Couple of questions about Sail & Sign account . . .

[lacy1101]

My family will be cruising on the Valor in a couple of weeks.  It will be my husband and I in one cabin, and my son, daughter, and daughter's husband in the cabin next door.  I have my credit card attached to everyone's Sail & Sign account.  I have a couple of questions:

 

1.  Will I be able to look at the itemized statement at the end of the cruise and determine the charges incurred by each individual person so that they can reimburse me?  Or will each individual get their own itemized statement of their Sail & Sign account?

2.  Can you pay off the charges either in cash, check, or debit card before you get off the ship on the last day?

 

Thanks for the help! 🙂

[heckledtrio]

Wouldn't it be easier for them to just tie their own credit card to their account? 

 

In 2017 we gifted my MIL with a cruise for her birthday. Hubby, son, and I in one cabin, and MIL in her own solo cabin. IIRC, each cabin gets their own itemized statement. Anyway, I did the booking and paid for her (separate) cabin, and also had a $100 Visa gift card that we tied her S&S account to. She was then responsible for the rest of her on-board expenses. Once on board, she went to guest services and gave them a bunch of cash to put onto her account. She could also have switched her S&S account to her own credit card, either at guest services or at a kiosk, but she was using cash to remain on budget. 

 

Seems like your "kids" could do the same-- once on board, they can switch their S&S account to their own credit/debit card at one of the kiosks, or at guest services. Or give cash to guest services to go toward their account. This would seem to be a lot faster and easier than having to get a copy of their itemized statement and arranging for reimbursement. 

 

I don't think you can pay off your exact balance before you get off the ship. The balance gets charged to the debit/credit card tied to the account. If you put cash into the account, they will mail you a check for the remainder after the cruise, unless it's less than $10, in which case it will get donated to St. Jude's unless you explicitly request the money back. 

[Qchell]

Every cruise I see massive lines at Guest Services the last day where people are settling up their S&S bills.  I would hate to spend a portion of my last day of vacation standing in a long line to take care of a bill.  You may want to consider another option besides paying on the last day.  

As for the itemized statement, it always indicates which folio number made which purchase.  It is very easy for me to see which charges I made and which my husband made.  

[Organized Chaos]

1 hour ago, lacy1101 said:

My family will be cruising on the Valor in a couple of weeks.  It will be my husband and I in one cabin, and my son, daughter, and daughter's husband in the cabin next door.  I have my credit card attached to everyone's Sail & Sign account.  I have a couple of questions:

 

1.  Will I be able to look at the itemized statement at the end of the cruise and determine the charges incurred by each individual person so that they can reimburse me?  Or will each individual get their own itemized statement of their Sail & Sign account?

2.  Can you pay off the charges either in cash, check, or debit card before you get off the ship on the last day?

 

Thanks for the help! 🙂

 

1) Yes, since you are the primary account, you'll get a statement that shows everyone's individual purchases who are on your account (by folio number, not by name). We were on Valor last month and our steward left our statement in our cabin on the last night. If not, you can print one out at the kiosk. Also, you can use the Carnival Hub app to view your S&S activity. With that, you'll be able to view everyone's activity (who's on your account) as it happens. It updates right away. The others who are on your S&S account will only be able to see their own activity.

 

2) Yes. It doesn't actually charge your credit card fully until debarkation day. You can go to Guest Services on the last night and pay it off with whatever, even Carnival gift cards. But as someone else said, the GS line is usually long on that last night.

 

If, by chance, you want to switch them over to their own S&S accounts, you can do that from your online check-in anytime before the cruise. Or wait until you get onboard. Just go into the Expense Account section of your online check-in, delete them from your S&S account, and click on Add Another Account, or something like that. Do that for each person you want to separate. Just make sure to delete them from your own account first or it won't let you set up their own.

[Schoifmom]

To add to what everyone else has said, it seems that DS, SIL, and DD are wanting to pay their charges in cash/check/debit card.  I agree with everyone else that it would be much more simple for everyone to set up their own account.

 

1)  Set those accounts up as "cash" and use cash at embarkation to fund those accounts.

2)  Do NOT use a debit card to set up the account.  There will definitely be issues with their money being tied up due to holds placed on the card.

 

If you decide to go ahead with everyone's account being tied to yours, you can apply cash earlier in the cruise in the amount that each person expects to spend.  You can then reconcile it at the end and refund any unused cash.  You could also apply cash in the actual amounts used by checking the individual balances and adding cash using the kiosk all throughout the cruise.  This will avoid those massive lines at GS on the last night.

Edited January 9, 2020 by Schoifmom

[lacy1101]

46 minutes ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

1) Yes, since you are the primary account, you'll get a statement that shows everyone's individual purchases who are on your account (by folio number, not by name). We were on Valor last month and our steward left our statement in our cabin on the last night. If not, you can print one out at the kiosk. Also, you can use the Carnival Hub app to view your S&S activity. With that, you'll be able to view everyone's activity (who's on your account) as it happens. It updates right away. The others who are on your S&S account will only be able to see their own activity.

 

2) Yes. It doesn't actually charge your credit card fully until debarkation day. You can go to Guest Services on the last night and pay it off with whatever, even Carnival gift cards. But as someone else said, the GS line is usually long on that last night.

 

If, by chance, you want to switch them over to their own S&S accounts, you can do that from your online check-in anytime before the cruise. Or wait until you get onboard. Just go into the Expense Account section of your online check-in, delete them from your S&S account, and click on Add Another Account, or something like that. Do that for each person you want to separate. Just make sure to delete them from your own account first or it won't let you set up their own.

I believe there are already 3 separate accounts (myself and husband; son; and daughter and husband), but my credit card is the funding source for all 3 accounts.  The reason for that is my son doesn't have a credit card, and my daughter and her husband are limiting activity on their credit cards because they have a loan application pending on some property.  I may suggest the cash option to them, that's what DH and I did on our cruise last year and it worked pretty well.  Thanks!

[lacy1101]

1 hour ago, heckledtrio said:

Wouldn't it be easier for them to just tie their own credit card to their account? 

 

In 2017 we gifted my MIL with a cruise for her birthday. Hubby, son, and I in one cabin, and MIL in her own solo cabin. IIRC, each cabin gets their own itemized statement. Anyway, I did the booking and paid for her (separate) cabin, and also had a $100 Visa gift card that we tied her S&S account to. She was then responsible for the rest of her on-board expenses. Once on board, she went to guest services and gave them a bunch of cash to put onto her account. She could also have switched her S&S account to her own credit card, either at guest services or at a kiosk, but she was using cash to remain on budget. 

 

Seems like your "kids" could do the same-- once on board, they can switch their S&S account to their own credit/debit card at one of the kiosks, or at guest services. Or give cash to guest services to go toward their account. This would seem to be a lot faster and easier than having to get a copy of their itemized statement and arranging for reimbursement. 

 

I don't think you can pay off your exact balance before you get off the ship. The balance gets charged to the debit/credit card tied to the account. If you put cash into the account, they will mail you a check for the remainder after the cruise, unless it's less than $10, in which case it will get donated to St. Jude's unless you explicitly request the money back. 

Easier, yes; however, my son does not have a credit card and my daughter and her husband are limiting activity on their credit cards because they have a loan application pending on some property.  In terms of the cabin with the three kids in it, my son has his own S&S account and my daughter and her husband have their own S&S account (my credit card is simply attached to each account).  Will they get two statements then?  And then DH & I will get one for our cabin?

[Organized Chaos]

3 minutes ago, lacy1101 said:

I believe there are already 3 separate accounts (myself and husband; son; and daughter and husband), but my credit card is the funding source for all 3 accounts.  The reason for that is my son doesn't have a credit card, and my daughter and her husband are limiting activity on their credit cards because they have a loan application pending on some property.  I may suggest the cash option to them, that's what DH and I did on our cruise last year and it worked pretty well.  Thanks!

 

Gotcha. In that case, no, you won't be able to see their purchases on the Hub app since they have their own accounts. You will be able to see you and your husband's, if you're the primary account holder. If you leave it as is and fund all of them with your credit card, you can just ask them to give you their statements at the end of the cruise. Each account will get their own statement...so one for you & your husband, one for your son, and one for your daughter and her husband.

 

Cruise Cash is another option. It can be purchased from the online FunShops before your cruise and deposited into each of their accounts, waiting for them when they get onboard. That way you'd know how much you initially spent on each of them. If they need more later, they could always add cash. Just keep in mind that Cruise Cash is non-refundable, use it or lose it. But to get around that, any remaining Cruise Cash can be cashed out in the casino if that person plays a slot machine once or twice.

[heckledtrio]

14 minutes ago, lacy1101 said:

Easier, yes; however, my son does not have a credit card and my daughter and her husband are limiting activity on their credit cards because they have a loan application pending on some property.  In terms of the cabin with the three kids in it, my son has his own S&S account and my daughter and her husband have their own S&S account (my credit card is simply attached to each account).  Will they get two statements then?  And then DH & I will get one for our cabin?

 

That's how it worked out for MIL and us-- separate statements. Then again, her account was never tied to any of our credit cards to begin with, so I'm not sure if that made a difference? Also, we were in separate cabins so I'm not sure if that factored in, as well-- in other words, I'm not sure if your son would get a separate statement from his sister & her hubby. But even if it IS all one one statement per cabin, each individual line-item expense IS broken down by folio # (different folio # corresponds to each individual person), so it's easy to pinpoint exactly which individual made which charge (see attached snippet from our most recent cruise).

 

Sounds like the cash option is best! 🙂 

 

Edited January 9, 2020 by heckledtrio

[lacy1101]

Just now, heckledtrio said:

 

That's how it worked out for MIL and us-- separate statements. Then again, her account was never tied to any of our credit cards to begin with, so I'm not sure if that made a difference? Also, we were in separate cabins so I'm not sure if that factored in, as well-- in other words, I'm not sure if your son would get a separate statement from his sister & her hubby. But even if it IS all one one statement per cabin, each individual line-item expenses IS broken down by folio # (different folio # corresponds to each individual person), so it's easy to pinpoint exactly which individual made which charge (see attached snippet from our most recent cruise).

 

Sounds like the cash option is best! 🙂 

That's great, thanks!

[lacy1101]

6 minutes ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

Gotcha. In that case, no, you won't be able to see their purchases on the Hub app since they have their own accounts. You will be able to see you and your husband's, if you're the primary account holder. If you leave it as is and fund all of them with your credit card, you can just ask them to give you their statements at the end of the cruise. Each account will get their own statement...so one for you & your husband, one for your son, and one for your daughter and her husband.

 

Cruise Cash is another option. It can be purchased from the online FunShops before your cruise and deposited into each of their accounts, waiting for them when they get onboard. That way you'd know how much you initially spent on each of them. If they need more later, they could always add cash. Just keep in mind that Cruise Cash is non-refundable, use it or lose it. But to get around that, any remaining Cruise Cash can be cashed out in the casino if that person plays a slot machine once or twice.

Hmmmmm, I had heard of Cruise Cash, but didn't know exactly how it worked.  That may be another option to consider - thanks!