How do you keep track of onboard spending?

[WeBeGone]

For some reason I thought princess let you see your account on your tv screen... Booo

 

Princess has yet to catch up with that technology so you still have to either print off your folio or ask for one at the pursers desk.

[Kinkacruiser]

Like the others, I get a printout of my onboard account every few days. There is a monitor at the Passenger Services Desk where you can swipe your card and your account prints out on a nearby printer. Very quick and easy.

 

Pam, is this a newish self-service facility or does the pursur do it for you? I've not seen it before.

[Daisymabel]

I keep my iPhone with me (don't worry it's in aircraft mode) and record everything on an app I downloaded last year. You can break your charges down e.g Dinner Wine, excursions etc so you are very clear at a glance where you have spent your hard earned cash. Really helped last year on RCL when a check on the last night showed charges that weren't ours.

Saves sifting through receipts unless the figures don't match up.

Happy cruising

[OSU_Beaver2011]

I keep my iPhone with me (don't worry it's in aircraft mode) and record everything on an app I downloaded last year. You can break your charges down e.g Dinner Wine, excursions etc so you are very clear at a glance where you have spent your hard earned cash. Really helped last year on RCL when a check on the last night showed charges that weren't ours.

Saves sifting through receipts unless the figures don't match up.

Happy cruising

 

 

Can you share what app this is for the iPhone?

[Daisymabel]

Can you share what app this is for the iPhone?

 

Yes. It's called Cruise Card Control.

[ibfern]

Yes. It's called Cruise Card Control.

 

Thanks!

[nancy315]

I wish Princes would come into the new age and allow you to see your activity on our t.v. screen. Almost every other cruise line has this.

[Jasperdo]

Like the others, I get a printout of my onboard account every few days. There is a monitor at the Passenger Services Desk where you can swipe your card and your account prints out on a nearby printer. Very quick and easy.

I was just on the Golden, and looked for that self serve kiosk. Didn't see one. Possibly it's not on all the ships yet. But it was very fast to get one printed out from one of the staff.

[rdsqrl]

Ok so regarding onboard spending is it possible to make a "partial" payment of cash toward your balance? On RC in the past I would check my balance on the tv in our stateroom and then go down and make a payment if I had cash on me so what I put on my credit card at the end of the trip was not as significant.

Yes, it is -- they're happy to take your money any time. You can also send yourself credit for your onboard account before the cruise by calling Princess. That's even more fun: nothing like starting the cruise with a negative balance!

[Pam in CA]

I wish Princes would come into the new age and allow you to see your activity on our t.v. screen. Almost every other cruise line has this.

As has been explained in the past, it costs about $1-mil/ship to install it, plus maintenance, and cruiselines and hotels that have it offer PPV adult programming to defray costs. Princess will never offer adult programming. Ergo, no interactive TV. It has nothing to do with "new age" or "getting with the times" unless you want or need adult programming wherever you go. If you get one, you get the other.

[chasetf]

I always do the "stop by the purser desk every few days". Another thing I always do is work out a budget before hand. I add up the total vacation cost,.... (air / parking / hotels / cruise / rental cars / xfers / meals estimates / onboard manditory / discretionary allocation / etc)

 

Thus, when I get the shipboard account the last night and the cc statement the following month there are not any surprises :eek: or gulps :(.

[AndyTheK]

As has been explained in the past, it costs about $1-mil/ship to install it, plus maintenance, and cruiselines and hotels that have it offer PPV adult programming to defray costs. Princess will never offer adult programming. Ergo, no interactive TV. It has nothing to do with "new age" or "getting with the times" unless you want or need adult programming wherever you go. If you get one, you get the other.

Pam, at the risk of being just a little fish debating with one of the major Princess supporters/posters I must say that part of this statement has some fuzzy thinking in it. I'm sure that this explanarion was told to you by someone whom you trust, and might even be the official Princess viewpoint. But it doesn't pass the litmus test of logic.

 

I'll agree with two givens: the cost of the system and need to make it up, and the fact that Princess will not offer adult material. However, the technology does not require such material to be offered; it merely enables it. Costs can be made up in other ways. Certainly Princess is no stranger to finding cost saving methods. Even if end-user payment is desired as the way to cover the cost, PPV does not necessitate adult material (this is where the logic fails). Major sports and other premium content are offered by cable companies separately from the blue channels.

 

Shalom from Tel Aviv. Andy.

[Pam in CA]

Andy, I didn't mean to imply that adult programming is required but rather, most of the money generated from PPV is from adult programming. This is what helps defray the cost of installing interactive TV. If Princess were to install interactive programming, they wouldn't generate enough to offset the costs and maintenance. "BruceMuzz" has given a much better, and clearer, explanation than I have. If you did a search for him, I bet you'd find the explanation.

 

With so little demand for interactive TV, it doesn't make sense for Princess to spend that kind of money without generating substantial income. The vast majority of Princess passengers are perfectly happy to swipe their card and get a printout. $1-mil/ship is better spent elsewher.

[Pam in CA]

Here's the post by BruceMuzz with the explanation: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=27039592&postcount=21

[AndyTheK]

Here's the post by BruceMuzz with the explanation: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=27039592&postcount=21

Thanks for the link. Very interesting reading. I will admit that I'm not a "business man" but rather a "computer techie" (44 years in the IT industry on the technical and management sides) so that some of the concepts don't come naturally to me at first glance. I guess there's room for all of us.

 

Have a good weekend. Andy.

[Terre]

I take an envelope to keep all my receipts in. On ships that have TV access to your account, we check it daily and compare our receipts. We have found a few times where bars charged us twice within minutes for drinks we didn't order. I guess they swiped our card twice, not sure why. Maybe by accident or maybe for more tips, who knows. We asked to see the signature on those receipts and of course they couldn't be produced 'cause there wasn't one, so those charges were removed immediately.

 

On ships that don't have TV access to your account, you will have to check with the Purser's Desk or Guest Services for that info, but I would still check it often and certainly the day before you disembark.

[mrar]

Yeah, I've definitely already made up a budget for excursions, specialty dining, and attempted to estimate drink costs, just want to keep track so I know if I can add/subtract more from my souvinir/etc... budget as needed. I'm not a big drinker, but it IS a vacation, so I'm having a hard time gauging my anticipatory alcohol intake.

[juakkers]

Does anyone know if they have the self-swipe card machine for getting your own statements on the Star? and is it by the Purser's desk if there is one? Sounds as if it would be useful.

 

Thanks for your help

[dudeagain]

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!! :eek:

 

Keeping a notebook and writing down all the charges, waiting in line to review my charges, inputting all my charges on my cell phone, keeping my receipts and adding them up manually, not charging anything or even printing out a bunch of paper from a machine at the pursers desk to manually review them one by one???????....

 

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! need I say it again???? :(

 

NONE of these options fit ANYWHERE in my precious cruising schedule....

 

I just casually review my bill the last day and if it looks about right I call it good.....if there are a couple of extra cocktails I didn't order on there I wouldn't notice or frankly even care anyway!

 

If there is a large purchase I didn't make then it would obviously stand out but I have never had that happen.....the bottom line is that an over charge of $10 or $20 isn't worth wasting my time doing any of those tedious things listed above and you would have to pay me at least $100 a week to do them otherwise so I am coming out ahead by my calculations...:p

 

BUT...Princess PLEASE get into the 21st century and put interactive TV on your ships...if other lines can do it you can too and some have had it for over 10 YEARS!!!!!!.....AND the system can be subsidised by regular new release PPV movies not only adult movies....any other excuse to not do it is just that...an excuse...if Princess had used the money from those printers and machines to scan and print receipts they would be well on thier way to getting this done....I just don't think that money is the issue though.....a million $ or so per ship is less than they pay for new carpet on a ship evey few years....:mad:

 

For those of you who try to defend Princess on this and never cruise other lines you should REALLY get your heads out of the sand especially since you have NO IDEA what you are missing, the system installed on Celebrity's Solstice class is nothing short of amazing, offering everything from a DVR system that you can stop a movie in the middle and go back later to finish it to video games to PPV movies as well as free movies to port videos that you can watch whenever you like instead of when the ship wants you to watch them, internet access on your TV and so much more that I never even had time to investigate....:D

 

Also regarding the adult movies being NEVER offered on Princess...why would anyone ever think that? Many thought jeans would NEVER be allowed on the MDR as well :rolleyes:

 

Thats my 3 cents!

[mrar]

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Keeping a notebook and writing down all the charges, waiting in line to review my charges, inputting all my charges on my cell phone, keeping my receipts and adding them up manually, not charging anything or even printing out a bunch of paper from a machine at the pursers desk to manually review them one by one???????....

 

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! need I say it again????

 

NONE of these options fit ANYWHERE in my precious cruising schedule....

 

I just casually review my bill the last day and if it looks about right I call it good.....if there are a couple of extra cocktails I didn't order on there I wouldn't notice or frankly even care anyway!

 

If there is a large purchase I didn't make then it would obviously stand out but I have never had that happen.....the bottom line is that an over charge of $10 or $20 isn't worth wasting my time doing any of those tedious things listed above and you would have to pay me at least $100 a week to do them otherwise so I am coming out ahead by my calculations...

 

BUT...Princess PLEASE get into the 21st century and put interactive TV on your ships...if other lines can do it you can too and some have had it for over 10 YEARS!!!!!!.....AND the system can be subsidised by regular new release PPV movies not only adult movies....any other excuse to not do it is just that...an excuse...if Princess had used the money from those printers and machines to scan and print receipts they would be well on thier way to getting this done....I just don't think that money is the issue though.....a million $ or so per ship is less than they pay for new carpet on a ship evey few years....

 

For those of you who try to defend Princess on this and never cruise other lines you should REALLY get your heads out of the sand especially since you have NO IDEA what you are missing, the system installed on Celebrity's Solstice class is nothing short of amazing, offering everything from a DVR system that you can stop a movie in the middle and go back later to finish it to video games to PPV movies as well as free movies to port videos that you can watch whenever you like instead of when the ship wants you to watch them, internet access on your TV and so much more that I never even had time to investigate....

 

Also regarding the adult movies being NEVER offered on Princess...why would anyone ever think that? Many thought jeans would NEVER be allowed on the MDR as well

 

Thats my 3 cents!

 

While I totally understand your sentiments about not wanting to worry about money on vacation, as a recent college graduate budgeting is just something we have to keep an eye on if we want to be able to pay our bills when we get home. I'm not going to be anal about it, but I think most people need at least a general idea of how much they're spending by checking it every few days.

[Pam in CA]

Dudeagain, yes, I'm defending Princess and yes, I cruise other lines. I have yet to see, or want, my onboard account on the TV. I don't turn on the TV at all during a cruise so I don't miss not having my account available there.

 

If you don't have a handle on your own expenses or have two minutes to swipe and print, that's your choice. If the system bothers you so much or it's too much for you to spend two minutes printing your folio, then don't cruise Princess, HAL or the other cruiselines that don't have interactive TV.

 

One thing HAL does that I think is a good idea is that two nights before disembarkation, they print current folios and deliver them to everyone's cabin.

[DiRon]

Dudeagain, yes, I'm defending Princess and yes, I cruise other lines. I have yet to see, or want, my onboard account on the TV. I don't turn on the TV at all during a cruise so I don't miss not having my account available there.

 

If you don't have a handle on your own expenses or have two minutes to swipe and print, that's your choice. If the system bothers you so much or it's too much for you to spend two minutes printing your folio, then don't cruise Princess, HAL or the other cruiselines that don't have interactive TV.

 

One thing HAL does that I think is a good idea is that two nights before disembarkation, they print current folios and deliver them to everyone's cabin.

 

The HAL process of providing the folio 2 night prior to disembarkation is a great idea - it would be nice if Princess did the same thing. At least it gives you time to review and if necessary get corrections made before you leave the ship.

[doubletree07]

Like the others, I get a printout of my onboard account every few days. There is a monitor at the Passenger Services Desk where you can swipe your card and your account prints out on a nearby printer. Very quick and easy.

 

 

What a wealth of information you are Pam. :) I am constantly learning things thanks to you. Regards. Marie

[dfields1814]

I make budgeting a science since I am now retired have have nothing better to do and I need a life. Before the cruise I make a spreadsheet budget as detailed as I can get it. During the cruise I collect receits and try to remember what we spent. Every so often I stop by the passenger service desk and ask for my portfilio - especially when there is no line. I have a spreadsheet on my laptop where I enter the expenses. Then I see how close I came. I Some cruises I am right on the nose. Other cruises.. not even close. I do this while I am waiting for my wife to get ready for dinner. It gives me something to do while sitting on the balcony looking at the ocean.

[dudeagain]

While I totally understand your sentiments about not wanting to worry about money on vacation, as a recent college graduate budgeting is just something we have to keep an eye on if we want to be able to pay our bills when we get home. I'm not going to be anal about it, but I think most people need at least a general idea of how much they're spending by checking it every few days.

 

How are things in Stillwater? I was born and raised there but haven't been there in 15 years or so.....