Advice on registering Credit Card

I'm travelling on the Norwegian Fjord Cruise on 22nd April on Britannia and I am planning to use my NatWest credit card to pay for my on-board expenses only. I called NatWest today to see how I should register the card with the bank and they had no idea!!!!! The girl eventually advised me to 'possibly' register it for being used in Norway but surely being on board the ship and paying in sterling that won't be necessary? Do any of you good folks have any past experience of using NatWest cards on board?

Hi.....your card details are taken at check in desk along with your boarding pass being given you ....they take your photograph at the same time which is then put onto your boarding pass ready for you to embark. You use your boarding card/pass to purchase goods on board... at the end of your cruise your credit card that you registered at embarkation will be used to pay your final statement....no cash is used whilst on board.

Hi.....your card details are taken at check in desk along with your boarding pass being given you ....they take your photograph at the same time which is then put onto your boarding pass ready for you to embark. You use your boarding card/pass to purchase goods on board... at the end of your cruise your credit card that you registered at embarkation will be used to pay your final statement....no cash is used whilst on board.

Thanks for your quick reply. I am aware that the boarding pass is used to make purchases on board. So am I correct in thinking that the payment of my account will take place in the UK at the end of the cruise? Thus meaning the card will not need to be registered as being overseas? Thanks Graham

Hi Graham,

We always let our bank know when we are going on a cruise as the payment shows as being taken from the HQ of the cruise line, which I think is Bermuda for P&O

Molly

Hi Graham,

We always let our bank know when we are going on a cruise as the payment shows as being taken from the HQ of the cruise line, which I think is Bermuda for P&O

 

Molly

Thanks Molly. I am trying to let my bank know but they are making it far more difficult than I think it need be lol! I might just use my Barclaycard instead, they apparently don't need to know where in the world I will be using their card. Best regards Graham

Thanks Molly. I am trying to let my bank know but they are making it far more difficult than I think it need be lol! I might just use my Barclaycard instead, they apparently don't need to know where in the world I will be using their card. Best regards Graham

HA, Halifax told me the same - and promptly declined my card in Madeira! So I ended up using my Nationwide card

The only time I let my bank know is when we did a Caribbean cruise but I don't think we had to do....they said head office is in the UK so no need to let the bank know so I haven't done since.

You need not do anything beforehand if you don’t wish. At check in, you handover your credit card as you would do any shop or hotel, and enter your PIN into the machine. They put on a £50 preauthorisation. This is not paid by you physically, just comes off your available credit as a ‘virtual’ payment. It checks your card is valid and not stolen, etc. You get your card back. You see your card the whole time.

Any onboard spending, using your CRUISE CARD (not credit card, you keep that in your safe!) is then checked against a further preauthorisation requests in £50+ blocks. Again it’s just off your available credit, not deducted from the account.

At the end of the cruise, on the penultimate night, your on board spending is then taken from your credit card, as a single lump sum, in £ sterling, so no, it doesn’t look like it’s abroad. You can check your spending onboard at any time. New ships have this on your cabin TV screen I believe. Older ones you go to reception at any time. I check every few days for any errors. You get a final statement in your cabin ‘postbox’ on the final night (look for it on the final morning, many people don’t, and I see loads outside their cabins as we leave!)

Any spending to your cruise card, you make on the final morning, will come off your credit card as a separate payment, to that on your final statement. Likewise if you use the cabin mini bar, any final drinks will be charged separately to your credit card.

You may find when you get home, a small amount of preauthorisation requests (shown as pending payments with my online bank app) stuck for a week or so. The only issue you’ll have with this is is you’re near your credit limit. I keep checking to ensure they finally disappear. I don’t spend a huge amount onboard so this has never been an issue for me. For those near their credit limit there are ways around this (e.g. by topping up their account onboard with ‘cash’ so as to not use their credit card)

I hope that’s helpful. It can be confusing, but no different to most hotels, etc, that take a copy of your card at check in for security!

You need not do anything beforehand if you don’t wish. At check in, you handover your credit card as you would do any shop or hotel, and enter your PIN into the machine. They put on a £50 preauthorisation. This is not paid by you physically, just comes off your available credit as a ‘virtual’ payment. It checks your card is valid and not stolen, etc. You get your card back. You see your card the whole time.

 

Any onboard spending, using your CRUISE CARD (not credit card, you keep that in your safe!) is then checked against a further preauthorisation requests in £50+ blocks. Again it’s just off your available credit, not deducted from the account.

 

At the end of the cruise, on the penultimate night, your on board spending is then taken from your credit card, as a single lump sum, in £ sterling, so no, it doesn’t look like it’s abroad. You can check your spending onboard at any time. New ships have this on your cabin TV screen I believe. Older ones you go to reception at any time. I check every few days for any errors. You get a final statement in your cabin ‘postbox’ on the final night (look for it on the final morning, many people don’t, and I see loads outside their cabins as we leave!)

 

Any spending to your cruise card, you make on the final morning, will come off your credit card as a separate payment, to that on your final statement. Likewise if you use the cabin mini bar, any final drinks will be charged separately to your credit card.

 

You may find when you get home, a small amount of preauthorisation requests (shown as pending payments with my online bank app) stuck for a week or so. The only issue you’ll have with this is is you’re near your credit limit. I keep checking to ensure they finally disappear. I don’t spend a huge amount onboard so this has never been an issue for me. For those near their credit limit there are ways around this (e.g. by topping up their account onboard with ‘cash’ so as to not use their credit card)

 

I hope that’s helpful. It can be confusing, but no different to most hotels, etc, that take a copy of your card at check in for security!

Makes perfect sense, thank you Goosebear Mum:):)

I always use my Barclaycard and have never had any problems either on the ship or in the ports. Years ago they needed you to tell them if you were travelling abroad but no longer. As far as checking your account on your cabin tv from memory I dont think that facilty is is available on Britannia but is on some of the ships.

I usually get an interim statement from the reception desk and keep all my receipts from the bars etc so I can check it.

I always use my Barclaycard and have never had any problems either on the ship or in the ports. Years ago they needed you to tell them if you were travelling abroad but no longer. As far as checking your account on your cabin tv from memory I dont think that facilty is is available on Britannia but is on some of the ships.

I usually get an interim statement from the reception desk and keep all my receipts from the bars etc so I can check it.

Yes I have to say I've never had issues using a Barclaycard anywhere in the world, even in some very remote areas.

It appears that a growing number of credit card providers don't need to know when you are travelling overseas - cruise or land-based. It would however be prudent to make sure that your provider has your up-to-date mobile numbers in case a transaction is flagged by their fraud department. Also, we never take just method of payment. We have our main credit card plus 2 others in reserve that we don't generally use, plus 3 debit cards which are used frequently. Plus a small amount of currency.

It appears that a growing number of credit card providers don't need to know when you are travelling overseas - cruise or land-based. It would however be prudent to make sure that your provider has your up-to-date mobile numbers in case a transaction is flagged by their fraud department. Also, we never take just method of payment. We have our main credit card plus 2 others in reserve that we don't generally use, plus 3 debit cards which are used frequently. Plus a small amount of currency.

Yes I shall carry a number f cards in case of need and I have sufficient cash to use on our port days. I have spent this afternoon checking all of my credit cards and I now know that Halifax, MBNA, Virgin and Barclaycard do not require you to register your travel plans. Nat West DO! In some respects I wold rather be able to register as I am not really sure how the card providers are able to tell if an overseas transaction is fraudulent or not!

Thanks Molly. I am trying to let my bank know but they are making it far more difficult than I think it need be lol! I might just use my Barclaycard instead, they apparently don't need to know where in the world I will be using their card. Best regards Graham

I have never let Natwest know when I have been to Europe or on a cruise and this has been over 40 years of travelling for work and cruises with P&O, Celebrity, Cunard, Princess and Carnival.

Thanks for your quick reply. I am aware that the boarding pass is used to make purchases on board. So am I correct in thinking that the payment of my account will take place in the UK at the end of the cruise? Thus meaning the card will not need to be registered as being overseas? Thanks Graham

I've always assumed that, and so far have never had any trouble. If you wanted to make doubly sure, you could ring the phone number on the back on the card (assuming that, when you said you had talked to NatWest, it wasn't to their credit card specialists).

Final P&O payment is in pounds sterling and is no different to using the card ashore in the UK.

Santander wouldn’t authorise a payment for our Princess bill, but that was in dollars and a few years ago. Thankfully as there was no way of answering the security questions whilst at sea we had another card and payment went through without any queries.

We have used the Santander card in plenty of countries since and never had a problem.

Final P&O payment is in pounds sterling and is no different to using the card ashore in the UK.

 

Santander wouldn’t authorise a payment for our Princess bill, but that was in dollars and a few years ago. Thankfully as there was no way of answering the security questions whilst at sea we had another card and payment went through without any queries.

 

We have used the Santander card in plenty of countries since and never had a problem.

I think when all is said and done they have a mind of their own these cards and banks. There seems to be no rhyme or reason as to why a payment might be denied for no good reason. Always best to carry more than one card as none of us knows if it might be our card which is declined!

My credit card statement for our last cruise, just said P&O Cruises on it, so its just like using it at home. I never tell my bank and I do use it sometimes ashore. It's a Nationwide so I don't pay any charges.

I have Tesco credit card. On the 1st cruise I rang them and they said no need to bother as your covered.