where we had our own accounts and they seem to automatically split any OBC on the account equally unless you ask for something different.

 

 

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[ancfun]

Just got back last week after a wonderful week on the Splendor... I have cruised with people before who put things on a credit card because they didn't want to pay for it right away.

 

Thanks for the warning. Heading on the Splendor soon w/ an "extra" in my cabin that needs to be on another folio. I'll have to make sure it's done right. We've done it before w/ no problem (& it was confusing at first, trying to figure them out).

[SadieN]

Thanks for the heads up.

 

When doing online checkin there are several 'buttons' to choose if others are allowed to access your payment method.

We always get a print out at GS the first day. It shows who has charging privileges on your account.

 

 

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[GMRPHRN]

I had a problem with S&S a few years back. I paid for the cruise for my 2 kids and my SIL who stayed in a cabin with one of my children with me and 1 child in the other. I checked her in online with her on credit card and the kids and me on mine. However, when one of our ports were canceled and they refunded port fees they refunded hers to her S&S even though I had paid for the cruise. I went to GS with her but they seemed to have a hard time understanding what we wanted. She ended up paying me back for the credit by using her S&S to make purchases for my child that would have come off my account. Then last year I sailed with only the 2 kids and my 18yo son in a cabin by himself. Checked us all in using my credit card but once on the ship they denied him charging ability and had to go to GS to apply my card again. So sometimes all goes as planned and sometimes it doesn't.

[Daphne'sMom]

When doing online checkin there are several 'buttons' to choose if others are allowed to access your payment method.

We always get a print out at GS the first day. It shows who has charging privileges on your account.

 

 

Yes, think I will be following up with guest services in the future. I did not find any options other than cash when setting up on line check in and did not find any additional options for setup (I did look but admit it was most likely user error).

In the past, I've always setup, planned all arrangement for everyone's cabins using my credit card information online and then everyone set up their own arrangements when we actually checked in at the port. I could let everyone do their own reservations, planning, payments, etc but know that with my group, that would cause more headaches than it would solve. Plus, the planning/anticipation is almost as much furn for me as the actual cruise itself:D