Watch your onboard account carefully!

[PTC DAWG]

4 hours ago, CruiseDad-NYC said:

This can be annoying and shouldn't happen.  It happened to me twice on my recent Edge B2B cruise.  We are Captain's Club Elite members and get selected free drinks between 5 pm and 7 pm.  When I checked my account on the last night, I saw that I was charged $10.40 for 2 bottles of water that each should have been free, particularly since I clearly said each time that I was served the water that I was taking it as part of the Elite benefit.  By the time I figured it out and went down to Guest Services and waited in line and explained the situation and they looked it up, 45 minutes had gone by.  It may seem minor, but that's 45 minutes on vacation that I shouldn't have had to spend, particularly when Celebrity tacks on a 20% service charge to everything.

 

You just have to be careful or otherwise be prepared to write off the cost of getting it fixed.

Hit the guest services at off hours…I always try and do that if possible.  I’m not waiting 45 minutes for ten bucks. 

[LinRon3]

Yea, thought I'd add to messy charges dilemma.  Just got off Equinox today [Sat Oct. 14], and we checked our account nightly during cruise [on the TV] and all seemed well.  We were disappointed we didn't get an invoice of all our charges our last night [usually slipped under cabin door or outside slot].  But we had no reason to think there were any problems.  First thing when home, I usually get a printout of all charges from my bank for our trip...and Celebrity had posted a $99.75 charge the first night of the cruise we never saw on our TV account??  We have no idea what this might be for.  Spent several hours reconciling all our precruise purchases [for several cruises...thinking this might be for our upcoming Silhouette cruise or something]...but nada?  It dawned on me that this could be a 'hold charge' of some sort...like they do in many hotels; except I'd think that would be an even number and not $99.75.  I'll get my TA on this first thing Monday [next business day]...but if nothing else, this has cost us several hours of trying to reconcile and the disturbing sense of being cheated or something?  We have no idea what this could be for.  An invoice that last night might have alleviated us from this stress if we only knew what this charge was for?  So, yea, as OP suggested, check that account often, and maybe suffer the line at customer service last night or day to get that final invoice?  

[NMTraveller]

Our last bogus charge was after we left the ship.  A bit more difficult to take care of afterwards.

[hcat]

i prefer the bill under the door..but at least we can take a screen shot of the last posting on the TV.

 

all little errors add up..not in guests favor!

[bavrail18]

9 hours ago, LinRon3 said:

First thing when home, I usually get a printout of all charges from my bank for our trip...and Celebrity had posted a $99.75 charge the first night of the cruise we never saw on our TV account??  We have no idea what this might be for.  Spent several hours reconciling all our precruise purchases [for several cruises...thinking this might be for our upcoming Silhouette cruise or something]...but nada?  It dawned on me that this could be a 'hold charge' of some sort...like they do in many hotels; except I'd think that would be an even number and not $99.75. 

I noticed the $99.75 charge on my last few cruises. It always showed as "pending" on my credit card and after a few days it dropped off.

[NMTraveller]

When you get a bogus charge after you left the ship, what number do you call to get it resolved?

[talljules1]

On 9/25/2023 at 12:43 AM, Gia2cats said:

Hopefully, you were able to clear this up without much hassle. If so, I’d just consider it a clerical error. But a good idea to keep an eye on one’s account.

Agreed - likely clerical error, but amazing how often this happens.  It's happened to us multiple times (i.e. most cruises) so yes, always keep an eye on your account.

[Team Stag]

Mistakes happen.  No one is perfect.  I'm sure we have all made our own mistakes from time to time.

This was the one thing I didn't care for with my Virgin cruise.  Always waking up and checking the portfolio.  And then doing the accounting - did we really drink this much?  How much was the bottle of wine w dinner?  What's the charge?

At least with Celebrity and a beverage package - it is much cleaner and easier to find the random mistake.

[PTC DAWG]

1 minute ago, Team Stag said:

Mistakes happen.  No one is perfect.  I'm sure we have all made our own mistakes from time to time.

This was the one thing I didn't care for with my Virgin cruise. 

At least with Celebrity and a beverage package - it is much cleaner and easier to find the random mistake.

You just stated the reason I haven’t tried Virgin Cruises

[mchell810]

2 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

When you get a bogus charge after you left the ship, what number do you call to get it resolved?

 

I'd simply dispute the charge with my credit card company.

[Mike45LC]

10 hours ago, hcat said:

 

 

all little errors add up..not in guests favor!

I assume that if I am being charged for a drink that we did not order, the person who ordered, received and drank that beverage did not get charged.  So for every erroneous charge, there is an error in some other guest’s favor.  

[thebutlerdidit]

My sister and I both received notice of a $99.75 charge from Celebrity on day 1. It was just a hold to verify that our accounts were active and had funds available. 

[tschwa2]

As long as it is pending, there is nothing to dispute or even call about.  Until it becomes an actual charge, neither you, your card or celebrity can do anything about it.  

[ymncruise]

On 10/15/2023 at 7:55 AM, bavrail18 said:

I noticed the $99.75 charge on my last few cruises. It always showed as "pending" on my credit card and after a few days it dropped off.

If you look at the 1st daily newsletter, it explains what this is. It’s a temporary charge on the first day to cover incidentals. It will reverse if there aren’t any charges. You’ll see this on all Royal and celebrity cruises from the US. 

[hcat]

15 hours ago, Mike45LC said:

I assume that if I am being charged for a drink that we did not order, the person who ordered, received and drank that beverage did not get charged.  So for every erroneous charge, there is an error in some other guest’s favor.  

our errors have not been  so much with individual  drink charges,  but with  mini bar charges post disembark..odd b/c we have it emptied as soon as we arrive .... that can add up!

[NMTraveller]

50 minutes ago, hcat said:

our errors have not been  so much with individual  drink charges,  but with  mini bar charges post disembark..odd b/c we have it emptied as soon as we arrive .... that can add up!

Same here.  We do not use the mini bar...

[Jim_Iain]

Really good warning.    I check ours regularly using the APP.   While I haven't been charged for any of the erroneous charges I often find 10 or more drinks noted on our account we did not have.   I believe it is people verbally giving the wrong room number or the bartender putting in a wrong number.

[hcat]

17 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Really good warning.    I check ours regularly using the APP.   While I haven't been charged for any of the erroneous charges I often find 10 or more drinks noted on our account we did not have.   I believe it is people verbally giving the wrong room number or the bartender putting in a wrong number.

thats why a chit should be signed or initialed.  otherwise no proof either way

[Suzanne123]

Two nights before I left the cruise, my cabin steward came in and asked to see the dates on the bottom of the Coke cans in the fridge.  He said that one was too old, and took it away.  I thought nothing of it, but a couple days after I was charged the invoice amount, along comes another $6 charge from Celebrity.  I’ve been wracking my brain trying to figure out what that charge would be, but the only thing I can come up with is that

“old” Coke can.  

[Baynanno1]

3 hours ago, Suzanne123 said:

Two nights before I left the cruise, my cabin steward came in and asked to see the dates on the bottom of the Coke cans in the fridge.  He said that one was too old, and took it away.  I thought nothing of it, but a couple days after I was charged the invoice amount, along comes another $6 charge from Celebrity.  I’ve been wracking my brain trying to figure out what that charge would be, but the only thing I can come up with is that

“old” Coke can.  

Thanks for that warning!

[2Long2NxtCrz]

On 10/15/2023 at 4:38 PM, Mike45LC said:

I assume that if I am being charged for a drink that we did not order, the person who ordered, received and drank that beverage did not get charged.  So for every erroneous charge, there is an error in some other guest’s favor.  

That was exactly my thought and, since there's no verifying who drank what after the fact, what's to stop someone from claiming they didn't get that bottle of wine they were charged for?

 

I know there is always some percentage of loss in F&B to account for errors and problems, but this seems like it could easily be abused if someone was dishonest.

[Mike45LC]

2 hours ago, 2Long2NxtCrz said:

That was exactly my thought and, since there's no verifying who drank what after the fact, what's to stop someone from claiming they didn't get that bottle of wine they were charged for?

 

I know there is always some percentage of loss in F&B to account for errors and problems, but this seems like it could easily be abused if someone was dishonest.

I wonder which results in larger losses, (1) people claiming falsely that beverage charges on their account were not theirs, or (2) people giving someone else's cabin number for beverage charges. 

 

I preferred the old days when I had to sign and was given a copy of each drink charge slip.   

[Ex-Airbalancer]

22 minutes ago, Mike45LC said:

I wonder which results in larger losses, (1) people claiming falsely that beverage charges on their account were not theirs, or (2) people giving someone else's cabin number for beverage charges. 

 

I preferred the old days when I had to sign and was given a copy of each drink charge slip.   

Just think of all the wasted paper and pens 😱😁

[hcat]

20 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Just think of all the wasted paper and pens 😱😁

could be done on a tablet and saved in  acctng dept..

[georgetheblue]

Good advice to snap a pic from tv. Have to say I liked the Princess medallion.  Easy to scan, no swiping, no paper receipts, no mis charges, super easy to wear. I’m not looking forward to wearing a lanyard all week.  If I have to wear it, they better be swiping it.