Bank problem on board account

Hey guys,

So I had my bank account cleaned out and my seapass is now frozen. That's fine, I only have 2 days left and don't need to charge anything. But I have about $1000 owed to Royal and won't be able to sort this out until I get home and I don't get paid until after the cruise. I don't do credit cards, so what's the deal? Anyone been in this situation? Will they let me off the boat?

Hey guys,

 

So I had my bank account cleaned out and my seapass is now frozen. That's fine, I only have 2 days left and don't need to charge anything. But I have about $1000 owed to Royal and won't be able to sort this out until I get home and I don't get paid until after the cruise. I don't do credit cards, so what's the deal? Anyone been in this situation? Will they let me off the boat?

You'll have to ask guest services what their process is in this case... Hopefully they will be able to work something out with you. Do you have anyone who can put money in your account for you? Or loan you what you need? Not sure why you "don't do credit cards" but this is one situation where it would clearly be good to have one!

I would talk to guest services right away rather than waiting until the end of your cruise.

I also have never understood why some people "don't do credit cards". What would these people do in emergency situations? To each their own, but I find extreme value with credit cards. Earning points and paying off the charges every month works best for us!

Again, situations like these could be avoided by simple "doing credit cards"........

You'll probably wind up signing a promissory note. Go to GS with this immediately

Yes, they will let you off the ship. Lol. They have to zero count the ship and its not like you will go on another cruise if you don't pay up. :D

Next time, I wouldn't tie your Seapass to a debit card. Especially on your main checking account. Use cash up front. Pre purchase onboard credit or something but using a debit card to secure your onboard account can come with many headaches

I also have never understood why some people "don't do credit cards". What would these people do in emergency situations? To each their own, but I find extreme value with credit cards. Earning points and paying off the charges every month works best for us!

 

Again, situations like these could be avoided by simple "doing credit cards"........

It's no ones business why some people "don't do credit cards". Some people don't have the credit. Some have had made bad decisions in the past with them. Some people don't have the responsibility to pay off in full every month and some just don't have then because they don't want them. There are many reasons some "don't do credit cards"

I guess you could retort with "then they have no business cruising" but that's not really your business either :)

PropsR4boats please let us know what happens please.

So I talked with guest services and they said they'd call the police in Ft Lauderdale if I couldn't settle it by the end of the cruise.

I have an emergency American Express at home that I left specifically for my friend. He is pet sitting my cats and it is there in case they needed to go to the vet. I turned my phone on and had my friend send a picture of the card. They won't take a number of a card, they said the only way is to swipe it.

I can't have a friend or family member deposit that much money. I am sick and this is ruining my trip real quick.

It's no ones business why some people "don't do credit cards". Some people don't have the credit. Some have had made bad decisions in the past with them. Some people don't have the responsibility to pay off in full every month and some just don't have then because they don't want them. There are many reasons some "don't do credit cards"

 

I guess you could retort with "then they have no business cruising" but that's not really your business either :)

For those people you speak of who have no credit or have made poor choices, there is always the option of secured credit cards. I am comfortable stating my opinion. Again, for emergency situations only, can't underrstand the idea of going out of the country without a credit card. I believe it's a bad idea and as it turns out in this case......it was a bad idea.

I do hope the OP gets it sorted out with guest services, but let this be an example to others regarding the importance of carrying a credit card when things happen beyond their control. There have been numerous similar threads discussing similar incidents.

So I talked with guest services and they said they'd call the police in Ft Lauderdale if I couldn't settle it by the end of the cruise.

 

I have an emergency American Express at home that I left specifically for my friend. He is pet sitting my cats and it is there in case they needed to go to the vet. I turned my phone on and had my friend send a picture of the card. They won't take a number of a card, they said the only way is to swipe it.

 

I can't have a friend or family member deposit that much money. I am sick and this is ruining my trip real quick.

So you do have a credit card. I'd call American Express and explain that you left your card at home and need a way to pay you balance. Let them help you. I'm sure there is something AMEX can do. Good luck.

So I talked with guest services and they said they'd call the police in Ft Lauderdale if I couldn't settle it by the end of the cruise.

 

I have an emergency American Express at home that I left specifically for my friend. He is pet sitting my cats and it is there in case they needed to go to the vet. I turned my phone on and had my friend send a picture of the card. They won't take a number of a card, they said the only way is to swipe it.

 

I can't have a friend or family member deposit that much money. I am sick and this is ruining my trip real quick.

Good luck. It is something that will have to be worked out with guest services. Hopefully, you can come up with the cash needed to clear your account. Perhaps have someone meet you at arrival with their card to make the payment or something similar.

Again, not sure why you don't have a card, and frankly not any of my (or our) business. But this is a very good learning lesson for why having one - with you - can be a good idea. Also, with a CC, you would have fraud protection against someone making fraudulent charges which would negate the option to clean out your cash money.... All the very best good luck getting it sorted out. In the future, I would suggest either having a credit card, or having access to more than one bank account for emergencies...traveling with only one limited source of funds is just not a great idea in today's world...

I don't know how this happened to you nor do I really care. The cruise line took a risk by letting you on the ship knowing you only had so much cash in your onboard account. They let you, for some odd reason, spend more than you had in there. Therefore, they chose to extend you a $1,000 line of credit which is principally a credit card. Did you commit fraud somehow in RCCL choosing to extend you credit? I'm not going to pretend to know.

With that logic in mind I see no way they can criminally come after you. They will surely hound you to pay them but you should get a reasonable amount of time to pay. After that said time collections may be used.

I'm not a lawyer or am in no way pretending to know what I'm talking about. I'm writing this as a personal expose into how I might handle such a situation myself.

Hope you have a little cash stashed away so you can get home and eat along the way! Good luck and sorry to here your bank account got ripped off...

So you do have a credit card. I'd call American Express and explain that you left your card at home and need a way to pay you balance. Let them help you. I'm sure there is something AMEX can do. Good luck.

The problem unfortunately lies with RCCL's unwillingness to take anything other than a card from me that is in my physical possession. Still, I agree that's worth a try. Amex does have pretty good customer benefits, which is why I hold on to the card.

so why was your bank account cleaned out? Shouldn't you be contacting the bank to see if it was their error. If it was hacked, won't the bank redeposit the stolen money back into your account? Anyway, a long time ago, out of curiosity, we asked a Hotel Director what happens and she said 1) they ask you for a credit card (which you don't have), 2) they ask you if there's someone cruising with you that can pay your account, then 3) is there someone nearby that you can call to come to the port to pay your account, then the last resort is 4) you sign a Promissory Note (I think it gives you 30 days to pay). Then she shrugged her shoulders and said, there's pretty much nothing they can do to get money on your account. So Guest Services is trying to scare you, let them call the police...call their bluff...all they'll say is there's nothing they can do if you've signed the Promissory Note. Sounds like the ship doesn't want you to know they have Promissory Notes for you to sign

Be sure to let us know what happens.

I have an emergency American Express at home

I'm sorry. In you original post you said "I don't do credit cards," yet it seems you have a credit card????????

This will be my final post on this thread. Something is wrong here.

so why was your bank account cleaned out? Shouldn't you be contacting the bank to see if it was their error.

 

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4) you sign a Promissory Note (I think it gives you 30 days to pay). Then she shrugged her shoulders and said, there's pretty much nothing they can do to get money on your account. So Guest Services is trying to scare you, let them call the police...call their bluff...all they'll say is there's nothing they can do if you've signed the Promissory Note. Sounds like the ship doesn't want you to know they have Promissory Notes for you to sign

4 separate $500 charges to a "KSDDF". USBank won't refund or credit until I come in and sign an affidavit because I called and told them not to freeze my card because I would be traveling international. They did say they'd take a fax, but that's 3-5 business days.

I agree, I think "#4" will happen. They've tried 1,2,and 3.

I'm sorry. In you original post you said "I don't do credit cards," yet it seems you have a credit card????????

 

This will be my final post on this thread. Something is wrong here.

I don't. I don't carry credit cards and I don't ever charge on one. I do keep an Amex at home for vet emergencies. I have 4 cats and anyone who owns a pet can attest that vet bills of several thousand can occur at any time.

It's irrelevant though because they refuse to take the number and photo of the card sent from home.

It's irrelevant though because they refuse to take the number and photo of the card sent from home.

Yes, and if you could look at this objectively, you would see that they are correct in doing this. I don't know that any business would take a picture of a credit card. Can you get a hotel room with a picture? What about a rental car? Could you buy a leather sectional with a picture of a credit card? See where I am going with this?

Having said that, I am sorry to hear about your problems and I do hope you get things worked out. I'm sure you are stressed beyond belief over this. :(

.

I don't. I don't carry credit cards and I don't ever charge on one. I do keep an Amex at home for vet emergencies. I have 4 cats and anyone who owns a pet can attest that vet bills of several thousand can occur at any time.

 

It's irrelevant though because they refuse to take the number and photo of the card sent from home.

So......you keep one at home for vet emergencies, but don't take one with you when you are traveling out of the country in case of your own emergencies should something happen to you or ones traveling with you? This is something I will never be able to understand. At any rate, I'm guess Amex can get involved while your on board and get it settled.

Try asking to speak to supervisor. Let him know you are unable to do #1, #2, or #3. If the situation is not going to be rectified you will want it taken care of before the last day.

This will be one we can link back to when someone asks about using a debit cad to secure their onboard account. ;)

I don't do credit card when securing my onboard account but I no longer link a debit card to it either. Especially wouldn't on my primary checking account. Way too many headaches can come from it with holds. I never even thought about this

As far them calling law. Lol. :rolleyes: Let them call the law.

This must happen, seriously, on every single cruise. I'm sure they do not call the police - they do find some way to work it out.

I am sure amex will help you....don't know why people don't understand your acct is gone....you will have to have a new number....this happened to my daughter about an hour before she was ordering her child's christmas list on amazon last month....she was frantic as she will not use a cc either....her mortgage was in the mail.....her bank said 7-10 business days but she was made whole in 48 hrs and saved christmas by herself....hope just one more call solves this for you.....lot of folks here have a separate debit acct for travel....that might help you for next time...and that you feel better!

Yes, and if you could look at this objectively, you would see that they are correct in doing this. I don't know that any business would take a picture of a credit card. Can you get a hotel room with a picture? What about a rental car? Could you buy a leather sectional with a picture of a credit card? See where I am going with this?

 

Having said that, I am sorry to hear about your problems and I do hope you get things worked out. I'm sure you are stressed beyond belief over this. :(

 

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Many many places can manually put in the cc#, exp date and security code. I real surprised Royals computers can't.

It doesn't seem different than them taking payment over the phone? I