Question about ocean players club credit line

[CheapieD]

Going on a Carnival cruise next week and don't want to carry a lot of cash, nor do I wish to pay a 3% fee to get chips from my s/s card so I applied for a credit line. With a week until I sail I have yet to hear anything. How long does it take and do they email, snail mail or just tell you on the ship the details of your credit line?

[Esmeralda Kitty]

I would call them. The are very bad at communication. It could be approved or not. You hate to find out there were problems when you get on the ship. They use a service to check the credit, they don't do it themselves.

 

I had a line last year and I asked them to renew it for my November cruise. They told me they'd check and to call them back 2 wks prior to leaving. When I called they told me the service they use couldn't get approval without doing a 3 way conversation with me and my bank. There was really no way to do that. I called my bank who said it was due to new regulations. I had the same issue in Vegas, but approve it in house so were able to do the 3 way call. Worked fine. If all banks are under the same regulations, this service they use is going to cost them lots of good casino customers.

 

What I found amusing is they told me the best solution is to wire the money to the ship and I could use what I needed and get refunded the rest. Sounded like a reasonable solution, so I asked if they would write me a check for the balance on the last night. She put me on hold to check. No, she said, they would have to send the paperwork to the home office and I would receive a check a few weeks after I return. Are you kidding me? Yes, Carnival, her is a few thousand dollars, you hang on to it for a while and give it back when you feel like it.

 

After some discussion I decided that if I want a bit extra I will put my S&S card into a slot, take money on the card and then cash out. I think you can do 1K a day. Not sure if it's true, but I hear there are no cash advance fees, etc, it just goes on your bill. Heck, I'll even get bonus points on my credit card.

 

Good luck to you.

[CheapieD]

I would call them. The are very bad at communication. It could be approved or not. You hate to find out there were problems when you get on the ship. They use a service to check the credit, they don't do it themselves.

 

I had a line last year and I asked them to renew it for my November cruise. They told me they'd check and to call them back 2 wks prior to leaving. When I called they told me the service they use couldn't get approval without doing a 3 way conversation with me and my bank. There was really no way to do that. I called my bank who said it was due to new regulations. I had the same issue in Vegas, but approve it in house so were able to do the 3 way call. Worked fine. If all banks are under the same regulations, this service they use is going to cost them lots of good casino customers.

 

What I found amusing is they told me the best solution is to wire the money to the ship and I could use what I needed and get refunded the rest. Sounded like a reasonable solution, so I asked if they would write me a check for the balance on the last night. She put me on hold to check. No, she said, they would have to send the paperwork to the home office and I would receive a check a few weeks after I return. Are you kidding me? Yes, Carnival, her is a few thousand dollars, you hang on to it for a while and give it back when you feel like it.

 

After some discussion I decided that if I want a bit extra I will put my S&S card into a slot, take money on the card and then cash out. I think you can do 1K a day. Not sure if it's true, but I hear there are no cash advance fees, etc, it just goes on your bill. Heck, I'll even get bonus points on my credit card.

 

Good luck to you.

 

Thanks for the input. I'll try calling in a day or two. If not maybe I will try the S/S card in the slots. Seems silly to not make the process of establishing a credit line easy but it is the casinos loss (Or my loss to the casino ;) ) Just don't like carrying alot of cash since I don't need it except for the casino.

[CheapieD]

Brief update. The Monday after my post my wife received a call at home from OPC. They wanted the 2nd page of the agreement signed and returned. I wasn't home so they sent it via email. Scanned the form, signed and sent in. The email said they would call me when things were set but I haven't heard back. I guess I will call today but we leave today so it would be nice to know before I head to the bank.