Best way to settle account

[blackpool belle]

Other than cash which is the best way to settle an onboard account, debit card or credit card? Is there any difference in the exchange rate as to how you pay? Will there be an added charge of 2 1/2 % if I settle by credit card.

 

Any advice welcome ASAP as I am trying to complete my on line details.

[Esmerelda]

We always put cash down on our account when cruising. When we were recently on the Oasis, by the time Thursday rolled around we were getting down to the last bit of our cash that was in the account. I went down to Guest Services and put my debit card on it. We put maybe $48 more dollars above what was left and they just put it to my debit card. Very simple process. :)

[IMNiles]

With few exceptions, the onboard currency is usd, and there is some tricky language on the contract about whether rccl will charge you in usd or your home currency (you have to act specially to get them to use usd on foreign accounts). If memory serves, assuming you have a non-usd credit card, the rate you get from your issuer (some like capital one do not charge exchange fees) is going to be better than the rate used by rccl.

 

You could of course use cash, but I always look at that massive line at guest relations to settle up on the last night and think that I'd much rather be sitting and enjoying my book rather than doing that.

 

So MY recommendation, which will no doubt differ from others, is to use a credit card and tell rccl to charge in usd. Use a card tha carries a low foreign exchange fee. If you want to toss some cash on your account midweek when there is no line at guest relations, then that's a great strategy to reduce your bill and avoid fees, but at least with a credit card on the account you don't HAVE to wait in that line. You're on vacation - you earned it and you should enjoy as much as you can.

 

EDIT: I would never use a debit card aboard, particularly as "the" card on the account, because of the possibility that temporary holds, pre-authorizations, or mistakes could tie up my cash when I need it. Plus, I like earning the points on the credit card :)

[Esmerelda]

Some good advice IMNiles but in 4 cruises, we've never had a hold put on our debit card for anything? It's always been exactly the remaining amount above our cash balance we originally put down.

 

I just don't want people to think this normally happens because I would think in our 4 cruises, it would have definitely happened to us by now and it hasn't.

[blackpool belle]

Thanks for your advice.

 

Seems cash or a combination cash/credit card is the way to go.

[IMNiles]

Some good advice IMNiles but in 4 cruises, we've never had a hold put on our debit card for anything? It's always been exactly the remaining amount above our cash balance we originally put down.

 

I just don't want people to think this normally happens because I would think in our 4 cruises, it would have definitely happened to us by now and it hasn't.

 

I'm glad it's worked out for you. I admit it also hasn't happened to me personally but I've heard enough stories about people having trouble with debit cards and any arrangement that requires pre-authorization (e.g. Gas pumps, rental cars, cruise ships), or accidental multiple charges that took days to clear. Perhaps it varies by bank, or maybe they've figured out how to do it without triggering holds. certainly no cause for panic, but when I'm on vacation I try to pre-eliminate as many possible sources of drama as possible :)

[FLACRUISER99]

RCI credit card (double points) if you don't have one get one (15,000 bonus points).

[Elizanessie]

RCI credit card (double points) if you don't have one get one (15,000 bonus points).

 

Sadly UK Cruisers do not have the option of getting a RCCL credit card :(

So as the OP is from the UK she cannot get one.

[dwjoe]

OP, I assume you're from the UK?

 

RCCL doesn't add any credit card surcharge to my knowledge, however, not sure if your credit card company may impose a foreign currency surcharge.

 

By way of comparison, charging Euros on a US credit card may incur a foreign currency surcharge of 0%-3% depending on the particular card issuer.

 

Being a US cruiser, generally I find credit card the most convenient way of settling the onboard account.

[MMCK]

just a tip, get a Capital One card. I believe it's the only card that does not charge a fee for the currency conversion. We always use ours when we go abroad (assuming that hasn't changed since July of 09, the last time we traveled to Europe).

[ShillyShally]

I just got off the Allure and had prebought a large amount of OBC that wasn't applied properly when we got on board (we had the receipts and got all the "congrats you have obc" in our room but it wasn't applied to our account) - I went down to guest services on Wednesday and had them correct it because I was worried about the card I had placed on the account (low limit because I knew we wouldn't need it) - in the end we didn't use all our OBC and cashed out the last night. Went to rent a car with the card I had used on board (that shouldn't have been charged for anything) and it was blocked due to pending authorizations from RCCL for the days they hadn't registered my OBC. If I look at this card now (not a debit card) it shows 2 pending charges for those totals that would have covered the days we didn't have the OBC showing. It is very similar to how they have done it in the past for us, regardless of if we have used a debit or regular credit card (next time I will make sure the OBC is showing from when I board because it is a headache waiting for pending charges that aren't actual charges to come off).

 

On all my RCCL cruises - this is how it works when you use a card to hold your account from the beginning (this will be different if you open your account with cash and change to a card on the last night):

 

Let's say you charge $100 a day on your seapass - RCCL will "charge" your card $100 each night as a way for them to authorize the charge and assure you have it available - the problem then comes at the end when you card will then have $700 in 7 different $100 "pre-charges" and then RCCL will submit the actual total as the true charge amount so you will then see a charge for the $700 total. Say your account has a $1000 limit - that $700 charge at the end may not go through because the 7 separate $100 charges are still pending as holds and take up to a week to drop off. Again, this is how it has worked for every RCCL cruise I have taken when I open my seapass card with a CC. I think in the future when I place a large amount of OBC on my account I will just open it with cash and settle at the end with a CC to avoid this, otherwise you need to make sure the card you use can handle double what you charge onboard.

[Carpe Diem Gal]

Here is the way my husband and I do it. He has a Royal Caribbean In. VISA credit card and uses it ALL year to pay expenses and earn points that we TURN into ONBOARD CREDIT. (He always pays his charges off, so he never pays interest.) Also, we try to book the NEXT cruise while on board to take advantage of the OBC for booking (this time we got $150 each = $300 total).

We are in process of exchanging RCI VISA points for about $700 onboard credit.

Doing the math...that gives us $1,000 onboard credit which can be used for excursions booked on board, wine packages, shopping, end of cruise tips...whatever we want. This time, we will probably go over that amount because we are paying for our son and his girlfriend. I link MY American Express Credit card to the account. I save my receipts for the each day and go over daily (to avoid doing this the last day. The beauty of this, is I, too, pay my AMEX off immediately (on time) and never have to pay interest. I turn in my points for FOOD cards to eat at Olive Garden and Red Lobster. I haven't bought a meal there in years. We could use his RCI card, but this is the way we do it. If we have money left (like we did on the last cruise; we go to the Casino and cash out the remaining...but there is a fee of 3% of total, but we don't mind that at all because the CASH OUT is from points we had earned....(but sometime we buy gifts on the ship ...like perfume, rum cakes, etc.)

[louhun88]

just a tip, get a Capital One card. I believe it's the only card that does not charge a fee for the currency conversion. We always use ours when we go abroad (assuming that hasn't changed since July of 09, the last time we traveled to Europe).

 

M&S credit card doesn't charge foreign exchange fees either and you get loads of M&S points!

[ShillyShally]

We cashed out money left at guest services, no 3% fee :) I think this only works if you have a credit on your account but it just worked for us :)

[Carpe Diem Gal]

I might add, that I don't set a limit on my AMEX card. I always use AMEX because they are SO SO good for disputes if there is one, but I have never had any issues with my account or mistakes by RCI...but that doesn't mean I don't check or won't have one. In fact, that is the very first thing I do when I can get to my room. I go on the TV and hope I can access my account and when I can, I make sure the OBC is there. Then I check daily so I don't have to deal with the entire cruise the night before we leave.

[Carpe Diem Gal]

We were told Guest Services would not cash us out, but we could do it via the Casino. I am assuming it is because we got ONC from RCI and not CASH OBC that we put into the account. Does anyone know if this is how it works?

Thanks in advance.

[FLACRUISER99]

Sadly UK Cruisers do not have the option of getting a RCCL credit card :(

So as the OP is from the UK she cannot get one.

Just curious, how is one to know from the post that the OP is from the UK? I do see that Blackpool is a city in the UK & Canada. However people do move.

[Elizanessie]

Just curious, how is one to know from the post that the OP is from the UK? I do see that Blackpool is a city in the UK & Canada. However people do move.

 

You cannot tell if their location is not showing. I know because I know the OP. :D

 

Often if the location isn't showing then I can tell from the way they post the dates..like we here in UK do ours different from the US - we put for example the 1st of August 2011 as 1/8/11 whereas in the US you would put it as 8/1/11..it's little things like that help me personally to realise that a member will probably be from the UK.