paying cash toward onboard acct on pearl

[Coco421]

Can you do that or do you have to pay with CC. I understand you have to give CC to set up onboard account but you can pay off bill with cash in advance? Can that onboard account be paid with travelers checks as well?

When we went on another cruise line as soon as we got on ship we put cash toward onboard account so as we purchased things it was just deducted.

[ohioNCLcruiser]

Yes you can pay it off with cash or travelers checks. You also wouldn't be required to put a CC on your account if you set cash on it when you check in. As soon as you run out though they would put a hold on your card. Its best to put the CC on file when you check in then just pay off the account before the last night with cash or travelers checks.

 

Poster Cello8619 can confirm this I'm sure.

[Coco421]

Thanks for quick response. I was thinking of putting CC down but also putting cash down right away. at end of cruise they could just charge the balance to CC i have on file when the balance exceeds the amount of cash i put down.. make sense?? :o I guess my main concern is 1) can i pay cash for onboard account 2) can it be travelers checks? But I think you answered and thank you!!

[garycarla]

Yes, you can put cash and/or Trav Checks on your account when you board. Using the credit card is an excellent idea to avoid dealing with small charges the last few days and standing in line.

 

You could even put the cash in your safe and wait a few days before putting it on the account to get a better idea of your spending. They do not charge the credit card until the last day - after you leave.

 

Remember, once you give them the cash, you can not get any back until the last morning.

[Coco421]

thnaks for great info. i appreciate it!!

[terrymtex01]

Coco.. make sure you keep any cash you are planning on using while in ports with you, and not put it towards your OBC. Once you give them cash at check in, it is their until the end of the cruise. You could always go to the casino and draw out cash but that is a pain to do sometimes. Some people have thought they could just put all of thier cash down and then go to the front desk and get some as they needed it when they were going into ports but you can't do that. Not saying that is what you had planned, just wanted to make sure you didn't do that.. 8-)

[Traveller20074]

Ok, I'm confused.

 

I pay with CC (on file) for extras..right? How do I pay at the end? I have to pay with cash? :confused: Or are you doing it just to pay it down so you don't have a large bill at the end? I thought the idea was to not have a lot of cash on hand :confused:

[*Wink*]

NCL does not actually process your CC until the end of the cruise. It's like when you reserve a hotel room with a CC, nothing's actually charged until you check out, and you have the option to pay by other means such as cash or a different CC. So if you wanted to pay the balance off at the end of the cruise with cash, you have that option to do so.

However, if only cash is given at the beginning of the cruise (usually they want approximately $300 or so) and no CC, then as your on board charges accumulate, the ship will ask you to put more cash on your account to cover the growing balance.

Ideally, even though you're going to pay cash for your onboard charges, giving them a CC at the beginning of your cruise is the easiest way so that you're not constantly interrupted during your cruise to come and put more cash on your account.

What Terry was explaining is that you cannot give them $1,000 at the beginning and then go and ask them for $200 back for spending money. The deposit cannot be drawn against. :)

[garycarla]

Ok, I'm confused.

 

I pay with CC (on file) for extras..right? How do I pay at the end? I have to pay with cash? :confused: Or are you doing it just to pay it down so you don't have a large bill at the end? I thought the idea was to not have a lot of cash on hand :confused:

 

Your credit card will cover any expenses after they have used up the cash that you have given them.

[Traveller20074]

I"m still wondering why a person would take a lot of cash on board? :confused: I know you need some for tips though..and incidentals

[Coco421]

I"m still wondering why a person would take a lot of cash on board? :confused: I know you need some for tips though..and incidentals

I'm not taking a lot of cash onboard but will have some. I also prefer to use cash instead of cc when i can.

[drm93]

I'm back again....Hey "A"! so by putting the cc down at the beginning of the cruise,you say they don't charge anything to your card,is that really "true"....what about the service charges?

[garycarla]

I"m still wondering why a person would take a lot of cash on board? :confused: I know you need some for tips though..and incidentals

 

 

Every few days a new discussion about this topic comes up, and the same question is asked. I too wonder why people prefer to deal with cash vs a credit card. Only reason I can think of is those people that have an open account and are paying interest. (we don't)

 

As to the question about nothing being charged, even service charges.

 

They just keep adding those each day, along with other onboard charges. They wait until the END of the cruise to process your total payment. If you have any cash on the account, that is treated as a credit and it reduces the amount that is then charged to your credit card.

[ohioNCLcruiser]

They charge the cards the last night of the cruise around midnight.

[terrymtex01]

I'm back again....Hey "A"! so by putting the cc down at the beginning of the cruise,you say they don't charge anything to your card,is that really "true"....what about the service charges?

 

The only thing that shows up before the last night of the cruise is the "authorization" they send to the cc company. I do not honestly know the amount they first get authorization for, but lets just say it is $500.00. If you were to pull up your credit card statement online and see pending charges you would see an authorization for $500.00. However that doesn't actually become a charge. It will eventually drop away. The only real charge you will see is like James was saying, at the last night of the cruise.

 

I am with the group that says I don't understand people that take large sums of cash with them (not saying the OP is going to do that but it does come up from time to time on the boards). Even though I would never do that, I'm sure those people have their reasons. IF ANYTHING I would take travelers checks, but both seem so risky to me.

[cello8619]

Yes you can pay it off with cash or travelers checks. You also wouldn't be required to put a CC on your account if you set cash on it when you check in. As soon as you run out though they would put a hold on your card. Its best to put the CC on file when you check in then just pay off the account before the last night with cash or travelers checks.

 

Poster Cello8619 can confirm this I'm sure.

 

 

Yup thats the exact answer I would say, also if you are on the Pearl Western Caib Iten, I suggest checking your bill early on Sat (before going ashore to GSC), since the desk is quite busy once we leave (6pm - 11pm)

[drm93]

ok,so ohio,since you work on the ship,I guess you know the truth huh!

so when they run my cc when checking in,they do put a hold on it,but we just don't know what the amount is.....right? I wish I knew,my cc only has a $500 limit,so I wonder if it will be more than that? I will be paying cash at the end of the cruise,or debit card.

there are 3 of us,so if they ran the service charges "upfront" for the entire cruise....3 people x $12 x 14 days..it would be $504.00. But I am hearing that they charge the service charges each night,right?

[garycarla]

Shelley - trust the regulars here.

 

When I get a printout of my cruise during the middle of the week, it only has service charges posted up through that period. If I get a printout two days later, it has two more days worth of charges.

 

when I get home, there is ONE charge from NCL on my bill. Usually pretty big between drinks, casino, tours, dinners, but still only ONE charge.

 

As to debit cards, you might want to do a search on that, as people have been known to have problems with it. Others use them and say it is fine.

 

There are also some temp authorizations sometimes if I check them, but not charges.

[cruizinwithkids]

when I get home, there is ONE charge from NCL on my bill. Usually pretty big between drinks, casino, tours, dinners, but still only ONE charge.

 

 

There is only one charge but when I have checked there are also daily temporary authorizations that sit there for day.

[terrymtex01]

Shelley.. what you could do is when you check in, ask them to make the deposit they put "on hold" on your credit card to be no more than $400.00 or $450.00. The only two things you would need to be concerned with at that point is maybe mid week, go and see how much you have charged to your account at that point..ie. daily service charges, specialty restaurants, excursions, drinks, etc. If it is getting close to that amount you originally had them get the authorization for, then give them some cash towards the account to bring your "balance of charges" down. The as the other poster mentioned, the morning you are at GSC I would go and get a print out of your charges and settle your account at that point with cash. You could just let them charge any other charges you have for the rest of the day to your credit card, if you wanted to.

 

Hope that makes some sense what Im trying to explain. It's a little bit difficult to word it just right.

 

Or, Shelley.. JMHO, you will be ok just puting cash down from the beginning. You may want to save your cc for charges you might want to charge in ports of calls. Only you know what the best combination is for you. The only thing I HIGHLY discourage you from is using your debit card as a deposit and that is just because I do not like giving anyone that much access to our liquid accounts.

[Coco421]

when we cruise, my kids save their spending money for little things they may want on the cruise. sometimes they'll get american express gift cheques as gifts from family members for them to use for vacation.

I don't "bring a lot of cash" onboard but just wanted to make sure wasn't problem applying cash/traveler check/AE gift cheques to onboard charges.

thanks for your responses. you answered my question.

[kg66]

When we cruised the Jewel in 2006 we put cash down ( I think $500) to cover shore excursions and gratuities. We got into the habit of everynight before we turned in for the night, we settled our account. That way we could keep track of our charges, between drinks, shop purchases, and shore excursions. We just used TC's to pay each night. As the OP said, then if we ran out of cash or TC's at a port, we used our CC. Just what worked for us...

[drm93]

thank you everyone for such great responses...I know this subject has been "beaten to death" but it's frustrating when I just can't seem to get "one" right answer,but you all have been super helpful.

Terry....thank you too for such a detailed explanation. What does "GSC" mean? My main concern is that I DONT have any issues at check-in. Which is why I'm so concerned about the initial amount that they charge,hold,authorize,whatever it's called! I have no problems going to put cash on the account when we get on the ship,I just want to know that I have no "surprises" at check-in. Does anybody really know how much they put on your cc when you check in.......I guess that's the "loaded" question. :cool:

[drm93]

Ultimately...I would LOVE to just give them my debit card at the beginning and be done with it! My daily purchase amount is $7500.00 with my bank,so there's no problem there. And I would be sure to have plenty in my bank account to cover what I "actually" charge on board....but there's the issue with these "astronomical" holds that I have heard about and that's my fear with the debit card.

[garycarla]

thank you everyone for such great responses...I know this subject has been "beaten to death" but it's frustrating when I just can't seem to get "one" right answer,but you all have been super helpful.

Terry....thank you too for such a detailed explanation. What does "GSC" mean? My main concern is that I DONT have any issues at check-in. Which is why I'm so concerned about the initial amount that they charge,hold,authorize,whatever it's called! I have no problems going to put cash on the account when we get on the ship,I just want to know that I have no "surprises" at check-in. Does anybody really know how much they put on your cc when you check in.......I guess that's the "loaded" question. :cool:

 

Maybe I can explain it again.

 

If you put down a credit card, they take nothing from it until the final charge on the last day. Nothing. Zero. Credit card is the very easiest way to checkin. They swipe it and move on. Done. Over. (yes, the do a quick authorization to the credit card company, but no charges,and nothing to worry about)

 

If you want to pay PART of your expenses with cash, you can visit the front desk at anytime and say "here, put this on my account". They just deduct that much from your final bill.