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You can deposit cash at customer services when you arrive onboard - £200 was the going rate on our last cruise and this is credited to your cabin account. That is the alternative to registering a debit or credit card to settle your final account balance.

 

CS will do currency exchange - at an unfavourable rate compared to onshore ATMs etc. Best avoided IMO.

 

When your account credit level falls low due to onboard spending CS will ask you to top up in cash, or opt to settle the final balance by debit card.

 

Not sure if credit card can be used, however if accepted, it would be a good deal now since the % surcharge fee has been removed.

 

If you've deposited cash and you are still in credit at the end of the cruise you will be refunded in Sterling.

 

They don't like Scots banknotes, however that only affects us heathen tribesmen from north of Hadrian's Wall.

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I think that would be OK - but best contact TUI customer services for confirmation.

 

You need to consider how far your £200 would stretch before further action is required - if you don't have the drinks package and/or you make excursion reservations and/or onboard shop purchases that will go down quickly and you'll have to top up sooner rather than later - that's the time to introduce the debit card.

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CS will do currency exchange - at an unfavourable rate compared to onshore ATMs etc. Best avoided IMO.

.

 

I'll echo that !!!!

All cruise ships offer truly lousy exchange rates, about the same as airport exchange booths.

So get your shore spending-money before you go, from the usual suspects - M&S, Post Office, Sainsbury, Tesco, on-line etc, or use your debit card in an ATM in the ports.

If you use a high street place like Sainsburys, order it on-line "click-and-collect" - you get a better exchange rate than those who just breeze in.

 

What are your ports?

 

JB :)

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I wonder if you could deposit less than £200 on arrival, register the debit card at the same time with instructions to debit the card once the cash balance has gone ?

 

The £200 is presumably an arbitary figure to activate a credit balance on boarding.

 

The advantage of having the debit card activate when the cruise ends is that you can still purchase goods etc. after your cabin account is closed on the last evening - especially relevant if you have an amount of time onboard waiting for coach transfer to airport.

 

I'm not sure how cash customers access drinks etc. once their cabin account ends.

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In the past we have always used a DC which they charged halfway through the holiday then again on the last day any balance being charged on our return, however over the last couple of years they have charged the card on registration with £1 then the full balance at the end of the month in which we return, sometimes three weeks 😉. Be interesting to see what happens when we use the CC now the charge has been removed.

 

 

Sent from my b1-720 using Forums mobile app

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I have an American Express Platinum CC - get a decent % cashback, especially worthwhile if paying upfront for a holiday (or any "big ticket" purchase) - team that up with a TopCashback or Quidco linked online booking for double points make prizes !!!

 

AMEX customer services are very good as well when you need assistance.

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  • 2 weeks later...
the reason i want to do cash is , when we have cruised other lines they start putting cash holds on your account every day which takes up your balance and then takes a while to be released, so dont want that to happen[/quo

 

Another option is register your card at check in, you can then credit your account at reception at ANY time with ANY amount of cash, eg: you could even go and credit it with as little as £10

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