Carnival billing?

[Squidy]

Hi all,

 

I'm going on my first cruise in a weeks time and wanted to ask if anyone knew about Carnival's billing system?

 

I called Carnival and the lady on the phone said they would take $200usd off my credit card as a hold when checking in, which is completely fine.

 

My concern is the cruise is a 10 day cruise, she says they put more holds on my account every 2 days which could be a few hundred $ each. Now, my credit card limit is very low ($2k) so I can avoid overspending normally. I know $2k will cover off my expenses but I'm worried about the hold. Do they really take an extra few hundred $ off each few days? I'm going on a 10 day cruise and my concern is with these holds on the account it won't leave me with enough money on my CC to actually be able to pay for the shore trips and what I buy onboard.

 

To say i'm becoming increasingly worried about this is an understatement.

 

Can someone who is seasoned in this please offer some advice?

 

Thank you very much in advance

[klfrodo]

With a low limit credit card, Yes, you could very well experience this.

You could end up with enough holds that your final bill wont be accepted. Now, you've got problems when it comes time to get off the ship.

 

A possible way to offset this is to use cash for your first few days. Put $500 cash down. The first few days are when the big charges hit anyways, Gratuities and such. Then when the ask you to come to Guest Services to put more money on your account, turnover the credit card.

 

Another alternative would be to prepay as much as possible. Gratuities, drink package, excursions. Maybe even buy yourself some on board credit through Cruise Cash

 

 

 

Just asking

But, how do you plan to pay for any emergencies that may pop up? A visit to the ship doctor, an accident while in port needing medical attention, you miss the ship and need to fly to catch up, etc.

Edited January 23, 2017 by klfrodo

[Squidy]

Thanks for your response. I think you're onto a good idea, ie prepaying, I might give then a few hundred $ up front then worry about the CC later.

 

I think the only things I'll be doing are the excursions etc, I don't drink or need to do all the other paid things onboard apart from an odd coffee here and there so I'm hoping I'll be OK

[BoDidly]

One reason I use cash , a better option ;)

[BoDidly]

With a low limit credit card, Yes, you could very well experience this.

You could end up with enough holds that your final bill wont be accepted. Now, you've got problems when it comes time to get off the ship.

 

A possible way to offset this is to use cash for your first few days. Put $500 cash down. The first few days are when the big charges hit anyways, Gratuities and such. Then when the ask you to come to Guest Services to put more money on your account, turnover the credit card.

 

Another alternative would be to prepay as much as possible. Gratuities, drink package, excursions. Maybe even buy yourself some on board credit through Cruise Cash

 

 

 

Just asking

But, how do you plan to pay for any emergencies that may pop up? A visit to the ship doctor, an accident while in port needing medical attention, you miss the ship and need to fly to catch up, etc.

Not the first few .Perhaps later in the cruise in my experience ;)

[klfrodo]

Read your thread in Ask A Question

 

Here's how a "Hold" works

 

Merchant ABC runs your card and verifies availability of $73.52.

The bank issueing your card places $73.52 on "hold" for merchant ABC.

A charge comes through from merchant ABC for $73.52.

The bank reconciles the "hold" for merchant ABC for $73.52 and pays the merchant and releases the "Hold"

 

Here, the cruiseline runs your card and verifies availability of $200.00

The bank issueing your card places $200 on "Hold" for the cruiseline.

You do your thing on vacation and have lots of fun but your account on the ship gets close to the $200 so, they verify another $200 and so on and so on.

 

Now, at the end of the cruise, the cruiseline closes your account for $850.23.

All of those "Holds" have reduced the credit limit and availability of credit.

So the cruiseline charges your card the $850.23.

 

Your bank tries to reconcile this $850.23 but has no "Holds" for that exact amount. So they pay the cruiseline the $850.23.

 

Meanwhile, your account still has 4 "Holds" for $200.

Depending on the banks policy, those "Holds" will come off your account after XX number of days when they can't reconcile them against an exact charge of $200. Could be 7 days, could be 14 days, could be an entire billing cycle.

[Lovtotravel2]

I have done 3 day to 26 day trips on Carnival and never had a problem with Authorizations or holds as you refer to them. First no charges are put though till the end of the cruise. They usually ping it to see if its a debit card and may put a hold on funds, but seldom do a credit card since they run them the night before you get off and get the authorization for the actual charge and process the payment, You will know before you are let off the ship if there was a problem.

 

Worse case call you bank let them know you are traveling (good for security on fraud charges anyway) they can note the account and if anything flags on charges or authorizations not matching they have the information they need.

 

your best bet is to use a credit card, never cash. If there is any problem the bank will help you fight the charges, if you used cash your of luck.

you can away prepay your bank right before you leave, you will have a credit balance to handle any charges, and the security of using a credit card.

[bindy1]

It really depends on how much you plan on spending on board. I think you will be okay with the $2k limit on your cc assuming your balance is $0 to start with. Prepay your gratuities in advance. And if you do plan to purchase cheers, that is a big ticket item I would purchase in advance as well. Then you will have your entire credit limit available if you need it.

Typically holds "fall off" much quicker on an actual credit account versus a debit card account.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BoDidly]

I have done 3 day to 26 day trips on Carnival and never had a problem with Authorizations or holds as you refer to them. First no charges are put though till the end of the cruise. They usually ping it to see if its a debit card and may put a hold on funds, but seldom do a credit card since they run them the night before you get off and get the authorization for the actual charge and process the payment, You will know before you are let off the ship if there was a problem.

 

Worse case call you bank let them know you are traveling (good for security on fraud charges anyway) they can note the account and if anything flags on charges or authorizations not matching they have the information they need.

 

your best bet is to use a credit card, never cash. If there is any problem the bank will help you fight the charges, if you used cash your of luck.

you can away prepay your bank right before you leave, you will have a credit balance to handle any charges, and the security of using a credit card.

 

Cash out the night before , any disputes will be settled then;).