Adding cash to my onboard account?

I'm trying to avoid getting a big credit card bill in the mail a few weeks after getting home from my cruise. So to offset the gratuities and any drinks plus souvenirs we purchase, I was thinking of depositing some cash into my onboard account. Has anyone else done this? Can I just go to the bursar's desk or customer service counter and give them cash to add my account? If yes, do they take larger bills ($50 or $100) or do they only accept $20 bills?

Or alternatively, is there a way I can purchase onboard credit before my cruise?

On our first and only sailing we did a cash only account. Did not add a credit card at all. I gave them USD $100 bills which they had no issues accepting. I will do this on our next sailing as well.

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You can buy onboard credit. You could also consider prepaying your gratuities.

And setting up a cash account is easy. You would settle your account with cash rather than giving them your credit card number.

...or you can prepay your credit card before you sail. I like to put everything on my credit card to get reward points or cash back.

We've done this before, but for a different reason. We won a jackpot in the casino and instead of carry a bundle of cash home, we took it down to the front desk and applied it towards the balance on our account. No problem whatsoever!!

We've also purchased gift cards ahead of time during a promotion and applied them as soon as we got onboard. Also, no issue with that either.

Thanks everyone for the very helpful replies! I don't think I want to have a cash account because I don't plan on paying my entire onboard spending and gratuities with cash. I think I still want to have a credit card on my account. That way, if I spend more onboard than the cash I plan to deposit, then the excess will just get charged to my credit card at the end of the cruise. At least the cash I put in will mean less $ will hit my credit card (and reduce my credit card shock a month later). :D

Can I add cash to onboard account even though I will have a credit card attached to my onboard account? Also, someone said I can pre-purchase onboard credit. How can I do that? I don't see it on the Celebrity website.

Yes we do this during Oasis Cruise, go to guest relations with your sea pass and the cash.

Or, you can leave your credit card on file...nothing is actually CHARGED to the card until the cruise is over, and simply pay off what you want on the last evening.