Onboard account question

[cacruisin]

Can I place my onboard account on a debit card that is associated with a credit card, or does it have to be an actual credit card?  TIA

[n6uqqq]

You can do that, but Carnival will place holds on your debit card in 200 dollar increments, just so you are aware. 

Edited February 23, 2023 by n6uqqq

[ibarrio]

6 minutes ago, cacruisin said:

Can I place my onboard account on a debit card that is associated with a credit card, or does it have to be an actual credit card?  TIA

Use gift cards or cash account. Otherwise your debit/bank account will have holds that can take 5 or more business days to come off. 

[1025cruise]

Due to the way holds work with a debit card, while it can be used, it's not recommended.

[Schoifmom]

I agree with everyone else.  Yes, you can.  No, you shouldn't.  Use cash or Carnival gift cards.

[cacruisin]

Is there just a $200.00 hold or are there additional holds if I use an ATM? TIA

[Mic101680]

I would use a credit card over a debit card if you can so your actual money isn't tied up for a few days while you're waiting for holds to settle or drop off.

[Mic101680]

1 minute ago, cacruisin said:

Is there just a $200.00 hold or are there additional holds if I use an ATM? TIA

They place holds periodically throughout the cruise based on how much you've spent on your onboard account. So initially, it will be $200 held, then when you spend a certain amount, they will place another hold. If you don't have enough cash on your debit card, or enough available credit on your credit card, it may prevent you from charging anything else to your onboard account until everything is settled.

[ray98]

I would never use a debit card....ever.  The holds tie up real money and not just tapping into a credit line.

[Earthworm Jim]

Is the hold really that big of a deal for most people? Unless you don't have much money in the account, who cares if a few hundred dollars extra dollars beyond your actual spending is tied up for a few days? Seems like it would only be a concern if you were almost broke.

 

Then again, I don't see the downside of just using a credit card either. If you have enough money in your account attached to the debit card to pay your onboard spending bill, you can just use that money to pay the credit card bill. It all costs the same either way.

[Mic101680]

25 minutes ago, Earthworm Jim said:

Is the hold really that big of a deal for most people? Unless you don't have much money in the account, who cares if a few hundred dollars extra dollars beyond your actual spending is tied up for a few days? Seems like it would only be a concern if you were almost broke.

 

Then again, I don't see the downside of just using a credit card either. If you have enough money in your account attached to the debit card to pay your onboard spending bill, you can just use that money to pay the credit card bill. It all costs the same either way.

Way back when I went on my first cruise, it definitely would have been a problem for me as I was very young and just about living paycheck to paycheck. Had to really pinch pennies for a long time to make that one work.

[Buffalofirsttimer4]

The answer is YES you can use a debit card. Yes I've used a debit card on 3 different lines NCL, Princess & Carnival- never had a problem. We do notify the bank(s) that we are going on vacation- dates and where we are going. We always have enough in our account(s) to cover our onboard costs - usually minimal since we prepay as much as we can and have been using some gift cards over the last few cruises with Carnival. Happy Sailing!

[ibarrio]

31 minutes ago, Buffalofirsttimer4 said:

The answer is YES you can use a debit card. Yes I've used a debit card on 3 different lines NCL, Princess & Carnival- never had a problem. We do notify the bank(s) that we are going on vacation- dates and where we are going. We always have enough in our account(s) to cover our onboard costs - usually minimal since we prepay as much as we can and have been using some gift cards over the last few cruises with Carnival. Happy Sailing!

This..pre-purchase Cheers, steakhouse, whatever you can and the on-board won't be much. People on the Facebook groups complaining their holds are $900 plus. 

[cacruisin]

I have pre-payed for Cheers, tips and our specialty restaurants so I am not anticipating a tab over $500.00-ish so I didn't figure there would be too many holds etc....but now with all the opposition I'm reconsidering...

[cmichael1221]

Get a good credit card with travel rewards and take the points/miles/etc - throwing away free $$!

[ibarrio]

23 minutes ago, cacruisin said:

I have pre-payed for Cheers, tips and our specialty restaurants so I am not anticipating a tab over $500.00-ish so I didn't figure there would be too many holds etc....but now with all the opposition I'm reconsidering...

You should be good but just buy a $500 gift card for $450 or add $500 cash to your account. No holds that way.. which always come in at $200 at a time for longer cruises. I'm assuming they never let your account drop below that $200 hold. 

[ibarrio]

14 minutes ago, cmichael1221 said:

Get a good credit card with travel rewards and take the points/miles/etc - throwing away free $$!

That's a good solution as well.  I like the $500 gift cards for $450 from AARP... 

[cacruisin]

If I want to just add $500.00 cash...can I do that online when I do the pre-check-in 2 weeks out?  If not, do I have to go to the front desk on the ship to add the cash?  I don't want to have to go stand in that line at the front desk.  Also, assuming I do this and I have a balance at the end how do I get the balance back?  Again I do not want to have to wait in that long line at any point on the cruise LOL.

Edited February 23, 2023 by cacruisin

[SailawayKC]

You can add cash at the self service kiosk.

[trudster57]

I only use cash for my cruise account.  I use the kiosk once I get on board.  I put in a little at a time and see how far that goes so that I won't have any credit left.  But if I see near the last two days of the cruise I still have a lot left.  I try to shop at the gift shop or use it in the casino.  If I want to get my money back, luckily I'm Platinum and I cash out on the last night at Guest Services.

[sparks1093]

14 hours ago, Earthworm Jim said:

Is the hold really that big of a deal for most people? Unless you don't have much money in the account, who cares if a few hundred dollars extra dollars beyond your actual spending is tied up for a few days? Seems like it would only be a concern if you were almost broke.

 

Then again, I don't see the downside of just using a credit card either. If you have enough money in your account attached to the debit card to pay your onboard spending bill, you can just use that money to pay the credit card bill. It all costs the same either way.

If one has enough money in the checking account it probably won't be a concern, but as folks have pointed out it's real money that is being held and not a credit line. 

 

OP, here's my personal experience. We put a debit card to hold our account one cruise and I knew that they would put a hold on the account so I planned for it (this wasn't Carnival, BTW, but the result would likely have been the same). I made sure that we had money in the account to meet our budget plus some. I also made sure that we kept within our budget. We disembarked after getting our final bill and stopped for gas just after leaving the port. I used the ATM to check our balance and to get a bit of cash for incidentals. Account overdrawn. What happened was the cruise line put a hold on our account for the balance of our bill the night before disembarkation and then the actual charge went through the next morning. While I had a little in reserve I didn't have twice the amount in reserve so it over drew the account. I was beside myself because that reserve was supposed to get us home (Miami to Vermont with 5 kids). We did have a credit card that we were gong to use for gas but it didn't have much of a limit and it wouldn't be enough to cover much else. The good news is that when we next stopped for gas the hold had been released and all was well in the world. Haven't used a debit card since then. The moral of the story is debit cards are okay to use but you have to be prepared by having enough money in the account to cover the holds and the final charge to keep from overdrawing. If you can manage that then using the debit card is a viable option. 

[opensaysme]

1 hour ago, sparks1093 said:

If one has enough money in the checking account it probably won't be a concern, but as folks have pointed out it's real money that is being held and not a credit line. 

 

OP, here's my personal experience. We put a debit card to hold our account one cruise and I knew that they would put a hold on the account so I planned for it (this wasn't Carnival, BTW, but the result would likely have been the same). I made sure that we had money in the account to meet our budget plus some. I also made sure that we kept within our budget. We disembarked after getting our final bill and stopped for gas just after leaving the port. I used the ATM to check our balance and to get a bit of cash for incidentals. Account overdrawn. What happened was the cruise line put a hold on our account for the balance of our bill the night before disembarkation and then the actual charge went through the next morning. While I had a little in reserve I didn't have twice the amount in reserve so it over drew the account. I was beside myself because that reserve was supposed to get us home (Miami to Vermont with 5 kids). We did have a credit card that we were gong to use for gas but it didn't have much of a limit and it wouldn't be enough to cover much else. The good news is that when we next stopped for gas the hold had been released and all was well in the world. Haven't used a debit card since then. The moral of the story is debit cards are okay to use but you have to be prepared by having enough money in the account to cover the holds and the final charge to keep from overdrawing. If you can manage that then using the debit card is a viable option. 

Moral of the story is do not hand over your bank account to Carnival. Or anyone now that you mention it. Sheesh! 😅

[Schoifmom]

15 hours ago, cacruisin said:

If I want to just add $500.00 cash...can I do that online when I do the pre-check-in 2 weeks out?  If not, do I have to go to the front desk on the ship to add the cash?  I don't want to have to go stand in that line at the front desk.  Also, assuming I do this and I have a balance at the end how do I get the balance back?  Again I do not want to have to wait in that long line at any point on the cruise LOL.

You can add cash when you check in at the port or use the self-service kiosk on board.  Pro tip -- purchase a small amount of cruise cash so that you don't need to be in a rush to get the cash onto your account.  Don't forget, though, that cruise cash is use-it or lose-it, so be realistic in the amount you purchase.  I normally will do $100 or so just to get us through the first day or two.

[FTLCruiseGal]

I use cruise cash. You are limited to $250 per cabin. I use it, but my travel mates do not. I just buy it as a buffer so I don’t have to use the credit card that I put down. As stated above, it is use it or lose it, but I use it.

[sparks1093]

22 minutes ago, FTLCruiseGal said:

I use cruise cash. You are limited to $250 per cabin. I use it, but my travel mates do not. I just buy it as a buffer so I don’t have to use the credit card that I put down. As stated above, it is use it or lose it, but I use it.

All forms of Cruise Cash are actually limited to $500 per cabin.