Registering a Payment Card

There appears to be a new way of Registering your Payment Card prior to Boarding

Registering a Payment Card

The check-in team will ask you for your credit or debit payment card and you will be asked to enter your 4 digit pin number to verify the card. At this point, a $100 pre-authorisation will be applied to ensure your account is live and has available funds. Only once your on-board account totals more than the pre-authorised amount, plus any on-board credit, will your card be authorised further on board. Please see below information regarding card authorisations.

We accept Mastercard (Credit, Debit), Visa (Credit, Debit and Electron), American Express, Discover and Diners Club cards. We do not accept Solo, Switch and Maestro, JCB or pre-paid cards. Even if you wish to settle your on board account with cash at the end of your cruise, a payment card must still be registered at embarkation.

see

https://ask.cunard.com/help/fleet/pay_onboard

It's only for £50.00 on P&O!

Its the normal practice at the hotels we stay at.

This sounds like it's set up for chip-and-pin cards, which are rare in the US. We're still transitioning to chip-and-sign. The only use of a PIN on my credit cards is for a cash advance, which I never use.

The authorization sounds like a "hold" on the credit card. It isn't a charge, it just asks the credit card company to set aside a certain amount for future use. This reduces the credit limit. It's commonly done by hotels and car rental companies, but they don't tell you. The only time I can remember being advised of a hold on a credit card at a hotel was in Australia. Perhaps their disclosure laws are different from those in the US? Or perhaps they were just more open about it.

HAL's fine print advises you that they put a hold on your credit card at embarkation. I believe it's $60 pp per day. The account is figured at the end of the cruise, and that's when they charge the actual bill and release any remaining hold. If you don't have a credit card, they ask for a cash deposit at embarkation.

... Even if you wish to settle your on board account with cash at the end of your cruise, a payment card must still be registered at embarkation.

I have a friend who stubbornly refuses to have a credit card. Fortunately he doesn't take many trips out of Ontario. Two years ago he was planning a QM2 crossing and at the time Cunard indicated they no longer accepted travellers cheques. They required a $300 cash deposit for those without a credit card. For health reasons he did not book the trip. I have advised him he should get a credit card for booking purposes but could still pay cash to settle.

My guess is there are very few people with such a stubborn streak, but I doubt he is the only one.:)

Apparently it's no longer allowed to run an all-cash account. In the past one could make a cash deposit but had to maintain a positive cash balance at all times. Since very few Cunard itineraries run on short itineraries only those with a lot of OBC would have a final bill less than $100. And only those who do very old school banking would not have a debit card. In the US one's ATM card is typically a debit card for the account.

Anybody with no credit card and so little money that a $100 hold will seriously impact them is taking a huge risk by traveling out of their country.

FWIW, here was the industry insider's comment on the issue: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=47286575&postcount=97

A reminder to be sure to notify your credit or debit card issuer before you travel, including the fact that you will be sailing on QM2 from X date to Y date. Most issuers have automated systems that look for out of pattern purchases and may block the card if they see such transactions. Also make sure that your cell phone (Mobile to Europeans) is the number they have to call you and that your phone company allows roaming. The card issuers smugly say that the checking is to for the card owners benefit, but it is actually to prevent them from losses. Some time loss prevention gets in the way of good customer service.

I have retired now, but last year my company was advised by our bank of some forthcoming changes to the 'Payment Processing Industry Regulations'. From memory a lot of things were being toughened up in the electronic processing of cards, I suspect this one of the effects.