Cash for onboard account

[cooncat_mom]

Going on my first NCL cruise and was checking to see how to secure the onboard account. On RCI and CCL I used a low-limit credit card (which they never pre-authorzed for an amount), but know people who deposited cash and checked their account frequently. I was thinking of using travelers checks this time since I rarely spend more than $150 per trip (plus the DSC of course) however it sounds like NCL wants you to deposit $100/day ahead of time (or $700 for our cruise) :eek: I understand that whatever I don't spend is given back, etc, but am not too thrilled about that. So I'm guessing NCL wants close to $1000 in cash or a high-limit card?

[Hopes4]

Going on my first NCL cruise and was checking to see how to secure the onboard account. On RCI and CCL I used a low-limit credit card (which they never pre-authorzed for an amount), but know people who deposited cash and checked their account frequently. I was thinking of using travelers checks this time since I rarely spend more than $150 per trip (plus the DSC of course) however it sounds like NCL wants you to deposit $100/day ahead of time (or $700 for our cruise) :eek: I understand that whatever I don't spend is given back, etc, but am not too thrilled about that. So I'm guessing NCL wants close to $1000 in cash or a high-limit card?

 

I would call NCL and ask. That doesnt sound right to me. I was on the phone with NCL today asking about the hold on a debit card and was told they only put a $300 hold on it, so asking $100 a day for cash sounds "off".

[cooncat_mom]

Thanks for the quick answer! When I talked to NCL, they said they do, indeed, want $700 up front for a 7 day cruise...which shows how disappointed they'll be with my spending habits. :D

[Hopes4]

Thanks for the quick answer! When I talked to NCL, they said they do, indeed, want $700 up front for a 7 day cruise...which shows how disappointed they'll be with my spending habits. :D

 

Now this is where my bitchy side comes out. I'd nicely explain to them the difference between "want" and "require" and hand them much less, just on principle, even if I planned on spending much more than $700. muhahaha (where's the evil emoticon when I need it??) :D

[Dayenu]

$1,000 in cash is a large amount, but this is so far from a high-limit credit card! Do you have only $500 limit? You can call credit card company to raise it to $1,000 - they will do it for you immediately over the phone... at least they did this for me long time ago for my first card!

[catlady922]

I was on the Pearl this past Feb and put cash down of $500 the first day. Most of that covered my shore excursions leaving me about $150.00 for the rest of the cruise. I wasn't required $100 a day.

[Pooh&OurHunny]

I was on the Pearl this past Feb and put cash down of $500 the first day. Most of that covered my shore excursions leaving me about $150.00 for the rest of the cruise. I wasn't required $100 a day.

 

Thanks for your post, I just want to put 700 for 2 adult and 1 child. We are only doing one excursion.

[garycarla]

Why not use the low limit credit card?

 

then add cash as needed?

[Pooh&OurHunny]

I was on the Pearl this past Feb and put cash down of $500 the first day. Most of that covered my shore excursions leaving me about $150.00 for the rest of the cruise. I wasn't required $100 a day.

 

Did you still have to put a credit card?

[cooncat_mom]

Now this is where my bitchy side comes out. I'd nicely explain to them the difference between "want" and "require" and hand them much less, just on principle, even if I planned on spending much more than $700. muhahaha (where's the evil emoticon when I need it??) :D

 

 

:D:D:D I like the way you think - I'd do the same thing! ...and I have noticed the absence of that evil emoticon several times now....hmm....I found the $100/day interesting because I don't remember having to do that on the other lines - I believe they were fine with $200-$300 for the trip. Let's face it, they can certainly shut down your card if you go over limit. And they can probably find you too! ;)

[WinterSky]

We used cash to secure our on board account for our first cruise but by our second cruise we were more relaxed and confident with NCL and used our credit card.

 

When we were doing the pre-boarding for the GEM in March 2008 we were asked for our credit card to secure the on board account. We simply said that we preferred to use cash. We were told to go to the Reception Desk after boarding to set the cash account up.

 

We boarded, went to Reception and said we wanted to secure our on board account with cash. We were asked how much we wanted to put down and since we had no idea how much was enough, we asked the Reception staff person to suggest an amount. She suggested $300 for the two of us in one cabin. That seemed low to us, so we put down $700. (Remember that your daily service charges will come out of this amount... just over $200 for the week for a family of three I believe.)

 

You do have to pay attention to your bill but it is very easy to do so. All you have to do is stop by the Reception desk and ask for a printout any time at all. They are most helpful. When your account is getting low, you can add more cash if you wish as we did.

 

Simple. No problem at all.

[mitsugirly]

This was a big topic of conversation with me last year before my

Epic cruise. I wanted to pay my OBC before I went on a cruise for the full amount I thought I would be spending so that I could consider it "paid for".

 

Here are a few of my post made back then (I'm going to copy and paste what I was told by NCL)

 

Ok, just spent the last 45 min on the phone with a NCL rep, who would tell me how it is suppose to be and then would put me on hold to double check with his supervisor to make sure.

 

He said the $100 pp pd is a recommended spending amount. It IS NOT enforced. He said they want you to put that much down, however, if you tell them no, they won't make you nor deny you. He said that the cruise line is basically only interested in getting enough money down to cover the gratuity charges. So that would be the least they would accept.

 

Now, since I've paid my on board expenses (as close as what I think I will spend), to remain a cash basis, they will require me to put down at least the gratuity when I board (Using cash if I want a cash account). So, it looks like I will have to put another $200 or less down when I board. I wish I would have known this before putting down the $800, then I would have only put down $600 instead. :(

 

So, he told me that even though I put down the on board credit already, there is no way for the people that ?check you in when you arrive to set up your on board credit? (not sure of what they are called) to know that you have this credit. Their "system" at check in would not show this. However, it will be on the card and when you check your balance, it will show up. (The other rep warned me of this as well, so I already knew this).

 

BUT....if you do it the way I was going to, paid the money now, then give them the bank card when we arrive, they do require you to put down $350 on that card. That's the minimum when using a card. Then proceeded to tell me that even if you do not use it, it could take up to 30 days to get this back (which was a major concern and a complaint of a previous cruisers rant in another thread). He suggested doing a CASH ONLY transaction. I already have the $800, put down the other $200 when I board as a cash only account and don't dare give them my bank card unless I expected my funds to be held up for up to 30 days. The only way around it, cash only. Of course my problem is, we have 2 rooms x $350= $700 from the bank card. I don't think so.

 

I do have my confirmations for the money that I put down, I have the reps name and he said for my protection, he was going to make a note in the account per the supervisor, so that if I did run into any problems, then they would see that we have discussed it and what was told to me. (Although that kinda makes me leery knowing that you board the ship, they don't have a system to see that you already have an on board account set up and paid for, but can access you "notes" in case of a problem.) Hmmm :rolleyes:

 

Either way, I'm just sharing what I was told this time around.

 

This is my post with my experience AFTER I came back: (copy and pasted)

 

Ok I'm back and here to report how prepaying my OBC went.

 

As I had said, I put down $800 before cruising. I was TOLD that once I arrived, they would want me to put down (either in cash or a cc) AT LEAST the amount to cover the service charges for the both of us. I was told on the phone that the people at the check in terminal can not see that I have already prepaid the OBC (and this is true) and that it would be a requirement (which had me a little perturbed because had I known this when I put down the OBC, I would have withheld the SC and paid it once we arrived).

 

However, once we got there and they ask for the form of payment, I told them I had already established my OBC and they just said "ok, and handed us our room card". No questions asked. So, we did not have to pay anymore as the phone rep had said.

 

On the first and second day, we had no problems buying things and using our card and then signing the receipt. At the end of the 2nd night, we bought a few drinks and they said our card wasn't activated. Hmmmm. We walked right over to guest services and ask about it and they said when you pay with cash, some times it takes a day or 2 for them to match it up with your card. But, she went right back and released it and matched it up and no problems after that. It took all of 2 minutes to do and we were good to go. Then toward the end of the cruise, we just added cash to it by going to guest services, handing them the money and they hand you a receipt. (I might add that guest services was NEVER busy, so there was never a time I had to wait in line with more than 1 person ahead of me). Everything was fast simple and quick.

 

Now, the ONLY problem that we encountered was the following (which I wish I would have known before hand when I was estimating the amount to put on the card ahead of time). They WILL NOT allow you to use your room card (the money on it) for the slot machines. I had estimated $200 for slots, that was applied to my OBC, that I could not use for the slots. However, it ended up being ok, because we used that money for other things. The slot machines take cash and you can also get a slot machine card and apply money to that in order to use in the machines. We just ended up using cash when we played with no problem.

 

So all in all, I'm glad I set it up before cruising. It was a breeze and no real problems other than the slot machine issue. But next time I'll know when I estimate and pay OBC that I won't include any slot machine money in it. :D

 

 

Hopefully you'll find it helpful. I plan on doing it again for this upcoming cruise in September. :)

[Shortbuss]

Thank you so much for posting that Mitsugirly as I am leaving for my cruise in just over a week and was wondering about this very thing. This takes a load off my shoulders and should make the next week a bit more enjoyable.

[mitsugirly]

Thank you so much for posting that Mitsugirly as I am leaving for my cruise in just over a week and was wondering about this very thing. This takes a load off my shoulders and should make the next week a bit more enjoyable.

 

You are VERY welcome. Have a great time and enjoy yourself. :)

[cherylroslyn]

I think they required 250$ when I boarded on one of my trips. I added to it as the week went on. I didn't want to give them all my cash and not be able to get cash back for things i had to buy in port...so I was conservative in what I gave up front and it worked out great. I had a credit card in case I I needed it but I only wanted to use it for an emergency.

 

I had read very large amounts on here and was happy that no one seemed to want that much from me.....

[mitsugirly]

We just added up EVERY single on board expenses that we would have prior to putting the money down (specialty restaurants, drinks per day, soda car, shopping, daily fees for both and so on) and this is the total amount we put down for OBC prior to going. We had completely forgot about the extra $100 OBC that we received from our TA and was it was a pleasant surprise we we got on board and checked our account from our room and found that they had actually gave us $100 each. So we ended up with an extra $200 OBC that we ended up using for an excursion in a port that we had planned on doing nothing but a free beach day. :D

[cooncat_mom]

When I talked to NCL, they spoke about the on board account as per cabin. On the other lines, your account is per person - is this true for NCL? It's a little easier for me to sign for and keep my own accounts....ahem...separately :rolleyes: :D

[peg013]

When I talked to NCL, they spoke about the on board account as per cabin. On the other lines, your account is per person - is this true for NCL? It's a little easier for me to sign for and keep my own accounts....ahem...separately :rolleyes: :D

 

You can have it either way. My DH and both use the same CC so ours goes on one account. But the sons each have their own account when they share a room.

[cooncat_mom]

Thanks for all the advice! I talked with my CC Company & they said that NCL puts a hold on the $$ and then all charges are added on top of that. After reading the posts, have decided the best way to go is put down (for one person) $300 cash & add to it - which actually will be more than enough for my DSC and purchases!. From the sounds of the posts, that should be fine. Now...time to think about packing....:eek: