Pre-Authorization of my Credit Card

[sdpr73]

When I check in at the pier. How much will they pre-authorize my credit card to cover my sea-pass expense account ? How much per person.

 

Just wondering cause i need to know in advance how much space to leave on my poor abused credit card. :rolleyes:

[chasetf]

I do not know about RCL, but have heard a general cruise line guide of ~$60 per day per person. To get an exact figure for your planning if you do not have a lot of windage on your card it would probably be best to call RCL. ;)

[cin7609]

$200.00

[sdpr73]

Only $200 ?? Really? I thought they pre-authorized more per person than that?

[Apoggi]

I wouldn't take a chance. Call RCL and then call your credit card company to see if you can go over your limit if you are near it. Or even ask for a higher limit.

[houstoncruisers2001]

I thought it was $500, but don't quote me on it.

[sdpr73]

Ok,....just got off the phone with R.C.I. and they double verified this with a supervisor:

 

Upon Check-In, your credit card is swipped, but NOT pre-authorized. At the end of each day the on-board accounting system will add up what was spent on your sea-pass for that DAY and send a pre-authorization request to your Credit Card company for that amount only. I guess it holds that amount in a "shadow trust" Each and every day there after, it does the same thing, all the time building a tally of what they'll charge your card the last day if you don't go and settle your acount with cash before getting off the boat. So i'm good to go. Hope this info helps someone else clairify the mystery.

 

Happy sails everyone.

[chipaholic]

I am using a prepaid Mastercard (ie.no line of credit, only has whatever fund I loaded into it). Is this going to be a problem? Would RCI accept or should I just bring cash and not bother loading it?

[rummenroman]

Not exactly on the same topic but all in all its the same idea.

 

Can i "pre pay" on my sea pass account. In other words can i send them, 1k for example, and then when i get onboard only be allowed to spend that money, and not attach a card to it?

[laginog]

rummenroman--

What we did was to buy RCI gift certificates for ourselves for whatever amount we wanted. Then when we got onboard, that amount showed up in our account on the 2nd day, I believe.

[andyjo0930]

You can set up your seapass card in cash if you wish. You can also set it up with a credit card, and then put money on your account. That is what we usually do. I always set it up with our debit card and when we get onboard, the money I have set aside for cruise (tips, drinks, etc.) I put on our seapass account. We always check our account a few times during the cruise and if we get to the last day and we still have a lot money on our account, we then go to the casino and take some off. I usually make sure that we use whatever is on it and have them credit our debit card 30-50 bucks. Also, if you only want to spend so much, you can go down and have a limit put on your seapass account. Say you only want to spent 200.00, when you get to that amount, your seapass card would stop working and you would have to go down to the purser's desk.

[wildaboutmickey]

What would be the cash minimum for a 4 day cruise that is required to put on the sea-pass card?

[megr1125]

I am using a prepaid Mastercard (ie.no line of credit, only has whatever fund I loaded into it). Is this going to be a problem? Would RCI accept or should I just bring cash and not bother loading it?

 

honestly, i would skip it...any of those preloaded things can be a PITA.....if a merchant accidentally tries to authorize more than the amount, it will be declined, and the entire balance may disappear for a couple days....

 

if you don't have a CC, i would just put down cash.

[steve20832]

If you are worried about your credit card, you can always put down cash too. The minimum is $50 per night so a 7 night cruise would be a $350 deposit. You claim any money left over the last night of the cruise before 11pm. You can always add to that amount as well and check your balance from your stateroom using RCTV.

[The5jays]

What do they mean by "pre authorize" your CC ??? I'm going on NCL

[readytolose]

Not exactly on the same topic but all in all its the same idea.

 

Can i "pre pay" on my sea pass account. In other words can i send them, 1k for example, and then when i get onboard only be allowed to spend that money, and not attach a card to it?

 

The easiest way to do this is to just call Rccl (or your travel agent if booked with one) and put OBC on your account. We did this when we took our kids with us because I knew our onboard account was going to be high. Every payday I just called and purchased $500 of obc. They emailed me a receipt each time with the total amount of obc we had on our account. I did that until we had $2500 on our account. At the end of our cruise the amount over that I just let go on our credit card.

 

We went the gift certificate route for our first cruise and it was a pain! They have to be redeemed at least 10 days before the cruise (which we did) but then they never showed up onboard on our account. It took many trips to guest services to get it all sorted out.

[The5jays]

That's a great idea:)

[Tee & Chilli]

If you are worried about your credit card, you can always put down cash too. The minimum is $50 per night so a 7 night cruise would be a $350 deposit. You claim any money left over the last night of the cruise before 11pm. You can always add to that amount as well and check your balance from your stateroom using RCTV.

 

 

There is no minimum amount to put down on RCCL. I've placed no deposit many times as you can have a cash account with no money down and accumulate $500 in on board charges before being asking to place a deposit.

 

Other times I've only put down the amount of the gratuities.

 

In both instances I've gone to guest services and settled any outstanding amounts on the last night in cash.

[The5jays]

I see you were on the jade before as well. We are leaving Monday on the jade and was wondering if they work the same with the accounts?

[cb at sea]

They check to make sure your card is valid and has some credit left.....you should NEVER travel with limited credit..you never know what might happen.

 

There are no "holds" like on a DEBIT card, tho!

[Ashland]

You can set up your seapass card in cash if you wish. You can also set it up with a credit card, and then put money on your account. That is what we usually do. I always set it up with our debit card and when we get onboard, the money I have set aside for cruise (tips, drinks, etc.) I put on our seapass account. We always check our account a few times during the cruise and if we get to the last day and we still have a lot money on our account, we then go to the casino and take some off. I usually make sure that we use whatever is on it and have them credit our debit card 30-50 bucks. Also, if you only want to spend so much, you can go down and have a limit put on your seapass account. Say you only want to spent 200.00, when you get to that amount, your seapass card would stop working and you would have to go down to the purser's desk.

I'm assuming you use as a credit card and not a debit card...This is a big difference.

[mollyeilis]

I'm assuming you use as a credit card and not a debit card...This is a big difference.

 

 

The post you're responding to is over 9 years old. :)

 

 

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