Cash For S&S Instead of Credit Card...?

Okay, so I'm going on the Victory in Feb 2014 with a group of friends.

We're trying to stay on a budget, so we're thinking of adding cash to our S&S accounts rather than linking it with a credit card, as I have always done in the past.

Is it the same as the credit card where the full charge is not done til the final day of the cruise? If so, do you just go down to Guest Services the last day of the cruise and deposit the amount of money you owe, based on the S&S statement you get?

Any help would be appreciated...my friends have never cruised before so they're counting on me to be the expert but I've never gone this route before! :eek: Help!

No, you put the cash down as soon as you board the ship at Guest Services. Then when it's close to being gone, they will contact you to add more. If there's anything left at the end of the cruise, they will issue you a check.

You can stop at Guest Services and put cash on your account at any time, but you do need to fund it initially once you board the ship. We usually start out with several hundred dollars each but here is Carnival's official policy on using cash.

Cash Deposit:

U.S. Currency and Traveler's Checks may be used to open your Sail & Sign Account. Once on board, please visit our Guest Services Desk who will gladly assist you in opening your account. Throughout the cruise, as you approach the deposit limit, our Guest Services Desk will notify you that additional money must be deposited.

"Recommended" deposits per sailing duration:

2-4 day cruises: $100 USD deposit pp

5-8 day cruises: $200 USD deposit pp

9+ day cruises: $350 USD deposit pp

Have fun and enjoy your cruise!

no it doesnt work that way, you put down the initial $200 i believe, we usually put $500 when that money is almost gone or gone:p they will send a note for you to return to the guest services to add more money to your account. I would suggest putting what you are budgeting on your account and if there is any left at the end of the cruise you will get a cheque back for the remaining amount.

Great - thanks for the help! I know I can always count on Cruise Critic!

And three times saying the same thing.

I love the cash account option, helps you stay on budget! we checked ours daily from the machine (printed it out each morning), so we knew what we had.

We never got notified of it going low (probably because we monitored it so closely) and added more when we needed it.

We ended up with like 2 dollars and some change left. If it's under 5.00 you can choose to leave it on there and it gets donated to St. Jude I believe it is.

I love the cash account option, helps you stay on budget! we checked ours daily from the machine (printed it out each morning), so we knew what we had.

 

On some ships you can also monitor your account on your TV.

On every cruise we have ever taken we checkin using our credit card to set up our account.....but on the last full day (last day is too busy), we go to Guest Services and pay off our account with cash. If there is anything at all that is charged to our account it may be just a couple of drinks we have on the last evening.

Sooooo...nothing much charged to our credit card and we don't have to worry about running down to keep putting more money on our account.

Just easier for us.......

On every cruise we have ever taken we checkin using our credit card to set up our account.....but on the last full day (last day is too busy), we go to Guest Services and pay off our account with cash. If there is anything at all that is charged to our account it may be just a couple of drinks we have on the last evening.

 

Sooooo...nothing much charged to our credit card and we don't have to worry about running down to keep putting more money on our account.

 

Just easier for us.......

Thats what we do. It works out well and is easy!

We have always used a credit card in the past. Thinking of using cash as we have so much OBC. If we have enough OBC to cover gratuities and the deposit do we still put down the initial cash deposit. We have enough OBC to pay our gratuities for 15 days and pay the initial deposit and still have some left over. Just wondering if anyone else has been in this situation before (I assume many have) and could give me some advice. thanks.

Also have you pre-paid gratuities? If not, don't forget to plan for that, and if so then you might not need as much as recommended depending on your drinking and spending habits. :)

You can also put down your credit card and then go down on the last evening and pay-off the charges in cash. This will prevent you from worrying about frequent trips to add more money. On our first cruise we put down our AmX card and ended up not spending as much as we anticipated on our S&S ( we did pre-pay our grats). We actually went down early on the morning of debarkation to see if our Card had been charged, It had not, so we paid off the balance in cash. If you have not pre-paid the grats, I believe they charge these on day 2 of the cruise.

:)

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If the lines are long at Guest Services you can go to one of the sign and sail kiosks on board and set up an account with your card. It works like an ATM. You can check your bill there, get print-outs and cash out. You can either get cash or apply it to a gift card for your next cruise.

Okay, so I'm going on the Victory in Feb 2014 with a group of friends.

 

We're trying to stay on a budget, so we're thinking of adding cash to our S&S accounts rather than linking it with a credit card, as I have always done in the past.

 

Is it the same as the credit card where the full charge is not done til the final day of the cruise? If so, do you just go down to Guest Services the last day of the cruise and deposit the amount of money you owe, based on the S&S statement you get?

 

Any help would be appreciated...my friends have never cruised before so they're counting on me to be the expert but I've never gone this route before! :eek: Help!

Since you have some time before you cruise, consider buying carnival gift certificates in advance and then just take them to customer service when you board to be applied to your SAS. http://www.carnivalgiftcards.com. A great way to prepay. You can also call customer service and tell them you want to buy onboard credit and that works well, too. We always prepay and if we run short we can add more or if we over pay we get a refund check on the last night of the cruise.

You can stop at Guest Services and put cash on your account at any time, but you do need to fund it initially once you board the ship. We usually start out with several hundred dollars each but here is Carnival's official policy on using cash.

 

Cash Deposit:

U.S. Currency and Traveler's Checks may be used to open your Sail & Sign Account. Once on board, please visit our Guest Services Desk who will gladly assist you in opening your account. Throughout the cruise, as you approach the deposit limit, our Guest Services Desk will notify you that additional money must be deposited.

"Recommended" deposits per sailing duration:

2-4 day cruises: $100 USD deposit pp

5-8 day cruises: $200 USD deposit pp

9+ day cruises: $350 USD deposit pp

 

Have fun and enjoy your cruise!

Please note that this is a recommended amount . You can put whatever amount that you choose.

We have used cash accounts for our last 4 cruises. Carnival now has kioias? where you can always add more money without going to guest services and standing in line.

We like the cash account better. It works for us. That way we leave the ship owing nothing. If you are getting low on funds on a cash account they just put a note in your mail box that you need to add funds to your account. Simple.

When we board we put down $200 to $300. Carnival does not care how much you put down as long as it is enough to cover the tips to start with. It is very simple to use the kioias? machines anytime also.

FYI Carnival no longer allows OBC accounts to be opened before you cruise. We have tried. They told us we had to purchase gift cards or to put down once you have opened your sign and sail account. This is really crazy to me but it is their new rule.

I'm confused. Do you have to wait to get on the ship and go to Customer Service to set up your cash account or do you do it when you are first issued the account at the terminal during check-in? I know when we check in at the terminal is where we always set up our credit card for the account so that is where I thought we would set up a cash account?

Also, I have heard they now mail you a check after the cruise is over rather than slipping it under your door the night before. Is this true?

I'm confused. Do you have to wait to get on the ship and go to Customer Service to set up your cash account or do you do it when you are first issued the account at the terminal during check-in? I know when we check in at the terminal is where we always set up our credit card for the account so that is where I thought we would set up a cash account?

 

Also, I have heard they now mail you a check after the cruise is over rather than slipping it under your door the night before. Is this true?

I think it depends on which port. At FLL, at check in, we told them we wanted a cash account but had to wait until we got on the ship to put it on the card. However, I haven't sailed out ouf FLL in over a year, so this may have changed. In MIA we gave them cash at check in. They also had kiosk right in the terminal where you could load your card if you wanted.

As far as a check, I have never gotten one. On the last day of the cruise, we always go down to guest services when we know we are done spending money and gotten the remaining balance back in cash. Seems much easier to do it this way then to wait on a check to arrive.

I'm confused. Do you have to wait to get on the ship and go to Customer Service to set up your cash account or do you do it when you are first issued the account at the terminal during check-in? I know when we check in at the terminal is where we always set up our credit card for the account so that is where I thought we would set up a cash account?

 

Also, I have heard they now mail you a check after the cruise is over rather than slipping it under your door the night before. Is this true?

if sailing out of Galveston, when signing in and using cash, you will be advised to go to the purser's desk when you board to set up your account... checks have always been slipped under our door if we had some left ...

I think it depends on which port. At FLL, at check in, we told them we wanted a cash account but had to wait until we got on the ship to put it on the card. However, I haven't sailed out ouf FLL in over a year, so this may have changed. In MIA we gave them cash at check in. They also had kiosk right in the terminal where you could load your card if you wanted.

 

As far as a check, I have never gotten one. On the last day of the cruise, we always go down to guest services when we know we are done spending money and gotten the remaining balance back in cash. Seems much easier to do it this way then to wait on a check to arrive.

Sailed out of FLL last November -- we were able to put the cash down right in the terminal when we were signing in. Then we just monitored daily via TV in our cabin.

We received a check for the unused, that we were able to cash at the kiosk before we disembarked. Now, however, they mail you the check.

Sailed out of FLL last November -- we were able to put the cash down right in the terminal when we were signing in. Then we just monitored daily via TV in our cabin.

 

We received a check for the unused, that we were able to cash at the kiosk before we disembarked. Now, however, they mail you the check.

Great! Thanks fo the info! I figured things probably had changed at FLL.

As you enter the terminal in Miami there are the Kioais?. You can set up you account right there before you get your Sign and Sail card. It is extremely simple.