Princess-What Are You Doing With My Credit Card????

[wizard-of-roz]

I just got of the Sapphire on Saturday...I thought my charges were done....NOOOOOOO! Princess still has pending charges on my credit card in excess of $560 over my limit. I only use one specific credit for cruising, it has a low limit on it. When I get home I pay the majority of my bill online and start making payments towards my upcoming cruise. My travel agent said the card declined, I called the CC company, they say there are pending charges exceeding my limit from Princess.

I called Princess they say there are "ALWAYS" pending charges a few days after the cruise and then they start dropping off towards the end of the week you depart the ship......WHAT??????????????? This is news to me.

For all you credit card guru's out there is this normal?

[Pam in CA]

What this is are "holds" put on your card and it's up to the CC company how fast they are removed. You were given double-talk by the person at your credit card company. Different cruise lines do different things. HAL puts a $60/day/pp automatic hold on your card BEFORE you board, when you enter your credit card info in the HAL personalizer. Princess puts a hold every night (I think it's every night) of your cruise for the amount on your folio. Some credit cards release holds within 24 hours, others keep holds for far longer. Sounds like this is a credit card problem. :(

[Shogun]

Hi Roz,

 

US may be differ from UK but only ever get one charge at end of cruise,

 

never hada pending charge, even with booking direct with Princess

 

yours Shogun

[Sillyjilly]

Yes, they do put hold amounts. I'm assuming it's to cover themselves for those who overspend and then can't pay their bill.

 

I put cash on my account if I'm near my CC limit. They are always very friendly about it.

[StLouisCruisers]

I saw pending charges on my credit card when we returned from the Star March 19. It was like daily holds for purchases in the boutiques, and the hotel charge for two. Day by day the pending charges would drop off. This was the first time I'd ever noticed it occurring. Could be because it was a brand new credit card.

[wizard-of-roz]

Honestly, I hate credit cards....but the alternative of carrying around cash is just not doable [at least not safely] in our society.

[Amuse Bouche]

I'm so glad the days of being required to give them a credit card are over. I use cash now, and cash only. They require the $60 per day. I go to the counter with travelers checks, and any balance after the cruise is refunded in cash on the spot (at least with HAL-I'm just now getting back to Princess after 12 yrs. Happily). Account closed. I use my debit card for shore purchases. I purchase excursions and ship necessities before the vacation. When I'm home from vacation, I have no balance to worry about. That's the most beautiful thing about cruising...you can prepurchase during the year before sailing.

[Loonbeam]

As noted, holds are the likely issue. What makes it even more fun is for certain types of transactions, some CC processors are now holding more than the vendor requests (most notably restaurants) and some of the processors keep the holds as much as 2 weeks.

 

The problem is that the CC companies don't necessarily match the holds with the transactions in a timely manner, so if Princess puts $500 in holds over the course of a cruise and then runs a charge for $520 you THINK they would clear the hold. Nope. CC locks up $1020 of your limit until the hold clears.

[sonnenschein]

I don't understand, how can you use a low limit credit card on your cruise and then be surprised you went over this limit by 500.00+

Since you are not new to cruising you should have been aware of the temporary holds the cruise companies places on your card. That is done to insure cruisers can pay for what they spend on the ships,it is not money they are keeping since the holds come of once the bill is paid.We always use a high limit credit card which has no outstanding bills on it,this way we don't even notice the holds and when our bill comes in upon our return we pay it off in full.If we could not afford to do it this way,we would choose a cheaper way to vacation,which we had to do for many years when we were raising our children.

[highheel girl]

We never max out our cards and would never cruise with a close to maxed out card. :eek:

[Amuse Bouche]

I don't understand, how can you use a low limit credit card on your cruise and then be surprised you went over this limit by 500.00+

Since you are not new to cruising you should have been aware of the temporary holds the cruise companies places on your card. That is done to insure cruisers can pay for what they spend on the ships,it is not money they are keeping since the holds come of once the bill is paid.We always use a high limit credit card which has no outstanding bills on it,this way we don't even notice the holds and when our bill comes in upon our return we pay it off in full.If we could not afford to do it this way,we would choose a cheaper way to vacation,which we had to do for many years when we were raising our children.

 

Wow. I'm sorry, but I'm hoping you don't realize how not nice this sounds. Does it really matter how one decides to pay for their dream vacation? If they choose to save money in a coffee can for 10 yrs, or can afford to toss thousands of dollars on an empty high limit credit card and write a big fat check out of their busting to the seams checking account...is really no one's business.

Some people don't have high limit credit cards, because either they can't get them, or choose not to tie up their credit in one.

That doesn't mean they have to have a Griswolds vacation.

[Pam in CA]

I don't understand, how can you use a low limit credit card on your cruise and then be surprised you went over this limit by 500.00+

Since you are not new to cruising you should have been aware of the temporary holds the cruise companies places on your card. That is done to insure cruisers can pay for what they spend on the ships,it is not money they are keeping since the holds come of once the bill is paid.We always use a high limit credit card which has no outstanding bills on it,this way we don't even notice the holds and when our bill comes in upon our return we pay it off in full.If we could not afford to do it this way,we would choose a cheaper way to vacation,which we had to do for many years when we were raising our children.

It's easy if the credit card company isn't releasing the holds fast enough. I don't know the banking industry but I assume that once the final payment is made, all holds should be cleared no matter what.

 

As I said, it's easy to max out a cc if the bank isn't releasing the hold. Let's say that after five nights, your folio is $400; after seven nights, it's $600; after ten nights, it's $1000, which is your final amount. Let's say your credit limit is $1,500 on that card. Certainly enough to pay your folio without any problem but if the dam bank doesn't release the holds, you're suddenly $500 over your card's limit. That's not your fault and you haven't been irresponsible. You've checked your folio and you know it's within your cc limit by 50%. That's not the OP's fault.

 

Many people deliberately travel with a card with a low credit limit. It's a form of credit protection. I use one myself and have one with a much higher limit in case of an emergency that I keep in the safe.

[JulieRose]

Oh, This terrifies me! I only have one credit card with a low limit. I was planning on giving them my bank card but being as this is my wedding cruise, you can imagine that we are tightly budgeted. Should we get visa gift cards to tie to our account before we go to try to prevent this from happening? The overdraft fees would be astronomical! Are there other ways around this like prepurchasing onboard credit?

 

actually, here's another thought, my mother (who is traveling with us) has credit cards with limits higher than I make in a year. Could I link my onboard account to her credit card and then settle up with them on my own bank card on the last night of the cruise?

[Amuse Bouche]

Oh, This terrifies me! I only have one credit card with a low limit. I was planning on giving them my bank card but being as this is my wedding cruise, you can imagine that we are tightly budgeted. Should we get visa gift cards to tie to our account before we go to try to prevent this from happening? The overdraft fees would be astronomical! Are there other ways around this like prepurchasing onboard credit?

 

actually, here's another thought, my mother (who is traveling with us) has credit cards with limits higher than I make in a year. Could I link my onboard account to her credit card and then settle up with them on my own credit card on the last night of the cruise?

 

Congratulations! Princess will allow you to put a cash deposit down on your OBC account, then refund you what you don't use.

[JulieRose]

Thank you!

 

okay, so if I were to give them, say, $1000 and then keep an eye on my OBC account and go give them more if/when we get close to having spent that, we would avoid the issue of them placing holds on the account? Would I have to give them cash money or can I put that on a card? (I assume cash is better because that is how they would then refund it.) We anticipate about $1000 for soda cards, auto tips, and wedding related expenses alone.

[caribill]

actually, here's another thought, my mother (who is traveling with us) has credit cards with limits higher than I make in a year. Could I link my onboard account to her credit card and then settle up with them on my own bank card on the last night of the cruise?

 

Yes, she can authorize you as a user of her credit card with the Personalizer.

[CMcG]

Oh, This terrifies me! I only have one credit card with a low limit. I was planning on giving them my bank card but being as this is my wedding cruise, you can imagine that we are tightly budgeted. Should we get visa gift cards to tie to our account before we go to try to prevent this from happening? The overdraft fees would be astronomical! Are there other ways around this like prepurchasing onboard credit?

 

actually, here's another thought, my mother (who is traveling with us) has credit cards with limits higher than I make in a year. Could I link my onboard account to her credit card and then settle up with them on my own bank card on the last night of the cruise?

 

Congratulations - I wish you many years of wedded bliss!

 

You can gift yourself onboard credit - go to page 17 -

 

http://www.princess.com/learn/onboard/gifts_services/Gifts_Services.pdf

 

I think you can also specify to do a gift for the auto-gratuities but you would have to ask about the item # for that.

[caribill]

I don't understand, how can you use a low limit credit card on your cruise and then be surprised you went over this limit by 500.00+.

 

It's easy to understand.

 

If you have, for example, a $600 limit and run up charges of only $550, you would not expect to be over your limit.

 

Usually the actual charges are processed against the holds, not added to them.

 

For example, if you use your credit card at the pump at a gas station, a hold will be placed on the card for the maximum the card allows to be charged at a pump. Then the actual charge is made against that hold. However, the rest of the amount on the hold may not go away for several days. Example: Use your card at the pump and a $75 hold is placed on the card. Pump $40 worth of gas and it is paid out of that $75 hold. However, the other $35 will still be on hold for several days.

 

Debit cards work the same way. If you do not have much cushion of funds in your account, holds can put you over your available cash even though you never charge more than you have to the card.

 

As someone indicated, when you use your credit card at a restaurant, a hold is placed on the account, probably for 25% more than the actual charge, so that you can then add a generous tip to the crage and still be within the hold amount.

[AllmanJoy89]

In this day & age of credit card/debit card fraud, I would NEVER EVER use a Debit Card of ANY kind for vacation purchases. If your account is compromised by a card skimmer, you have just given direct access to wipe out everything in your checking account. For those who have payments set to be automatically deducted, these payments could then cause your account to be over-drawn causing overdraft fees.

 

The safest way is to either use cash or an actual credit card!

[Carolyn R]

I always gift myself on board and casino credits before my cruise.

[lois1112]

I just got of the Sapphire on Saturday...I thought my charges were done....NOOOOOOO! Princess still has pending charges on my credit card in excess of $560 over my limit. I only use one specific credit for cruising, it has a low limit on it. When I get home I pay the majority of my bill online and start making payments towards my upcoming cruise. My travel agent said the card declined, I called the CC company, they say there are pending charges exceeding my limit from Princess.

 

I called Princess they say there are "ALWAYS" pending charges a few days after the cruise and then they start dropping off towards the end of the week you depart the ship......WHAT??????????????? This is news to me.

 

For all you credit card guru's out there is this normal?

 

wow...thanks Roz, I never knew this. so how were the changes on the sapphire?

[JulieRose]

Thank you all for your advice. I think I will be gifting our account. Does each person have their own OBC account or is it per cabin?

[rdsqrl]

Thank you all for your advice. I think I will be gifting our account. Does each person have their own OBC account or is it per cabin?

Each person has their own.

[EKELLEY]

Oh, This terrifies me! I only have one credit card with a low limit. I was planning on giving them my bank card but being as this is my wedding cruise, you can imagine that we are tightly budgeted. Should we get visa gift cards to tie to our account before we go to try to prevent this from happening? The overdraft fees would be astronomical! Are there other ways around this like prepurchasing onboard credit?

 

actually, here's another thought, my mother (who is traveling with us) has credit cards with limits higher than I make in a year. Could I link my onboard account to her credit card and then settle up with them on my own bank card on the last night of the cruise?

 

For our Alaskan cruise in August, I have been purchasing a 100.00 onboard credit every month since January and will until we cruise, for our excursions since they are very pricey. Also our son & daughter-in-law gave us a 150.00 onboard credit for Christmas. This way most if not all of our onboard expenses will be paid by the end of the cruise.

You could suggest that people give you on board credits as a wedding present.

[JulieRose]

For our Alaskan cruise in August, I have been purchasing a 100.00 onboard credit every month since January and will until we cruise, for our excursions since they are very pricey. Also our son & daughter-in-law gave us a 150.00 onboard credit for Christmas. This way most if not all of our onboard expenses will be paid by the end of the cruise.

You could suggest that people give you on board credits as a wedding present.

 

 

We actually had 2 registries, one with Bed Bath and Beyond for the traditional and an Amazon registry asking for OBC for various things. We're a week away from leaving for the wedding and we've received 2 gifts. One from the BB&B registry and one from a fellow CC member who bought one of the few physical things listed on our amazon registry (a waterproof camera housing which we will use liberally on the cruise.) We're not complaining as we invited 150 and only 6 will attend. We didn't expect anything and still don't.