Charging to on board account - kids

[SDJen]

I have been researching this and cannot find an answer.

 

Sailing with my daughter and one of her friends (both 13). Is there a way to limit the amount they can charge to their on card on the ship? Is it a daily limit or a limit for the whole cruise?

 

Thanks to anyone who knows how this works.

[teknoge3k]

You can set limits, yes. We give our 14 year old $X amount of money to spend on the cruise. He can spend it all on day 1 if he wants to, but once it's gone, it's gone.

 

But yes, you can set limits.

[Wilwant247]

On our last cruise, I didnt give the kids charging privledges, then just put cash down in each of their accounts. Then they could only spend what I gave them. If they need more you can add more if you need/want to.

[kctwinmommy]

We've always just told our son what we expect. He pretty much never charges anything, except like a stop at the candy store. We've said there's really nothing he needs to buy when he's not with us. He doesn't need extra drinks (he has the bottomless bubbles), he doesn't need junk from the store, etc... So he doesn't charge anything for the most part. But that's how we do it, so we don't have to worry about an actual "limit" placed on the account.

[SDJen]

Thanks everyone!

[Buddysmom10]

Yes, back around 2006 we were on an Alaskan cruise with our preteen kids. Gave them each $100 on their card to last "the whole cruise" for sodas, extras, etc.

 

Within a few hours we had a call from the front desk that one of them already had blown through it all and we needed to refill it. What??

 

Well my daughter met another girl there (btw they are still friends and visit each other) and they were using internet by sitting next to each other and emailing each other. She went through that $ in no time!

 

Cut off the internet for her for the rest of the cruise!

[Organized Chaos]

There's a few ways you can go about it. You can put cash in his account and let him spend on it until it's gone, then add more if necessary. Or you can set a limit. To answer your question, technically it's a limit for the whole cruise, but there's a way to set a daily limit that involves a little more effort. And you can set these limits from the S&S kiosk yourself instead of going to Guest Services. You can even change that limit anytime. If you'd like to set a daily limit, you'll have to go to the kiosk every day to change it. For example, on our 5-day cruise a couple years ago, my son took $200, which comes to $40/day. On day 1, I deposited the entire $200 into his account and I set his limit to $40. On day 2, I had to set it to $80. That was $40 for the previous day plus $40 for that day. Day 3, set it to $120 (80+40). And so on. You have to add that day's limit plus the amount they've spent up until then. Like I said, it takes a little more effort, but only takes a couple minutes to do. On our cruise last month, I just set an overall limit for him and his friend and they managed it themselves.

[cruisinqt]

And to add to the above post, which is very accurate, it doesn’t have to be cash either. We do it all with our credit card on our account. On day one we set a $100 limit for our girls and then halfway through the cruise we up the limit to $200. You can’t set a daily limit, it’s just too much work for carnival to keep up with. But you can set their weekly limit and then raise that limit as needed. Also remember that their gratuities will eventually be taken out of their accounts later in the cruise. When you’re setting up a spending limit just ask when the gratuities will hit the account and adjust the needed amount that morning.

[Shaded Lady]

There's a few ways you can go about it. You can put cash in his account and let him spend on it until it's gone, then add more if necessary. Or you can set a limit. To answer your question, technically it's a limit for the whole cruise, but there's a way to set a daily limit that involves a little more effort. And you can set these limits from the S&S kiosk yourself instead of going to Guest Services. You can even change that limit anytime. If you'd like to set a daily limit, you'll have to go to the kiosk every day to change it. For example, on our 5-day cruise a couple years ago, my son took $200, which comes to $40/day. On day 1, I deposited the entire $200 into his account and I set his limit to $40. On day 2, I had to set it to $80. That was $40 for the previous day plus $40 for that day. Day 3, set it to $120 (80+40). And so on. You have to add that day's limit plus the amount they've spent up until then. Like I said, it takes a little more effort, but only takes a couple minutes to do. On our cruise last month, I just set an overall limit for him and his friend and they managed it themselves.

Ugh... I don't do math on vacation!

 

I'll just follow your other suggestion to set an overall limit... if he blows it, oh well! But at 9 YO he's already pretty mindful of money (his own, at least- if Grandma's paying, the sky's the limit LOL!).