Sail & Sign Lesson Learned

[born2wander]

Yikes - won't be using the debit card again for our Sail & Sign account.

Our total was around $1600, but when we arrived home and I looked at our bank account online, there was a debit for the full amount PLUS holds for over $1100. This is a week after our last purchase on board, and my bank told me there was no ending date for these holds from Carnival in their system (which they said was very strange). After two calls to Carnival, I am still waiting for a FAX from them to my bank saying that they (Carnival) does not intend to collect on the pre-authorizations so the holds can be released.

 

Just wanted to share our experience in case it will help others. I certainly expected the holds to be released once payment was received in full (which was on 12-29).

 

First lesson of the New Year! :eek:

[ryansmith18]

Carnival's got a habit of doing this with debit cards. I learned the hard way as well. Wish I had checked Cruise Critic first, since nearly everybody here will recommend a credit card or cash instead of a debit card. Oh well, lesson learned indeed.

[klfrodo]

Your bank is playing games. Yes, they can wait for a fax from Carnival saying they won't be charging against the holds,,,,

But basically, the holds are removed in accordance with the policies of your bank.

[QTPieRye]

We've learned this lesson the hard way too and it took nearly 2 weeks after the cruise for all of those holds to drop off!! I remember being furious because they basically did a hold every day at the end of the day for the amount of charges for that date.... in other words, funds were held multiple times for the same items :(

[GUT2407]

It's not just Carnival and it's not just Debt cards.

 

Any time an organisation puts a hold on a card [hotels are notorious] debit card or credit card, it takes time to be released, my recent cruise took a week off my Credit Card for the cruise the hotel before we left took 10 days.

[QTPieRye]

Your bank is playing games. Yes, they can wait for a fax from Carnival saying they won't be charging against the holds,,,,

But basically, the holds are removed in accordance with the policies of your bank.

 

IMO....that's presumptuous and not necessarily true.

 

We've banked with our bank for 20+ years and have, what I consider to be, an excellent relationship. With that said, we had to wait for those CCL holds to drop off.

[poison7fl]

IMO....that's presumptuous and not necessarily true.

 

We've banked with our bank for 20+ years and have, what I consider to be, an excellent relationship. With that said, we had to wait for those CCL holds to drop off.

 

Might want to re-evaluate your relationship with your bank...

 

 

From the Carnival website;

 

How is my credit card charged?

During embarkation, when your credit card is swiped, an initial approval of $50 is obtained. Then, throughout the voyage incremental holds will be obtained as needed. You should know, this will reduce the amount of available credit on the credit card or restrict the availability of cash in the checking/debit account. Authorization hold releases to your account is entirely up to your issuing bank.

 

http://www.carnival.com/CMS/FAQs/Sail_And_Sign_On_Board_Account.aspx

[QTPieRye]

Might want to re-evaluate your relationship with your bank...

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I would trust what my bank says any day of the week over what a Carnival rep tells me :D

 

Fortunately, when situations like this arise, my bank posts a "credit memo" for the same amount, essentially making those funds available to me until they were released by Carnival, which BTW took 15 days. But not every bank has that policy.

[QTPieRye]

Looks like we had a similar conversation about this in early 2011 :)

 

"Merchants" don't have anything to do with removing the HOLD. That's all up to the policies and procedurs of the financial institution.

Citibank is not telling you the complete 100% truth.

 

Here's how it works:

A pending charge for $50 comes thru. The bank/credit card company sets aside "holds" $50. The real electronic transfer comes in for $50,,the bank/credit card company pays the merchant the $50 and the "Pending/Hold" goes away.

 

Here's where it get messed up

 

A merchant puts in a "Pending/Hold" for $100. The bank/credit card company sets aside $100

The real bill comes in for $99,,, the bank/credit card company pays the $99.

 

The bank/credit card company hasn't seen the $100 final request come thru so they don't remove the "Pending/Hold" status. After XX number of days, if no $100 request comes thru, the status drops off.

[riffatsea]

It is NEVER a good idea to use a debit card for any travel expense!! All companies like hotels, rental cars, ships etc. will put extra holds on your card and they take a while to come off! This is not a Carnival issue!

[QTPieRye]

On a positive note... I WON'T BE PUTTING CASH, CREDIT OR DEBIT down on my S&S next week.... cruising on my OBC from ES rate drops!!! WooHoo :D

[poison7fl]

I would trust what my bank says any day of the week over what a Carnival rep tells me :D

 

Fortunately, when situations like this arise, my bank posts a "credit memo" for the same amount, essentially making those funds available to me until they were released by Carnival, which BTW took 15 days. But not every bank has that policy.

 

Don't kill the messenger, but.... that was black and white, and I would NEVER trust a bank... once you do that, you get taken every time.

[QTPieRye]

Don't kill the messenger, but.... that was black and white, and I would NEVER trust a bank... once you do that, you get taken every time.

 

LOL.... I totally hear ya :D

[elainmir]

After my experience with the Verizon e gift gc's and my debit card... I believe it's both the banks and the merchants (the glitch in their (Verizon)system charged me twice and never delivered a single gift card) I had 900$ in holds on my debit. had to get Verizon to fax information that it was a glitch in their system before my banks VISA department would release the holds on my debit card but once they received confirmation from Verizon THEY IMMEDIATELY took the holds off. I believe Carnival has that ability to do this as well but they choose not to otherwise some of their workers would get nothing done all day but faxing requests to banks to release holds. I think it's a 50/50 thing..they both have to work together.

[luddite]

Never, ever use a debit card for this.

It should be a sticky here.

[Velvetwater]

I wonder if this is a US debit card issue (Or UK banks have different systems)

 

My husband and I have used our debit cards with Carnival twice and never had problems...same goes for other hotel/bar uses.

 

We would never even think about having credit cards full stop.

[DebJ14]

It is NEVER a good idea to use a debit card for any travel expense!! All companies like hotels, rental cars, ships etc. will put extra holds on your card and they take a while to come off! This is not a Carnival issue!

 

So true! We just stayed at a a hotel on Dec 29 and they will accept a debit card for the deposit, but they have a sign at the front desk that they do not accept debit cards for the final bill. All bills must be settled with a credit card or cash.

 

When you rent a car they put a hold much larger than the rental on your card, whether it is a debit or credit card. We just rented a car for about 36 hours and they total bill was $95.00. They put a hold on my MC for $350.00. The $95.00 actual charge has moved out of pending and onto the bill, but the hold for $350 is still there. No big deal on a credit card with a high limit, but it could be a problem on a debit card and not having access to your funds.

[Relayer]

We've sailed a few times always using our debit card. No issues......ever.

 

Holds applied as charges made on ship. Settled when we recieved statement debarkation morning. Holds dropped off seamlessly.

 

That's been my experience. Like my bank. 15 years with same nationally recognized bank and the only errors that have ever been made were.....mine.

[sbdanny]

If i use a debit card and also put down cash up front. Will that stop the issue of many holds?

[RD3PO]

If i use a debit card and also put down cash up front. Will that stop the issue of many holds?

 

It could. Carnival uses on-board credits and cash, gift cards, etc. applied to the account first, so that would eliminate debit/credit cards holds until those funds are exhausted.

[fandssullivan]

I used to work at a hotel, where they do the same thing, put holds on cards... and although not in my job description as my primary job... it kind of ended up being my primary job to talk to past guests about their hold and call their banks to request these holds to be taken away since we no longer needed them (and fax over the pertinent information). It is absolutely not upto the merchant how long the hold stays and always upto the bank. The hold is automatically "released" when the card is charged (the charge meaning 'we don't need the hold anymore') however different banks systems handle these differently.

 

Debit cards are THE WORST things to travel with. I always travel with a minimum of 4 credit cards after that hotel job and use them for different purposes (rental cars companies are awful in this aspect as well... so one for the rental, one for the hotel, one for shopping and dining and one for emergencies!).

[pearose]

We've sailed a few times always using our debit card. No issues......ever.

 

 

 

Holds applied as charges made on ship. Settled when we recieved statement debarkation morning. Holds dropped off seamlessly.

 

 

 

That's been my experience. Like my bank. 15 years with same nationally recognized bank and the only errors that have ever been made were.....mine.

 

 

I have used a debit card twice with no issues. They put holds on the account for each purchase and at the end of the cruise, the total amount was charged and the holds dropped off. No issues. Ever.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[cruizinisthebest]

Never had a bad experience with holds, and we've used both debit and credit cards. Never. However lately we go with funding our s&s with a combination of cash and gift cards. We purchase alot of stuff onboard. Works out just fine and no chance of holds.

[winddawn]

It is NEVER a good idea to use a debit card for any travel expense!! All companies like hotels, rental cars, ships etc. will put extra holds on your card and they take a while to come off! This is not a Carnival issue!

Not to mention that debit cards do not afford you, the consumer, the same protections that a credit card does. I totally agree that it is not a good idea to use a debit card when traveling. Things can happen using either a debit card or credit card, but the protections afforded to the consumer when something does happen are much better for credit cards.

 

Lots of people don't have or don't use credit cards for a variety of reasons, but IMO the bottom line is that a credit card is the best bet for a Sail & Sign account. It is more convenient than cash in addition to eliminating the debit card hold issue and has better consumer protections under the law.

 

And don't forget to notify the bank that issued your credit card that you will be traveling and using the card and where you are going. This will help prevent the bank's fraud protections from kicking in and denying charges while you are traveling and using the card.

Edited January 3, 2015 by winddawn

[NCTribeFan]

It is NEVER a good idea to use a debit card for any travel expense!! All companies like hotels, rental cars, ships etc. will put extra holds on your card and they take a while to come off! This is not a Carnival issue!

 

This. OP, you don't have a lot of posts, but I know this subject has come up many times on the boards. Some pre-cruise homework here would've turned up recommendations to not use a debit card.

 

My concern with using a debit card when traveling is that if your card number is stolen, your bank account could be wiped out before you know it. I don't have my phone on when I'm cruising. Even if my bank suspected suspicious activity, they couldn't contact me! You aren't protected from theft when using a debit card the way you are with most credit cards.

 

I know it's popular these days to think credit cards are evil, but I use mine for everything. Earn points or cash back. It's free money.