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

[mummyrose]

when new to cruising we got caught too...we have a debit visa which had quite a few $ in and came home to all sorts going on with our card....We had figures coming out that were strange and after our disembarkement......We ended up ringing Princess in concern....they had no idea to this day what the extra charges were!!! ($800) but they were holding close to $3000 of our cash close to christmas....We had to make several calls to get them to clear it up...

 

We now travel with cash and 2 debit visas....one which is for cruising only and will have enough funds in it if needed....

[dmwnc1959]

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

 

Two years ago I went on a Celebrity cruise out of Baltimore. I don't have a credit card, and the cruise line does not require one to establish an account aboard the ship. I took $1000 cash with me and for several days pre-cruise walked around downtown Baltimore with a money belt stuffed with cash, and no one was the wiser. I felt perfectly safe.

 

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.

 

THANK YOU for clearing up a question before I ever had a chance to ask it! :D I have used CASH ONLY on my my last three cruises with Celebrity and do not have a credit card. It is good to know that Princess also allows a CASH ONLY option for my onboard account in October.

[Ethel5]

Since Princess gets an authorization every night and the bank puts a hold on the account for that amount each night, what I do is go down to the Purser's desk the last day and change credit cards.

[ONT-CA]

Since Princess gets an authorization every night and the bank puts a hold on the account for that amount each night, what I do is go down to the Purser's desk the last day and change credit cards.

 

We are at a loss to understand the idea of the "hold". As long as there is sufficient unused credit in our credit card account, why place a daily hold? Maybe we are missing something here for we give them a card number which they physically verify upon embarkation and print out our charge activity. When we get home the total of that activity is found on our credit card invoice. So why change credit cards on the final day? Sorry but we are having trouble with this one.

[wizard-of-roz]

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

 

The Sapphire is spectacular.....I'm not kidding, she's postively lovely. The International Cafe, the Pizza Parlor the whole Piazza area is so pretty. They opened-up Horizon Court so it's so much better now, just an easier flow of traffic and the photo area is also larger so you're not stuck behind "gobs" of people glaring at their pictures.

The sitting area in the Casino is nice for the smokers and even nicer for the non-smokers on "no smoking" nights. You can sit and wait for your friends or family members who just have to hit one more slot. My SIL won $4,000 on video poker on Tuesday and then again on Wednesday.

There was smoking on Promenade deck for people who couldn't make it to Churchill's.

We had a pretty cold and rainy cruise but the days and nights that allowed for it had people sitting at MUTS and enjoying it.

I thought the food was excellent.......we never missed a meal. The crew is over-the-top helpful & friendly.

The overall feel of the Sapphire Princess is wonderful and I can't wait to get back on her.

[wizard-of-roz]

when new to cruising we got caught too...we have a debit visa which had quite a few $ in and came home to all sorts going on with our card....We had figures coming out that were strange and after our disembarkement......We ended up ringing Princess in concern....they had no idea to this day what the extra charges were!!! ($800) but they were holding close to $3000 of our cash close to christmas....We had to make several calls to get them to clear it up...

 

We now travel with cash and 2 debit visas....one which is for cruising only and will have enough funds in it if needed....

 

I'm strongly considering using CASH ONLY when I board next time. This over-charging stuff is really annoying and extremely bothersome to clear-up later!

[FraudBroad]

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?

 

 

Hello sweet lady!

What happens is Princess puts "pending" charges (also known as holds) on your account throught the cruise. At the end of the cruise, they put a charge through for the full amount. It can take up to TEN days for the pending charges to drop off. You can TRY calling the credit card company and ask them to remove the pending charges since the full amount posted, but it's doubtful that they will do that for you.

 

Miss you sweet lady!

Natalie

[wizard-of-roz]

Hello sweet lady!

What happens is Princess puts "pending" charges (also known as holds) on your account throught the cruise. At the end of the cruise, they put a charge through for the full amount. It can take up to TEN days for the pending charges to drop off. You can TRY calling the credit card company and ask them to remove the pending charges since the full amount posted, but it's doubtful that they will do that for you.

 

Miss you sweet lady!

Natalie

 

Hi Nat,

Thanks for the infor. Hope all is well and that you and your beautiful family made it home safely. I hope to see you again......

Much Love,

Roz

[hansi]

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.

 

That is not the practice in the UK. I guess you have to sign a slip, we have chip and pin which is instantly authorised or rejected in all places, so no holds.

[Ethel5]

We are at a loss to understand the idea of the "hold". As long as there is sufficient unused credit in our credit card account, why place a daily hold? Maybe we are missing something here for we give them a card number which they physically verify upon embarkation and print out our charge activity. When we get home the total of that activity is found on our credit card invoice. So why change credit cards on the final day? Sorry but we are having trouble with this one.

 

OK. What happens is, for instance, day 1 charges are $100 - they get an authorization for that. Day 2 charges are $75 - they get authorization for that. Day 3 charges are $300 - they get authorization for that....and on and on. So each night the bank is getting requests for authorizations. Then at the end of the cruise, Princess puts through a request for the total amount. In the meantime, the bank is still waiting for the charges from each nights authorizations. In other words, you actually need double the amount open on your credit card. For some people, this might be a problem. Others, like me, don't like all the "holds" waiting on their cards because it can take up to 10 days for them to drop off.

[lois1112]

For all of you who felt it was your place to make nasty comments to Roz...shame on you. I have met her and she is a wonderful warm person.

 

Shame on you for judging!

[sonnenschein]

I have never meant to be judgemental or nasty, I am actually known as a nice lady myself. I brought up the reason for a higher limit credit card to inform cruisers of what the ship lines are doing to insure payment. And as you all can see from the many questions and comments there are a lot of cruisers that were not aware of the holds.No offends were ever intended by me.

I have worked in banking for many years and would never use a debit card,there is no real protection to the holder since the money comes directly out of their checking account. I use only credit cards that give cash back:),if for any reason the account gets compromised I would only be out 50.00 dollars and the rest be covered by the credit card co. I have always been very careful with my charges and pay off in full. That is one of the reason I have a higher credit line, NOT because I am rich and rolling in money. I am about as average as can be when it comes to my income,but I am also smart with my money.

To the beautiful young Bride on her honeymoon,I wish you happiness and many happy years of married bliss. We celebrated our golden wedding anniversery (50years) last Year on the Golden Princess

[windsor26]

That is not the practice in the UK. I guess you have to sign a slip, we have chip and pin which is instantly authorised or rejected in all places, so no holds.

 

It is the same here in Australia and although we always use our credit card when cruising I have never had it 'held' at all It must be a USA credit card company thing. I clear our card every month by standing order and never had a problem while cruising with our Oz card or UK card

[Ldyandrea]

Actually, for all of the many reasons people have listed, this is why I now use only cash for my on-board account. I find it not only helps me avoid those credit card/debit card shenanigans, but also causes me to keep closer track of what I'm spending onboard. I've done this my last few cruises with no problem at all.

[ONT-CA]

OK. What happens is, for instance, day 1 charges are $100 - they get an authorization for that. Day 2 charges are $75 - they get authorization for that. Day 3 charges are $300 - they get authorization for that....and on and on. So each night the bank is getting requests for authorizations. Then at the end of the cruise, Princess puts through a request for the total amount. In the meantime, the bank is still waiting for the charges from each nights authorizations. In other words, you actually need double the amount open on your credit card. For some people, this might be a problem. Others, like me, don't like all the "holds" waiting on their cards because it can take up to 10 days for them to drop off.

 

Have been on the board since 2006 and this is the first the system has been explained to us. Thank you.

[wizard-of-roz]

For all of you who felt it was your place to make nasty comments to Roz...shame on you. I have met her and she is a wonderful warm person.

 

Shame on you for judging!

 

Lois, thank you for stepping in for me. I hope we get to cruise together again soon.

[Ldyandrea]

OK. What happens is, for instance, day 1 charges are $100 - they get an authorization for that. Day 2 charges are $75 - they get authorization for that. Day 3 charges are $300 - they get authorization for that....and on and on. So each night the bank is getting requests for authorizations. Then at the end of the cruise, Princess puts through a request for the total amount. In the meantime, the bank is still waiting for the charges from each nights authorizations. In other words, you actually need double the amount open on your credit card. For some people, this might be a problem. Others, like me, don't like all the "holds" waiting on their cards because it can take up to 10 days for them to drop off.

 

It seems to me that using either a debit or a credit card, you get craziness ensuing with various holds. The only way you don't deal with that stuff at all is by paying in cash. I usually put down $300-$500 for the week (Have done this on Princess, Royal Caribbean, and NCL with no problems, btw) and add a little more if need be later on. Generally though, I get the remainder of my cash back at the end of my cruise, and no annoying holds of any kind to deal with when I get home! Yay! :D

 

The things to keep in mind when using cash toward your onboard account is:

 

1. You have to stop at the guest services desk on the ship to give them the cash, they won't take it at the terminal upon check-in. You also have to stop by there the last night or disembarkation morning to settle up with them and get the remainder of your money back (if any).

 

2. You can't use your sail card onboard for credit in the casino, but they take cash anyway, so who cares?

 

3. If you manage to spend more than you have on your account, they could "turn off" your card for further spending, but that's as a last resort, and they will send you a polite note or call to let you know before that actually happens most times.

[Billy and Charlie's Mum]

It is the same here in Australia and although we always use our credit card when cruising I have never had it 'held' at all It must be a USA credit card company thing. I clear our card every month by standing order and never had a problem while cruising with our Oz card or UK card

 

Phew..... I was starting to think I was nuts as I have never had holds put on our cc. It must be a USA CC thing. :D

[JulieRose]

Thanks to all of you fine people, I went crazy today on the phone prepaying tips, soda cards and a sizable OBC for each of us. I would rather pay it now and have them leave my bank account alone since I can't monitor it while at sea. I also found out that we were sent some gifts! Don't know exactly what but the lady told me there were "multiple other orders" on our account.

 

Thank you all for sharing your experience. My blood pressure will be much lower knowing we're covered and our bank card is not being messed with. With this information I might actually be able to Escape Completely.

[Amuse Bouche]

Thanks to all of you fine people, I went crazy today on the phone prepaying tips, soda cards and a sizable OBC for each of us. I would rather pay it now and have them leave my bank account alone since I can't monitor it while at sea. I also found out that we were sent some gifts! Don't know exactly what but the lady told me there were "multiple other orders" on our account.

 

Thank you all for sharing your experience. My blood pressure will be much lower knowing we're covered and our bank card is not being messed with. With this information I might actually be able to Escape Completely.

 

Congratulations again and have a wonderful wedding/honeymoon/cruise!

 

This reminded me. 13 yrs ago my husband and I took our honeymoon on the Regal Princess. You had to have a credit card back then. A few months ago, while going through some paperwork, I found the envelope I sealed our final on-board bill in. My husband laughed and suggested we finally look at it. Nope. It went back into the box. I suppose we will look at the bill someday. I have no idea how much it was. It was our honeymoon, so we indulged in everything. I spent 6 months dumping whatever surplus cash we had on payday onto that card. Random amounts. And used it again during that six months, so it would have taken some brainstorming to figure out how much it was by my payments. I did this on purpose. We had a wonderful honeymoon with no regrets! I don't recommend doing that tho! ;)

[caribill]

It is the same here in Australia and although we always use our credit card when cruising I have never had it 'held' at all It must be a USA credit card company thing.

 

It may be happening to you also.

 

You would not even know it is happening unless:

 

a) All the holds put you over your credit limit

or

b) You can look at your account online and see the holds (most banks do not display this information)

 

You might want to call your bank and ask if holds such as these are ever used by them.

[caribill]

We are at a loss to understand the idea of the "hold". As long as there is sufficient unused credit in our credit card account, why place a daily hold?

 

Let's say you have a credit limit of $5000.

 

You present your credit card for the cruise and the cruise line puts a hold on your credit for $400. This leaves you with $4600 unused credit.

 

The purpose of the hold is so the merchant (in this case the cruise line) knows they will get paid.

 

Without the hold, on day one you could give the cruise line the credit card, on day 2 buy a $5000 diamond on shore using up your entire line of credit, so when the cruise line asks for its money at the end of the cruise the credit card company will reject the request as you have no credit line left.

 

With a hold, the cruise line will get its money and the diamond purchase would be rejected.

[Treven]

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?

I almost always send myself $ before a cruise between $500-$1000. I always get $ back at the end of my cruise. Even though Princess has my credit card info, it's rarely ever touched once I make my final payment.

[JulieRose]

Congratulations again and have a wonderful wedding/honeymoon/cruise!

 

This reminded me. 13 yrs ago my husband and I took our honeymoon on the Regal Princess. You had to have a credit card back then. A few months ago, while going through some paperwork, I found the envelope I sealed our final on-board bill in. My husband laughed and suggested we finally look at it. Nope. It went back into the box. I suppose we will look at the bill someday. I have no idea how much it was. It was our honeymoon, so we indulged in everything. I spent 6 months dumping whatever surplus cash we had on payday onto that card. Random amounts. And used it again during that six months, so it would have taken some brainstorming to figure out how much it was by my payments. I did this on purpose. We had a wonderful honeymoon with no regrets! I don't recommend doing that tho! ;)

 

Thank you! We could never do that. We each have a credit card that allows us $300 and even though they keep trying to give us more, we keep refusing as it keeps our spending in check. I've been obsessive with my excel spread sheet showing every penny we've spent and everything we plan to spend. At the end of the day, for everything, it looks like we're going to come in at about $15,000. Honestly, in a world where spending upwards of $50,000-$100,000 on a wedding is common, we're getting a wedding and a honeymoon with zero debt for a price we can afford so we're very happy people!

[Amuse Bouche]

Thank you! We could never do that. We each have a credit card that allows us $300 and even though they keep trying to give us more, we keep refusing as it keeps our spending in check. I've been obsessive with my excel spread sheet showing every penny we've spent and everything we plan to spend. At the end of the day, for everything, it looks like we're going to come in at about $15,000. Honestly, in a world where spending upwards of $50,000-$100,000 on a wedding is common, we're getting a wedding and a honeymoon with zero debt for a price we can afford so we're very happy people!

 

Thats so smart! And yes, 15 is REALLY reasonable. With a cruise to boot! I had a spreadsheet for our wedding too. I had planned $500 for each of us on the cruise. But, I'd never cruised before, and my DH had never been to Alaska, so that budget went out the window at the first port, for excursions I didn't preplan :D. We were also two of four younger people on the cruise at that time, so we had the disco/club...whatever it was called, to ourselves the whole time. The drink tab had to be insane. LOL