Cash or Credit Card?

[Howie74]

On all of our past cruises, we have always linked our on board account to a credit card. For our cruise in a couple of weeks, we are thinking about using cash instead. For those that have done this before, is it more of a hassle? Is it hard to cash out your balance at the end of the cruise?

 

 

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[Clarea]

On all of our past cruises, we have always linked our on board account to a credit card. For our cruise in a couple of weeks, we are thinking about using cash instead. For those that have done this before, is it more of a hassle? Is it hard to cash out your balance at the end of the cruise?

 

 

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It's not hard, just a bit more time consuming because you have to stand in line at Guest Services on the last evening and pay off your account. Once your account is closed, you can't charge anything.

[varoo]

- Advantages to using a credit card account

 

If your cash is lost or stolen, your money is gone.

If your credit card is lost or stolen, you lose nothing but a small piece of plastic that is easily replaced.

 

When you pay with a credit card you can get cash back, or miles or reward points (your choice).

If you pay with cash, you get nothing back.

 

Using a credit card for your shipboard account, there are no daily limits and you are never bothered with needing to come down to add more money to the account.

 

Then at end of cruise, no standing in line the last day to settle your account.

 

You have the protection of the credit card company in event of an invalid or disputed charge.

If you pay with cash, you have no protection at all.

(This is one of the most importatant reasons to put any major purchase on a credit card.)

 

Most credit cards give free warranty extensions on purchases made on the card.

 

A credit card gives you a float period of about a month before you actually need to pay anything at all -- plenty of time to review and dispute any questionable charges at your own convenience before you pay.

 

A cash account must be paid off in full before you even leave the ship.

 

You only need to bring a small piece of plastic with you instead of a big, bulky wad of bills.

 

 

 

- Advantages to using a cash account

 

I can't think of a single one.

 

 

[shipshape sam]

Also you have to bring the cash you expect to spend and lose in the casino. I don't like to carry that much cash. :)

[bouhunter]

- Advantages to using a credit card account

 

If your cash is lost or stolen, your money is gone.

If your credit card is lost or stolen, you lose nothing but a small piece of plastic that is easily replaced.

 

When you pay with a credit card you can get cash back, or miles or reward points (your choice).

If you pay with cash, you get nothing back.

 

Using a credit card for your shipboard account, there are no daily limits and you are never bothered with needing to come down to add more money to the account.

 

Then at end of cruise, no standing in line the last day to settle your account.

 

You have the protection of the credit card company in event of an invalid or disputed charge.

If you pay with cash, you have no protection at all.

(This is one of the most importatant reasons to put any major purchase on a credit card.)

 

Most credit cards give free warranty extensions on purchases made on the card.

 

A credit card gives you a float period of about a month before you actually need to pay anything at all -- plenty of time to review and dispute any questionable charges at your own convenience before you pay.

 

A cash account must be paid off in full before you even leave the ship.

 

You only need to bring a small piece of plastic with you instead of a big, bulky wad of bills.

 

 

 

- Advantages to using a cash account

 

I can't think of a single one.

 

 

 

Well said. And debit cards aren't much better than cash;)

[Nevequitsworkin]

If you want to have it paid for, just go ahead and make a payment to your credit card. That way you'll have it all paid for before you even spend it, but you'll have ALL the advantages of credit. I do that a lot! If you try to make online payments over what you owe, it doesn't always work, but you can always send a check in over what you owe and when it's applied, then you have a credit, and it's a terrific feeling knowing that you won't come back to a huge bill afterwards. Then, just treat your spending as though it were cash.

[cb at sea]

Or, just use your credit card to start your account, and pay it off in cash on the last night....nothing is actually CHARGED to your card until the cruise is over!

[edjny]

- Advantages to using a credit card account

 

If your cash is lost or stolen, your money is gone.

If your credit card is lost or stolen, you lose nothing but a small piece of plastic that is easily replaced.

 

When you pay with a credit card you can get cash back, or miles or reward points (your choice).

If you pay with cash, you get nothing back.

 

Using a credit card for your shipboard account, there are no daily limits and you are never bothered with needing to come down to add more money to the account.

 

Then at end of cruise, no standing in line the last day to settle your account.

 

You have the protection of the credit card company in event of an invalid or disputed charge.

If you pay with cash, you have no protection at all.

(This is one of the most importatant reasons to put any major purchase on a credit card.)

 

Most credit cards give free warranty extensions on purchases made on the card.

 

A credit card gives you a float period of about a month before you actually need to pay anything at all -- plenty of time to review and dispute any questionable charges at your own convenience before you pay.

 

A cash account must be paid off in full before you even leave the ship.

 

You only need to bring a small piece of plastic with you instead of a big, bulky wad of bills.

 

 

 

- Advantages to using a cash account

 

I can't think of a single one.

 

 

 

Well said and absolutely true. I just do not understand peoples logic in refusing to use a credit card. Perhaps they fear they do not have the will power to control their own spending and will sink far into debt. I don't know. I just know that I know how much I can spend and still pay off the credit card in full every month and let the credit card work for me.

[Desert Cruizers]

We use a credit card for our onboard acct and for the casino bring around $500 and generally come home with half. Our cruise next year to Australia is expensive and set up a cruise acct with funds. At this time other then onboard accts, cruises will be paid for, tours, air fare & accomodations. Not sure what our grocery bill will be though.

[whyrlygig]

We have used cash many times for our onboard accounts. It is a very simple process. We go to the CS desk sometime on the first day or two and make a deposit in the amount we think we will spend. Then, after dinner on the last evening, go to the CS desk and settle out account. :)

[Tytus]

We have used cash many times for our onboard accounts. It is a very simple process. We go to the CS desk sometime on the first day or two and make a deposit in the amount we think we will spend. Then, after dinner on the last evening, go to the CS desk and settle out account. :)

 

We use cash as well. Last cruise was Carnival and they had kiosks where you could feed cash into the machine and load up your account - took about 3 minutes. We also cash out the night before we disembark. Takes about five minutes at CS.

 

We don't use the CC because we don't want to get hit with a large interest payment if we decide to take a few months to pay it off. If we use cash we tend to be more mindful of what we spend. Also, the sticker shock at the end of the cruise can be a little painful. If we spend willy nilly with a credit card and see a HUGE CC bill at the end of the trip then it kind of defeats the purpose of a relaxing cruise.

 

As a side note, we always have our credit card with us in case we need it, but in all of our travels I can't think of one time we have actually needed to pull it out of our wallets.

[pcur]

We use our Sapphire Visa card because we get double points for any travel or dining purchase. We bring a small amount of cash, and deposit the rest of it in our Schwab online savings account. Then, we use the ship's ATM, or any ATM anywhere, to get more cash. The fees are reimbursed by Schwab, and if we are in a foreign country we can get the cash in local currency.

 

Schwab also doesn't charge any foreign transaction fees, so it's just the normal conversion to foreign currency.

[Jimnbigd]

Well said. And debit cards aren't much better than cash;)

Good point. I've read that cruise lines actually charge your debit for what they think you will spend for the entire cruise (and of course refund the difference if you spend less). I always use a credit card. Tip...If you have 2 different cards, you carry one and your wife/husband/significant-other carry the other. That way if one of you loses a wallet or purse, you still have another card you can use. And, it is a good idea to call your credit card company a few days before you cruise to let them know where you are going and what charges to expect. Otherwise you might have to go to guest services during your cruise to have the charges approved. This has happened to me. Guest services called my credit card company for free, and then handed me the phone so I could approve the charges. But I always call in advance now.

[edjny]

We don't use the CC because we don't want to get hit with a large interest payment if we decide to take a few months to pay it off. If we use cash we tend to be more mindful of what we spend. Also, the sticker shock at the end of the cruise can be a little painful. If we spend willy nilly with a credit card and see a HUGE CC bill at the end of the trip then it kind of defeats the purpose of a relaxing cruise.

 

 

Duhhhh.... Just take the cash you were going to give RCL to load up your OBC account, stick it in an envelope and leave it at home. Use the credit card and use a little self-control on what you spend. You can see the current balance every day of your OBC account. A few weeks after getting back home and the credit card bill arrives, go get the envelope and pay it off. Don't you think it would be even more relaxing when you do not have to worry about losing all that cash in your pocket?

[Tytus]

Duhhhh.... Just take the cash you were going to give RCL to load up your OBC account, stick it in an envelope and leave it at home. Use the credit card and use a little self-control on what you spend. You can see the current balance every day of your OBC account. A few weeks after getting back home and the credit card bill arrives, go get the envelope and pay it off. Don't you think it would be even more relaxing when you do not have to worry about losing all that cash in your pocket?

 

I'm happy that payment style works for you, it doesn't work for us. I believe this is why RCI gives us the choice. Neither way is right or wrong, the OP just asked for opinions. No need for insults because someone doesn't do it your way.

[ryano]

I'm happy that payment style works for you, it doesn't work for us. I believe this is why RCI gives us the choice. Neither way is right or wrong, the OP just asked for opinions. No need for insults because someone doesn't do it your way.

 

Exactly. Some people choose not to own credit cards. Im one of those people. Not because we dont have any self control but simply because we choose not to have a credit card. But I dont use cash either to secure my onboard account as I dont like carrying large sums of cash on me.

 

What I have done the last two cruises is call up Gifts and Gear and prepurchase OBC using my debit card over the phone. Whats left at the end of the cruise is refunded to me by Guest Services the last night of the cruise when I close out my account.

 

Works like a charm for me.

 

I also dont understand the comment that a debit card "isnt much better than cash". That is completely wrong at least in my case. I have a Visa debit card through my bank and my bank guarantees that if its every compromised in any way, my money will be put back in the account within 48 hours. I have been there and done that. Credit card companies are nowhere near that fast in issuing the credit back in case of fraud.

[TBone2K]

If you are concerned about tying up your personal credit card with cruise expenses, or risking losing it, or don't have one there is another idea: Get a VISA gift card (or whatever version you like) and load it up to your budget. Then use that for your foreign purchases and paying your onboard expense account.

 

In fact, in my experience, I still get the points because I use my daily use credit card to buy the gift card.

 

Just read the deatils on those gift cards, because some of them have activation charges and limits on how long they last before they start charging you per month to keep them active.

[Let'sGo!]

We opted to do our first ever cash account on our most recent cruise. For those of you who can't find any good reason to do it, here was ours:

--We had pre-purchased the All Inclusive alcohol beverage package -- this is what tends to the bulk of our SeaPass bill.

--Our TA gifted us dinner for two in a speciality restaurant as well as pre-paid gratuities.... however since we chose MTD, we had to still pay for the grats up front, so then the TA's gift ended up going going down as on board credit.

--We pre-paid $200 in OBC months before our cruise.

 

So with that in mind, we had $361 in pre-paid OBC. We knew our alcohol was prepaid, we don't buy pictures and figured at most we would end up buying an internet plan, maybe some laundry pressing and a few nic-nacs in the gift store. We also planned to eat at another specialty restaurant.

 

On the last night of the cruise, we went to Guest Services (no line) and settled up our account. They actually refunded us $80-something dollars in cash. (They will refund to you anything that you paid for yourself).

 

This was a very nice way to go home with some cash in our pocket. Yes -- it was OUR cash, but we also didn't have any credit card bills as a result of our cruise.

 

Although we had no qualms with the cash account process, I couldn't help but worry I would hear that nasty buzzy are debarkation day - which we didn't! I'm not sure I would do it again, unless I pre-paid it months before the cruise, like we did this time.

 

Ann

[digitalknoll]

We have had no issues using cash so far. We walked off the Oasis in 2011 with $150 and $70 on a Carnival trip. Just went to the check in and handed over the cash, done deal. Like people are saying, go the night before and settle up. hassle free.

 

-DK