Paying cash on board. Do I have to carry it on with me or can I do it ahead of time?

[vizzle]

I want to pay cash. I have set aside a sum of money and want to know if I can put it in my account ahead of time through my Carnival rep?

 

And can I then have a back up source via CC?

[Cotton]

Absolutely. Contact your booking agent and they will set it up for you just the way you want it.

[vizzle]

Awesome! Who wants to carry all that cash anyways.

[vizzle]

Should I put most of my cash in there, and can I take it out later? Or do they charge you for that?

[momofsamandeden]

I am not sure if you can do this on carnival but I have done this on other lines where I put a certain amount on my ship card when I checked in. At the end of the cruise I went to the purser and got a refund for whatever I did not spend.

[Leo Jay]

never mind -- misunderstood question

[Cotton]

Should I put most of my cash in there, and can I take it out later? Or do they charge you for that?

 

Just take some traveler's checks with you, and the purser can cash them. That way, you'd have whatever amount of cash you want on hand at any time.:)

[vizzle]

Just take some traveler's checks with you, and the purser can cash them. That way, you'd have whatever amount of cash you want on hand at any time.:)

 

Good to know! I have never used traveler checks before. I will look into it.

[dlbutler5]

Make sure you cash them on the ship, they are not always popular in many ports. Too much fraud.

[vizzle]

Is there a charge to cash travelers checks, or withdrawl cash from S S card?

[yst347]

Traveler's cheques can be cashed for free at the purser's desk. Cash can be withdrawn for free from an account backed by cash but cash advances will incur a fee.

 

You cannot use cash for purchases onboard with the exception of chips/coins in the casino and bingo cards. It is a cash free environment. With this in mind you should consider separating your cash into two piles, one pile for onboard purchases which you will use to back your shipboard account, and one to use for gambling on the ship and spending while ashore.

[LornaT]

You can buy On Board Credit prior to sailing instead of taking the cash with you. But be advised ...... they don't tell you that you still need to "activate" the S&S Account with either a cash deposit (been told that even $5.00 will do it ...... I used a $20.00) otherwise the system won't populate the account with the OBC.

 

I did this for my Hawaii to Ensenada sailing in October 2006 (thought I was being sooo smart) that on the 2nd day when I couldn't activate an account in the Internet Library, I went to the Purser's desk and then I was told about still needing either an amount in cash, travelers check or a Credit Card to activate the account. Thank goodness I had brought my receipts for the OBC I'd bought, it took like 5 phone calls by the Pursers Desk over 5 days to finally get the full amount purchased credited to my account :eek: .......... and the Fun Vision system never did show the correct amount ....... when I asked the Pursers Desk about it, they told me not to worry that they knew the amount was there.

 

Decided to go back to cash and travelers checks ......... and any amount unused gets paid back to me in a check on the last morning which can be cashed at the Pursers Desk prior to leaving the ship.

[Kurbanfan]

Awesome! Who wants to carry all that cash anyways.

 

Make sure you have cash while on shore. Also you have a safe in your cabin so you don't have to carry all your cash with you...........

[masdolphin]

You can call Carnival directly at 1-800-906-7603 to put cash on your onboard account prior to your cruise, they will need your booking number, name address etc.

[julieoregon]

I know this is subjective.........but........how many $1 bills do you bring for a 7 night cruise? Who do you tip besides roomservice onboard the ship? I know you might tip a porter.....but the bar is included in your bill...tia.....Julie

[yst347]

It's a good idea to bring singles for purchases onshore also. The closer you can pay to a negotiated price, the less local currency you receive in change.

 

We always bring a pack of $50 singles with us. I cannot remember using all of them on a cruise but they do come in handy.