Pre-Authorization Holds and OBC

[TiffanyLaurine]

Hello, 

I am a first-time princess cruiser. I have heard that people have some pre-authorization holds on their credit cards during the cruise. I was curious, if I add OBC to our accounts, do they still take the pre-authorization hold? 

[Rick&Jeannie]

That is *generally* only the case if you are using a debit card.  I have occasionally seen a charge for $1 which is very typical of testing just to make sure that charges can go through...but it's always a "pending" charge and drops off after a couple of days.  If you're using a standard CC then you should not be concerned about holds.

[Rick&Jeannie]

And to answer your specific question about the OBC...any charges that you make will come out of OBC first before anything hits your CC.

[Rick&Jeannie]

Welcome to Cruise Critic!  I just noticed that this was your first post!

[TiffanyLaurine]

1 minute ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

That is *generally* only the case if you are using a debit card.  I have occasionally seen a charge for $1 which is very typical of testing just to make sure that charges can go through...but it's always a "pending" charge and drops off after a couple of days.  If you're using a standard CC then you should not be concerned about holds.

Thank you for the input on this. We will be using a standard CC. I was just curious how this worked. I have only cruised Carnival once before and was able to set up a cash account during that. I will probably still add some OBC for us to use. Thank you for the help again. 

[TiffanyLaurine]

1 minute ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

Welcome to Cruise Critic!  I just noticed that this was your first post!

It was 🙂 I have been a lurker but have never posted before. I have always asked questions in the FB groups but never here. The FB groups are not as nice as the replies that I have found here. 

[Rick&Jeannie]

Heh Heh...you're not the first to mention the "civility" (or lack thereof) on FB!  Don't hesitate to come back and post any questions you may have.  There are a LOT of regulars here who will gladly try to help.  Welcome aboard!

[Rick&Jeannie]

And just to be clear...you will occasionally see some snarky replies/comments here on CC as well, but we really try to help anyone who truly has questions.

[TiffanyLaurine]

1 minute ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

And just to be clear...you will occasionally see some snarky replies/comments here on CC as well, but we really try to help anyone who truly has questions.

That was the general vibe that I got. Most people here that I have seen have been super helpful with some occasional sass sprinkled in. I definitely felt more comfortable coming here with my question. 

[Rick&Jeannie]

One thing that *might* help in the future...if you happen to ask a question that somehow involves where you are located, it helps to have at least a "general" location listed in your profile.  That way...someone who may be answering from the UK or elsewhere will understand that you are based in the US.  It could just be something like "Southern CA" or "Western NC". But...if you're uncomfortable posting that info nobody will give you a hard time about it.

[TiffanyLaurine]

3 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

One thing that *might* help in the future...if you happen to ask a question that somehow involves where you are located, it helps to have at least a "general" location listed in your profile.  That way...someone who may be answering from the UK or elsewhere will understand that you are based in the US.  It could just be something like "Southern CA" or "Western NC". But...if you're uncomfortable posting that info nobody will give you a hard time about it.

Thanks for the tip. I think I got it added. I really appreciate your help 🙂