newbie question

[jaymar]

Yes this is a very newbie question. My wife and I are Charge Card free !! My wife and I dont want a charge card for now :) We have 2 accounts, 1st for mortgage and house bills, ect.and 2nd. for vacations, small things, shopping, ect. I heard they put a hold on your account a certain amount daily for your sign and sail card. Do they for example, hold $200 a day, and if we're on a 6 day cruise that will be $1200 dollars for the cruise? If so then I know how much to add to that account. Has any one used a debit card for their sea pass? Thank you for responding.

[JanineM]

Congrats on being credit card free!

 

We only use a debit card, and I've never seen a hold placed. I work at the financial institution that has my card - so I see the "pings" go through on the card. I've just seen $1 go through initially. Then each night they put through a hold for the amount charged that day. On the final day the full amount is charged. This could be the procedure for my financial institution only, but it might be worth asking your provider about the procedure.

 

You CAN put cash down with the purser's office and then you won't need to worry about a hold. If you think you'll spend $500, then leave that with them and they'll let you know when you're about to run out.

[cb at sea]

Even if they do put a "hold" on your card, nothing is actually CHARGED to the account until the end of the cruise. It wouldn't affect your credit in any way, shape or form.

But, they only check to make sure it's a good account--they don't put a per diem amount down.

[richwmn]

I noticed you are sailing on Carnival next year. A quick search on the Carnival Board found the following information

 

Important Note: A hold will be placed on the credit card or checking account debit card at the beginning of the cruise as a deposit for an onboard purchases. This will reduce the amount of available credit on the credit card or restrict the availability of cash in the checking account. The hold will be released and actual charges will be billed at the end of the cruise.

The following dollar amounts, per guest, are used as a deposit when the Sail & Sign Account is opened:

2-4 day cruises: $100 deposit pp

5-8 day cruises: $200 deposit pp

9 + day cruises: $350 deposit pp

 

Each cruise line is different, for example HAL uses $60/pp per day as their hold amount. Hope this helps.

 

Rich

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

I notice that you mentioned "no credit cards" -- that is great.

 

How were you planning on paying for you onboard expenses? Maybe travelers checks? Cash?

[JanineM]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

I notice that you mentioned "no credit cards" -- that is great.

 

How were you planning on paying for you onboard expenses? Maybe travelers checks? Cash?

 

They said they are using a debit card.

[cruzin w chris]

we have always used a debit card and have never seen a hold placed on ours.

[Pumpkin_va]

hubbie posted this .... yes were useing a debit card :D we finally paid off our cards and want to feel the non payments for a while rofl:p i just didnt know how debit cards worked on the cruise with sail and sign account thanks for all your great inputs !!:D there really helpful

[firefly333]

Im sure they dont put a hold on your card for $1200!!! No way. I used a debit card and never had a problem, not once.

 

The only way they would put such a high hold on your account is if you are spending that much every day, which we were not.

[Hamburg Avon Lady]

I NEVER use my Debit Card - no protection in case of fraudulent charges. and I do NOT want anyone having access to my personal checking acct. ##'s.

We always pay off the cc once we get home, anyway. :)

[househunter]

I agree, I would not use a debit card. Just because you have a credit card, doesn't mean you have to have debt. We charge everything we can for the airline miles but pay our balance in full each month. There is no reason you can't get a card to use for vacation. If you feel you cannot control the spending on it, just pre-pay the amount you think you will spend ahead of time. Then you won't have a bill to deal with at the end of your trip but you are still protected against fraud. I would not want to travel without a credit card just in case of emergencies.

 

Using credit cards and paying them off each month actually improves your credit scores too!

[Pumpkin_va]

Thanks for the Posters that responded about the debit cards.. they have used on the cruises, that's what I wanted to have answered :D Not to get lectured about not using as CC lol I guess some didn't read it clear enough I dont want a cc at this point ... Plus I do have good credit thank you ive paid off mine .. I have 2 separate accounts one only for the cruise it will only have what I will need in it "the amount " in it and yes I do have protection with my debit card if there's any unwanted charges dont you ??:p I've never had a problem "having unwanted charges on it " again thanks to the ones that answered my exact question and didn't defer from it :D

[love2vacation]

We have put cash down on our account at check in and this worked OK for us. You can check on the TV or at the pursers desk to see where you are and put on more cash when you get close to the amount you have put down.

 

We have also used a VISA debit card. This give you the protection of a VISA CC but comes out of your checking. Nothing was charged till the last day. This would be just like any other CC card - if your # is stolen you are only responsible for a certain amount of charges to your account.

 

I always let the bank know that we are traveling out of the country and the dates so when the charges come in for our debit card they know they are legit. If charges come in after our return date they know to question them.

[Pumpkin_va]

Yes we have a Visa debit card also ;) thanks for the info

[Teetype]

There's a Visa card you can 'load' with a specified amount (perhaps comeone can help me out with the name of this type of card?). There is no credit or interest assigned to it and when I looked into it the cost was extremely minimal. You simply open the card with your own money on it and use it anywhere Visa is accepted. It would simply give you a way to pay for the cruise without giving your checking account information out.

 

Cheers!

Tee

[Quench]

I NEVER use my Debit Card - no protection in case of fraudulent charges. and I do NOT want anyone having access to my personal checking acct. ##'s.

We always pay off the cc once we get home, anyway. :)

 

This is so true I rarely use a Debit Card. I pay of my cc at the Purser desk with travelers checks before leaving the ship.

[cruiselover57]

I agree, I would not use a debit card. Just because you have a credit card, doesn't mean you have to have debt. We charge everything we can for the airline miles but pay our balance in full each month. There is no reason you can't get a card to use for vacation. If you feel you cannot control the spending on it, just pre-pay the amount you think you will spend ahead of time. Then you won't have a bill to deal with at the end of your trip but you are still protected against fraud. I would not want to travel without a credit card just in case of emergencies.

 

Using credit cards and paying them off each month actually improves your credit scores too!

 

I totally agree with you! In fact, most cruise lines have their own credit cards tied to either a Visa, MC or Amex and once you're on board, you'll earn double points (I'm sure you know that already). Some will have incentives to sign up for the card on board and even offer an instant $25 credit - that's what we got for the Celebrity Amex in addition to double points!

[Betsy's Mom]

I checked into the preloaded Visa card and the small print says" not valid for cruise charges" or some such. I felt it would be wonderful for cruise money. but evidently not!

B.