Anyone used a FairFX card for onboard account?

[scottishgirl87]

Hi there,

 

Just wondering if anyone has successfully used a FairFX currency card as the card for their onboard account?

 

I've not long received eDocs and I noticed at one point (I've not done online check-in yet) it states "Please be advised Traveler Cheque Cards from any credit card company are not accepted, for the purpose of settling onboard charges on the SeaPass account."

 

FairFX doesn't have anything to do with traveler cheques and it's not from a credit card company but I'm just worried it would be classed under that by the Americans. It's a Mastercard pre-paid debit card.

[Elizanessie]

Hi there,

 

Just wondering if anyone has successfully used a FairFX currency card as the card for their onboard account?

 

I've not long received eDocs and I noticed at one point (I've not done online check-in yet) it states "Please be advised Traveler Cheque Cards from any credit card company are not accepted, for the purpose of settling onboard charges on the SeaPass account."

 

FairFX doesn't have anything to do with traveler cheques and it's not from a credit card company but I'm just worried it would be classed under that by the Americans. It's a Mastercard pre-paid debit card.

 

 

Hi

 

Is it a Dollars charged one or a Euros charged one?

[scottishgirl87]

Hi

 

Is it a Dollars charged one or a Euros charged one?

 

It's Dollars :)

[Elizanessie]

It's Dollars :)

 

Thanks

 

I did a search out on the RCCL forum and came up with a few of different answers.

 

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=26694666&postcount=5

 

 

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=19017914&highlight=fairfx+card#post19017914

 

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=963374&highlight=fairfx+card

 

 

The second link is the most interesting/gives quite a bit of info but it is from 2009 and things may have changed since then.

 

To be safe it may be better to contact RCCL UK and ask them but be sure they know exactly what card you are talking about.

 

Unless someone here can offer up more information..perhaps someone who has used one of these cards?

[scottishgirl87]

Thank you for your help Elizanessie.

 

I've read those threads and still none the wiser :confused: I have a feeling if I phoned RCI they won't actually know what a FairFX card is.

 

On our last cruise in 2008 we used my Nationwide Flex Account which at the time was free to use abroad, however, they've now implemented charges to it.

 

I'm really not sure what to do :confused: Don't have a credit card in any form and my other bank account has astronimical charges for using abroad so that's out.

 

EDIT: I've emailed RCI to ask.

[dides]

We've used a Fairfx dollar card on our last 2 Princess cruises (departing from US ports) for the onboard account without any problems. However, one thing to note is that Princess charged authorisations each day of the cruise and even though we had a final payment at the end, the authorisations don't clear down for up to 4 weeks after the cruise has ended. So some money on the cards will be tied up for a while.

[scottishgirl87]

We've used a Fairfx dollar card on our last 2 Princess cruises (departing from US ports) for the onboard account without any problems. However, one thing to note is that Princess charged authorisations each day of the cruise and even though we had a final payment at the end, the authorisations don't clear down for up to 4 weeks after the cruise has ended. So some money on the cards will be tied up for a while.

 

Ahh, see that's one of the things I'm afraid of! I assumed they'd try the authorization on the 1st day, and as we're on a 9 day cruise I thought it'd probably be fine by the end but I've read the month thing before.

 

Looks like I'm going to have to incur the charges on my Nationwide card!

 

Thanks dides!

[Elizanessie]

Ahh, see that's one of the things I'm afraid of! I assumed they'd try the authorization on the 1st day, and as we're on a 9 day cruise I thought it'd probably be fine by the end but I've read the month thing before.

 

Looks like I'm going to have to incur the charges on my Nationwide card!

 

Thanks dides!

 

Hi

 

I was just thinking...could you put down your Nationwide card on your account but then perhaps on the final day onboard, change it over to the FairFX card?

[scottishgirl87]

Hi

 

I was just thinking...could you put down your Nationwide card on your account but then perhaps on the final day onboard, change it over to the FairFX card?

 

Oh I never thought of that! I've been considering the cash option also but I'm not sure how that all works!

 

Would I just have to go down to the desk on the final night and pay?

[Elizanessie]

Oh I never thought of that! I've been considering the cash option also but I'm not sure how that all works!

 

Would I just have to go down to the desk on the final night and pay?

 

Options -

 

1.Put Nationwide card on account when completing info on your Set Sail Pass and then -

 

a. See if you can use the FairFX card on the last day/night to pay final bill.

b. Pay cash at Guest Services on last day/night, then Nationwide card wont be charged.

c. Pay with Nationwide card.

 

2. Select Cash account when doing Set Sail Pass.

You will need to go to Guest Services and put down some cash when you board.

 

If you cannot use the FairFX card then at least with the Nationwide card/cash, you have back up incase the FairFX card is refused.

 

If the FairFX card is accepted on the last day/night then you have cash to use for next cruise or on the way home :D

 

I hope this doesnt sound to confusing. These cards are new to me so I cant say for certain just how they will work onboard a RCCL ship.

[scottishgirl87]

No, that's very helpful Elizanessie! Thank you very much!

 

One last question (I promise), if you put down cash is there a certain amount you have to put down depending on how long your cruise is? Or is a case of say put $200 down, then they'll call you to say you've reached your limit, go and put another $200 down?

 

Thank you very much for all your help :D

[Elizanessie]

No, that's very helpful Elizanessie! Thank you very much!

 

One last question (I promise), if you put down cash is there a certain amount you have to put down depending on how long your cruise is? Or is a case of say put $200 down, then they'll call you to say you've reached your limit, go and put another $200 down?

 

Thank you very much for all your help :D

 

No worries..any questions just ask..that is why we are all here :D

 

Q: How do I pay for onboard purchases?

 

A: All of Royal Caribbean International ships operate using a 'cashless' system, meaning your boarding card (also known as your SeaPass card) will be used as a charge card to make all onboard purchases. Normally, to activate this SeaPass account, most guests provide a credit card (American Express, Optima, MasterCard, Visa, Discover and Diner's Club), to which these purchases are charged at the end of their cruise. In addition, the SeaPass system may be activated with traveller's cheques, debit cards or cash.

 

A running tab of all your purchases will be kept under separate folio numbers for each guest, and an itemised statement left in your stateroom the night before disembarkation. If you provided a credit card, and there are no discrepancies, the amount will be charged to your account on the morning of disembarkation. If you have used traveller's cheques or cash to activate the account, you will need to settle the account at the Guest Relations desk (either to receive a reimbursement of the unused amount you originally left or to pay the balance of what you have charged in excess of the amount that you originally left).

 

Please note:

We require guests to place a deposit if they are paying for their SeaPass account with cash. There is a daily limit on cash accounts of USD 500.00 for 7+ night sailings and USD 300.00 for 2/3/4/5 night sailings. Once the daily cash limit is reached, we will call the guest and inform them that the limit has been reached.

[scottishgirl87]

No worries..any questions just ask..that is why we are all here :D

 

Q: How do I pay for onboard purchases?

 

A: All of Royal Caribbean International ships operate using a 'cashless' system, meaning your boarding card (also known as your SeaPass card) will be used as a charge card to make all onboard purchases. Normally, to activate this SeaPass account, most guests provide a credit card (American Express, Optima, MasterCard, Visa, Discover and Diner's Club), to which these purchases are charged at the end of their cruise. In addition, the SeaPass system may be activated with traveller's cheques, debit cards or cash.

 

A running tab of all your purchases will be kept under separate folio numbers for each guest, and an itemised statement left in your stateroom the night before disembarkation. If you provided a credit card, and there are no discrepancies, the amount will be charged to your account on the morning of disembarkation. If you have used traveller's cheques or cash to activate the account, you will need to settle the account at the Guest Relations desk (either to receive a reimbursement of the unused amount you originally left or to pay the balance of what you have charged in excess of the amount that you originally left).

 

Please note:

We require guests to place a deposit if they are paying for their SeaPass account with cash. There is a daily limit on cash accounts of USD 500.00 for 7+ night sailings and USD 300.00 for 2/3/4/5 night sailings. Once the daily cash limit is reached, we will call the guest and inform them that the limit has been reached.

 

Thanks once again!

 

I thought I would update with the reply I received from RCI (for any people looking in the future)....

Dear Miss X

 

Many thanks for your email.

 

I'm afraid we are unable to accept FairFX cards onboard our ships. We are

able to accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express, U.S Dollars Travellers

Cheques and Cash as forms of payment onboard.

 

Regards

 

Info UK Email Team

Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises & Azamara Club Cruises

 

Bit contradictary as technically the FairFX is used as a Mastercard and accepted anywhere Mastercard is yet they say it's not accepted :confused: To be honest, I think it'll be perfectly fine to use as they will have no way of telling it's a pre-paid card but I don't think I'm going to take the risk and will most definitely use one of your suggestions!

[PerryHill]

Hi,

Just to let you know we used our pre paid dollar card(CaxtonFX) on a RCI cruise in November and had no problems.

We firstly used a normal credit card to set the account up with and then on our finally night we paid with the pre paid card. Our's was also a Mastercard and they happily excepted it.

 

Like someone said before if you use your pre paid card they take holding charges everyday. We fell foul to this on our first and have quickly learnt not to do it again.

 

Hope this helps and enjoy your cruise.

 

Simone :)

[iantowns]

Ahh, see that's one of the things I'm afraid of! I assumed they'd try the authorization on the 1st day, and as we're on a 9 day cruise I thought it'd probably be fine by the end but I've read the month thing before.

 

Looks like I'm going to have to incur the charges on my Nationwide card!

 

Thanks dides!

 

Hi scottishgirl,

 

You've no problems with using the FairFX dollar denominated card as we've done it several times.

 

The one thing you should be aware of however, is that they will post authorisation on a daily basis (you can see them on your account as "Auth."), as well as bill the whole amount at the end ("Fin.") so you need to make sure there's enough dollars on it to cover all that and provide for any additional spending you do.

 

But rest assured it works well and it saves you a small fortune just on the exchange rate alone.

[scottishgirl87]

Hi,

Just to let you know we used our pre paid dollar card(CaxtonFX) on a RCI cruise in November and had no problems.

We firstly used a normal credit card to set the account up with and then on our finally night we paid with the pre paid card. Our's was also a Mastercard and they happily excepted it.

 

Like someone said before if you use your pre paid card they take holding charges everyday. We fell foul to this on our first and have quickly learnt not to do it again.

 

Hope this helps and enjoy your cruise.

 

Simone :)

 

Hi scottishgirl,

 

You've no problems with using the FairFX dollar denominated card as we've done it several times.

 

The one thing you should be aware of however, is that they will post authorisation on a daily basis (you can see them on your account as "Auth.", as well as bill the whole amount at the end ("Fin.") so you need to make sure there's enough dollars on it to cover all that and provide for any additional spending you do.

 

But rest assured it works well and it saves you a small fortune just on the exchange rate alone.

 

Thank you both :D I think I may put down my Nationwide debit card originally and possibly pay with the FairFX at the end, not sure if can be bothered with the hassle I may just incur the charges from Nationwide so I don't need to do anything else.

 

Do either of you know, if I put down the Nationwide card originally and pay off the balance on the last night with the FairFX, would there need to be money in my Nationwide account for the authorisation to go through?

[iantowns]

Thank you both :D I think I may put down my Nationwide debit card originally and possibly pay with the FairFX at the end, not sure if can be bothered with the hassle I may just incur the charges from Nationwide so I don't need to do anything else.

 

Do either of you know, if I put down the Nationwide card originally and pay off the balance on the last night with the FairFX, would there need to be money in my Nationwide account for the authorisation to go through?

 

Yes, as far as I'm aware they authorise your transactions every day to make sure you can't do a runner. :D

 

It would be the same with a credit card.

 

The good thing with the FX card is that you can follow your amounts each day.

[scottishgirl87]

Yes, as far as I'm aware they authorise your transactions every day to make sure you can't do a runner. :D

 

It would be the same with a credit card.

 

The good thing with the FX card is that you can follow your amounts each day.

 

Thanks again :)

 

Yeah we used it last year in Florida no problems. The reason I wanted to use it on this cruise is I figured if we needed more money to pay off our account it'd be simple enough to buy some internet time and top up from our bank account!