YWW Posted June 4, 2018 #1 Share Posted June 4, 2018 While I was in my Guest Information tab and under Shipboard Account, I noticed there's a verbiage right under credit card details in BOLD RED color that says "If you are using a credit card to pay for your onboard charges, a surcharge fee of 1.1% will be applied. Debit cards do not incur a surcharge". I don't recall ever seeing this in previous voyages. Is this something that has just been added recently? I assume what it means is on the last day of your sailing and you use your credit card on file to settle your account, there'll be a 1.1% surcharge added on top of the total. Please advise. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Island wannabe Posted June 4, 2018 #2 Share Posted June 4, 2018 Just checked mine for our August cruise and it doesn't have any of that language :confused: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moki'smommy Posted June 4, 2018 #3 Share Posted June 4, 2018 Very interesting. I just looked at the info for our upcoming cruise--that information does not appear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diane.in.ny Posted June 4, 2018 #4 Share Posted June 4, 2018 Where are you sailing? Australia? Because that's where I know a surcharge is added. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YWW Posted June 4, 2018 Author #5 Share Posted June 4, 2018 We just booked the Australia New Zealand sailing on Majestic Princess departing out of Sydney on Feb 18, 2019 and this 1.1% surcharge verbiage appears under this sailing. I wonder whether this is something new from Princess effective 2019. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moki'smommy Posted June 4, 2018 #6 Share Posted June 4, 2018 We just booked the Australia New Zealand sailing on Majestic Princess departing out of Sydney on Feb 18, 2019 and this 1.1% surcharge verbiage appears under this sailing. I wonder whether this is something new from Princess effective 2019. More likely, just for Australia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skynight Posted June 4, 2018 #7 Share Posted June 4, 2018 We just booked the Australia New Zealand sailing on Majestic Princess departing out of Sydney on Feb 18, 2019 and this 1.1% surcharge verbiage appears under this sailing. I wonder whether this is something new from Princess effective 2019. Just checked the credit card section of my February 2019 Hawaii sailing. No mention of a surcharge. Believe diane in ny is correct, for Australia based cruises. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare trbarton Posted June 4, 2018 #8 Share Posted June 4, 2018 Yes...I’ts for Australian cruises. This was listed on my Australian cruise. My cruise says that all charges will be in Australian dollars. Tom😎 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruisinFinsUp Posted June 4, 2018 #9 Share Posted June 4, 2018 My understanding is that this is in Australia only due to the way credit card fees are dealt with. In north america, vendors pay the fees charged by card companies and pass them along to the consumers thru product pricing. In Australia the card user pays the fee directly - hence the 1.1% fee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDC1 Posted June 4, 2018 #10 Share Posted June 4, 2018 While I was in my Guest Information tab and under Shipboard Account, I noticed there's a verbiage right under credit card details in BOLD RED color that says "If you are using a credit card to pay for your onboard charges, a surcharge fee of 1.1% will be applied. Debit cards do not incur a surcharge". I don't recall ever seeing this in previous voyages. Is this something that has just been added recently? I assume what it means is on the last day of your sailing and you use your credit card on file to settle your account, there'll be a 1.1% surcharge added on top of the total. Please advise. Thanks. This wouldn't happen to be on one of the Australian based ships would it? Pretty common practice there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare OzKiwiJJ Posted June 5, 2018 #11 Share Posted June 5, 2018 It's a very annoying Australian surcharge, unfortunately. :mad: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkmw Posted June 5, 2018 #12 Share Posted June 5, 2018 While I was in my Guest Information tab and under Shipboard Account, I noticed there's a verbiage right under credit card details in BOLD RED color that says "If you are using a credit card to pay for your onboard charges, a surcharge fee of 1.1% will be applied. Debit cards do not incur a surcharge". I don't recall ever seeing this in previous voyages. Is this something that has just been added recently? I assume what it means is on the last day of your sailing and you use your credit card on file to settle your account, there'll be a 1.1% surcharge added on top of the total. Please advise. Thanks. just pay with a debit card and no fees then but there could be holds placed on your card Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YWW Posted June 5, 2018 Author #13 Share Posted June 5, 2018 Thanks so much for clearing that up. Since we've never been to down under, we didn't know about this special Australian voyage surcharge fee. Can I assume all customers will have to pay some type of service charge fee whenever a credit card is used to purchase products or services throughout Australia? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkmw Posted June 5, 2018 #14 Share Posted June 5, 2018 Thanks so much for clearing that up. Since we've never been to down under, we didn't know about this special Australian voyage surcharge fee. Can I assume all customers will have to pay some type of service charge fee whenever a credit card is used to purchase products or services throughout Australia? yes if you pay by credit card you are charged a fee, debit card if free but they do place holds on the debit card a lot of people use cash and no fees but you'd have to convert USD to AUD cash Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diane.in.ny Posted June 5, 2018 #15 Share Posted June 5, 2018 It is normal for all credit card purchases in Australia to have this fee added. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cflutist Posted June 5, 2018 #16 Share Posted June 5, 2018 My understanding is that this is in Australia only due to the way credit card fees are dealt with. In north america, vendors pay the fees charged by card companies and pass them along to the consumers thru product pricing. In Australia the card user pays the fee directly - hence the 1.1% fee. All credit card transactions have a MCC (Merchant Category Code) associated with them. Is the surcharge a Princess charge? Or a charge directly by the Australian government? Makes a difference for us to maximize our cashback credit card rewards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corfe Mixture Posted June 5, 2018 #17 Share Posted June 5, 2018 FWIW. In Europe it is now illegal to charge a fee for using a credit card. Up until quite recently, Princess used to apply a fee for paying for one’s UK booked cruise by credit card, but since the change in the law (which was introduced because budget airlines were deemed to be guilty of misrepresenting their fares by excluding fees) there is now no charge for paying for one’s cruise using credit cards. Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joybook Posted June 5, 2018 #18 Share Posted June 5, 2018 There is a bit of incorrect information here. Not all merchants/shops etc add the surcharge for credit card usage. In fact it is my experience that from the ones I use, most do not. If they do there is usually a notice displayed at they checkout advising that a surcharge is applicable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenexx Posted June 5, 2018 #19 Share Posted June 5, 2018 It is normal for all credit card purchases in Australia to have this fee added. Not on all things though. I only charge a fee for Diners card in my business. Most places I use my Visa don’t charge a fee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caribill Posted June 5, 2018 #20 Share Posted June 5, 2018 All credit card transactions have a MCC (Merchant Category Code) associated with them. Is the surcharge a Princess charge? Or a charge directly by the Australian government? Makes a difference for us to maximize our cashback credit card rewards. Australia laws allow merchants (and Princess is a merchant) to charge the user for the fees the credit card company charges the merchant for the transaction. In effect, Princess has chosen to have this 1.1% fee paid by the customer so it does not have to absorb the credit card company's fee. Of course not every merchant passes on the fee, but Princess is one of those that does. It is not a government fee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cflutist Posted June 5, 2018 #21 Share Posted June 5, 2018 Australia laws allow merchants (and Princess is a merchant) to charge the user for the fees the credit card company charges the merchant for the transaction. In effect, Princess has chosen to have this 1.1% fee paid by the customer so it does not have to absorb the credit card company's fee. Of course not every merchant passes on the fee, but Princess is one of those that does. It is not a government fee. Thanks, so if it shows up on our shipboard account, then we get 3% cashback from our credit card and no international fees. We would still net 1.9% cashback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkmw Posted June 5, 2018 #22 Share Posted June 5, 2018 Thanks, so if it shows up on our shipboard account, then we get 3% cashback from our credit card and no international fees. We would still net 1.9% cashback. even us aussies & kiwis if we pay the deposit or final payment by credit card we still get charged the 1.1% so i use a debit card and no fees Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare gottagocit Posted June 5, 2018 #23 Share Posted June 5, 2018 Just so I understand. Is the 1.1% fee charger only for “onboard” expenses or will it be applied to final payment as well? What if you make a “prepayment” towards your voyage and use the credit to pay onboard expenses? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newport dave Posted June 5, 2018 #24 Share Posted June 5, 2018 FWIW. In Europe it is now illegal to charge a fee for using a credit card. Up until quite recently, Princess used to apply a fee for paying for one’s UK booked cruise by credit card, but since the change in the law (which was introduced because budget airlines were deemed to be guilty of misrepresenting their fares by excluding fees) there is now no charge for paying for one’s cruise using credit cards. Sent from my iPhone using Forums Are you sure Princess charged this fee in the UK, we have paid for a few cruises direct to Princess and have never been charged for using our credit card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newport dave Posted June 5, 2018 #25 Share Posted June 5, 2018 yes if you pay by credit card you are charged a fee, debit card if free but they do place holds on the debit card a lot of people use cash and no fees but you'd have to convert USD to AUD cash Simple way around the 'Holds' on a debit card. Register your credit card as normal, but on the last night go down and pay off your bill with your debit card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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