HAL credit card hold

[WorldTraveler24]

Hi, I'm new to HAL, but have cruised other lines. As I was completing the online check it, it stated we need to BOTH provide a credit card and accept a hold of roughly $700 each. Maybe it was my fault, but this totally knocked me off guard. I have never heard of such a thing and was never told about this. We have never encountered this on any other line, despite what everyone says. I would know . Maybe it was the length of the cruise.  
We are a married couple, but I kept my maiden name . Would a married couple still need 2 separate cards to be charged? There is no other way to do it on my end right now. None of this is making sense to me. We rarely spend much money on board and can't even dream of coming close to this hold amount. We are basically expected to hold 2 mortgage payments, which is not doable. As it stands right now, we may not even be allowed to do this even though the cruise was paid for in full awhile ago. We certainly will not be spending a dime on any day of cruising as a result. 

We are due to set said in a week. 
We also have 2 onboard credits . How can that be factored in ? A cash option is completely impossible. What was supposed to be a dream cruise has turned out to be the biggest nightmare imaginable. Already we know we will never sail HAL again and we haven't even boarded. This has been nothing but problem after problem. 
Any positive help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[wyobean]

We use the same card. Everything charged to our cabin is on one account. I think we could even have that card as the payment for another cabin if we wanted to...like taking kids.  I have never paid any attention to the hold, sorry I can’t help you there. 

Edited January 7, 2019 by wyobean

[kazu]

1 minute ago, WorldTraveler24 said:

Hi, I'm new to HAL, but have cruised other lines. As I was completing the online check it, it stated we need to BOTH provide a credit card and accept a hold of roughly $700 each. Maybe it was my fault, but this totally knocked me off guard. I have never heard of such a thing and was never told about this. We have never encountered this on any other line, despite what everyone says. I would know . Maybe it was the length of the cruise.  
We are a married couple, but I kept my maiden name . Would a married couple still need 2 separate cards to be charged? There is no other way to do it on my end right now. None of this is making sense to me. We rarely spend much money on board and can't even dream of coming close to this hold amount. We are basically expected to hold 2 mortgage payments, which is not doable. As it stands right now, we may not even be allowed to do this even though the cruise was paid for in full awhile ago. We certainly will not be spending a dime on any day of cruising as a result. 

We are due to set said in a week. 
We also have 2 onboard credits . How can that be factored in ? A cash option is completely impossible. What was supposed to be a dream cruise has turned out to be the biggest nightmare imaginable. Already we know we will never sail HAL again and we haven't even boarded. This has been nothing but problem after problem. 
Any positive help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

It's ok, don't worry.

 

You can both use the same credit card.  There's a spot on the on line check in where you indicate "use the same credit card for the 2nd passenger".

 

The holds on credit cards are done by everyone = all cruise lines, hotels, etc.

 

HAL is just up front and tells you.  They don't charge your credit card.  They just reserve that amount (pre-authorize the amount)  to make sure that the $ is there when any charges go through.

 

Hotels do the same thing.

 

They only charge you what you actually spend.  It's really no big deal unless you have a very low limit on your credit card.  If that's the case, just call your credit card company and ask for a temporary limit increase.

 

hope this helps and believe me, this is nothing new.  HAL is just disclosing it.

[Alberta Quilter]

Only one credit card is required; you can link both Guest 1 and Guest 2 to the same onboard account.  Keep in mind that this is only a hold, not actual charges.  You will only be charged, at the end of the cruise, for the amount of your onboard account.  There will have to be enough credit on the credit card to cover the hold.

 

How long is your cruise?  $1400 is a lot of HSC!  Just want to make sure you're calculations are correct...

[richwmn]

3 minutes ago, Alberta Quilter said:

Only one credit card is required; you can link both Guest 1 and Guest 2 to the same onboard account.  Keep in mind that this is only a hold, not actual charges.  You will only be charged, at the end of the cruise, for the amount of your onboard account.  There will have to be enough credit on the credit card to cover the hold.

 

How long is your cruise?  $1400 is a lot of HSC!  Just want to make sure you're calculations are correct...

The hold for a 12 day cruise at $60 per day is $720 per person times 2 = $1,440. The HSC is much less.

[kazu]

3 minutes ago, richwmn said:

The hold for a 12 day cruise at $60 per day is $720 per person times 2 = $1,440. The HSC is much less.

 

Absolutely correct.  Holds are $60 per day pp until you get to around 30 day cruises and then they drop. - IIRC $30 per day pp.

[WorldTraveler24]

Thank you so much everyone for the help. 
It's an 11 night cruise (Panama Canal) . It is saying $660 per person for the hold. Would it change if it was under the same name (as opposed to me having my maiden name?) . My husband is really upset now with the fee since there isn't enough on one of our credit cards (and may not be for mine. This is a huge hold to me, an awful lot of money)
I will go back tonight and put in my credit card info and hopefully link it to both of us. My credit card doesn't have a huge limit so putting both the 660 holds on mine may be an issue. Wonderful. Would they keep the hold on the entire duration of the cruise? 

I have run into so many issues scheduling this cruise. I was told upfront when booking how high the taxes were but this part is new so I have been really upset and frustrated over it. 

[kazu]

2 minutes ago, WorldTraveler24 said:

Thank you so much everyone for the help. 
It's an 11 night cruise (Panama Canal) . It is saying $660 per person for the hold. Would it change if it was under the same name (as opposed to me having my maiden name?) . My husband is really upset now with the fee since there isn't enough on one of our credit cards (and may not be for mine. This is a huge hold to me, an awful lot of money)
I will go back tonight and put in my credit card info and hopefully link it to both of us. My credit card doesn't have a huge limit so putting both the 660 holds on mine may be an issue. Wonderful. Would they keep the hold on the entire duration of the cruise? 

I have run into so many issues scheduling this cruise. I was told upfront when booking how high the taxes were but this part is new so I have been really upset and frustrated over it. 

 

Remind our DH that this is not a fee.  It's a hold - a pre-authorization.

 

That amount is right for the hold - $60 per day pp so $120 per day for the 2 of you.

You will NOT be charged this but it does need to be authorized when you get on the ship.

 

The hold decreases during the cruise in my experience.

 

So - the credit card limit is the issue.  Got it.  Call the credit card company and explain the conundrum.  You're not planning on spending the money - you just need it authorized.

 

Some will give you a temporary increase for this and others may just raise your limit.

 

The other option is to put some cash on your credit card before you sail to cover you.

 

You can use your credit card now on the on line check in.  It doesn't get pre-authorized until you board and, in fact you can even use a different credit card when you board.  They just need one now to authorize for .01 cent to make sure it's valid.

 

Once you board is when it all takes effect.

 

Hope this helps a bit.

[Bethcb]

We are long time Princess cruiser, yet sort of new to HAL, and there is always a $100 pending charge on Princess for the 2 of us on our credit card which is reconciled at the end of the cruise. On a recent 15 day HAL cruise, I noticed a ~$1500 pending charge. They explained this is what they put on hold. There was no problem really, I was just amazed how Princess and HAL do such different pay practices, all under CCL. 

[richwmn]

21 minutes ago, kazu said:

The other option is to put some cash on your credit card before you sail to cover you.

 

Unfortunately, putting cash down in advance or at boarding does not change the hold amount. However they will allow you to get away with a slightly smaller cash amount if that is the way you chose to handle your onboard account.

To an earlier question which hasn't been answered. The difference in names doesn't matter. The hold is for each person in the cabin.

 

[kazu]

1 minute ago, richwmn said:

Unfortunately, putting cash down in advance or at boarding does not change the hold amount. However they will allow you to get away with a slightly smaller cash amount if that is the way you chose to handle your onboard account.

To an earlier question which hasn't been answered. The difference in names doesn't matter. The hold is for each person in the cabin.

 

 

Sorry if I wasn't clear enough.  I was referring to their credit card.  To put some money down on it to make room for the hold 😉 

[CruiserBruce]

This isn't something new, just something you weren't aware of. Hotels do it, car rental agencies do it, cruise lines do it. Most of these don't always tell you they are doing it. HAL is VERY fair in being open about it. 

[fatcat04]

Kazu is right. All cruiselines do this as do hotels, resorts, rental car companies, and even gas stations. It is a hold, not a charge or fee or whatever. Nothing will get charged to your card until your final bill is calculated at the end of your cruise.

 

It would not be a wise business practice to allow guests to charge unlimited drinks, excursions, jewelry, dining, spa services, etc to their onboard account without making sure that bill will actually get paid at the end, hence the hold on credit cards.

[richwmn]

2 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

Sorry if I wasn't clear enough.  I was referring to their credit card.  To put some money down on it to make room for the hold 😉 

I misread your reply!

[RuthC]

1 hour ago, WorldTraveler24 said:

My husband is really upset now with the fee

This is NOT a fee. It's a hold on your credit limit so that there will be enough to cover whatever spending is done on board.

For example, if you have a $5000 credit limit, that means you can charge a $5000 purchase, if you want. HAL will reserve $60/person/day of that for use on the ship. On an 11-day cruise, they would reduce the available credit to $4340. If you then wanted to go wild in a jewelry shop, the most you could spend is $4340, not $5000.

At the end of the cruise HAL will put in a charge for the amount due to them. If that is less than $660, then they will charge less than $660.

[KirkNC]

We have seen very high holds on long cruises, as much as $13,000 for the 2017 world cruise.  In the past, we have gone to the front desk and had large holds reduced.  For example, on the aforementioned wc they reduced the hold to $5,000.  We run a lot of $$$ through our card including paying for future cruises. When that happens a $10-15k hold can gum up the works as it does reduce the available credit. 

[Alberta Quilter]

1 hour ago, richwmn said:

The hold for a 12 day cruise at $60 per day is $720 per person times 2 = $1,440. The HSC is much less.

Thanks for correcting my error.  For some reason, I was only thinking of the HSC and forgot about the $60 amount.

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, CruiserBruce said:

This isn't something new, just something you weren't aware of. Hotels do it, car rental agencies do it, cruise lines do it. Most of these don't always tell you they are doing it. HAL is VERY fair in being open about it. 

 

Just as an example, this past Saturday I topped off my gas tank on my car because where we were gas was cheaper by several cents a gallon. And the next day I saw a hold for $100. But today the real much smaller amount is listed  when I check my account online.

Edited January 7, 2019 by ontheweb

[RDC1]

2 hours ago, WorldTraveler24 said:

Thank you so much everyone for the help. 
It's an 11 night cruise (Panama Canal) . It is saying $660 per person for the hold. Would it change if it was under the same name (as opposed to me having my maiden name?) . My husband is really upset now with the fee since there isn't enough on one of our credit cards (and may not be for mine. This is a huge hold to me, an awful lot of money)
I will go back tonight and put in my credit card info and hopefully link it to both of us. My credit card doesn't have a huge limit so putting both the 660 holds on mine may be an issue. Wonderful. Would they keep the hold on the entire duration of the cruise? 

I have run into so many issues scheduling this cruise. I was told upfront when booking how high the taxes were but this part is new so I have been really upset and frustrated over it. 

Keep in mind that the reason for the holds is for the cruise to make sure that there is sufficient room on the credit card used to avoid problems with credit card denial at the end of the cruise. The hold amount is based upon what they expect a passenger might spend and may be increased during the cruise if the actual amount of spending is higher. 

[WorldTraveler24]

Understood everyone. I did not mean to say "fee" above. I realize it is a hold, but it just seems extremely high. Thankfully I was able to smooth things over with the hubs and I'll be setting that up after work tonight, so the online check in will be complete. Finally. We noticed we could not print out the docs if the credit card info was left blank. We should be able to print them tomorrow. We fly to FL on Monday, but we set sail on Wed so I wanted to be sure we have everything set before we fly out. 

 

I check my statements all the time with an online app and didn't see similar costs in the past, so I was a little upset/confused. I understand better now, so thank you to everyone.
We rarely spend much money on the ship. We can go without drinking or extra purchases so the estimate, for us, seemed really high. But I get it now~ 

 

[ChinaShrek]

I completed a 7-night cruise on the Veendam on 12/28/18.  Everyone is writing as if the $60 per day per person credit card authorization is written policy.  I don't think so!  An authorization was placed on my card for $1192 on the day we arrived and sat on my card until two days after the cruise.  I would suggest you ask at check-in exactly how much is going to be authorized. 

[catl331]

57 minutes ago, WorldTraveler24 said:

We rarely spend much money on the ship. We can go without drinking or extra purchases so the estimate, for us, seemed really high.

Do you book ship excursions while on board? Just one moderate priced excursion is well over $60 pp. HAL has to take those charges into account in their hold amount, not just drinks or shopping.

Edited January 7, 2019 by catl331

[TAD2005]

The $60 per person/per day hold is a pre-authorization.  On my cards, it usually falls off the card in 4 or 5 days.  If you have a lot of onboard credit,  you may be able to convince the front desk to reduce the hold amount.   The hold for cruises of 26 days and up is reduced to $30 per day.   

Every business does it if you have the ability to charge purchases to an account.   Same for rental cars, gas stations, etc.   They want to be sure that if you run up a $2000 bar tab, or buy that Rolex in the gift shop, that you won't disembark the ship and leaving them holding an empty bag.   The hold can increase during your cruise if your purchases exceed the total hold.   You do have the option of paying a cash deposit equal to the $60 per day/per person.  The front desk will refund whatever portion of that deposit you haven't spent during your cruise.

It's not just the bar tab or gift shop, even the regular Hotel Service Charge (HSC) will eat up $29 per day for 2 people.

This wasn't the case many years ago.  But the cruise lines have gotten stuck with people heading home and they didn't have a sufficient balance on their card to cover what spent.   HAL will not take you to court for a $250 unpaid balance, it's not worth the court costs, especially for guests out of the country.  To remedy that, all cruise lines, including hotels, want to be sure that the bottle of Dom that you charged to your cabin or hotel room will not be left unpaid when you go home.

Edited January 7, 2019 by TAD2005

[WorldTraveler24]

Good to know. You guys have been beyond helpful.

Could I ask another question that may seem silly too?
I was told we wouldn't get our room number until we check in at the pier. While I couldn't complete the docs, it allowed us to print the luggage tags. What do I do for that? Should I leave stateroom # blank, or will we have all our luggage with us at that point?

We have previously sailed out of Tampa, Cape Canaveral and Port Liberty .

[richwmn]

1 hour ago, ChinaShrek said:

I completed a 7-night cruise on the Veendam on 12/28/18.  Everyone is writing as if the $60 per day per person credit card authorization is written policy.  I don't think so!  An authorization was placed on my card for $1192 on the day we arrived and sat on my card until two days after the cruise.  I would suggest you ask at check-in exactly how much is going to be authorized. 

I just went to an upcoming 14 day cruise and this was the message under the "Charges" section - Your card will be pre-authorized for $840 on the day of departure. That is $60/day/person (1 person). I don't understand why your hold was so much.