champagneandbotox Posted August 16, 2018 #1 Share Posted August 16, 2018 Hello everyone, A bit of a novice question perhaps - but I want to make sure I don't look silly once I'm on the ship or spend time in line(s) unprepared! With my cruise fare, I have $250 OBC, UDP (3 meals), and UBP. I intend to make the $300 cash deposit rather than use a credit card at check-in. Upon boarding, I'd also like to grab a beverage and book my spa / specialty dining reservations. My question being - is there a specific order I should do all of this in? In other words, is my account "frozen" to charges prior to depositing my $300 cash, even with a $250 OBC? I'd imagine my first stop upon boarding the ship should be to the Guest Services desk; however I understand from some YouTube videos this may not necessarily be open to accept my deposit straight away. Advice and guidance is most welcome! This is my second cruise - and first solo cruise - and I am so thrilled to be returning to NCL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanger727 Posted August 16, 2018 #2 Share Posted August 16, 2018 Generally when you check in they want you to secure your account with payment. I always use a credit card but I would think you could make your cash deposit at check in. Either way with $250 OBC and having the UBP you will be able to get a beverage right away. Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jemz1949 Posted August 16, 2018 #3 Share Posted August 16, 2018 I'd be trying to make my UDP reservations thru the website NOW!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
champagneandbotox Posted August 16, 2018 Author #4 Share Posted August 16, 2018 I'd be trying to make my UDP reservations thru the website NOW!!! I already tried to no avail! Thankfully I am a solo cruiser so I am hoping squeezing 1 person in shouldn't be too tricky. You'd best believe I will sprint to an onboard screen right away to make those reservations! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zqvol Posted August 16, 2018 #5 Share Posted August 16, 2018 The easiest way to do all of this is to secure your account with a CC, and then when you get a chance go to the service desk and makes payments toward your account so that you end up paying in cash as you go. That will save you having to stand in line at the service desk. If you do this then when you board the ship you can grab a drink, make your spa reservations and then go enjoy lunch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zqvol Posted August 16, 2018 #6 Share Posted August 16, 2018 Generally when you check in they want you to secure your account with payment. I always use a credit card but I would think you could make your cash deposit at check in. Either way with $250 OBC and having the UBP you will be able to get a beverage right away. Sent from my iPhone using Forums If you make a cash deposit instead of a CC, you have to do it on board the ship, you cannot do it at check in, they do not accept cash there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
champagneandbotox Posted August 16, 2018 Author #7 Share Posted August 16, 2018 The easiest way to do all of this is to secure your account with a CC, and then when you get a chance go to the service desk and makes payments toward your account so that you end up paying in cash as you go. That will save you having to stand in line at the service desk. If you do this then when you board the ship you can grab a drink, make your spa reservations and then go enjoy lunch. Thank you!! This is so helpful. I will use my Visa Debit to secure the account and then put down cash when I have a spare moment on Day 1. Most appreciated! Q Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
REV_Cruiser Posted August 16, 2018 #8 Share Posted August 16, 2018 Thank you!! This is so helpful. I will use my Visa Debit to secure the account and then put down cash when I have a spare moment on Day 1. Most appreciated! Q Remember that a hold will be placed on your debit card. It may not be removed right away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fshagan Posted August 16, 2018 #9 Share Posted August 16, 2018 Thank you!! This is so helpful. I will use my Visa Debit to secure the account and then put down cash when I have a spare moment on Day 1. Most appreciated! Q They will put a hold on your debit card, probably around $300 or so. If you then go and put cash down, that hold stays on your card until 24 - 48 hours after the cruise, when NCL will release it. You aren't exchanging your $300 cash for the hold; it is on there still. They will keep the card on file and if your cash balance starts to get reduced they can put another hold on it. At the end of the cruise, after you pay your final charges, NCL will release the hold(s) within a day or two. HOWEVER, the banks involved can take weeks to remove the hold(s). The easier way is to just use a credit card. I understand a lot of people follow a pretty good financial guru who hates credit cards, but remember he probably hates the idea of you wasting money on a cruise when you are supposed to be in "rice and beans, beans and rice" mode. But a credit card is simply safer in this case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casofilia Posted August 16, 2018 #10 Share Posted August 16, 2018 Do NOT use a Debit Card!!! fshagan's advice is spot on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinIllinois Posted August 16, 2018 #11 Share Posted August 16, 2018 Minor detail: the dining package is the SDP, not the UDP. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
April7901 Posted August 16, 2018 #12 Share Posted August 16, 2018 I've done cash deposits twice. I'm always on board before noon, and always been able to go straight to guest services and put down the deposit. I've never tried to "spend" before I put the cash on, though, but honestly, a difference of ten minutes probably won't mean having reservations vs. not. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casofilia Posted August 16, 2018 #13 Share Posted August 16, 2018 Only one trouble with putting cash on your account so soon after boarding is that the systems are not always fully set up that early and, if it is a new "agent" they may not know how to do it. Been there had both!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotLikeBelleRosen,IHope Posted August 17, 2018 #14 Share Posted August 17, 2018 Would a $300 Visa gift card work? Merchants usually process them like credit cards (not sure if it will work on NCL, just throwing it out there as a potential option) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jemz1949 Posted August 17, 2018 #15 Share Posted August 17, 2018 Did you try to make the reservations for a party of two? You can always change it once onboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbrown84 Posted August 17, 2018 #16 Share Posted August 17, 2018 as long as your account doesn't have a negative balance, you can go ahead and book your meals and order drinks. You don't have to actually put any cash down if you don't plan on going over the 250 credit amount you have. You definitely don't have to put down $300. I would only put down enough to cover the DSC, since these can't be covered by OBC. On my last cruise, I pre-paid the DSC, so I only put down $50 cash to cover my excursions (I had the $50 per port excursion credit, so I just needed to cover the difference). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDgal76 Posted August 17, 2018 #17 Share Posted August 17, 2018 Hello everyone, A bit of a novice question perhaps - but I want to make sure I don't look silly once I'm on the ship or spend time in line(s) unprepared! With my cruise fare, I have $250 OBC, UDP (3 meals), and UBP. I intend to make the $300 cash deposit rather than use a credit card at check-in. Upon boarding, I'd also like to grab a beverage and book my spa / specialty dining reservations. My question being - is there a specific order I should do all of this in? In other words, is my account "frozen" to charges prior to depositing my $300 cash, even with a $250 OBC? I'd imagine my first stop upon boarding the ship should be to the Guest Services desk; however I understand from some YouTube videos this may not necessarily be open to accept my deposit straight away. Advice and guidance is most welcome! This is my second cruise - and first solo cruise - and I am so thrilled to be returning to NCL! We just got off of the Getaway last Sunday and we used cash. A soon soon we got on the ship we went to Guest services and put down cash. Super easy and done in 5 minutes. Then we went and grabbed a drink! We made our specialty dinner reservations before we left so we didn’t have to do that once we were on board. But even if you do you can do it easily once on at the desk or from one of the touch screens around the ship. Too easy! Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WineGal89 Posted August 18, 2018 #18 Share Posted August 18, 2018 Ditto on the advice NOT to use a debit card for any holds (on land or sea). Regardless if you have the $ in account or not, there are certain protections you get from using a credit card vs debit. I laughed at the “beans and rice” comment because I follow 90% of his advice - but I’ll always use credit card for travel purposes. I chose to pay off in full monthly. Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zqvol Posted August 18, 2018 #19 Share Posted August 18, 2018 Would a $300 Visa gift card work? Merchants usually process them like credit cards (not sure if it will work on NCL, just throwing it out there as a potential option) NCL will not accept those for on board deposits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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