Cash vs Credit Account

[sburrus4]

I’m not imagining we’ll have many purchases onboard besides maybe 2-3 drinks a day and maybe $50 in arcade spending. So I’m considering a cash account as I really don’t use credit cards often and have a lower limit. 
 

With a cash account, do you prepay or settle up at the end before leaving?  Do you literally have to pay cash, or can I pay off the account with my debit card?

 

We prepaid gratuities, so could we realistically cash out the last night onboard and avoid the morning line?

[Merion_Mom]

3 minutes ago, sburrus4 said:

I’m not imagining we’ll have many purchases onboard besides maybe 2-3 drinks a day and maybe $50 in arcade spending. So I’m considering a cash account as I really don’t use credit cards often and have a lower limit. 
 

With a cash account, do you prepay or settle up at the end before leaving?  Do you literally have to pay cash, or can I pay off the account with my debit card?

 

We prepaid gratuities, so could we realistically cash out the last night onboard and avoid the morning line?

 

You settle up before midnight on the final night.  You can pay your account with cash or credit card. I think that you can also use a debit card.

 

On a shorter cruise like yours, you can charge up to $300 before they call you down to give them money.  If your account stays below that, see my first paragraph.  🙂 

[ladysail2]

Also, with a cash account, there are no accidental charges such as towels, medical, double charges showing up after you leave the ship. Just be careful to check your charges before you settle the account.  I always use a cash account and never have had a problem.  Also, after boarding the ship you can go to Guest Services and put cash on your account. If the ship has interactive TV service, you can check your account balance daily. 

 

FYI, for a 7-day cruise, you can spend $500 before being asked to pay.