Travel Money

[JYD Hawkeye]

Has anyone every used a Visa Travel Money card in the Caribbean? It is like a prepaid Visa card. My credit cards are small limit and don't want to fool around trying to get travelers cheques. Any good or bad stories using these.

[4merlurker]

I would like to know as well. I thought about using these at Atlantis in the Bahamas since they don't accept cash. I don't want to bring my "real" credit card off the ship.

[packedandready]

I've not heard of these. Hope you get some information.

[Merion_Mom]

Q: How do I pay for onboard purchases?

 

A: All of Royal Caribbean International ships operate on a "cashless" system, meaning your boarding card, (also known as your SeaPass card), will be used as a charge card to make all onboard purchases. Normally to activate this SeaPass® account, most guests provide a credit card, (American Express, Optima, MasterCard, Visa, Discover and Diner's Club), to have these purchases charged to at the end of their cruise. Additionally, the SeaPass system may be activated with traveler's checks, debit cards with a Visa or MasterCard logo, or cash.

In other words, JYD Hawkeye, no, you cannot use a prepaid VISA card.

 

A running tab of all your purchases will be kept under separate folio numbers for each guest and an itemized statement left in your stateroom the night before disembarkation. If you provided a credit card and there are no discrepancies, the amount will be charged to your account on the morning of disembarkation. If you have used traveler's checks or cash to activate the account, you will need to settle the account at the Guest Relations desk, (to either receive a reimbursement of the unused amount you originally left or to pay the balance of what you have charged over the amount of what you originally left).

 

Please note:

We require guests to place a deposit if they are paying for their SeaPass account with cash. There is a $500 daily limit on cash accounts for 7+ night sailings and $300 for 2/3/4/5 night sailings. Once the daily cash limit is reached, we will call the guest and inform the guest that the limit has been reached.

[4merlurker]

I was under the impression that, like myself, the OP meant to use this card OFF the ship :confused:

 

Does anyone have any experience with these cards on the islands?

[Spring Valley]

We use these everytime we cruise, instead of worrying about shady merchants in the islands keeping our credit card info, we get a travel visa card from our credit union and put $500 on each one for me and my wife, they work great! When you get home and you haven't used the balance, it is nice to carry around to have extra money to use when you need it.:D

 

Keith

[VFL Cruiser]

How about using a Pre-Paid Amex card? I know we used to carry travelers checks with us but you can hardly find those anymore.

[JulieRose]

 

Please note:

We require guests to place a deposit if they are paying for their SeaPass account with cash. There is a $500 daily limit on cash accounts for 7+ night sailings and $300 for 2/3/4/5 night sailings. Once the daily cash limit is reached, we will call the guest and inform the guest that the limit has been reached.

 

Does anyone know how much this deposit is?

[JYD Hawkeye]

Does anyone know how much this deposit is?

I have been told,regardless what the policy says, that they let you use the SeaPass account without a deposit until it gets up to a certain amount, and then they ask you to come pay some of it. Then you pay the balance at the end of the cruise.

Yes, I was talking about using the card off of the ship. Just didn't know how accepting retailers are about accepting them abroad.

[megr1125]

In my experience with them on the merchant end, they are a PITA...that said, several have used them apparently successfully.

 

you MUST know the balance...if you have say 200 on the card, and spend 300 , intending to pay the difference with another form of payment, the card will be declined and the funds MAY take several hours/days to be released....

 

YMMV...

[SLCfirsttimer]

I have been told,regardless what the policy says, that they let you use the SeaPass account without a deposit until it gets up to a certain amount, and then they ask you to come pay some of it. Then you pay the balance at the end of the cruise.

Yes, I was talking about using the card off of the ship. Just didn't know how accepting retailers are about accepting them abroad.

 

If it has a Visa logo on it, it should function the exact same as a "normal" Visa. The only problem you could encounter is as you get close to running out of money on the card, if the merchant does a pre-authorization for more than what is on the card, it will decline. Typically you see larger pre-authorizations for places like gas stations and hotels, if you are using it just for smaller onshore purchases you should be fine.

 

P.S. if I am wrong I will buy you a beer, we are both on the Mariner on 4/14. :)

[JYD Hawkeye]

If it has a Visa logo on it, it should function the exact same as a "normal" Visa. The only problem you could encounter is as you get close to running out of money on the card, if the merchant does a pre-authorization for more than what is on the card, it will decline. Typically you see larger pre-authorizations for places like gas stations and hotels, if you are using it just for smaller onshore purchases you should be fine.

 

P.S. if I am wrong I will buy you a beer, we are both on the Mariner on 4/14. :)

Balcony 6300, Budweiser LOL

[SLCfirsttimer]

Balcony 6300, Budweiser LOL

 

Wow, I am almost directly across the hall from you. 6305. Will make collecting on that beer much easier for you. :D

[tulsacubfan]

In my experience with them on the merchant end, they are a PITA...that said, several have used them apparently successfully.

 

you MUST know the balance...if you have say 200 on the card, and spend 300 , intending to pay the difference with another form of payment, the card will be declined and the funds MAY take several hours/days to be released....

 

YMMV...

 

Additionally, in my experience on the consumer end, they are a PITA as well! For example, we were renting bicycles which required a deposit of $300, plus the bike rental. Once we returned the bikes, the deposit was credited back. Much to our surprise, Visa quickly deducts the deposit from the card, but it can take up to 10 days for the credit to show on the card! So, that $300 was tied up for a week....rendering the card pretty much useless......

[SLCfirsttimer]

Additionally, in my experience on the consumer end, they are a PITA as well! For example, we were renting bicycles which required a deposit of $300, plus the bike rental. Once we returned the bikes, the deposit was credited back. Much to our surprise, Visa quickly deducts the deposit from the card, but it can take up to 10 days for the credit to show on the card! So, that $300 was tied up for a week....rendering the card pretty much useless......

 

Anything like this where there is a pre-authorization will encounter this. It happens on any credit card, even a pre-paid card. It is the merchant that requests an authorization for that amount to cover their losses in the unlikely event someone were steal the bikes, or in the cases of places like a gas station where they do not know how much gas you will buy.

 

The merchant can release the authorization earlier than the 10 days if you ask them to do so, but most people do not realize that this is what happens behind the scenes. If they do not release it by the 10th day, it automatically drops off the card.

[phoenix1181]

For many years I worked on the bank side of MasterCard credit & debit cards & it was almost impossible for a merchant to release an authorization. Occasionally, with a cardholder doing enough yelling & the merchant doing enough begging it would happen but it truly was a rare occasion.

[Merion_Mom]

I have been told,regardless what the policy says, that they let you use the SeaPass account without a deposit until it gets up to a certain amount, and then they ask you to come pay some of it. Then you pay the balance at the end of the cruise.

Yes, I was talking about using the card off of the ship. Just didn't know how accepting retailers are about accepting them abroad.

 

Oops, my bad.

 

I even have trouble sometimes using those cards at home. As Meg said, they can be a real PITA.

 

Cash is king. Many merchants will give discounts for cash, too.

[sanditoes4]

I've always used cash, but I don't buy big ticket things either? I just plan ahead and budget. I use a little coupon file thingy and label each day and put what was needed for the excursion, the tip and spending money.

 

I know I had a ton of cash on me but I only took what I needed for that day and locked the rest up. If I went over $$ for the day I just used my normal debit card that goes to a seperate account back at home.

 

It worked for all 3 cruises and I'll do it for the next one. As for the ship account, I went down every evening and paid in cash the balance, I don't think it's like this anymore?

[1cat4jan]

You can also use your credit card to activate your account and then pay off or pay down the seapass account with leftover cash. We did this last time because DH was lucky in the casino and we didn't want to carry the cash home.

 

I will never understand why funds get held so easily, but released with such difficulty.

[JYD Hawkeye]

Thanks for all the helpful input. I guess I will forego the card and use cash. Sounds much easier. I wonder if my cruise insurance covers the lose of cash due to unsavory circumstances, say, theft?

[JYD Hawkeye]

Wow, I am almost directly across the hall from you. 6305. Will make collecting on that beer much easier for you. :D

Look forward to meeting you. If you haven't done it, go to the Roll Call page on here for our cruise and register for the Meet and Greet. I think they include some food and drinks for it also. This is also our first cruise.

[Beth C]

Since you said your cards are low limit - what about "pre-paying" your own card before you go away ... At least with a bank visa/mc you have some sort of protection... I don't think any insurance will cover theft of cash - if they do I need to contact them because Casino Royale always seems to steal my $$ ;)

 

 

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[SLCfirsttimer]

Look forward to meeting you. If you haven't done it, go to the Roll Call page on here for our cruise and register for the Meet and Greet. I think they include some food and drinks for it also. This is also our first cruise.

 

We have registered for the meet and greet. It is my first, the wife's second. Is it April yet? :D

[JYD Hawkeye]

Since you said your cards are low limit - what about "pre-paying" your own card before you go away ... At least with a bank visa/mc you have some sort of protection... I don't think any insurance will cover theft of cash - if they do I need to contact them because Casino Royale always seems to steal my $$ ;)

 

 

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Bank said a NO-Go on this idea. They did say there are some Scocia ATM's in Jamaica that are free to use for BOA card holders. And also another banking system in Cozumel is owned by Bank of America and are free to use. Now just have to find where they are at.

[Venom]

Has anyone every used a Visa Travel Money card in the Caribbean? It is like a prepaid Visa card. My credit cards are small limit and don't want to fool around trying to get travelers cheques. Any good or bad stories using these.

 

Hi, I always use the VTM for business and vacation travels. Last year in my Allure OTS cruise, we used in every port of call without problems.

 

 

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