Just off the phone with Carnival-Sail & Sign Deposit

[HOSKI]

I just got off the phone with Carnival about a cash deposit for our sail and sign cards. For our five night holiday cruise we must place $200 per person on deposit. This includes $200 for our 4 yr old even if her card is not activated. Maybe this infor will help someone else.

 

Also, we already have a $50 shipboard credit and this has no effect on the deposit amount.

[CruiseMark]

When I spoke to Carnival about this they said it was just for the adults in the cabin, not the kids. $200 per adult.

 

Go figure.

[Cruising89143]

Call back again and speak to another person and you will get another story. The left hand does not know what the right hand is doing. Also, it does not make sense that Carnival would want a deposit for a four year old. By the way, I am not doubting what the OP was told by Carnival but it just does not make sense at all.

[mnhenderson]

I called about this after reading this post(we have an 8 year old) and got the following info from a supervisor.On a 5 day sailing, $200.00 for each activated sign and sail card.So...unless you are planning on letting your 4 year old charge,you don't have to include her in the count.

I know we get different answers from every person at carnival,but I have found that going straight to the supervisor "usually" gets an acurate answer. I hope that helps. Mariann

[Brneyznfl]

Hoski, when you get on the ship, they will probably let you put down less cash if you want. I was able to. You have to go to the purser's desk to set up your sail and sign once you board the ship.

[tinydancer21]

Can you just leave a credit card?

[cjar855]

I always give a credit card #. I have never had to put cash down on my sign and sail this way.Whatever I put on my Sign & Sail card is billed to my Credit card account..

[CruiseMark]

It's the same with a credit card. They just put a $200 hold per person on it.

 

MNHenderson: I'm curious what you mean by an "activated" card though. I thought everyone needed a S&S card just to get on and off the ship?

[mnhenderson]

CruiseMark,Activated to allow charges.You may choose to allow your children to charge using their sign and sail or you can turn it off and they are only allowed to use it to get on and off the ship.Our son is still a little young for charging on his own.We might end up with a huge arcade bill ;) (He never goes anywhere but camp carnival without us anyway.)Have a good day. Mariann

[CruiseMark]

CruiseMark,Activated to allow charges.You may choose to allow your children to charge using their sign and sail or you can turn it off and they are only allowed to use it to get on and off the ship.Our son is still a little young for charging on his own.We might end up with a huge arcade bill ;) (He never goes anywhere but camp carnival without us anyway.)Have a good day. Mariann

 

Perfect, thanks Mariann!

[HOSKI]

We will not be using a credit card and I did tell him that my daughter's sail and sign would not be turned on. I know pretty much what we will spend because we have sailed before plus we are on a budget this trip. I planned on a $500 deposit and that left us with a little overrun. (yes, I'm an overplanner)

 

I'm having soda delivered, have some drink coupons, only booking one excursion thru the ship and know what I plan to buy. You would think they would let me deposit the $500 and request more if we run low. I don't want to end up with a check at the end that I can not get cashed in NOLA.

[mnhenderson]

Hoski,I would really try to call back and speak with a supervisor.We also do not use credit cards and I was concerned about needing more cash than the 500.00,I had also budgeted(sounds like we are on the same budget :) ) When I called after I read your initial post the first girl that I talked to said she wasn't sure,so I asked for a supervisor She put me on hold and then came back and read the info from her handbook.I hope that puts your mind at ease,but if not ....try the same thing when you call back.Have a great cruise. Mariann

[RinaJune612]

A Credit Card or Bank Debit Card worked fine for me. Then leave the cash for when you port.

[SevenVII]

Some people just have serious issues and wont deal with a credit card. I know a credit card can be a bad thing, but used with discression it makes things a lot easier!

 

And you get rewards for blowing your money on booze!

[OhioJeff]

We will not be using a credit card and I did tell him that my daughter's sail and sign would not be turned on. I know pretty much what we will spend because we have sailed before plus we are on a budget this trip. I planned on a $500 deposit and that left us with a little overrun. (yes, I'm an overplanner)

 

I'm having soda delivered, have some drink coupons, only booking one excursion thru the ship and know what I plan to buy. You would think they would let me deposit the $500 and request more if we run low. I don't want to end up with a check at the end that I can not get cashed in NOLA.

Hoski

In the event they issue you a check. Just go down to the pursers desk and cash it.

[imlulu]

I'm confused. Do you use cash instead of credit card because you want it paid off???? On our last 5 day cruise for the 4 of us, our sign and sail was less than your deposit.

[retiredldo]

You can use a credit card but they still hold funds, after the cruise is finished, what ever you have put on your sign and sail card is billed to your credit card. If you opt to use cash you put a deposit down and the sign and sail card is good for that amount.

 

Years ago they did not do this and it was good but you carried cash all over the place, although on Holland America you still do (but they are changing their policy on tipping)

 

Quite frankly since the lines went to cruise cards, sign and sail cards etc, there is no doubt in my mind that they have increased their intake of money, I continue to chuckle on the last morning when folks will get their final statement and you hear "^$&@( we just charged another cruise in one week" some folk just flat out get carried away.

 

Regards

 

Pete

[HOSKI]

imlulu: the deposit is also to cover our entire s&s bill for the cruise. It starts out with $150 for tips; one excursion we've chosen for the family; babysitting fee for the late night comedy shows; and $200 for alcohol, cigarettes & onboard purchases; plus $8 for daughter's birthday cake. I have anally calculated the amount of beers hubby is allowed per day and also a fro-fro drink a day for me. My budget comes to $476 for the three of us for the cruise. This is the lowest I've ever spent because I enjoy the spa but will skip it this trip. With the tips being directly added your sign and sail is automatically higher. I used to have the tips enveloped and ready to go but now it's handled for me.

[txflood3]

there is definately some good info here. I will be taking my first ever cruise as a honeymoon with my new wife leaving on Halloween.

 

 

When we booked our cruise, we were told by the Carnival agent that they authorize $300-$500 for the S&S card to your credit/debit card(arangements to pay with cash could also be made)...which makes sence at $200 per person. I am also under the impression that anything you do on the boat, including shore excursions bought through Carnival goes onto the S&S card. Is there anything on the boat that cash is used for? The casino, spa tratments, anything?

 

I am setting aside money for all our shore excursions planned, plus $500 for the initial authorization when we arrive. Is this a bit of an overkill? I just don't want to hit day 4 or 5 of the cruise and not be able to do the things we want to do because we didn't plan ahead for expenses we didn't know about.

 

We have also pre-paid our gratuities. Does this mean our S&S card will have a credit when we arrive? Is there a place on Carnival's site to see any credits applied?

 

Sorry for the rambling, like I said, I'm a rookie at this and am so excited I can't get enough info. I am so ready to leave now. This is our first vacation together and my first in about 7 years....not to mention our honeymoon, so we do plan to splurge a little.

 

Thanks for the info.

[NinaCO]

there is definately some good info here. I will be taking my first ever cruise as a honeymoon with my new wife leaving on Halloween.

My cruise leaves Halloween afternoon too. I'm excited for you. You're going to have a great time!

 

When we booked our cruise, we were told by the Carnival agent that they authorize $300-$500 for the S&S card to your credit/debit card(arangements to pay with cash could also be made)...which makes sence at $200 per person. I am also under the impression that anything you do on the boat, including shore excursions bought through Carnival goes onto the S&S card. Is there anything on the boat that cash is used for? The casino, spa tratments, anything?

You'll want cash for the casino. If you want to bet on the horse races, I think that's in cash too (was the last time I did it). Maybe bingo? Don't remember if that's on S&S or cash. You'll also want some cash on hand for tipping room service. If you want to give extra tips to anyone, you'd need cash for that. Can't think of anything else you'd use cash for on the ship.

 

I am setting aside money for all our shore excursions planned, plus $500 for the initial authorization when we arrive. Is this a bit of an overkill? I just don't want to hit day 4 or 5 of the cruise and not be able to do the things we want to do because we didn't plan ahead for expenses we didn't know about.

On you first cruise (especially your honeymoon!), I think putting more money aside is a good idea. You may not need it, but it's much better to have extra money set aside than worry about whether you have enough. I've gotten to the point that I can figure out in advance how much I'll spend on a cruise. FYI, my budget is on the web.

 

We have also pre-paid our gratuities. Does this mean our S&S card will have a credit when we arrive? Is there a place on Carnival's site to see any credits applied?

The prepayment of your tips will be reflected on your cruise ticket/documents. Wouldn't think you'd have a credit on your S&S from it -- tips probably just won't be listed as an expense. (Not sure because I've never prepaid.)

 

Congratulations on your marriage. I hope you have a wonderful honeymoon!

[txflood3]

Thanks for the info, NinaCO. Looks like we will be on the same cruise.

 

 

Is it safe to assume the casino will accept traveler's cheques or will we actually need the Ben Frankins?

 

Also, I read in another post that some people went on a cruise for their annaversary and pre-paid for some annaversary items. All throughout the trip, staff members were wishing them happy annaversary. I am assuming it was showing up when their S&S card was swiped. If we have pre-paid our gratuites, will staff members also be able to recognize this? I will probably tip over this amount, but certainly don't want to receive sub par service, or even upset anyone by them thinking we have not tipped. I have worked in a tipped service industry for 16 years and know what that's like.

 

Thanks again for the info.

[NinaCO]

That's great! Can't wait to meet you. There's a thread on the Roll Call Board for the Oct. 31 sailing of Conquest, if you want to join in.

 

I usually travel with about $250 in cash (lots of $1's) and the rest in travelers checks. No problem cashing them in the casino. There was a thread a while ago where someone said there could be a limit on how much you can cash, but I've never had any problem cashing them, not even on the last night of the cruise.

 

I don't know whether the staff will know in advance you've prepaid tips, but they will be informed at some point so they'll know you didn't stiff them. :) I'll leave the tips on my S&S card and plan to give some extra on the last night.

 

As far as the people who were wished Happy Anniversary, I bet they (or a friend) purchased an anniversary welcome aboard gift for them. They have honeymoon packages too. If there's someone who doesn't know what to get you as a wedding gift, maybe you can suggest they check out Carnival's gift page? When my Mom asked what I wanted for my birthday, I sent her to Carnival's site. She ended up getting me Fun Ship Dollars, which I really appreciate. I think when you fill out the Fun Pass online it may ask if you're celebrating a special occasion, so that might clue the staff in too.

[Cotton]

We have also pre-paid our gratuities. Does this mean our S&S card will have a credit when we arrive?QUOTE]

 

Since the first entry on your S&S account is always gratuities, I would think you would see either a blank page, OR listed as:

 

$140.00 Gratuities

-$140.00 Prepaid gratuities

 

Looking at my last S&S account sheet (I checked it on the first afternoon to make sure my shipboard credit was on there):

 

$ 50.00 Gratuities

-$165.00 Shipboard credit

-$115.00 Credit

[ozcaz]

Hi everyone,

 

I havent been asked for a credit card number or anything. We booked here in Australia, we had to pay the full amount of our cruise within 24hours of booking. And the only info we had to provide was like name,age, passport details etc. No details about credit card no or dining options or anything!!

Maybe, we will have to provide that at the port?

 

Caz

[CruiseMark]

Hi everyone,

 

I havent been asked for a credit card number or anything. We booked here in Australia, we had to pay the full amount of our cruise within 24hours of booking. And the only info we had to provide was like name,age, passport details etc. No details about credit card no or dining options or anything!!

Maybe, we will have to provide that at the port?

 

Caz

 

Yep, that's when you do it - when you check-in and they give you your Sign & Sail cards, which are used like creadit cards/room keys/ID on the ship.