Help Please!! Questions about RCI SeaPass

[JustMe77]

Hi

We are leaving from Sydney on a South Pacific cruise with RCI in just over two weeks. We have only cruised once before with P&O so trying to understand the differences with RCI.

I have a credit card with quite a low limit and I am concerned about the authorisations or holds that may be put on the card which may leave me short of funds.

Can I choose to put cash on my SeaPass instead of registering a credit card? And if so, what is the MINIMUM amount of cash I have to put down per adult??

Also can I choose to put down cash & then choose to pay the final bill by credit card instead on disembarkment?

 

Thanks in advance :)

Nicole

[rkmw]

Hi

We are leaving from Sydney on a South Pacific cruise with RCI in just over two weeks. We have only cruised once before with P&O so trying to understand the differences with RCI.

I have a credit card with quite a low limit and I am concerned about the authorisations or holds that may be put on the card which may leave me short of funds.

Can I choose to put cash on my SeaPass instead of registering a credit card? And if so, what is the MINIMUM amount of cash I have to put down per adult??

Also can I choose to put down cash & then choose to pay the final bill by credit card instead on disembarkment?

 

Thanks in advance :)

Nicole

 

if you wish to pay cash just tell the check in staff that you are paying by cash and you have 24 hours to put down $300 per person but dont forget $12 will be going on your account everyday for the hotel charge....if you wish to add your credit card just see the staff at the reception desk

[Bob&Janet]

If you register your credit card as you board, they will get an initial authorisation I think for $300, the same as if you put down cash. If/when your account goes over that, they will get another authorisation (which is done overnight) from your credit card provider to take the authorisation up to the amount you have spent. After that, they will seek further authorisations every night to cover your spending from the previous day. If you go over your CC limit, they will summon you to come to the purser's desk and ask you to top up your account with cash or another card.

 

Cheers

[keagle]

Can I choose to put cash on my SeaPass instead of registering a credit card? And if so, what is the MINIMUM amount of cash I have to put down per adult??

Also can I choose to put down cash & then choose to pay the final bill by credit card instead on disembarkment?

 

Thanks in advance :)

Nicole

Leave your credit card registered and show it when you check in. Once in board, go to deck 5. You will find the pursers desk. Just take your money and ask them to put it on your folio. Doing it like this means that you can put as much or as little cash as you like as your card is still registered. They will use the cash before your card. You can check your balance at any time. On the last afternoon or night, (find a time when it is not busy) check your balance, if you are still in cash credit, ask for it back and leave the last night go on your card. If you do it like this there is no need to go there on the morning of dis-embarkation and unless you spend up big on the last night, there will be minimal credit used.

[JustMe77]

Thank you! There is some great advice here. I appreciate all of your ideas & help.

[Icerecon]

Hi JustMe77,

 

We have been on three sailings with RCI and we use a VISA card, we register it when we do our Online Check In and they scan it at the check in. If they use holds or authorisations I would not know, I never see any on our bank statements.

 

We have worked out that we need about "this much" money for the cruise and ensure it is in the bank before we go with a little extra just in case.

 

RCI bill the bank and our bank to do the money transfer from USD to AUD and the fee is very minimal last time it was $13.

 

This works for us.

[Dizziedi]

RMKW is correct. You can pay by cash but $300 is the amount they want and you have 24 hours to go to Guest Services to pay it. They do put a hold on credit cards and debit cards which they do warn can take a while to be reversed so if you don't have much of a limit, cash may well be your better option. We have never chosen the cash option but just keep an eye on it and top it up if/when you need to so that your sea passcard isn't rejected.

 

Cheers

Di

[gbenjo]

Hi

We are leaving from Sydney on a South Pacific cruise with RCI in just over two weeks. We have only cruised once before with P&O so trying to understand the differences with RCI.

I have a credit card with quite a low limit and I am concerned about the authorisations or holds that may be put on the card which may leave me short of funds.

Can I choose to put cash on my SeaPass instead of registering a credit card? And if so, what is the MINIMUM amount of cash I have to put down per adult??

Also can I choose to put down cash & then choose to pay the final bill by credit card instead on disembarkment?

 

Thanks in advance :)

Nicole

 

 

Yes you can use cash to pay your on board charges if you have set it up with a credit card. ( You can do this on line or just fill out form on the day). I usually suggest this option to guests as a back up when they are undecided which way to go. if you choose the cash option you will have a $500 "advance" on your seapass(s) before they come " knocking on your door"asking for money.You can keep track of your spending on the TV in your stateroom at any time and then pay your account when necessary. We also ask guests NOT to go to the Guest Services Desk to pay their account for a day or two as the Desk is usually hammered with all sorts of guest requests etc on the first day which is why they give you the "advance" It's a pretty simple system which works well so don't be too concerned. By the way,they will accept US$ or AUST$ to pay the account but obviously they will need to convert A$ and there will be a conversion charge. Hope this helps