Cashing personal checks on board?

[ams cruiser]

Yesterday I called Princess Cruises to ask about cashing traveler's checks on board the Sapphire. The representative told me the purser's desk would cash $250 increments, up to a maximum of $1500 per person for the duration of the cruise.

 

She then volunteered that the same policy holds for personal checks. Since I had never heard of this, I questioned her again, and she insisted that you can cash personal checks on board. (She said she was getting her info from her computer.)

 

This seems too good (easy) to be true! Does anyone have any wisdom on this?

 

(If this isn't accurate, I need to go get some traveler's checks!)

 

Thanks!

[showdog]

They do not cash personal checks anymore.

 

We are platinum members, had a credit card on file etc...... They said they do not do this any more. They did in the past but not any more. We went out of San Juan. I'm not sure if this policy is from ship to ship but I wouldn't think so.

 

If you need money it will cost 3 percent. You can get it from your shipboard account which will come off your bill at the end.

 

One tip I did learn is that you do not need to stand in line at the pursers desk to do this. You can go to the casino also. They both will do exactly the same thing. I waited an hour and when I got to the desk she told me 3 percent, you need a photo id if you're going to get cash from your shipboard card and I can do it both places. Of course I didn't bring a photo id with me so I stood in line for nothing.

 

Call back and talk to someone else or a supervisor.

[KAJOKG]

You can also cash traveler's checks in the casino at no charge. Also, most of the Princess ships I've been on have ATM machines. We find the best way is to bring enough traveler checks to cash instead of getting cash from your shipboard account. And we always remember to bring plenty of one dollar bills to tip the porters at the pier, and to tip crew for room service, etc.

[spongerob]

I've never heard of a limit on the total value of travelers' checks that can be cashed. It's not $250 increments, either. I routinely cash TC's for twice that amount (no, I'm not super wealthy, I get big ones so I don't have to sign my name so many times :) ). I don't think personal checks are accepted at all any more.

[Toto2Kansas]

Be on the safe side and go get those travelers checks. I have also never seen a limit of how many of them you can cash as we have been on extended cruises where we have cashed literally thousands in TC's during the cruise and never had a problem.

As for personal checks, I think you got a newbie on the phone as I have not seen this in many years now. I doubt they will take personal checks at all anymore.

[jimneycrkit]

My mom cashed personnal checks on the Star in Oct. She had to wait a day for it to clear then they gave her the cash. They had a limit of only one check though.

[ams cruiser]

I called Princess and was told that you can cash a personal check for $250 one time only. I then asked about traveler's checks and was told the same policy was true for traveler's checks, that there is a maximum of $250 per person, per cruise. I asked to speak to a supervisor, and was told this wasn't allowed! After much insistence on my part, the rep agreed to make a phone call, and then reported back that you can cash traveler's checks up in $250 daily increments (per bank account, not per person) up to a maximum of $1500.

 

Thanks everyone for your helpful advice! It's frustrating to learn that the information you get from Princess might just depend on who happens to be answering the telephone. One of the Princess reps I talked to volunteered that she had never been on a Princess cruise, only Carnival!:)