Onboard Ship account paid in cash?

[mexico5]

Hi, I will be going on my first NCL cruise this December and had this question.

 

To avoid the credit card exchange rate charges we used cash to pay for our ship account on Princess. We had to put up $300.each up front and top it up as needed. It worked out great! Does anyone know if this can be done on NCL? How much cash would be given up front? If not, I do have a credit card, just like using cash, that's all.

 

Thanks!

[gcdogwalker]

We always use travelers checks or cash with no problem and have even had money left over at the end of the cruise which is really nice. I don't like to use my credit card either.

[jaja]

I thought the ship account has no exchange rate--it goes by corporate ofice location ...

[cliffd64]

Yes, you can fund your account with cash, and I believe the standard is something like $100 per person (or cabin maybe?) per day as a deposit. It may vary, but only a NCL rep can tell you for certain. Being from the US, we don't experience exchange rate charges, so we use our trusty NCL mastercard and gather more cruise rewards points.

 

If you exceed your deposit, you will be asked to put more down. If you have a balance at the end of the cruise, they will be sure to get you down to the credit desk ;) It can be inconvenient, but they do accept cash as a basis for your account :)

[cliffd64]

I thought the ship account has no exchange rate--it goes by corporate ofice location ...

 

OP is from Canada... the card would have to exchange Canadian into US.

[mexico5]

Hi, that is good to know! We will probably get US travellers cheques as well to use. I guess I should ask NCL how much deposit/person to make sure. Although some cruise agents tend to give different answers sometimes!:eek:

[lukes]

NCL does accept cash deposit (I don't know the amount) and they will notify you when the amount is low. Or you can use a credit card for you on board account, however prior to receiving your statement you can go and apply cash to the balance. The benefit of the second option is it gives you the freedom that the cash you do have can be used for other things if you desire.

[pathubia]

My daughter and her boyfriend each put up $250 a couple of years ago.....

[jaja]

OP is from Canada... the card would have to exchange Canadian into US.

 

oops--my error --never looked at location....:D

[emerson]

Last week I managed to pay with some US $ and also some Canadian $ (which they exchanged into US first) and put the remainder of the balance on my Visa card :)

[ZoneHPH]

aren't credit card exchange rates supposed to be better than any other method of currency exchange? IDK...so that's why i'm asking.

[cliffd64]

aren't credit card exchange rates supposed to be better than any other method of currency exchange? IDK...so that's why i'm asking.

 

The exchange rate is accurate as can be, its just that they usually add a FEE on top which is annoying ... much like any money changer does, only higher usually.

[kekelele]

You can first use your CC to open your on board account, then at the end of the cruise you can you can get a print out of all your spendings and choose to pay it off by cash.

[ZoneHPH]

The exchange rate is accurate as can be, its just that they usually add a FEE on top which is annoying ... much like any money changer does, only higher usually.

 

ahhh the dreaded "fee". as long as it's not considered a cash advance.