World Cruise 2023 Island Princess

[Jerry Garcia]

My wife and I are booked on the subject cruise, looking for advice on using the Princess internet to access my banks online bill pay while on the trip. Has anyone experienced any problems? Such as hackers or scammers, additionally is a VPN recommended?? Is Princess Medallion net internet service protected from hackers?

 

Your input is appreciated.

Jerry

[shamrockace]

I asked this very same question some time ago.  I copy and pasted the answer to a word document and will share it with you.  

To Pay bills while on the ship and stay safe:

Use a Win 10 laptop and when signing into a public network, always ensure network discovery & file/printer sharing is off.  If already online, you can check your current settings by selecting:

·         Settings – Network & Internet – Network & Sharing Centre – Change Advanced Sharing Settings

·         On the next screen you can turn on/off these options.  If on a public network, both should be off.

·         When surfing online, routinely check the URL area to confirm you are using HTTPS:// and not HTTP://

 

Most others said they either had a family member back home paying their bills or had all their bills set up with auto-pay.   We will also be on this cruise

 

Edited April 2, 2022 by shamrockace
added we are on this cruise too

[Jerry Garcia]

Thank you for the reply, I appreciate the info, however i'm far from a Propellerhead so I will opt for option B; I will set up as many automatic payments as I could and for the rest, I will have my son make the payments.

You have cruised quite a bit; we have a total of 12 cruises starting in 2012, I just retired in2018; the majority 7 on Princess. Looking forward to reaching the elite status with this world cruise. We are scheduled for a 12 day British Isle cruise in May and a CruiseTour to Alaska in Sept.

 

Thanks again

[shamrockace]

Be sure to NOT take your auto-pay credit card to use while cruising.  If it would get stolen or compromised, you'd have to contact each and every company you have on auto-pay.  Instead, get one that is just for the cruise and that has no foreign exchange rate.  AAA had one, but they said yesterday that they are in the middle of changing banks.  They hope to offer the same but not sure yet.

[Heidi13]

4 hours ago, shamrockace said:

Be sure to NOT take your auto-pay credit card to use while cruising.  If it would get stolen or compromised, you'd have to contact each and every company you have on auto-pay.  Instead, get one that is just for the cruise and that has no foreign exchange rate.  AAA had one, but they said yesterday that they are in the middle of changing banks.  They hope to offer the same but not sure yet.

 

Surely that risk exists, regardless of whether we are cruising, or not.

 

We have been cruising for 40 yrs and have never lost, or had a credit card compromised, while on a ship. Since our primary credit card provides flight rewards, we will continue to use it for travel.

 

 

[Jerry Garcia]

I'm not sure what an autopay credit card is??? I have reviewed my utilities companies and the credit card companies that I currently use, and they all have auto pay options; I will opt in all cases to have them direct bill my bank on a monthly basis thereby eliminating any third-party involvement. and putting any risk security back to the bank. I will start this upgrade to my bill pay in august just to watch the process for a few months before starting on the WC. Any odd billing, I will note and handle individually.

[mchell810]

4 hours ago, Jerry Garcia said:

I'm not sure what an autopay credit card is??? I have reviewed my utilities companies and the credit card companies that I currently use, and they all have auto pay options; I will opt in all cases to have them direct bill my bank on a monthly basis thereby eliminating any third-party involvement. and putting any risk security back to the bank. I will start this upgrade to my bill pay in august just to watch the process for a few months before starting on the WC. Any odd billing, I will note and handle individually.

 

It's not an "auto pay credit card" but having the bills charged automatically to the credit card.  Essentially, the same as what you have decided to do by using your bank.  I prefer the credit card so that if there are errors some company -- cell phone, Netflix, etc -- is not making withdrawals from my bank, plus I earn points.  In my area utility companies charge a fee if you want pay via a credit card so I just set those payments with my bank.  It's my personal preference not to allow any company to make withdrawals from my bank;  I know many others feel differently.

[Jerry Garcia]

I currently have some bills automatically charged to my credit card. Again, another consideration. TY  

[efiinut]

You might like to Check out roll call

 

WORLD CRUISE 2023 ISLAND PRINCESS - Page 90 - Island Princess Roll Calls - Cruise Critic Community

 

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Whenever I needed a new card when my current card was comprised - the card companies I use have always continued to process existing auto pays with the old number.