credit card hold question

[racnwdow]

Is the $60 per day credit card hold, per person/per day?  Per cabin/per day?  Or per credit card used in the room/per day.  I wonder if it is different if my DH and I traveled together and used one credit card for hold or if I travel with a friend and we each use our own credit card?

 

Also, the other couple traveling with us is a mother/daughter couple with different last names.  If they use one credit card for both of them is it $60 or $120 per day?

[catl331]

It doesn't matter what credit card(s) are used or what the names are, it's $60 per person per day.

Edited July 3, 2019 by catl331

[freestyling]

A current thread on this topic. 

 

[Hlitner]

For those with relatively low credit card limits, there is something you can do.  Simply call your credit card company (the toll free number is usually on the back of the card) and explain that you are taking a cruise and want your card's credit limit temporarily increased to handle the holds and charges.  Most credit card companies will quickly agree.

 

Hank

[racnwdow]

Thanks.  I guess I blew off the per person/per day wording.  Duh.  

[TAD2005]

Our experience with HAL cruises is that the $60 per person/per day ($30 per person/per day for cruises over 25 days) will fall off of your credit or debit card in 5 - 7 days.   But you still need to have the available balance on whatever card or combination of cards you provide when you board.   On the check-in process on the HAL website, you can use a separate card for each person in your cabin.

[jkrislc]

On our cruise last summer aboard Konningsdam, the hold on our credit card for a 14 night sailing was excessive (over $2000). When I asked at customer service, they said that was the norm. Since it was only a hold and not a charge, I didn't push the issue, but I was surprised at the amount.

[oceanmom]

deleted

Edited July 5, 2019 by oceanmom

[catl331]

9 hours ago, jkrislc said:

On our cruise last summer aboard Konningsdam, the hold on our credit card for a 14 night sailing was excessive (over $2000). When I asked at customer service, they said that was the norm. Since it was only a hold and not a charge, I didn't push the issue, but I was surprised at the amount.

How many people? It should have been $840 per person for 14 nights.

[jkrislc]

2 hours ago, catl331 said:

How many people? It should have been $840 per person for 14 nights.

Three people, which amounts to $2520. We had also prepaid our excursions, our beverage package, and our dining package. In addition, we had some onboard credit, so the only charges we accrued were the daily service charges. Thus, this hold far exceeded any actual charges made by us onboard. 

[catl331]

16 minutes ago, jkrislc said:

Thus, this hold far exceeded any actual charges made by us onboard. 

It always does for us too. 

[Hawaiidan]

On 7/3/2019 at 11:19 AM, racnwdow said:

Is the $60 per day credit card hold, per person/per day?  Per cabin/per day?  Or per credit card used in the room/per day.  I wonder if it is different if my DH and I traveled together and used one credit card for hold or if I travel with a friend and we each use our own credit card?

 

Also, the other couple traveling with us is a mother/daughter couple with different last names.  If they use one credit card for both of them is it $60 or $120 per day?

yes...$120 for 2     or $60 for every person in the cabin which is on 1 credit card.  I do not think they will split cards

[Hawaiidan]

29 minutes ago, jkrislc said:

Three people, which amounts to $2520. We had also prepaid our excursions, our beverage package, and our dining package. In addition, we had some onboard credit, so the only charges we accrued were the daily service charges. Thus, this hold far exceeded any actual charges made by us onboard. 

THAT is why they do it....Since they do not know how  much a passenger will spend they have to speculate so that they do not accept someone who at the end of the cruise dosen't have the money to pay their bill.

Rental cars do it, Hotels do it....   The business dosen't want to get burned     If it was your business  you would do it id you let your customer charge for a week or 2.

[catl331]

13 minutes ago, Hawaiidan said:

I do not think they will split cards

It's done all the time for unrelated cabinmates. When making the booking you are asked for a credit card for each person, and you can say "same as person #1" or enter a different number for each.

Edited July 5, 2019 by catl331

[Roz]

I've done this on every cruise where I've shared a cabin.  The other person does their own online check-in and registers their own credit card.

 

Roz

[jkrislc]

1 hour ago, Hawaiidan said:

THAT is why they do it....Since they do not know how  much a passenger will spend they have to speculate so that they do not accept someone who at the end of the cruise dosen't have the money to pay their bill.

Rental cars do it, Hotels do it....   The business dosen't want to get burned     If it was your business  you would do it id you let your customer charge for a week or 2.

I understand why they do it, but I also think they need to be more transparent about the amount being held. I travel a lot and don't believe I've ever had a hold placed on my card by a car rental agency or a hotel that was beyond a few hundred dollars ($200-$500). Other lines simply make incremental charges as the cruise goes on which is how the avoid getting "burned."

[FredT]

51 minutes ago, jkrislc said:

I understand why they do it, but I also think they need to be more transparent about the amount being held. I travel a lot and don't believe I've ever had a hold placed on my card by a car rental agency or a hotel that was beyond a few hundred dollars ($200-$500). Other lines simply make incremental charges as the cruise goes on which is how the avoid getting "burned."

I dont know how much more "transparent" they can get than their (often repeated) $60.00 per passenger per day" hold.

[jkrislc]

2 hours ago, FredT said:

I dont know how much more "transparent" they can get than their (often repeated) $60.00 per passenger per day" hold.

How about a reminder at check in?

[FredT]

25 minutes ago, jkrislc said:

How about a reminder at check in?

I have no issue with that, but if start going all PC and telling EVERY passenger about EVERY thing that they have already told you in advance..... Then be ready for 12 hour check in times!

[richwmn]

26 minutes ago, jkrislc said:

How about a reminder at check in?

Just went to check in for a cruise I have booked. When I clicked on account this appeared

PAYMENT OPTIONS: Our preferred method of payment is credit card. There will be initial authorization holds of $60 per person, per day (for guests 18 and over) on your registered credit card for the duration of your cruise, regardless of your actual expenses. Please note that there may be multiple authorizations throughout your cruise, depending upon how much is spent, and some banks may keep the hold(s) in place for up to 30 days. If you prefer, you may bring cash in this amount and pay at the Guest Services desk the day of boarding. Please have the credit or debit card(s) you registered with you and available for the duration of the cruise in case our shipboard staff needs additional information.

[jkrislc]

27 minutes ago, richwmn said:

Just went to check in for a cruise I have booked. When I clicked on account this appeared

 

 

Well, they weren't following their own policy since my son was 11 years old and should not have had a $60 hold since he is under 18. 

 

I will admit that I probably forgot that I was informed of the hold amount as I do the check in process months in advance. 

Edited July 5, 2019 by jkrislc

[TAD2005]

Years ago, before the "credit card holds" were started, many spring breakers would buy a minimum grade cabin, and board the ship with almost empty pockets.  The lived it up on the cruise and ran up a huge bar bill.  They would avoid the cabin stewards and MDR waiters on the last night, and disembark the ship with a huge bill left unpaid.  They would be paged to come to the front desk to settle up their bill, but they never would show.  As soon as the ship was cleared, they ran off.  In those days, there was no scanning of your key card to enter the gangway, where today, you would be stopped if you had an unpaid balance.   The unpaid balance was considerable, but usually not high enough to warrant a law suit and the legal expenses involved.  So the cruise lines had to eat the losses.   That is when credit card holds started.   Same problem with drink sharing when you had a beverage package.   It wasn't an issue when drink packages started being offered, and there was no rule that both must buy the same package.   Then bartenders started noticing people ordering a 2nd drink and sliding it over to a friend, sharing the single package among 2 or more people.   People will always try to scam a system.  And they will succeed for a while until the cruise lines detect it and initiate policies to block it.  This penalizes the honest people for the sake of a small percentage who try to get something for nothing.   A lot of people would love to cruise, but it's all they can do to put together the basic cruise fare plus expenses.   They have credit cards, but they are close to the limits.   Once they see the requirements of $60 per day/per passenger, that kills their hopes of experiencing a great cruise.   As usual, the minority tries to scam a system, and the majority of honest folks have to suffer the consequences.

[jkrislc]

Good observations TAD2005. 

I actually had an alarm go off when I disembarked an NCL ship, but it was because they owed me money rather than the other way around. It was under $4 and I just decided to leave it behind as I didn't want to wait in line for the refund, but the had an officer there to pay me out as I left the ship. 

Edited July 6, 2019 by jkrislc