Sail and Sign help?

[lahoban]

I have already put money in the form of credits down on our cabins. I also bought some fun ship dollars that they kept in house because it was less than a week to go. This is for our sail and sign accounts. Now carnival is saying I need to put additional 200.00 per person to open my sail and sign cards when we get to the pier. They did not tell me this in the beginning.

 

Does anyone know if I have to put the full 200.00 a person? And when they start sub-tracting money can I specify that they take it out of the credits and fun ship dollars? I really wanted to use cash and have it all paid for. Thanks

[phinfan63]

I'm guessing here but I would think that if you could use a credit card and open the S&S and then at the end go to the Purser's desk and pay it off with the credits.

 

I'm sure someone on here will have a more educated guess though :-)

 

Happy Cruising!

[Magnifique1908]

Just a guess, but it could be that the money that you've already put down is below the minimum cash deposit needed for sail and sign accounts. I know for 7 day cruises, cash deposits must be at least $300, or you must activate the account with a credit card.

[lahoban]

The total is 775.00 credits for a family of five. They still want me to put another 1000.00 cash down on the day we sail. Or open with a charge 1000.00.

[Magnifique1908]

Actually that sounds about right. $775. split amongst five would be $155 per account, adding the 200 pp would bring it to $355 (I may have been off with the minimum, it could possibly be $350 for cash deposits). Unless you have small children in your family of five, this sounds about right. If there are small children, I'm wondering why they would need deposits that are so large....but usually kids are linked to their parents credit cards, so if the parents have cash deposits, the deposits may need to be larger to accomodate the children. Once again this is just a guess.

[KelSue]

Sorry to jump on your thread but if I'm sailing on a 4 day cruise how much will I need for my sign and sale?

 

Sailing with DH and 2 kids. (13 & 16)

 

I already planned on tips of 160.00, $200.00 (drinks for me) and $50.00 each for the kids. DH said he will not be using his card.

 

Will they open my account with 460.00?

 

Need to know... I'm on a budget.

 

Budget cruiser!

 

KelSue

[Ems21]

I wasnt aware that you had to put a deposit down on your sail and sign card. Does anyone know what this deposit is for? Do you just spend your deposit, or do you get your money back at the end if you havent spent it all? I'm new, I've never cruised before...and this is the first time I have heard of this. If I'm going on a cruise with my mother and two sisters would we only get 1 sail & sign card? or would each of us get one? or is it your choice? Thanks in advance for any help!!!:)

[Magnifique1908]

I wasnt aware that you had to put a deposit down on your sail and sign card. Does anyone know what this deposit is for? Do you just spend your deposit, or do you get your money back at the end if you havent spent it all? I'm new, I've never cruised before...and this is the first time I have heard of this. If I'm going on a cruise with my mother and two sisters would we only get 1 sail & sign card? or would each of us get one? or is it your choice? Thanks in advance for any help!!!:)

 

I'm a new cruiser as well, but I have done lots of research. I do know that everyone gets there own sail and sign. You only need a deposit if you are using cash and the minimum depends on the length of the cruise. You can also activate your sail and sign account with a credit card. I'm sure the more experienced cruisers can tell you the benefits to both methods. I've also read around here of people getting checks at the end of their cruise for money that they did not use, so I'm sure you can get back whatever you don't spend.

[helicopter]

They ask for a $200.00 deposit/per person on the cruise for cash deposit or $200.00 deposit against credit or debit card. However, I can assure you (since this was the case with friends cruising with us last year, that if you walk up to the pursers desk with $500.00 (350.00 of that will cover tips, based on 5 people) they will take the money. Anything not used will be refunded at the end of the cruise. On NCL they refund on the very last morning in cash. I believe on Carnival it was on the last night in the form of a check placed under the door.

[phlydude]

Just as a FYI to everyone who is unfamiliar with these cards, this is your room key and purchasing card on the ship (aside from the older Carnival ships which room key is seperate).

If you plan on drinking anything, you must use your S&S card, cash is not accepted for drinks.

The casino and stores on board are the only ones who take cash (maybe the infirmiry too?) aside from the pursor's desk when paying your tab from your S&S card.

[tef43]

The casino and stores on board are the only ones who take cash

The stores aboard ship do *not* accept any payment other than via S&S.

[phlydude]

The stores aboard ship do *not* accept any payment other than via S&S.

 

WOW, nice to know. Not even the jewelry store huh?

 

You have to wonder if the credit card companies are in alliance with the cruise lines in efforts to get more spending to occur...

[tef43]

Not even the jewelry store huh?

None of them.

 

The *only* place cash is accepted is in the casino, and for things such as bingo.

[north texas]

I always give them a credit card to open the S&S accounts...

then the last night I take my travel checks down and pay in full....anything we use the S&S card for late the last night and the last morning just goes thru to the mastercard. Last week it was $2.30 - for the piece of carrot cake my wife and I shared at midnight.......

 

This worked fine fior two adults and two teens all on the same account. They will give you a summary by card and then a total. The teens had to pays for anything they brought other than cokes.

 

TIPS: I like the old process of the envelopes - so when I went down the last night I asked to to remove the automatic tips and give me envelopes for cash tipping. THEY HAD NOT PROBLEMS doing so.

[Wennfred]

On Carnival what we do is use our Carnival Seamiles cc so we can get Double Points on it, then on the last day at 5am when we get our Bill we can go down to the Pursers office and pay it off or Check out using the T.V. screen in the Cabin. Never opened a Cash account, seems like alot of trouble.

[BettyB2]

Just as a FYI to everyone who is unfamiliar with these cards, this is your room key and purchasing card on the ship (aside from the older Carnival ships which room key is seperate).

If you plan on drinking anything, you must use your S&S card, cash is not accepted for drinks.

The casino and stores on board are the only ones who take cash (maybe the infirmiry too?) aside from the pursor's desk when paying your tab from your S&S card.

Why is it that on the CONQUEST we could ONLY use our S&S card in the stores on board and not CASH OR TRAVELERS CHECKS? It really stunk for us as we brought $1200 in checks and cash and could not use either..our S&S at end of the week was crazy with all the gift purchases we made. Also we had three $500 gift cards from our bank to apply to our S&S and they would NOT take them at the pursers desk since there is NO NAME on them. This made matters worse as we then had to take $1000 more out of account to add to S&S, Our gift cards were only good in port and we only used one of them. be careful

[KenMo]

This is from my catalogue "3 to 16 Day Cruise Vacations 2005 & 2006" from Carnival:

 

Sail & Sign

For your convenience, charges for most of your onboard purchases are made to your Sail & Sign account. A required application form will be included with your documents. Carnival accepts AmEx, VISA, MC, Discover and cash for deposit on your account. (A minimum deposit will be required for cash accounts: 2 to 4 Day Cruises - $100; 5 to 8 Day Cruises - $200; 9 Day or Longer Cruises - $350.)

 

Fun Ship Dollars (I found this on their website.)

Available in $25, $50, $100 and $500 denominations, customized Fun Ship Dollars can be used towards the purchase of a cruise or as an onboard credit.

 

Sounds like you only need to deposit $225 more if your total is $775. They will take tips off first thing...but like someone said earlier, they will give you a check under your door the last night if you have any money due you!

 

 

[KenMo]

Why is it that on the CONQUEST we could ONLY use our S&S card in the stores on board and not CASH OR TRAVELERS CHECKS?

 

That's the way it is on all Carnival ships......there are only a few places that take cash. The casino, bingo, etc. None of the stores on any of the ships (that I've been on anyway) accept cash.

[cruzlovinmom]

I hope I'm not being dense, but this is my first cruise (Elation - July 10th) and I just want to understand how everything works. Did I understand correctly that to activate the sail and sign account that they will charge $200 per person to our credit card? If this is the case, what happens if you don't spend that much money apiece? Do they credit your credit card or send you a check? Also, do they charge $200 apiece for teenagers? We're bringing our 14 year old DD and her best friend.

 

My husband is great - loving and patient - but he doesn't like surprises so I just want to be able to tell him how it works. Then he won't have a heart attack when we're embarking at the pier. lol

 

Thanks for your patience.

[phlydude]

They never tell you how much they are charging, they just place a hold for a certain amount.

 

You can check your purchases on the TV and when the end of the cruise comes, they charge the exact amount to your credit card. Any holds are released and the only charges will be from the S&S purchases.

[dlb1357]

I hope I'm not being dense, but this is my first cruise (Elation - July 10th) and I just want to understand how everything works. Did I understand correctly that to activate the sail and sign account that they will charge $200 per person to our credit card? If this is the case, what happens if you don't spend that much money apiece? Do they credit your credit card or send you a check? Also, do they charge $200 apiece for teenagers? We're bringing our 14 year old DD and her best friend.

 

My husband is great - loving and patient - but he doesn't like surprises so I just want to be able to tell him how it works. Then he won't have a heart attack when we're embarking at the pier. lol

 

Thanks for your patience.

Nothing is actually charged to your credit card when you use it as a deposit. We used our credit card for the S&S and it wasn't actually charged/applied to my credit card until 2 days after the cruise. I prefer to save up the cash beforehand but leave it at home and to use my credit card as I get points towards air/gift certs/car rentals, etc. Then I just transfer the money to pay off my credit card as soon as the charge shows up.

 

It sounds like the best way to do it and avoid a $200/person deposit in cash is to use a credit card to activate the S&S account and then go down to the pursers desk on the last night and pay the total off in cash.

[cruzlovinmom]

Thanks so much! I think I've got it now. Will be able to tell my husband exactly what to expect and save on his nerves:D

[KenMo]

I hope I'm not being dense, but this is my first cruise (Elation - July 10th) and I just want to understand how everything works. Did I understand correctly that to activate the sail and sign account that they will charge $200 per person to our credit card? If this is the case, what happens if you don't spend that much money apiece? Do they credit your credit card or send you a check? Also, do they charge $200 apiece for teenagers?

 

I don't know how much they "hold" against your credit card, if anything. The cash amounts are only if you are not using a credit card to activate your S&S.

 

If using a credit card, they will only charge the exact amount you spent on your S&S. If using cash and they owe you money, they will slip a check under your door the night before you debark.

 

I don't know what they do about teenagers....sorry, can't help you with that one!

 

Hope this helps!!

[helicopter]

They will be put a $200.00/person hold on your credit card initially. So if three people are traveling and you have say $1000.00 available on your credit card, only $400.00 is going to be available if you wanted to use it in one of the ports. This is based on a 7 day cruise. If you use a debit card they will put the initially hold and as you get closer to your hold they will hold more, plus a certain amount over that. With a debit card it can take a while to get the extra hold off. I would advise using a cash deposit over a debit/check card. I put down cash, don't have to worry about tying up unused credit on credit card. Do whatever you feel will work for you. There is no wrong way, just to each his own.

[itzgeralyn]

i had called Carnival 3 times last week, getting 3 different answers on this sign & sail card business. There are 3 young adults with our party ( 18-20 yr old ) that cannot afford to put $200 per person, especially since they dont drink or gamble. they are buying pop cards, so they need that money for Port excursions. I was worried about whether they would be denied passage if they did not put that amount on the sign & sail accounts. the first person told me $200 per person. The 2nd person told me $10 per day tips Plus $50. The 3rd person....the one I made go verify with a supervisor....came back and said aside from the $10 per day tip ( $70 total )..the rest is descretionary and that they no longer have a minimum dollar amount required. I sure hope thats right. these kids only have about a $100 spending money on tp of the tip money. if they put it all on the sign & sail they will have NO cash for the islands. And, No, there isnt enuff available credit for any of us to cover them on our credit cards. we are all on a budget too unfortunatly.

they shouldnt take your money for the cruise without telling you its really going to cost you an additional $200 per person if thats what it is.