Visa Check Card?

[SLINKY-YJ]

can you use a visa check card on your sign and sail card or doese it have to be a regular credit card?

[GoinCruisin]

You can use your Visa check card anywhere Visa is accepted.... I used mine on our cruise...

[DebBrown]

Just be sure you have the balance in your account to cover it or they will reject it at the end of the cruise. Then where would you be? Probably washing dishes in the kitchen. You know, that doesn't sound so bad if I get to cruise for another week. Surely they let you out of the galley sometime? :)

[GoinCruisin]

They will put a "hold" on your account for a certain amount... once you reach that amount, they will do it again... if you run out of funds on the card, they will call you and tell you to bring another card... We set up an account specifically for our cruise and used the check card, in order to try to "budget"... well, it didn't work... by the 4th day, we had to fork up some more cash :D

[serene56]

I have a $400 spending limit on my card. When the Cruiselines tryies to put my bill through--if it goes over 400.00 it will refuse. Make sure you know what your limit is and let your bank know that you will be OUT OF TOWN so they can raise the limit some. Carnival puts the bill through at the end. They do not do it on a daily basis.

[GolfingDV]

Two reasons why I use AmEx. I don't have the limit problems and they have a great guarantee policy. If you have some questionable billings and the cruise line doesn't resolve it, you can go back through AmEx to have the charges dismissed. They have high interest rates but if you keep it paid off, it's pretty handy to use for traveling.

[GoinCruisin]

The Visa Check card has the same policy (as far as guarantee), but you don't have to worry about interest charges... which is very nice!!!!! I bring a credit card along, just in case... but this way it helps me not to "over-spend"

[budser]

I work at a bank, and our bank will give you a temporary limit increase if you contact them prior to your trip. You also want to let them know you will be leaving the country so they don't suspect your card has been stolen and put a freeze on it. We use ours all the time on our cruises and have never had any problem with it. Kathy

[mohavemommy]

Beware of using your debit card. I used mine on my April 04 cruise and what would happen is that the cruise line would put a "temporary hold" on funds daily based upon what I spent on the card that day. That was fine with me, but 2 days after I got home, the "temporary holds" were had not expired and Carnival went ahead and put thru the full charge all at once. The result was that I lost use of double the amount of funds until I could get my bank to release the holds that Carnival had put on daily. This EASILY could have been a disaster had the funds not been there.:eek:

[GoinCruisin]

MohaveMommy, that is exactly why we set up a different account for our cruise... didn't want to deal with that... just opened up a new account and deposited our "budget" into it, and got a Visa Check card on that account... we spent it all up on the cruise and it was not attached to the main bank account... worked marvelously :D

[Gma&Gpa]

:cool: THe more I think about it, the more inclined I am to just pay the S&S card in cash or travelers checks. That way, there are NO surprises at the end. My understanding is that when the cash balance gets low, they'll let me know so I can put some more on it. Sure think this is easier than worrying about what might happen with my debit card when I get home.

[crystallynn]

Thanks for all the info. It's been about 5 years since I last cruised and I figured things might have changedl

[BDL]

I usually give them a regular credit card for the s&s. The night before disembarking I go down and pay with either debit card or with traveler's checks. If I go over my budgeted amount and am short on traveler's checks, then I leave the balance on the credit card.

Barb

[imsulin]

That's the big difference. A credit card is a line of credit. A bank debit card is tied directly to your checking account, and usually has a daily charge limit. And, yes - Carnival will put a "hold" on your card (about $200.00 per person) at the beginning of your cruise...this will be stated in your cruise documents. It's a good idea to call BOTH your bank AND your credit card company before you go, to advise them of the dates you will be out of the country, your foreign destinations, and that you plan to use your card there. I once had a charge in Cancun denied on my AMEX card because I forgot to call them ahead of time.