MSC CC charges

[dbrown84]

for those who have cruised MSC before, do their credit card charges originate from the US or another country?  I want to make sure to add that country to my travel alert on my card if it will originate from another country.

[Essiesmom]

Charges from MSC are processed through a bank in Switzerland or Paris, so you might incur foreign transaction fees if the card you are using charges those.  But they will clearly be from MSC so your card company should recognize them as legit.  EM

[ajoneen]

My CC charges went through just fine- no indication of foreign transaction fee

[notley-cruise]

5 hours ago, dbrown84 said:

for those who have cruised MSC before, do their credit card charges originate from the US or another country?  I want to make sure to add that country to my travel alert on my card if it will originate from another country.

 

Depends from which country you are booking and on which MSC booking website...

 

Initial cruise deposit and any pre cruise add-ons and cruise full payment will be in local currency for booking site.  i.e. MSC Cruises UK will charge in GBP.

 

Onboard extras and excursions booked on board, casino spend and other charges on your cabin account will be in EUR via Geneva or Paris for European cruises.

 

Round trip cruises from UK with GBP used onboard will charge in GBP.

Edited May 20 by notley-cruise

[SailorfromBrazil]

Cruises in Brazil are charged through Brazilian CC companies,  USD converted to BRL onboard, including installments payment options, which are very common around here.

[dbrown84]

1 hour ago, notley-cruise said:

 

Depends from which country you are booking and on which MSC booking website...

 

Initial cruise deposit and any pre cruise add-ons and cruise full payment will be in local currency for booking site.  i.e. MSC Cruises UK will charge in GBP.

 

Onboard extras and excursions booked on board, casino spend and other charges on your cabin account will be in EUR via Geneva or Paris for European cruises.

 

Round trip cruises from UK with GBP used onboard will charge in GBP.

thanks, but I wasn't asking about what currency the charges would be in.  I'm cruising roundtrip from the US

[MsTabbyKats]

3 hours ago, dbrown84 said:

thanks, but I wasn't asking about what currency the charges would be in.  I'm cruising roundtrip from the US

All my charges....US $$$

[GPPhilly]

My travel partner on our first MSC used a cc and was charged foreign transaction fees sailing out of the US.  I was not because I have a CC that does not charge foreign transaction fees. 

[dbrown84]

3 hours ago, MsTabbyKats said:

All my charges....US $$$

yes, but was it process by an US bank/processor?  It seems like from other responses that it will be Paris or Switzerland.  That is what I was questioning (the country).  I just didn't want any charges to get denied because the bank would think it's fraud, especially since the day before the cruise I'd be in FL (checking into the hotel with my CC), then the next day a charge from Paris comes in.  could very well look like fraud to bank.  So I always make it a point to do a travel notice with the bank letting them know I'm going on a cruise and they list out all the countries on itinerary on the travel alert.  I've only cruised NCL before, and their charges come from Miami

[Tierun]

1 hour ago, dbrown84 said:

yes, but was it process by an US bank/processor?  It seems like from other responses that it will be Paris or Switzerland.  That is what I was questioning (the country).  I just didn't want any charges to get denied because the bank would think it's fraud, especially since the day before the cruise I'd be in FL (checking into the hotel with my CC), then the next day a charge from Paris comes in.  could very well look like fraud to bank.  So I always make it a point to do a travel notice with the bank letting them know I'm going on a cruise and they list out all the countries on itinerary on the travel alert.  I've only cruised NCL before, and their charges come from Miami

You are handling it the right way. I’ve seen people’s cards decline at those kiosks for the very reason you’re concerned about. Although now that you can setup your card online it might not be an issue after boarding.

[MsTabbyKats]

4 hours ago, dbrown84 said:

yes, but was it process by an US bank/processor?  It seems like from other responses that it will be Paris or Switzerland.  That is what I was questioning (the country).  I just didn't want any charges to get denied because the bank would think it's fraud, especially since the day before the cruise I'd be in FL (checking into the hotel with my CC), then the next day a charge from Paris comes in.  could very well look like fraud to bank.  So I always make it a point to do a travel notice with the bank letting them know I'm going on a cruise and they list out all the countries on itinerary on the travel alert.  I've only cruised NCL before, and their charges come from Miami

I live in NYC.  I used an American credit card. I called the bank before, telling them I'd be traveling.  No problems.  This was my 3rd msc cruise....all with different cards.  Never had an issue with "foreign transactions".

[dbrown84]

59 minutes ago, MsTabbyKats said:

I live in NYC.  I used an American credit card. I called the bank before, telling them I'd be traveling.  No problems.  This was my 3rd msc cruise....all with different cards.  Never had an issue with "foreign transactions".

same here.  It's why I always call the bank beforehand.  

[BirdTravels]

17 hours ago, ajoneen said:

My CC charges went through just fine- no indication of foreign transaction fee

Foreign Transaction Fees are totally dependent upon your bank and has nothing to do with the ship. 

[luckyinpa]

fyi capital one had no fees on my Mera trip 2 weeks ago.

 

and you never need to let cap 1 know where you are. they put all charges through!

[dbrown84]

31 minutes ago, luckyinpa said:

fyi capital one had no fees on my Mera trip 2 weeks ago.

 

and you never need to let cap 1 know where you are. they put all charges through!

wow.  I find the cap 1 is the most likely of my credit cards that will throw up a fraud alert.

[dbrown84]

Just now, dbrown84 said:

wow.  I find the cap 1 is the most likely of my credit cards that will throw up a fraud alert.

but now that I think about it, this was before chip credit cards.  I probably don't need to do travel alerts anymore with chip cards.  I probably just do it now out of habit 

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

My American Express card does not charge foreign transaction fees so I use that to pay onboard charges. However, my bank's VISA debit card does charge 3% on foreign transactions so when I last paid my MSC $100 deposit, I did get hit with a $3 fee.....from my bank.

[MsTabbyKats]

Hmmm...in thinking about it, I probably use cards that don't charge foreign transaction fees when booking and on the ship.

[Homosassa]

As I have had my credit card declined at the check in kiosk on board and needed to make a quick call to the credit card company that the charge from a French bank was valid, I now make sure that the cc company knows that a charge will be coming in from either a French or Swiss bank and have a notation made on my travel information.

[alserrod]

Not sure but.... I bet we can link our credit card up to second day by night just because if you have a problem when embarking, you still can call your bank for next day.

 

Are charges done in ship currency or in customer currency?

[dbrown84]

1 hour ago, Homosassa said:

As I have had my credit card declined at the check in kiosk on board and needed to make a quick call to the credit card company that the charge from a French bank was valid, I now make sure that the cc company knows that a charge will be coming in from either a French or Swiss bank and have a notation made on my travel information.

I went ahead and setup my travel alert yesterday.  I added France and Switzerland to the list of countries for the trip just to be sure

[GPPhilly]

I have had my credit card (B of A) get denied mid cruise and had to call the bank.  Luckily, I was in the YC and concierge called from the ship and I got it cleared up.  It has happened more then once with this card.  So I moved to a Capital One card and have had no issues. 

[dbrown84]

3 hours ago, GPPhilly said:

I have had my credit card (B of A) get denied mid cruise and had to call the bank.  Luckily, I was in the YC and concierge called from the ship and I got it cleared up.  It has happened more then once with this card.  So I moved to a Capital One card and have had no issues. 

you've had problems even after doing a travel alert, or you never did one?

[dm1336]

The Meraviglia cruise we were on were charged in USD and settled via Geneva, Switzerland.

 

I wouldn’t worry too much about setting up a travel notice to a country you are not going to but where transactions are being settled. It might cause even more confusion to the banks fraud alert systems.

Credit card companies know about transactions like what MSC Cruise is doing and would let it through. Customers always have an option to dispute transactions as well. Banks are moving away from travel alerts in the past few years because of the adoption of chip & pin and better security. I haven’t setup a travel alert in about 5yrs now.

[GPPhilly]

14 hours ago, dbrown84 said:

you've had problems even after doing a travel alert, or you never did one?

I have called each time to alert them and was told both times that there was no need to alert them as they track based on usage.  This makes no sense since I do not have usage normally where I travel.  I tried each time to make a charge in Miami before hand.  I am not a fan of B of A to begin with and this lead me to get another travel CC.