Carnival and credit card holds

Well I've read about it on here and now it's happened to us. Sail and sign bill for myself was $370 and Carnival kept putting daily holds on my card. 5 day sailing ended up with $2100 in holds. The BF had $220 on his sail and sign and $1700 in holds.

I don't know about anyone else, but this is completely unacceptable! Tying up people's credit cards for 4-5 times the total bill should be completely illegal!!!!

So be forewarned....we figured $3000 free credit would be plenty, but obviously in Carnivals world, it's not.

You may have the wrong target for your beef.

Carnival has long since made actual charges to your account and released any holds on your cards.

Talk to your CC company to see why they haven't processed your account to reflect this.

We got home and had around 100 dollars in strange hold charges and then our 300 dollar sign and sail charge.. they were put back on the card the next day... the amount you are talking about is crazy and has never happened to us before, something doesn't seem quite right with that...

You may also want to know that Carnival charges your credit card for the daily charges, as opposed to waiting to charge you the whole thing at the end of the cruise. This may have something to do with the hold issues.

For me though it worked out well as my credit card was compromised on our last stop, and Carnival couldn't charge to my one and only card. Fortunately because they charged my card every day, I think all I had to do was pay $10 cash to settle up.

Learning point was maybe I need to travel with a second credit card.

Last time I used a credit card for my S&S on a cruise, it was tied up for 7 days. I don't blame Carnival, I blame my credit card company. I just returned from Washington DC on business and used my credit card for incidental charges at my hotel (I paid cash for the bill when I checked out). When I got home Tuesday night, I saw a $50 hold, a $99 hold and a $250 hold. All three holds were off by Weds morning.

We usually see holds for the daily charges. Then at the end of the cruise there is a charge for the complete S&S bill,and the holds disappear.

I know it's not my credit card company because I've used this card for the last 4 cruises and have never seen anything like this before. In fact, the hotel holds came off, but Carnival's holds are still on.

This is completely crazy! If Carnival ties up $3000 of my money, it's less I can spend with them.

I wonder if it is bank related. We have used our debit card on the last 4 cruises and actually the last day of the cruise ( Ecstacy June 4) they still had not taken everything out. Holds every day were small and final charges billed the day after we were home. NOthing extra was held. We have Bank of America. Which I am not crazy about but we have not had a problem like that ever. Knock on wood!!!!

I recently used a debit Visa and there were no holds. They charged me my final balance (around $55) a couple of days after I got home. No issues what so ever.

I too had the same problem and was told by the bank, not Carnival that Carnival put the hold on to ensure payment. This should be on their website!!!! :(

I have always used a CC when cruising, Plenty of limit, I never worried about a hold. Our family hit some hard times's but thank the lord we are pulling ourself out.

Anyhow I have no more CC and was going to use my debt card for our next cruise. How much hold do they put each day. I don't want to get stuck at the port and have no Debt card to get home. how much is enough.

I have always used a CC when cruising, Plenty of limit, I never worried about a hold. Our family hit some hard times's but thank the lord we are pulling ourself out.

Anyhow I have no more CC and was going to use my debt card for our next cruise. How much hold do they put each day. I don't want to get stuck at the port and have no Debt card to get home. how much is enough.

I have no cc's, used to use a debit card. The simplest way to avoid a hold is start with a cash account, even if you draw cash out before you leave. I wish I could remember my first surprise hold, they based it on what I spent the first day. I had bought 2 ship tour tickets as soon as I boarded the ship, so I guess they assumed my spending would continue at that rate.

I have always used a CC when cruising, Plenty of limit, I never worried about a hold. Our family hit some hard times's but thank the lord we are pulling ourself out.

Anyhow I have no more CC and was going to use my debt card for our next cruise. How much hold do they put each day. I don't want to get stuck at the port and have no Debt card to get home. how much is enough.

I spoke with my cc company and they said its all Carnival. They have a 7 day hold on each of the charges. My total bill was $370, but they racked up 6 times that amount. As of today, I still have $1400 on hold.

06/19/2012 pending CARNIVAL GLORY SIGN & SL $67.80

06/20/2012 pending CARNIVAL GLORY SIGN & SL $258.10

06/20/2012 pending CARNIVAL GLORY SIGN & SL $223.10

06/22/2012 pending CARNIVAL GLORY SIGN & SL $303.10

06/23/2012 pending CARNIVAL GLORY SIGN & SL $370.75

Everyday at the end of the night, they would put a hold on your running balance. We spent a lot the first day, so as you can see, it added up quickly. And with having to get a rental car and hotel, i was forced to have to use my only other card. My bf had the same thing and they maxed out his card mid cruise. He changed over to his debit card the last night and Carnuval only put two holds on his (so basically he was doubled charged.....temporarily).

I'm not a happy camper about this!!!!!! If someone wanted to spend $700 on their cruise, they better have a $10000 limit credit card.

I put did a cash account and it worked out great. No holds to worry about...:)

I guarantee you 100% the bank will ALWAYS tell you it is the Merchant....and the Merchant will always tell you it is the Bank.....no question.

I also know from personal experience of being a merchant myself....and also being an acccountable figure in a Hotel which charged a lot of credit cards...that our systems (mine from my personal business and the hotel account) released holds immediately (well, within 15 minutes).....and it was always the bank who held onto the authorizations from 24hrs or longer as protection.

Anytime we released a hold from someone's card (because they paid in cash or used a different card) we would send the bank written proof from our systems that we released the hold and they would STILL hold it for 24 hours. Only after getting this written proof and their cardholder screaming at them on the phone would they release it within 15 minutes. We just went the extra step as a matter of customer service.

So, I would ask Carnival to provide you written proof they released the holds....but you will probably find out that your bank is still holding the authorization...no matter what they are telling you now.

Sorry....

I spoke with my cc company and they said its all Carnival. They have a 7 day hold on each of the charges. My total bill was $370, but they racked up 6 times that amount. As of today, I still have $1400 on hold.

 

06/19/2012 pending CARNIVAL GLORY SIGN & SL $67.80

06/20/2012 pending CARNIVAL GLORY SIGN & SL $258.10

06/20/2012 pending CARNIVAL GLORY SIGN & SL $223.10

06/22/2012 pending CARNIVAL GLORY SIGN & SL $303.10

06/23/2012 pending CARNIVAL GLORY SIGN & SL $370.75

 

Everyday at the end of the night, they would put a hold on your running balance. We spent a lot the first day, so as you can see, it added up quickly. And with having to get a rental car and hotel, i was forced to have to use my only other card. My bf had the same thing and they maxed out his card mid cruise. He changed over to his debit card the last night and Carnuval only put two holds on his (so basically he was doubled charged.....temporarily).

 

I'm not a happy camper about this!!!!!! If someone wanted to spend $700 on their cruise, they better have a $10000 limit credit card.

By the way, this has never happened to us. They typically have authorized $150 to start with and then ran each transation separately once we hit the $150 limit.

The agreement with the bank is normally to hold for up to 7-days.....but once the cruise line (or merchant) cancels the hold or bills you that authorization is gone.....the banks can hold onto to it for the remaining time...and they will tell you that Carnival has a 7-day hold.

I guarantee you 100% the bank will ALWAYS tell you it is the Merchant....and the Merchant will always tell you it is the Bank.....no question.

 

I also know from personal experience of being a merchant myself....and also being an acccountable figure in a Hotel which charged a lot of credit cards...that our systems (mine from my personal business and the hotel account) released holds immediately (well, within 15 minutes).....and it was always the bank who held onto the authorizations from 24hrs or longer as protection.

 

Anytime we released a hold from someone's card (because they paid in cash or used a different card) we would send the bank written proof from our systems that we released the hold and they would STILL hold it for 24 hours. Only after getting this written proof and their cardholder screaming at them on the phone would they release it within 15 minutes. We just went the extra step as a matter of customer service.

 

So, I would ask Carnival to provide you written proof they released the holds....but you will probably find out that your bank is still holding the authorization...no matter what they are telling you now.

 

Sorry....

That still doesn't explain why the rental car hold and hotel hold from Saturday night were released and not Carnivals.

Also, please understand, I am not speaking as an authority on the matter.....I am, however, sharing my personal experiences with this topic. Hope you get it resolve because whether it's your debit card or credit card, no one should be holding onto your money....

I put did a cash account and it worked out great. No holds to worry about...:)

Question... When you set up a cash account can you put any amount per person down or do they request that you put 200 pp that you normally do on a credit card??:confused:

By the way, this has never happened to us. They typically have authorized $150 to start with and then ran each transation separately once we hit the $150 limit.

 

The agreement with the bank is normally to hold for up to 7-days.....but once the cruise line (or merchant) cancels the hold or bills you that authorization is gone.....the banks can hold onto to it for the remaining time...and they will tell you that Carnival has a 7-day hold.

It's never happened to us before either. In fact, we cruised last October with no problems. I started reading the cruise critic threads about this 3 months ago. It makes me think Carnival has changed their practices recently.

I have never had holds on my Am. Express.

We dont have credit cards and after my bank placed holds on my debit cards for an extended time, we started putting cash on our Sail & Sign account as soon as we board. We also pre-pay our gratuities when we pay off the cruise.

We put $150.00 on each folio and add to it if needed. For our next cruise we are going to put money on our S&S account ahead of time.

I don't have a horse in this race -- my last transaction with Carnival was a $1.22 refund after OBC, tips, soda card, and port fees refunds were accounted for.

However, I have to be skeptical that Carnival would gain anything from overloading credit cards with holds. In fact, such a practice could screw up passengers' over-the-top spending habits if so much of their available credit balance is stuck in holds that they can't actually blow it on gambling, drinks, excursions, junk jewelry, junk art, and photography. It doesn't make sense.

Also, after the banks contributed so much to the recent massacre of the world economy (for which they were rewarded with sweetheart bailouts), there is nothing a bank could claim that I would ever believe.

I wonder if it is bank related. We have used our debit card on the last 4 cruises and actually the last day of the cruise ( Ecstacy June 4) they still had not taken everything out. Holds every day were small and final charges billed the day after we were home. NOthing extra was held. We have Bank of America. Which I am not crazy about but we have not had a problem like that ever. Knock on wood!!!!

The best piece of advice I can give is to please never use either a credit card, but certainly never a debit card when traveling. Rather use a charge card, i.e. American Express or Diners Club (full disclosure, I have no interest in either). If you use a debit card and it is stolen, you could lose all the money in whatever account funds it. If a creadit card is stolen you are liable for up to $50 per swipe. Both American Express and Diners Club will back you 100% in the event of fraud. The best thing one can do before traveling is have an American Express Card with you.

We just got back from a b2b and used our cards for purchases on the ship (our bank refunds fraudulent charges 100%). We spent $300ish on the first cruise and $200ish on the second cruise, so we had $500 in holds because they charged our cards for everything bought each day. The holds lasted about 3-4 days and then they put one big charge through at the end of each cruise that was equivalent to what we spent and the individual charges disappeared. It was a pain the butt, but at least now we know what to tell our family and friends for our wedding cruise in January if/when they ask.