credit card check-in

[george35]

Me again this time will be my last time I promise. This will be our 1st time on MSC SEASIDE ( or any MCS ship ). I would like to know what we have to do to check-in with our credit card once we get onboard? All the other cruises we taken ( over 50 ) at check-in it was taken care of but we heard on MSC once you get onboard you have to regester your card, where do you do this???????????? do you have to do it as soon as you board?????? Can you call from your room & do it????????? are there different places to do it????????? if so where are they located??????

HELP

 

george35

[Cruisergal1208]

19 minutes ago, george35 said:

Me again this time will be my last time I promise. This will be our 1st time on MSC SEASIDE ( or any MCS ship ). I would like to know what we have to do to check-in with our credit card once we get onboard? All the other cruises we taken ( over 50 ) at check-in it was taken care of but we heard on MSC once you get onboard you have to regester your card, where do you do this???????????? do you have to do it as soon as you board?????? Can you call from your room & do it????????? are there different places to do it????????? if so where are they located??????

HELP

 

george35

There are kiosks around the ship where you register your credit card.  It can be done within the first 24 hours of boarding.  There are some near the guest service desk.  Wait for a few hours after boarding and the lines might not be so long.

[CruiseIreland]

You approach thé machine with your room card and credit card. Follow the iñstructions onscreen, inserting both cards in turn. Very simple and you have 48 hrs to  do it.

[Zephyr173]

Perhaps just think about answering « yes » to link another cruise card, perhaps that of your spouse. The idea being that expenses will be collected from all cruise cards to the credit card that you will register.

 

Believe me, it’s not fun when you want to disembark your account is not considered settled. 

 

[riclop]

5 hours ago, george35 said:

Me again this time will be my last time I promise. This will be our 1st time on MSC SEASIDE ( or any MCS ship ). I would like to know what we have to do to check-in with our credit card once we get onboard? All the other cruises we taken ( over 50 ) at check-in it was taken care of but we heard on MSC once you get onboard you have to regester your card, where do you do this???????????? do you have to do it as soon as you board?????? Can you call from your room & do it????????? are there different places to do it????????? if so where are they located??????

HELP

 

george35

There are numerous kisok on deck 5 to do this and you have a couple of days to do it.

[max996]

The system is very intuitive and quite simple actually. You'll have no trouble with the user interface.

When you link your card, it will automatically link everyone in your cabin to the credit card you swipe. On our first MSC Cruise, I left everyone checked when I registered the card (myself, wife, and 3 daughters). The next morning I checked my account balance on the TV in our room fully expecting to see just the $12.50 per person per day charge; well there was an additional $70 charge from the ships arcade. My three kids had found the arcade and played video games to their hearts content on day-1! I quickly went back to the kiosk and unchecked their names from their cruise cards which removed their ability to charge anything else for the rest of the week. So you will have the ability to go back in and make any changes as you may require. Oh, and I got my $70 back when we returned home the next week.

[kerryincork]

On 10/24/2018 at 5:46 PM, max996 said:

 

It is very easy.

 

The kiosk is like using an Atm. There are no difficulties adding multiple credit cards. My travelling companion and I always use separate cards.

[Nunagoras]

As the others say the system is quite intuitive and easy. You have some 24 to register it, so wait till the place is relatively empty and do it. The system will ask if you want to have everyone on your cabin linked to your credit card.

 

If you happen to be an individual with low vision or other disabilities that difficult access to those machines, beware that they are not made with those accessibilities in mind. In that case ask guest services and they will be more than happy to help.

 

Have a nice day!... 🙂

[BubMunkeyBles]

I was wondering about this but am a little worried because I'm going our of Europe and don't have a pin for my credit card. Hopefully I won't have any issues with my American credit card.

[SirWolf]

21 minutes ago, BubMunkeyBles said:

I was wondering about this but am a little worried because I'm going our of Europe and don't have a pin for my credit card. Hopefully I won't have any issues with my American credit card.

My American Credit Card worked without PIN at the kiosk on Seaview in Genoa.

[PLee]

Now is great time to reach out to your credit card companies & bank.  Several of them waive any fees when used out of the US.  Also, the app Viber will allow you to send text/photos to those at home w/out any fee.  Once in port and you find a free Wi-Fi spot it will send and receive.

[FireEMT978]

Be aware, when you put your credit card in the kiosk, it authorizes a $250.00 preauthorization hold on that card.

[bigAWL]

16 hours ago, FireEMT978 said:

Be aware, when you put your credit card in the kiosk, it authorizes a $250.00 preauthorization hold on that card.

Good point.  Do they also charge the card when you reach a particular threshold of charges while onboard?  

[sidari]

The charge is a Temporary hold until you are given your final bill.

[SirWolf]

Credit card pre-auth are common at hotels & rental car companies. Make sure your credit card limit covers all pre-auth and purchases during your travel, sometimes it takes a few days for the pre-auth to be released after paying the final bill.

[Até]

What else would people think is happening when they swipe their card.  It's no different than at any other hotel.  The same thing happens at a gas station, just on a shorter time frame.  I've never gone over the hold amount, but I would assume MSC would increase the hold as soon as you start charging more than that to your cabin.

Edited November 5, 2018 by Até

[ChrisB66]

Can you use cash for your billing by putting an amount to customer services and anybody know the minimum amount required? 

First time sailing MSC. Last year B2B on Royal didn't even need to put money to Customer service as i'd prepaid everything and wasn't going to purchase onboard.  

[miataman19]

On 10/26/2018 at 2:18 AM, kerryincork said:

It is very easy.

 

The kiosk is like using an Atm. There are no difficulties adding multiple credit cards. My travelling companion and I always use separate cards.

So you can have your traveling partner in the same room have their credit card attached to their Sail & Sign card? If that's true that would be great.

[kerryincork]

1 hour ago, miataman19 said:

So you can have your traveling partner in the same room have their credit card attached to their Sail & Sign card? If that's true that would be great.

Yes each person can have their own credit card linked to their name. I have been cruising for 10 years now and I have always used individual credit cards.

you'll be asked something like 'do you want to link your credit card with any other guest?' you just answer No. And then the other person who is travelling with you does the same.

if you are not married to the person you are travelling with it is much cleaner to keep your expenses separated.

[Two Wheels Only]

4 hours ago, ChrisB66 said:

Can you use cash for your billing by putting an amount to customer services and anybody know the minimum amount required?

 

Yes, you can use cash. I did on Seaside and on the last night, the "extra" was returned to me in cash. This was in the Yacht Club, though.

 

I don't believe that there's a minimum.

Edited November 5, 2018 by Two Wheels Only

[cruisecrazy82]

Do you HAVE to put cash on your account if you want to do a cash account? We have prepaid our tips and have drink packages. We also have some on board credit so we don’t actually plan to have any expenses while onboard. 

[SirWolf]

2 hours ago, cruisecrazy82 said:

We have prepaid our tips and have drink packages.

Off-topic question: How did you prepay the tips ?  Using MSC USA website I can not find the option, just “cash advance” on-board credit. Thank you.

[cruisecrazy82]

11 hours ago, SirWolf said:

Off-topic question: How did you prepay the tips ?  Using MSC USA website I can not find the option, just “cash advance” on-board credit. Thank you.

I’m an agent so I added them via MSC’s agent site to my booking. But you can call and have it done. 😊

[OneParticularHarbour 71]

On 11/24/2018 at 7:21 PM, cruisecrazy82 said:

Do you HAVE to put cash on your account if you want to do a cash account? We have prepaid our tips and have drink packages. We also have some on board credit so we don’t actually plan to have any expenses while onboard. 

When we sailed Seaside in April, we never registered our credit card or put any cash down on the account.  We had onboard credit that covered most of our spending.  On the last night, we went to Guest Services and paid the balance owed in cash and got a printout confirming we we had a zero balance.

Edited November 26, 2018 by OneParticularHarbour 71

[cruisecrazy82]

On 11/26/2018 at 7:19 AM, OneParticularHarbour 71 said:

When we sailed Seaside in April, we never registered our credit card or put any cash down on the account.  We had onboard credit that covered most of our spending.  On the last night, we went to Guest Services and paid the balance owed in cash and got a printout confirming we we had a zero balance.

 

Thank you!  Did you have any trouble using your key cards?