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Sail and Sign Card


Dawnn.Marie
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Hello Everyone,

This site has been incredible with so much information about cruising. As a "Newbie" who has never cruised before a lot of my questions have been answered by viewing the different boards. However, I haven't found much information on Carnivals Sail and Sign on board account.

 

My understanding is that every cruise ship passenger gets a card to use on board. If I sign up for the on board account and use a charge card like a Mastercard or Visa, when and how do I pay for what I have purchased on board? Any information is very much appreciated!

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Hello Everyone,

This site has been incredible with so much information about cruising. As a "Newbie" who has never cruised before a lot of my questions have been answered by viewing the different boards. However, I haven't found much information on Carnivals Sail and Sign on board account.

 

My understanding is that every cruise ship passenger gets a card to use on board. If I sign up for the on board account and use a charge card like a Mastercard or Visa, when and how do I pay for what I have purchased on board? Any information is very much appreciated!

You use your ship card while on the ship and all purchases accumulate in your onboard account. At the end of the cruise, the ship charges your credit card for any outstanding amount in your onboard account.

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Hello Everyone,

This site has been incredible with so much information about cruising. As a "Newbie" who has never cruised before a lot of my questions have been answered by viewing the different boards. However, I haven't found much information on Carnivals Sail and Sign on board account.

 

My understanding is that every cruise ship passenger gets a card to use on board. If I sign up for the on board account and use a charge card like a Mastercard or Visa, when and how do I pay for what I have purchased on board? Any information is very much appreciated!

 

Your S&S card works just like charging items to your room in a hotel. You present the card for every purchase, and the charges accumulate on your folio. They will put a hold on your charge card at the beginning of the cruise, but the actual charges will be automatically processed to your card at the end (in one lump sum).

 

There is no other way to purchase anything on board, Carnival has a completely cashless system. All charges are made using the S&S card.

 

If you question is regarding using cash to pay for what you have charged on board, you can apply cash to your account at any point during the cruise (or even at check-in), in addition to your credit card. OBC and cash will be used before they apply any charges to your credit card.

 

Have fun!

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As others have posted, you use it as a charge card for all your purchases on-board, including ship's shore excursions, drinks, speciality dining, ship's shop purchases. You show your card & sign a receipt for everything, the server gives you a copy.

You get a statement at the end of the cruise (plus intermediate statements on a long cruise, and you can ask for a current printout at any time). Check the statement against your receipts to make sure there's been no mistakes - rare, but it happens. The statement will also credit any on-board credit you've received and debit the daily tips/service charge.

Each person gets their own sail-and-sign card, each person gets their own statement of their spend.

You will have registered a card when you board (there's a cash alternative, more detail if you ask), and that card will be charged with all of your party's purchases at the end of the cruise ....................

except..................... if you prefer, when on-board you can register another card or cards, and ask for the cards to be charged pretty-well any way you like. Your purchases on your card & your partner's on theirs, or the total spend split equally between the cards, or pay in some cash to reduce the total due, etc.

 

Do bear in mind that the ship will place a daily "hold" on funds in your debit/credit card, to protect them against unpaid charges if the card reaches its credit limit before cruise-end. It takes anything up to a couple of weeks after the cruise & after your card has been charged before those holds are released. This is important with a debit card if you run a low bank balance or with a credit card if it's fairly close to maxing-out.

Same applies with car rentals, many hotels & other outlets, in case of add-on charges that come to light after you've returned the car / checked-out of the hotel. The funds are only "held" (reserved), not withdrawn, so these holds don't appear on your card statements.

 

Your sign-and-sail card is also your boarding card, you need it with you when you go ashore. It's scanned when you leave the ship & again when you return, so they know whether you're on the ship or not.

 

It also doubles as your cabin key (other than on particularly old ships).

 

It has magnetic strip like other charge cards. Don't keep it close to your camera, phone etc.

But if it does fail, you can get a replacement from guest services.

 

JB :)

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When you check in for the cruise you will have to set up an onboard account. You must set up an onboard account; not optional; it is the ONLY way to pay for anything on the ship, they won't take cash or credit cards. You can set it up with cash or a credit card. A hold will be put on your card of a few hundred.

They will also take your photo.

 

They will then give you your sign and sail card. This is your room hey, your id to get on and off the ship, and your payment method for all onboard charges. You can check the balance of your on board account as you go.

 

If you set your account up with cash, once you spend the cash your charging privileges will be shut off until you give them more cash. If you used a credit card then they will just keep upping the hold on the card as your balance goes up. If you don't want the full balance charges to your credit card you can also pay the balance down will cash during the cruise.

 

At the end of the cruise they will give you a final statement and charge your final balance to your credit card. My primary issue with doing a cash account is that I've heard stories of people balancing out their cash account on the last night; then on disembarkation day, someone putting an additional charge on the account (mini bar item, towel not returned fee, etc); and then they are held up from getting off the ship until they produce the cash to pay the fee.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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Question, what name do they put on the card? My hubby goes by his middle name rather than his first name, and while he'll live if it has his first name, I know he'd rather have his middle name on the card. Sent from my SM-G935V using Forums mobile app

 

The name on your boarding document.

Whatever name he used in booking the cruise.

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  • 1 month later...
If you put cash on your S&S card and do not use it all, will you get the unused balance back at end of cruise?

 

Yes, but I'm not sure in what form. I don't thin they give you cash, but if a check, not sure if you get it back before you debark or if they mail it. You can ask on the Carnival board here.

To add to what John Bull said, there is an app, called the (Carnival) Hub App that you can download to your phone and check the daily account (as well as many other things). It runs off wifi, but you do not need a wifi account on the ship to use it. EM

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Your sign and sail card is your room key. You are basically charging everything to your room...like in a hotel. Whatever form of payment you choose to use is how they will charge your purchases. NOTHING is charged to YOU until the end of the cruise...it's simply accruing on your account.Credit card or cash is the best way to pay. Debit card incur big and long-lasting 'holds", so avoid that option, if you can.

 

 

I don't like Carnival's different forms of "prepayments" with their means of putting money down for specific items. Some are refundable...some are not. Before you start pre-paying stuff, make sure if you don't spend it all, you can get it back. If you board the ship and put a chunk of cash down, yes, you will get the unused funds back...either in cash or a check.

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If you put cash on your S&S card and do not use it all, will you get the unused balance back at end of cruise?

 

Absolutely. Just line up at Guest Services or use a kiosk on the last night and you can withdraw it all in cash. Otherwise, Carnival will mail you a check for anything over $10 about 7 days after the cruise. Anything less than $10 is donated to St. Jude.

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If you put cash on your S&S card and do not use it all, will you get the unused balance back at end of cruise?

 

You will get a check delivered to the address listed on your account within 1-2 weeks. If it's a nominal amount left (I believe under $5) they will donate it to charity unless you request for them not to at Guest Services.

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Since the OP's question was answered several times over (I've never understood why people keep giving the same answer over & over), I'll just add this. If you use a credit/debit card on your S&S account, the initial hold will be in the amount of $100 for cruises 2-5 days and $200 for cruises 6+ days. If you reach that threshold, they'll then put another hold for that amount on the card.

 

In regards to getting back any remainder left on the account, using cash has already been answered. If you have anything left over that came from a gift card, it'll be refunded as a gift card (just go to guest services).

 

You will get a check delivered to the address listed on your account within 1-2 weeks. If it's a nominal amount left (I believe under $5) they will donate it to charity unless you request for them not to at Guest Services.
You'll only get a check in the mail if you don't withdraw the cash on board, either at a kiosk or at guest services. And the amount donated to St. Jude's is under $10.
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  • 1 month later...
Since the OP's question was answered several times over (I've never understood why people keep giving the same answer over & over), I'll just add this. If you use a credit/debit card on your S&S account, the initial hold will be in the amount of $100 for cruises 2-5 days and $200 for cruises 6+ days. If you reach that threshold, they'll then put another hold for that amount on the card.

 

In regards to getting back any remainder left on the account, using cash has already been answered. If you have anything left over that came from a gift card, it'll be refunded as a gift card (just go to guest services).

 

You'll only get a check in the mail if you don't withdraw the cash on board, either at a kiosk or at guest services. And the amount donated to St. Jude's is under $10.

 

You just answered the question I was about to ask. I will be taking my first 4 day cruise in about 6 weeks and I used my credit card to pay for my cruise so I planned on using my debit card for my S&S account. When I hit the $100 mark they will just hold another $100 and continue in that fashion through out the cruise? I don't plan on going crazy but you never know. ;p

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You just answered the question I was about to ask. I will be taking my first 4 day cruise in about 6 weeks and I used my credit card to pay for my cruise so I planned on using my debit card for my S&S account. When I hit the $100 mark they will just hold another $100 and continue in that fashion through out the cruise? I don't plan on going crazy but you never know. ;p
Yep, that's correct. If you'd like to read more about it, you can go to the Carnival FAQ's here: https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1138/~/sail-%26-sign-onboard-account

With that said, many people will recommend not using your debit card because, if anything bad happens, they're not as well protected as credit cards. It can be harder to resolve issues with fraud using debit cards. But if you're comfortable using it, I'm all for letting people handle their own finances. :)

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Question, what name do they put on the card? My hubby goes by his middle name rather than his first name, and while he'll live if it has his first name, I know he'd rather have his middle name on the card

 

Sent from my SM-G935V using Forums mobile app

 

It's very important that his cruise documents, his airline tickets have the exact mane as it appears on which ever document he uses to prove his citizenship, be it a birth certificate or passport. If the names don't match exactly, he could be denied boarding with no refund. And, the name on his sign and sail card will be the same as on his documents.

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  • 1 month later...
You just answered the question I was about to ask. I will be taking my first 4 day cruise in about 6 weeks and I used my credit card to pay for my cruise so I planned on using my debit card for my S&S account. When I hit the $100 mark they will just hold another $100 and continue in that fashion through out the cruise? I don't plan on going crazy but you never know. ;p

That is not how holds work. The ship will run a $200 hold the morning of your cruise. They will run another hold when they charge on board gratuities regardless if you prepaid them or not, they still run a another hold. They run additional holds if you use your sail and sign in the casino. You can end up with hundreds of dollars in holds with zero being charged at the end. Remember hotels and other places will run holds that will still be in place when you board. This is why most cruisers do not use debit cards for on board accounts. If your card is declined at any point, you will need to provide another card for payment. Also, remember to notify your debit card about your travels.

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Out of curiosity, does anyone know if all ACTUAL charges to the credit card are done based out of the United States? Meaning I wouldn't get any Foreign Transaction Fees, correct? Thanks in advance!

 

 

 

Yes. Have sailed in the Caribbean and med and there r no foreign transaction fees for US customers based on onboard purchases

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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  • 2 weeks later...

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