On-board account for multiple people in one cabin

[Freespir8]

We will be traveling with our 3 adult boys in a 2 bedroom suite. We have agreed to pay for the cruise but all other expenditures on the ship are on them. Since they are all relatively young (22, 21 and 19) they don't have their own visa cards, I am curious how we can do this? Is it possible to put a limit on their accounts based upon the budget they have set for themselves so they don't go over? I am okay with using my credit card to "support" the account and they can pay at the end, I just want to be sure they don't over spend without realizing it. Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated!

[WaldosPepper]

Assuming they are bringing cash to cover their expenses, they can simply put cash down on their onboard account at the Guest Services Desk immediately after boarding. They can also check their balances at any time, to ensure they are staying within their budget. In the event they use up all the funds in the account, it will be temporarily suspended until they add more cash.

 

Rather than feeling the need to "back up" their account with your card, having them place their own funds into the account will tend to keep them more conscious of their expenditures. ;)

 

Be sure they don't add too much in the beginning, as getting a refund can be time consuming on the final night, and if they forget to go for a cash refund, they'll have to wait for a check to be mailed - which can take quite a while.

 

Hope that helps!

:)

[Freespir8]

Thank you so much for your help! I like your idea about placing their own funds on the account and not backing it up. Great thought and a good learning experience for them. That's what we will do. :)

[WaldosPepper]

Thank you so much for your help! I like your idea about placing their own funds on the account and not backing it up. Great thought and a good learning experience for them. That's what we will do. :)

 

My pleasure. Honestly, it was the voice of experience, as that is precisely what we did with our sons when they were at last old enough, and financially responsible for themselves but not yet in a position to have their own credit cards. Worked like a charm!

 

;)

[hes122]

Do they have debit cards? I used mine on my last cruise and had no issues with them keeping the hold longer than necessary.

[garycarla]

Do they have debit cards? I used mine on my last cruise and had no issues with them keeping the hold longer than necessary.

 

Teens wit a debit card can get out of control in a hurry. Ask anyone who has overdrawn and found out the last 5 soda's they bought at 7/11 cost $32 each.

 

$3 for the soda, and $29 overdraft.

 

It happens.

 

And, though you had no problem with your debit card on the cruise, others do. Those that run a tight balance can get overdrawn in a hurry, especially if the hold last a few extra days. These boards are full of horror stories from using a debit card vs a credit card.

Edited September 2, 2014 by garycarla

[VickiD59]

Our first family cruise 6 years ago we paid for everything, except our sons (24 and 21 at the time) expenses on the ship - you drink.. you pay :p They opened their onboard expense account using cash.

Second and third cruises they paid for themselves of course, but still used only cash for their accounts. Actually... first cruise the oldest won 2500.00 on the first full day on a slot machine :eek: - he was smart enough to come home with the majority of it, but it certainly eased his tight budget for the rest of the week.

[Freespir8]

Teens wit a debit card can get out of control in a hurry. Ask anyone who has overdrawn and found out the last 5 soda's they bought at 7/11 cost $32 each.

 

$3 for the soda, and $29 overdraft.

 

It happens.

 

And, though you had no problem with your debit card on the cruise, others do. Those that run a tight balance can get overdrawn in a hurry, especially if the hold last a few extra days. These boards are full of horror stories from using a debit card vs a credit card.

 

I have heard the same thing and don't feel comfortable having them use a debit card either. Thanks for confirming that. :)

 

Our first family cruise 6 years ago we paid for everything, except our sons (24 and 21 at the time) expenses on the ship - you drink.. you pay :p They opened their onboard expense account using cash.

Second and third cruises they paid for themselves of course, but still used only cash for their accounts. Actually... first cruise the oldest won 2500.00 on the first full day on a slot machine :eek: - he was smart enough to come home with the majority of it, but it certainly eased his tight budget for the rest of the week.

 

That was exactly the conversation I had with our middle son who will be newly 21 on the cruise. His first comment was being able to drink on the cruise all he wanted... Um...yeah....no...I don't think so! I told him it was all on him and the drinks are pretty pricey if that is what he wants to spend his money on. It will be hard lesson but one that must be learned.;) I am totally impressed that your son came home with most of the winnings! I think our youngest would have been the only one that would have been able to do that...the other two..well, let's just say they are a little more free-spirited. :p

 

I appreciate everyone's thoughts and comments...love the stories.

[khaide612]

Agree with everyone else about them each putting cash down & establishing their own accounts. Just keep an eye that charges are posting to the right person. We had this issue on the Gem in May when reviewing the accounts on the tv but everything was fixed no problem.

[bean24]

Are you covering the DSC? If you are you might want to prepay them to avoid confusion. If your not they might want to prepay for more flexibility.

 

 

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[sparks1093]

Assuming they are bringing cash to cover their expenses, they can simply put cash down on their onboard account at the Guest Services Desk immediately after boarding. They can also check their balances at any time, to ensure they are staying within their budget. In the event they use up all the funds in the account, it will be temporarily suspended until they add more cash.

 

Rather than feeling the need to "back up" their account with your card, having them place their own funds into the account will tend to keep them more conscious of their expenditures. ;)

 

Be sure they don't add too much in the beginning, as getting a refund can be time consuming on the final night, and if they forget to go for a cash refund, they'll have to wait for a check to be mailed - which can take quite a while.

 

Hope that helps!

:)

 

Our friend traveling with us put cash on her account (we had pre-paid her DSC for her) and she decided to wait for a check rather than wait in line for a refund. The check arrived in 6 weeks.

[dlsweet]

Would a prepaid credit card work? I don't think it is possible to go into "overdraft" with them, but I'm not 100% sure. I would think it would essentially be like putting down cash with NCL but not having to worry about collecting your extra money the last night or waiting for a refund check.

[Freespir8]

Are you covering the DSC? If you are you might want to prepay them to avoid confusion. If your not they might want to prepay for more flexibility.

 

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Great thought and question. Yes, we will be pre-paying the service fee for them to start with a clean slate.

 

Would a prepaid credit card work? I don't think it is possible to go into "overdraft" with them, but I'm not 100% sure. I would think it would essentially be like putting down cash with NCL but not having to worry about collecting your extra money the last night or waiting for a refund check.

 

That is a neat idea. I wonder if anyone has any actual experience doing this? I would be interested in hearing!

Edited September 2, 2014 by annietownsend

[garycarla]

Seems that I have seen that prepaid cards do not work.

 

Mainly because they need a live, instant data connection to check the balance.

[Demonyte]

To my understanding most pre-paid cards even state on the card that those can not be used on cruise ships - for the reason mentioned above.

Edited September 3, 2014 by Demonyte