No credit card on QV

I do not have a credit card - is this going to be a problem going on a QV cruise? Would love some advice on this..

You can use a debit card, I assume you have one of those ?

Otherwise you'll need to deposit a bundle of readies when you board.

Yes I have a debit card - however I know I sometimes run into issues with not having one with hotels etc. and want to make sure our holiday is stress free. Will I need to have a certain amount on the debit card at all times or anything like that?

They put a hold on your card for an amount (in the same way as many hotels do) which they expect you might spend (i.e. they will reserve an amount). Then when they take the final amount at the end of the voyage, they release the initial hold. This can cause some people problems as it takes a few days or more for that hold to be removed.

Another problem is that most people don't tend to keep that much money in their current account. But with a credit card it's not unusual to have a limit of several thousand and so the hold is not a problem.

Or you could just get yourself a credit card.

No I would rather not get a credit card.

Any idea on what that amount of hold is or how they calculate it? Just worried about problems as sometimes these holds take a few days to clear etc.

I assume they have some kind of formula based on all sorts of things they use but what that is I don't know. I'd guess maybe £50 a day ? It's only a guess.

I know a lot of people don't like credit cards, but they are just a means to make payment in just the same way as cash or a cheque. It's just a tool to facilitate payment between 2 parties - there is no extra cost involved to the purchaser (unless the vendor choices to pass some of their costs on, which they can, but in the case of settling your on board account, they don't).

If you pay in cash, it would be $300pp per day. It doesn't appear to mention the amount for debit cards holds.

https://ask.cunard.com/help/cunard/fleet/pay_onboard

https://ask.cunard.com/help/cunard/fleet/cash_account

If you pay in cash, it would be $300pp per day.

It doesn't say that, it says $300 per person or per cabin. So that's the minimum you have to pay at the start and then you must ensure it does not run out.

I've no idea why anyone would want to pay in cash as it's a huge hassle for no benefit what so ever.

https://ask.cunard.com/help/cunard/fleet/cash_account

Now that does say what the hold is however. So they place a hold each day of your previous day's spend. So at the end of the voyage, you hold will be equal to the amount you have spent. Then they request the final amount and sometime later the hold is removed. So the result is you need to have twice the amount of funds in your current account (debit card) or credit limit that you spend on board.

Essentially if you use a debit card you have to leave sufficient funds in your bank current account to cover the total spends on the cruise. As it's unlikely you will know these it means you will have to keep reserves to cover over spends.

Of course if you have internet access to your bank account you can transfer cash on line, though there will be internet charges on the ship to pay.

Personally I would find it quite a hastle to cruise without my credit card.

David.

I do not have a credit card - is this going to be a problem going on a QV cruise? Would love some advice on this..[/Q

 

 

 

 

Ask your Travel Agent to find out for you, or ring Cunard I am sure they will be able to put you mind at rest. Hope everything turns out O.K.:):)

I do not have a credit card - is this going to be a problem going on a QV cruise? Would love some advice on this..[/Q

 

 

 

 

Ask your Travel Agent to find out for you, or ring Cunard I am sure they will be able to put you mind at rest. Hope everything turns out O.K.:):)

 

I don't think Sophistikatie will get any better explanation from Cunard than she has had here unfortunately.

 

David.

I recommend that you get a Credit card for cruising for the following reason's.

1 Medical Emergence's the 1st Question that many Hospitals & Doctors ask is what Credit card you have you are paying with for treatment, You pay then claim the charges back later from your travel insurance this applies Ashore & on the Ship & those charges can be Steep.

2 Debit Cards payments can take up to a Month settle down after you return from a cruise & in the meantime as they put a hold on a unknown amount of money on your card, This can cause havoc on Standing orders Etc..

3 At the end of your cruise you can then pay off your Credit card with your Debit card & Cancel the Credit Card.

Thanks for the very informative replies everyone. I do see the point re medical emergencies - in this case a credit card may well be very valid.

Regarding paying in cash - can one just go to the Pursers desk and top up the account whenever they want? Surely there would be no need to put a hold on any card as long as the account remained in credit at all times?

Regarding paying in cash - can one just go to the Pursers desk and top up the account whenever they want?

Yes, you can. But you have to top up in US dollars, they won't accept Euros, pounds etc.

Surely there would be no need to put a hold on any card as long as the account remained in credit at all times?

Do you mean a hold on a debit or credit card ? Yes, there would be. Your debit/credit card may well have enough funds on day to cover your on board account, but the next day it may not. For example, for your debit card, payments could come out of your current account whilst on board and then there would no longer we enough money available. The same is true for a credit card; you you go assure and buy something big, then there may not be enough credit available any more. So to make sure they will be paid at the end of the cruise they will always put a hold on your credit/debit card.

Thanks ToadOfToadHall you are being very helpful. Re the hold I guess I thought if I was topping up my account in cash and the account was always in credit with the cash - they wouldn't need to put a hold on my debit card as I wouldn't be using it to pay anyway. I was thinking of putting $500 or similar on my account and topping up again later in the journey if necessary.

Oh, I see now. If you are paying in cash and keep topping your account up so that it's always in credit (which it has to be, otherwise you can't use your room key card to buy anything) then there is no need to give them your credit/debit card at all. So that problem goes away. In a nutshell, you either have to give them your credit/debit when you board or deposit $500 (and then keep topping it up if required) - you don't need to do both.

BTW - before anyone points it out, I know it's "ashore" and not "assure" (see my previous post) !!!

Talking of credit card holds (people may find this interesting); We went on holiday this Christmas to Malta. The hotel took a hold on my credit card when we checked in of about €200. When we checked out, the final amount was say €300. They asked if I wanted to have a single transaction of €300 or two separate transactions of €200 and €100, because if they put it though as one transactions it might cause me a problem for a while. Now I know what they were meaning; if they took a single payment of €300 then I'd still have to wait for the initial €200 hold to be removed. But of they did it as two transactions, they would convert the initial €200 hold into a real payment. Now that's a good idea when you come to think about it, why can't the cruise lines do the same thing ?

I would phone Cunard and discuss with them. In the past it was possible and I believe it still is, to buy onboard credit before getting on the ship. You may be able to do this rather than turn up with a wad of cash.

Managed an entire world cruise with out a card. Just put in $300 - $500 and when it gets low bring more cash to the Pursers Office. No problem at all and not having a CC on land is wonderful as you do not buy a lot of stuff to place in the very back of the closet when arriving back home.

When checking in - Tell the nice person at the desk that is how you will handling your On Board account. They will block it out from you being able to use it other than getting on the ship until you visit the Pursers office. They will activate the card for charges once they have your cash - US money.

I would phone Cunard and discuss with them. In the past it was possible and I believe it still is, to buy onboard credit before getting on the ship. You may be able to do this rather than turn up with a wad of cash.

Yes but you need to be sure to spend it all before disembarking or Cunard will confiscate it.

David.

I would phone Cunard and discuss with them. In the past it was possible and I believe it still is, to buy onboard credit before getting on the ship. You may be able to do this rather than turn up with a wad of cash.

I THINK I have read elsewhere that if you buy OBC, you do not get it refunded if you don't spend it all. If I am correct, this would not be a good move. I think the cash option would therefore be preferable. It's best to check up on this.

(Aha, I have just seen Balf's similar comment. That confirms it.)

Cunard FAQ says you can buy up to $1000 of OBC and any amount you don't spend is non refundable. Why would anyone think that's a good idea ?

Cunard FAQ says you can buy up to $1000 of OBC and any amount you don't spend is non refundable. Why would anyone think that's a good idea ?

You buy enough OBC you know you will spend, not the maximum. I have done this in the past and have always had to pay extra at the end of the cruise. After all, you can pay for your trips from the OBC as well as any drinks, I usually work on 3 drinks each for me and wifey $30+, a bottle of wine at dinner up to $50, having some items of clothing cleaned $10, tips for the crew $28 (?) without thinking that's $118 per day on a 10 day cruise it is easy to run up $1000 and the above does not include any trips or on board trinket purchases.

If I understand it correctly, though, in the case of the OP it would not just be one purchase of OBC. Each time s/he spent some and dropped below the cash limit, the OBC would have to be topped up again. Unless you planned a very large spend on the last day, that would leave you with some that simply reverted to Cunard. Topping up with cash would be much better in this case, if s/he does not want to use a card.