Paying With a Debit Card

[Missilecop]

Has anyone had any problems using their debit card in stead of a credit card? Do the treat it the same way or like cash? I just don't want any surpirses when I check in for my cruise. :)

[WaldosPepper]

We always use our debit card! When we check in, we give them the debit card, along with a cash or traveler's check deposit, so we're working down on a beginning balance. Then we check our balance every few days and add more if needed. A day or two before the end, we make our final pay-in, and leave the balance on the debit card.

 

This is not really necessary, but we like to stay ahead of the balance. One other thing to keep in mind is that many debit cards have a "daily withdrawal" limit. Consequently, your balance onboard may exceed your daily limit, so paying it down in advance can avoid any snags. You can also ask your bank to increase your daily limit, but on most personal checking or savings accounts many banks may not allow it to go over $1,000. If you plan on spening a lot onboard, you may want to increase your daily limit, but still check your balance every few days. NCL will only withdraw from your account once, on the final day of the cruise, so knowing all this in advance can help avoid long waiting lines on the last day, or temporary shut-off of your onboard account.

 

Hope this helps!

[Missilecop]

Thanks the helps alot. I will see what my limit is.

[daybreakbds]

we always use our debit cards. just give it to them like a credit card and all is well. we have never had a problem in the past 5 cruises. have had balances over 1500 and had no problems. good luck and have a great time.

[TheYearofMe]

I used my debit card on my first cruise. I found out when we got off the ship that they billed me twice. Once put a hold on the funds and second was the actual charges. I wasn't happy about it. Make sure you find out how much money will be on hold before your actual charges go through. This time I am just paying cash so my funds aren't tied up on hold.

[jsaadat]

NEVER USE A DEBIT CARD.

 

1. If the vendor makes a billing error your money comes right out of your account as mentioned above.

 

2. YOU GET NO POINTS when using a debit card.

 

3. Often you purchases are much more protected with a real credit card IE. Warrenty, return policy. Also you will have a difficult time questioning a charge on a debit......... on a regular credit card they help you with any incorrect charges.

 

4. Often your credit card carries free insurance with rental car, cruise, and airline purchases. Debit cards offer no extra protection.

 

5. Using a credit card keeps you $$ in the bank for 30 days longer that a debit card...........that = interest.

 

J

[daybreakbds]

just a little side note- my debit/ credit card does earn bonus points. it is just a matter of opinion. do what you are comfortable with.:)

[DivaG]

We had no problem with the thought of using our debit card, but after reading some of the threads here last year we decided to use cash instead. Often times when using a debit card, more than the charged amount is "frozen" on your account. For instance - you make a purchase costing $100 - the bank will "hold" $150 ... and so on and so on. Yes the "extra" money will be returned to you, but banks can sometimes "hold" funds for up to 30 days. Check the policy of your bank. Our bank has this policy and we just decided it wasn't worth the hassle. The cash is there - so we just opened the account with about $500 and checked the balance periodically throughout the cruise and added more when needed. I believe the minimum amount was about $100 per person. We found it simplier to use cash. Good luck to you and enjoy your cruise.

 

 

G

[jetskier]

Missilecop,

The thing about debit cards are that the ship will put a hold for a certain amount on your card. If you exceed this amount, they will put another hold for another amount. At the end of the cruise, they will put in a request for the full amount. Most of the time they will not release the holds that were put on your account. They will expire 5-10 days after they are placed. This will make some of the funds unavailable until the hold is released even though you have already paid.

 

To keep this from happening would be to pay with a CC or pay down the account using cash.

Dave

[jetskier]

Duplicate post. I guess all the bugs in the upgrade still are there.

Dave

[GregInCharlotte]

It depends on how much of a hold the cruise line places on your debit card. They'll try to predict how much you might charge and place a hold on that amount. You could find yourself trying to withdraw cash at an ATM while on the cruise and get an insufficient funds reply - because of a big hold on your card.

 

PS: Take what cash you think you'll need then keep it in your room safe. Shipboard ATM fees are high.

[blong2200]

Shorty after out last Celebrity cruise in January, I had my idenity stolen and my bank account clean out. I had used a debit card on the cruise for on board purchases. Thankfully, my bank gave me back the money and traced the charges to Switzerland. It was a cruise employee that had stolen my idenity and used my debit card. So be very careful.

[serendipity1499]

NEVER USE A DEBIT CARD.

 

1. If the vendor makes a billing error your money comes right out of your account as mentioned above.

 

2. YOU GET NO POINTS when using a debit card.

 

3. Often you purchases are much more protected with a real credit card IE. Warrenty, return policy. Also you will have a difficult time questioning a charge on a debit......... on a regular credit card they help you with any incorrect charges.

 

J

 

Many Debit cards are offering points now..Believe AmSouth is one of them..Your purchases on board NCL do have a Warranty return policy..

[cruiser82]

I've used my debit card on three NCL cruises and never had a problem, but my sister had a lot of problems using her debit card this summer on POA. She had a limited amount of money available in her account and knew not to go over that, but our shore excursions were all charged to her shipboard account without our knowledge and the amount went well over her limit, as there were three of us and the excursions were not cheap! We were able to take the extra charges off her account when we saw the receipt a few hours later but they had already gone through the system, so her card wasn't charged at the end of the cruise as she thought it would be. She had several pending items on her card prior to taking the cruise so she was charged the insufficient funds fee quite a fee times. In addition to that, her account was frozen (either because the charges looked suspicious to the bank or because she was overdrawn, I'm not sure which) so she was without access to money for a few days. I've never really worried about using my debit card because I knew I had more money in my account than I would spend on the cruise, but for those who are unsure about using theirs I would say that you probably won't have any problems but would reccommend that either you increase your daily limit as other posters have suggested, check how much the ship will hold on your account and keep a close eye on your shipboard charges in addition to anything you buy once ashore if using the same debit card. For my 12/8 cruise on the Spirit I plan on using my credit card, in case anyone was wondering! :)