Cruise Cash

[simplynewt]

What's the difference between buying Cruise Cash or adding credit to your Sign & Sail account? Should cruise cash be purchased for random purchases or drinks at the bar?

 

I'm on Carnival BTW

 

Thanks

Edited January 9, 2020 by simplynewt
NA

[idraconis]

Cruise cash is purchased from Carnival gift shop and provides an immediate credit  to your sail and sign card. I'll try to make this as brief as possible. Been on 13 cruises and all where great. Only bad thing is getting that bill a month later that was charged to your credit card. Cruise cash is a great way of adding money to your S&S card to help avoid that sticker shock. However any unused amount is not refunded. Carnival gift cards however are. Any unused amount of the gift card is refunded in the form of another gift card. I'd go with the gift cards. enjoy your cruise.

[idraconis]

Just to clarify, the Carnival  gift card has to be applied to your S&S account.

Edited January 9, 2020 by idraconis
miss spell

[Schoifmom]

Purchasing Cruise Cash IS the only way you can apply a credit to your S&S account prior to checking in at the pier.  There are 3 types:  general Cruise Cash, Cruise Cash Bar, and Cruise Cash Photo.  Cruise Cash Bar and Cruise Cash Photo are credits to your S&S account with use restricted to those types of purchases and will be consumed prior to any other form of payment including general cruise cash.  General cruise cash is basically a credit to your S&S account and will be consumed prior to any other form of payment (other than previously noted).  Cruise Cash is non-refundable; however, general cruise cash can be used in the casino, which means that you can load it to your Player's Bank and then cash out at the casino cashier.

[jdemps]

I plan the cruises 18-24 months in advance and usually get the max $500 cruise cash at some point during the planning.

If you want to wait until you board to add cash or gift card to your account, you just have to either use the kiosk or the guest services line.  If you have FTTF, the line at guest services is easy, if not, sometimes it's ugly so just wait until you see a short line or no line to go.  Put a credit card on your account so you can get started then add the other amount when you can before last day and they will charge against the "onboard credit" you added before any card.  Hope that helps & have a great trip!

[snownyet]

If I buy $500 in bar cash and another $500 in cruise cash. Will the regular cruise cash cover bar purchases if i go over my $500 bar cash?

[Joe817]

1 hour ago, snownyet said:

If I buy $500 in bar cash and another $500 in cruise cash. Will the regular cruise cash cover bar purchases if i go over my $500 bar cash?

Yes. But the $1,000 in cruise cash does the exact same thing, with the additional benefits you can use cruise cash for ANY purchases on the ship. Just my opinion. 

[simplynewt]

I do have the FTTF deal so Customer Service should not be a problem. Just trying to see where I can start putting my money before the October Sailing so I wont get a big bill at the end of it all. 

 

Jdemps, you mentioned a max of $500 cc prior to boarding. Is that all I can put towards the expenses prior to sail date? 

[Organized Chaos]

1 hour ago, Joe817 said:

Yes. But the $1,000 in cruise cash does the exact same thing, with the additional benefits you can use cruise cash for ANY purchases on the ship. Just my opinion. 

 

Except they limit Cruise Cash to $500 per cabin. You can do $500 regular Cruise Cash and another $500 for Bar Cash.

 

26 minutes ago, simplynewt said:

Jdemps, you mentioned a max of $500 cc prior to boarding. Is that all I can put towards the expenses prior to sail date? 

 

That's correct. Cruise Cash is the only way you can fund your S&S account prior to the cruise. You can also do pre-paid gratuities. That adds it to your cruise balance to be paid off by final payment date. Otherwise, you'll be charged for gratuities at the end of the cruise.

Edited January 10, 2020 by Organized Chaos

[Joe817]

7 minutes ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

Except they limit Cruise Cash to $500 per cabin. You can do $500 regular Cruise Cash and another $500 for Bar Cash.

 

 

That's correct. Cruise Cash is the only way you can fund your S&S account prior to the cruise. You can also do pre-paid gratuities. That adds it to your cruise balance to be paid off by final payment date. Otherwise, you'll be charged for gratuities at the end of the cruise.

Wait....what? You can only fund your S&S account with a max of $500 cruise cash? That's the max? We are committed to pre-paying our gratuities well before the cruise. The rest we add to the S&S account with Carnival gift cards. Wait. I think I answered my own question. Duh. This stuff gets confusing to me at times. Sorry! 

[Organized Chaos]

18 minutes ago, Joe817 said:

Wait....what? You can only fund your S&S account with a max of $500 cruise cash? That's the max? We are committed to pre-paying our gratuities well before the cruise. The rest we add to the S&S account with Carnival gift cards. Wait. I think I answered my own question. Duh. This stuff gets confusing to me at times. Sorry! 

 

Yep, $500 max. for each category. This is from their FAQ's:

 

• Cruise Cash purchases are limited to $500 per category, per stateroom. Each stateroom can purchase Cruise Cash Bar $500, Cruise Cash Photo $500 and Cruise Cash $500 for a stateroom total of $1500.

[grandmarnnurse]

23 hours ago, simplynewt said:

What's the difference between buying Cruise Cash or adding credit to your Sign & Sail account? Should cruise cash be purchased for random purchases or drinks at the bar?

 

I'm on Carnival BTW

 

Thanks

Cruise Cash is for all purchases to your account. I redeem reward points for credits on my account, and they have two to choose from: Bar Credits or OBC. Bar Credits only cost me 5,000 points for $50, but OBC costs me 7,500 for $50 OBC. I redeem for only Bar Credits, as that is where most of my money is spent. But on the Carnival website, in the Fun Shops, Cruise Cash is for anything you purchase.

[Joe817]

4 hours ago, grandmarnnurse said:

Cruise Cash is for all purchases to your account. I redeem reward points for credits on my account, and they have two to choose from: Bar Credits or OBC. Bar Credits only cost me 5,000 points for $50, but OBC costs me 7,500 for $50 OBC. I redeem for only Bar Credits, as that is where most of my money is spent. But on the Carnival website, in the Fun Shops, Cruise Cash is for anything you purchase.

Interesting. What are these 'reward points' to which you refer?

[grandmarnnurse]

3 minutes ago, Joe817 said:

Interesting. What are these 'reward points' to which you refer?

Sorry. I didn’t clarify better. I use the Carnival Mastercard for all purchases at home and then redeem my reward points for cruise cash/bar credits. I have also booked a cruise and paid for it at booking with that card to receive double points, then redeemed points for a $1200 statement credit. I use my card for everything—gas, groceries, bills, all purchases, and accrue points fast. I also use the Reward Boost feature in the bank card website and receive even more points. Just recieved 10/$1 on a purchase through ebags, and 6/$1 for Cheryls Cookies.

[Joe817]

I see. Thank you. 

[wolft927]

I have always used CC for sail and sign account, but this cruise i have alread paid for everything from Cheers, excursions, gratuities wifi soda package for 18 year old step son etc. So this time around i am going to prepurcahse cruise cash for the onboard account. Since i have already purchased everything i figure a couple hundred bucks should be fine.  

 

Also when i get to the terminal will the make me put cash down if i already have cruise cash loaded

[dallasdan]

You do not have to put down any cash or credit card prior to boarding the ship.  You can add cash or a credit once on board if needed at a kiosk.

 

 

[Schoifmom]

2 hours ago, wolft927 said:

I have always used CC for sail and sign account, but this cruise i have alread paid for everything from Cheers, excursions, gratuities wifi soda package for 18 year old step son etc. So this time around i am going to prepurcahse cruise cash for the onboard account. Since i have already purchased everything i figure a couple hundred bucks should be fine.  

 

Also when i get to the terminal will the make me put cash down if i already have cruise cash loaded

 

No.  They may ask you to go to the desk to apply cash.  Simply tell them you have plenty of OBC and will add more later, if necessary.  Easy peasy. 😉 

[Mytime2014]

14 hours ago, grandmarnnurse said:

Sorry. I didn’t clarify better. I use the Carnival Mastercard for all purchases at home and then redeem my reward points for cruise cash/bar credits. I have also booked a cruise and paid for it at booking with that card to receive double points, then redeemed points for a $1200 statement credit. I use my card for everything—gas, groceries, bills, all purchases, and accrue points fast. I also use the Reward Boost feature in the bank card website and receive even more points. Just recieved 10/$1 on a purchase through ebags, and 6/$1 for Cheryls Cookies.

i need to be using mine better! I've been trying to pay down my cruise and haven't used it as you are saying. 

[ray98]

Regular cash also work.  No limits, restrictions or other red tape that comes with turning real money into Monopoly money.

[sparks1093]

24 minutes ago, ray98 said:

Regular cash also work.  No limits, restrictions or other red tape that comes with turning real money into Monopoly money.

Yes, it does, but it does require a visit to either Guest Services or the kiosk to add it to the account. I'd rather spend my non-vacation time for this then spend vacation time for it. When we first started cruising money was much tighter for us then it is now that we are empty nesters and Cruise Cash was a way to set some money aside just for the cruise. I'd buy $25 to $50 every week or two in the few months leading up to the cruise. It's a habit I got into and I figured that now we no longer need to do it. But we just had a dishwasher fritz out on us a month ago and while that expense wasn't as catastrophic as it once would have been I thought "if this had happened just before a cruise this would have pinched somewhat", so I will continue to put a few hundred in Cruise Cash on the account. That way if something does pop up we know that we at least have that. (And I also purchase the Cruise Cash with a reward card and earn cash back, although it isn't a Carnival card.) As long as DW is sailing with me I have no fear that any part of $500 would go unspent🤣.

[grandmarnnurse]

4 hours ago, Mytime2014 said:

i need to be using mine better! I've been trying to pay down my cruise and haven't used it as you are saying. 

I currently have 3 cruises booked that I’m adding Bar Credits to. Because I’m dividing it between 3, I won’t go in with as much credit, but my final ship bills will be less at end of cruise. Currently have $250 on a 7 Day leaving February 2, $200 on a 6 Day leaving April 5, and $300 on an 8 Day leaving April 11. Once I return in April, I hope to book my 2021 cruise, and possibly use those double points towards a statement credit. That one cruise that I did use the $1200 statement credit? That 7 Day cruise for 2 in an inside cabin on the Breeze, with prepaid gratuities and insurance added at booking final cost to me was only $769. But I never keep a balance on my credit card. That is how too many people get into financial trouble. You need to use this card smartly to have it work for you. Good luck! I hope you enjoy this card and it’s savings as much as I do. 

[Purvis1231]

Do worry about Cruise Cash being non-refundable since you will spend it and probably more. Carnival know this and this is why they sell it. If for some strange reason you do not spend it, you can cash it out before you leave. If you have money from a gift card still on the account, they will mail you a new gift card.

[Purvis1231]

3 hours ago, ray98 said:

Regular cash also work.  No limits, restrictions or other red tape that comes with turning real money into Monopoly money.

Cash is always king but you cannot buy anything on the ship with cash.   Cruise Cash is backed by real money and is away many people like to fund their ship board account. If you are using cash then you have to go through the process of adding to the account while on the ship. with Cruise Cash, you just do this before boarding the ship. 

[simplynewt]

Ok so let me see if I have this right. Cruise Cash in all three of its forms can only have $500 in each of them. Can you transfer funds between them. Say I have $500 on the Cruise Pics and do not use it. Can I then move it over to the Cruise Bar one?

 

If when it is all said and done and I still have Cruise Cash remaining, doubtful but none the less, how would I get this money back? Go to the Casino and ask to cash it out?

 

Gift Cards can also be used but will only lead to another gift card with remaining funds?

 

I can also bring cash and turn it into Cruise Cash ... How? Kiosk? 

 

Thanks for your replies everyone. They are helping me out a lot.