Establishing shipboard account

[Rosethorn40]

What type of hold, if any, does NCL put on your credit card when you establish your shipboard account? Some cruise lines (Such as HAL) put a hold that is a predetermined amount at the beginning of your cruise based on the length of the cruise and the number of people on that particular shipboard account. Others, such as Princess run your actual charges each day.

[Justsyd]

What type of hold, if any, does NCL put on your credit card when you establish your shipboard account? Some cruise lines (Such as HAL) put a hold that is a predetermined amount at the beginning of your cruise based on the length of the cruise and the number of people on that particular shipboard account. Others, such as Princess run your actual charges each day.

 

From the NCL Website:

 

How do I pay for onboard expenses?

For your convenience, all shipboard expenses are charged to NCL's special onboard credit program. Sign up on the first day of your cruise, by establishing your method of payment with Visa®, MasterCard®, American Express®, Discover®, Diners Club®, travelers checks or cash. If you choose to settle your account with cash, a deposit will be required in advance. You may also use your debit card; however, please be advised that NCL obtains pre-authorization which some banks may hold for up to 30 days.

 

Cash/Traveler's Checks Procedures

You can deposit cash or US Traveler's Checks into your onboard account. To start, US$100 per person per day is required, although more can be deposited depending on what you plan to spend. If you don't have enough money down to cover expenses, your account(s) will be closed and you cannot purchase anything until more money is deposited. You can deposit as much money as often as you'd like throughout the cruise, however, refunds cannot be made until the day of disembarkation for any excess. US Traveler's Checks can be cashed onboard and are the same as cash.

 

**Personal checks will not be accepted, nor can they be cashed onboard.

[hallmarkk]

my sister is on the sky this week, I explained how cruises work, but she didn't listen anyway yesterday she left on the sky but called my mom to put 350.00 in her bank account, or else she couldn't cruise it is her and her husband (I love my sister but this is crazy, if she didn't have the money she shouldn't of gone crusing) I think her paycheck went in her account but hasn't cleared, so her bank denied her bank card and she probably doesn't have a credit card, would they of kicked her off the ship if she hadn't gotten a hold of mom???

[garycarla]

Whatever you do, do NOT confuse rules for a debit card with rules for a credit card.

 

Repeat, do not confuse debit card with credit card.

[hallmarkk]

Whatever you do, do NOT confuse rules for a debit card with rules for a credit card.

 

Repeat, do not confuse debit card with credit card.

So I think my sister used her debit card, so what is the hold on that????

[garycarla]

If a debit card, the hold is different and could stay for up to 30 days, as they warn you at just about every hotel desk and car rental desk I have seen.

 

Any overcharge on a debit can impact your checking your account.

 

You might want to do a search on DEBIT to find stories of problems.

 

Yes, plenty of people use debit cards with no problem. A very very small amount have problems with credit cards - very rare.

[sparks1093]

So I think my sister used her debit card, so what is the hold on that????

 

I don't know what the initial hold was but when we disembarked from the Sky it looks like they put a hold on the account equal to what our balance was on the day before disembarkation. Then they ran the correct total through after we disembarked, which included any last minute charges. The hold disappeared relatively quickly but for several hours there were two sets of charges on the account. I do not know what kind of hold they put on the card initially because I wasn't checking my account while on the ship.

[sunflower47]

They say for cash to figure $100/person per day so basically for 2 of us on a 7 day cruise we should hand them $1400 for our OB account?

 

How much do they take as a hold off of your credit card when you first get on board to establish your account?

[MichFish]

Just got off the Pearl on Sunday - and I am OCD on watching my CC's while on vacation - Thank you Citibank App.

 

They put an initial hold of $300.00, then another $300.00 when my account went over $300.00.

 

This was exactly in line with what I read on the FAQ's on the NCL site.

 

The actual charge just hit today - the $600.00 hold has not yet been released.

[MichFish]

They say for cash to figure $100/person per day so basically for 2 of us on a 7 day cruise we should hand them $1400 for our OB account?

 

How much do they take as a hold off of your credit card when you first get on board to establish your account?

 

I also heard this $100/day rule - it sounded high to me before I went, and after I finished - it still sounds high. My total bill was just under $400.00 for the 7 day cruise - I don't drink much, I had 3 specialty restaraunt charges, and more coffee than I care to admit to!

[hallmarkk]

so what would the Sky ship of done if she couldn't get this resolved before the ship sailed, kicked her off, she had been in Fl for 2 days before she sailed and she rented a car and stayed in hotels, so she must of used her card

[njhorseman]

They say for cash to figure $100/person per day so basically for 2 of us on a 7 day cruise we should hand them $1400 for our OB account?

 

How much do they take as a hold off of your credit card when you first get on board to establish your account?

 

No...they'll be willing to take about $200 for starters...which is $100 per person for the first day. As you spend it down you'll have to add more to your account. NCL's wording on this item is very poorly written and misleading. It's almost incredible that they've still not modified it.

[ourfamilylovescruising]

so I dont see an amount if you use a CC so maybe they charge it ever day?

[t-and-t]

We had a $300 hold placed on our credit card for our 12 day Mediterranean cruise last November. We also had some onboard credit, and NCL put this towards our purchases before ever touching the credit card. After the onboard credit was used up, I went down a few times and paid off our balance with cash so another hold wouldn't be placed on the card. That procedure works out well for us!

 

FYI...one NCL rep told me beforehand that regardless of what they say on the website, each port seems to do it their own way. Case in point: the website says that for a cash deposit they require $100 per person per day, which for our cruise would have been $2400. Out of curiosity, I inquired in Barcelona about this, and they said the cash deposit was $500 total.

 

I wish I could provide you with some solid information, but from what I can gather it really does differ port to port. Either way, we thoroughly enjoyed our NCL cruise and can't wait for the next - 6 months from today!

[surrocruiser]

My last cruise was with MSC and they charged the on board account balance to my card every other day. I was only prepared for the $300 hold. By the time the second charge hit, I had a note in my account to come see them first thing in the morning bc my total was $5 over the $300. I don't know if thats how the credit cards work with all lines.

 

I'm running into the same issue again this trip. Only a $300 limit (only have credit cards for travel and really try not to use them) and plan to pay cash but would like to avoid the lines of embarkation day. Anyone know if my card would be OK until the 2nd day of the cruise? I will need it to cover 2 cabins, so 4 people. :o