Checking your bill mid-cruise

[katt1]

Like in a hotel, are you able to check your account balance on the television as the week goes on? Thanks!

[ma3]

Yes you can. I check my bill daily. Keep all my receipts and compare. I have never had a problem.

[NorbertsNiece]

Absolutely. And then every few days I make a trip to the purser's desk and settle up..... helps me keep tabs on my expenditure!!

[CruiseKeeper]

I've had minor problems but by checking mid week I had plenty of time to have them corrected. The minor problems have been purchases from the mini bar that were listed that we never used and a few drinks on Labadee when we never left the ship! You would have thought that would have been an easy one but it still took a few days. :)

[Shoreline23]

And it is easy to check your bill at any time using your TV in the cabin. It is also good to check just to make sure you aren't charged for using anything from the refrig if you haven't been tempted to have a drink or a candy bar. That's why many cruisers always ask the cabin steward to remove everything from the refrig so you don't get charged for something you did not take.

[MrZoey]

Absolutely. And then every few days I make a trip to the purser's desk and settle up..... helps me keep tabs on my expenditure!!

 

That's what I do, it makes leaving the last morning much less stressful (even though I don't want to leave:rolleyes:)

[Prphan2]

Yes you can thank goodness! It helps prevent the shock when you get your bill and see how much "fun" you've had!:eek::eek::eek: Even though DH and I aren't big drinkers, we did some shopping onboard and since it was our 1st cruise we bought waaay too many pictures, it was nice to keep track of what we were racking up.

[Clarea]

Like in a hotel, are you able to check your account balance on the television as the week goes on? Thanks!

Some of the older ships do not have the interactive television. In that case, you can go to guest relations anytime and ask for a printout of your account.

[FL_Cruiser64]

Like in a hotel, are you able to check your account balance on the television as the week goes on? Thanks!

 

 

Not every ship has that feature.

 

Sovereign Class does not, Grandeur does not. Not sure if Enchantment has it now.

 

Freedom Class you can, Voyager Class you can.

 

You can, at any time, go to the purser desk and have a print out.

[katt1]

Great thanks! I don't recall doing it last time on AOS, but maybe I did!

[firstcruise05]

Absolutely. And then every few days I make a trip to the purser's desk and settle up..... helps me keep tabs on my expenditure!!

 

 

This what we did on the Mariner also. Those little charges can really add up fast :eek: so by keeping tabs on our bill and paying every couple of days, we had a reality check on how much more we could really spend.

[DireMongoose]

For what it's worth, I did it on AOS in June '07.

[mation101]

If you do check mid cruise make sure you are near someone who knows CPR!!

 

it can be quite shocking, my first thought is where the h&$$ has my OBC gone!!

[ahornb]

I think this checking mid cruise thing is a great idea. I'm going to do it on our next trip.

 

For those of you who pay off your accounts mid cruise or so, what form of payment do you use?

 

I suppose I could go to the internet cafe and send money in to my charge card that I'm securing my on board account with as I check my account. That may be more trouble than it's worth.

 

Do any of you send money in to your credit cards to cover future on board charges before you leave home?

[NorbertsNiece]

As a non US citizen I take with me $ traveller cheques and use those. I try very hard to not use my credit card for on board purchases at all.

[ahornb]

As a non US citizen I take with me $ traveller cheques and use those. I try very hard to not use my credit card for on board purchases at all.

 

You know, I like that idea. I may do that.

 

Will you check out my thread about pre-paying tips?

[dwjoe]

I suppose I could go to the internet cafe and send money in to my charge card that I'm securing my on board account with as I check my account. That may be more trouble than it's worth.

 

Do any of you send money in to your credit cards to cover future on board charges before you leave home?

I agree this might be unnecessary trouble. Your credit card doesn't usually get charged til end of cruise, so prior to that your credit card company will see a whole bunch of small payments. Depending upon your prior balance that might put you into credit balance territory, and some credit card issuers don't like that.

 

For those who value the comfort of paying their bill incrementally, another approach would be to set money aside as you incur charges. For example, by transferring money into a separate account for this purpose.

 

DW & I have a different system to control OBC. We look at the charges daily together and complain if the other spouse spent too much on anything. :)

[ahornb]

I agree this might be unnecessary trouble. Your credit card doesn't usually get charged til end of cruise, so prior to that your credit card company will see a whole bunch of small payments. Depending upon your prior balance that might put you into credit balance territory, and some credit card issuers don't like that.

 

For those who value the comfort of paying their bill incrementally, another approach would be to set money aside as you incur charges. For example, by transferring money into a separate account for this purpose.

 

DW & I have a different system to control OBC. We look at the charges daily together and complain if the other spouse spent too much on anything. :)

 

That's true. I already have a separate "vacation" account I could use. I just hate seeing that on board total at the end of a cruise. It really takes the wind out of your sails..if you know what I mean.

[alwalaska]

Another question for all experts ...

 

Our kids will be in the cabin next door. Do you enter your reservation number into the interactive TV, or does the TV "know" what cabin you are in?

 

I would like to be able to check the kid's accounts without having to go to their cabin. :D Our reservations are linked.

[readytolose]

Another question for all experts ...

 

Our kids will be in the cabin next door. Do you enter your reservation number into the interactive TV, or does the TV "know" what cabin you are in?

 

I would like to be able to check the kid's accounts without having to go to their cabin. :D Our reservations are linked.

 

I believe if you have the kids account set up linked to your same credit card it will all show up on your tv.

I could be wrong though so hopefully someone with first hand experience will respond!

[Wisdom]

I'm using the Visa card to get OBC. Let's say I have $1,500 OBC. Near the end of the trip I check my account via the tv and see that I've only used $875. How does the extra unused OBC get settled at the end of the trip?

[RoofingPrincess]

Not all ships have the ability to check your bill on the TV. I know that was the case when we were on the Vision.

[alwalaska]

I'm using the Visa card to get OBC. Let's say I have $1,500 OBC. Near the end of the trip I check my account via the tv and see that I've only used $875. How does the extra unused OBC get settled at the end of the trip?

 

That is being debated on another thread since RCCL has made some of teh OBCs non-refundable and have changed some of the rules.

 

If I understand what I read, you can get the unused portion of the VISA credits (but not necessarily other credits you may have) back as cash or refunded to your charge card. The VISA fine print says if you have returns, they can lower you points and if you don't charge enough to come back to a 0 balance they can ask you to pay for your points. I doubt they would do that, but they can.

 

I would recommend using the points for a cruise discount or a free cruise if you have that many. Even $150 can be used as a cruise discount instead of an OBC.

[Wisdom]

That is being debated on another thread since RCCL has made some of teh OBCs non-refundable and have changed some of the rules.

 

If I understand what I read, you can get the unused portion of the VISA credits (but not necessarily other credits you may have) back as cash or refunded to your charge card. The VISA fine print says if you have returns, they can lower you points and if you don't charge enough to come back to a 0 balance they can ask you to pay for your points. I doubt they would do that, but they can.

 

I would recommend using the points for a cruise discount or a free cruise if you have that many. Even $150 can be used as a cruise discount instead of an OBC.

You may have just saved me a bundle. I accumulate a lot of points quickly using my card to buy equipment for work. I had planned on having closer to $2000 of OBC for my family to be able to do what we wanted without worrying too much about the cost. But if there is a chance I would lose the OBC not used....I would need to find the correct amount to have on my account.

I understand using the credit to purchase other cruises, and I plan on doing that in the future. But since I have the credit with RCI built up now and my cruise is coming up in June, I'd like to use it for OBC.

[Clarea]

You may have just saved me a bundle. I accumulate a lot of points quickly using my card to buy equipment for work. I had planned on having closer to $2000 of OBC for my family to be able to do what we wanted without worrying too much about the cost. But if there is a chance I would lose the OBC not used....I would need to find the correct amount to have on my account.

I understand using the credit to purchase other cruises, and I plan on doing that in the future. But since I have the credit with RCI built up now and my cruise is coming up in June, I'd like to use it for OBC.

As long as you have no other OBC's except for the Visa points, RCI says they will refund excess OBC. However, if you have shareholder benefit OBC or next cruise OBC, or other non-cash OBC's, those will be used LAST, after the Visa points OBC's are used. That's where you have to be careful.

 

Like another poster said, better to use the Visa points to get a discount on the cruise. Then you don't have any risk of losing your Visa points OBC.