cash onboard

[elwin1942]

We are leaving this sunday on the dawn (first-time cruiser), my question is... everytime I've called and asked this question from NCL I've got a different answer. When you set up the onboard account how much cash do they ask for the deposit. I've gotten answers anything from $100 a day to $10 per person a day, so I figure I got the same answer twice, $10 pp and $5 for our son, I'm giving them $175? is this correct? and what if it's not and I don't have enough cash? I only have my banks debit/mastercard and I've been advised not to give them that number until the balance is owed at the end of the cruise, because they take $100 hold a day on my debit, and the bank can hold that for 30 days. Does anyone know about this? Thanks Duckie

[smudge's mom]

The person answering your question sounds like he is confusing the auto tipping amount with the amount you will need to secure your sail and sign card.

There are two issues that determine how much money the cruiselines "hold" - the auto tipping which automatically makes it necessary that you have x number of dollars on account - and the cruiselines idea of what extra purchases you will make day by day.

If you are not using a credit card to secure your account, they will require your debit card up front. You cannot wait until the end of the trip to give them the number.

They will hold x number of dollars each day - and even if you don't spend all the money the cruiseline has held from your checking account, you may still be unable to use these funds when you return unless the bank/cruiseline releases them in a timely manner.

That is why - if at all possible - you secure your account with a credit card, even if you plan on paying off your account with cash before you leave the ship. If your credit card funds are being held longer than usual, this will only affect your ability to charge. If your checking account funds are held, you may not have access to your cash - you may end up having late payments from any auto debits you have scheduled.

Any problems depend upon how much cash you have in your checking account or how large your credit card limit is. If you have a significant credit limit on your credit card - if you have a significant balance in your checking account, none of this will affect you.

[elwin1942]

Thank you for getting me the info. I thought the same thing about them getting confused and honestly I went through a travel agent and when I ask this question I don't get very far with them either.
I will definitely take your advise and handle the amount with a credit card.
Thanks again...

[smudge's mom]

Do you know that most people have no idea that funds are being held when they check into a hotel, when they rent a car, etc., until they run into a problem when the funds are not released in a timely manner?

When people check out, they assume that the only funds affected is the total amount of their bill and when they return from vacation, they plan on using their debit card/credit card based on this amount.

Like I said before - the problems arise only if you are near your credit card limit, or you carry a small balance in your checking account. And, of course, if the bank/merchant has not released the [i]held[/i] funds when you finalize your transaction.

This "fooling around" with my actual cash in my checking account is the reason I refuse to use a debit card. When my bank replaced my ATM card with a debit card, I called them up and asked them what the heck they were doing. They explained - "it's for your convenience." I told them I wanted no part of a card in which they control my actual cash.

Besides, at the time, they didn't have any of those same protections on debit cards that they had on credit cards. This is changing, but a word of caution to all you debit card users - make sure you know what protections your bank affords your use of the debit cards.

No matter how they change the debit card system, I never want to find my [i]actual cash[/i] tied up in a dispute. I don't really care if my ability to make additional charges on my credit card is in chaos - but I would care if the bank will not let me get my hands on my cash. :mad:

And did you know that when you hand the waiter your credit card to pay for your restaurant bill that most restaurants automatically add 20% to the total when they run the card through the first time? After you add the tip and sign the slip, they are supposed to finalize the transaction by changing the amount to the [i]actual[/i] total. Again, you'll only notice this if you bank on line and happen to look at your credit card statement during the middle of this changeover to the actual total.

At the right moment, you can actually see two totals on your credit card statement - one for the first run through and one for the actual total. Obviously, again - this issue only comes up if you happen to have a server who doesn't take care of the transaction correctly or the restaurant screws things up.

Enjoy - it's the wonderful world of credit/debit cards - there to annoy and confuse you. :rolleyes:

[Kell4321]

I secured my account on the Dawn last year (DEC) with cash, because I didn't want them to hold my debit card for 30 days! (Trust me-my friend went head and used her card, they held the money not used for over 3 weeks!) I had to give $300 (if it were a married couple-2 in the cabin we would have had to give $500 total). At the end of the cruise I had spent $314. I went to the onboard accounts desk and "cashed out" I used my debit card to pay the other $14 owed. I could have paid this in cash also, I also could have paid the total bill with the debit card. Hope this helps!

[SweetEmi]

It is actually your bank that has that hold on your debit card for XX days...whatever their policy is. So, I would check before leaving with the bank and see how long it is before they release the funds. I did that last year and our bank holds the funds for 5 days...therefore, if you give the ship your debit card at the beginning of the cruise by the time you leave after 7 days (if that is how long your cruise is), the bank should have taken off the hold.

That said, I still gave them a credit card at the beginning of the cruise and used my debit card to pay it at the end. I didn't trust the bank not to mess it up and keep the hold longer than they were supposed to and I needed cash for my week in Oahu after the cruise.

Emi

[smudge's mom]

Emi - I am betting the cruiseline "updates" those holds on a daily basis based on how you much you are charging while on board. They would not let the hold expire 2 days prior to your settling your account. So, if I were you, I would count the five days from the day you get off the ship - not the day you present the debit card.

[SweetEmi]

That could be...What they do is put a hold on XX dollars that they probably figure is the average spent or something like that...similar to what they do with the credit card, I think...if you are spending more - they probably will update it. If I remember correctly from what I read before...they have a figure, like $75 a day x number of days that they put through as a hold on your card or that they want you to give them in cash...then when the last day comes - you give them cash or a card or whatever to pay it.

I mean - there is a set amount that you can hand over in cash at the beginning to use for your on board account. I forget now what the posters here said it was though. We accidently gave the wrong CC - one with not enough room on it and on about the second day - there was a sweet note in our note holder asking us to come to the front and take care of it.

Emi