Sadly, I am finished with Carnival

[gtalum]

The hold issue won't be different on other cruise lines.

 

Further, despite what you may have heard elsewhere, holds are handled by the credit card company and not by the cruise line.

 

This is also why it's not wise to use a debit card to pay for cruises or on-board expenses.

[mojean]

My suggestion is stay w/Carnival. You're not going to find lower prices 4 sure! I would suggest using your cc for the funship dollars through the gifts dept and have them placed on your OBC account. Any left overs will be reimbursed in check style if not cash through the casino. No holds will even be in the picture !!!

[finsupcruiser]

Sorry for your situation...but again, every cruise line we have been on does the same thing.

 

Yes --all cruise lines put a hold on your credit card. However Carnival Corp takes much longer to remove hold on credit card than other cruise lines.

 

I have tracked this on my own card when I have returned from CCL cruise.

 

Never a problem for us but it can present major problems for many.

 

Not sure why CCL waits so long to remove the hold and they must remove the hold not your cc company.

 

Sorry this happened OP!!!

[kcjbo3535]

we always put cash as you we also had your money on hold years ago

[tweak89]

Part of this is on you OP. If a CC hold is going to affect your available credit so much that your cards become unusable while that hold is in effect, perhaps some better budgeting before departure is in order.

 

I always make sure I budget at least 1.5 times (sometimes more depending on the trip) the amount I anticipate needing and have a secondary card for emergency use.

 

It's unfortunate you will have to wait for refunds on the closed card, but they've outlined the process so I'm not sure what else you expect them to do. And, as others have said, the CC companies have policies of their own on holds and how quickly they credit them once the company that issued the hold lets go of them.

[rle1982]

I am sorry to hear abotu your poor experience. It seems a lot of places customer service practices are getting to be worse and worse.....

 

We have a cruise scheduled in December and in all likelyhood it will be amazing.

 

That being said, I can completely understand your feelings, I hope you have a more pleasant experience next time you cruise.

[FloridaGram]

I do not understand this at all. We sailed on Disney in May and had a large charge the first day because my DH had to go to the clinic. They charged that amount the first day, I wondered why, now I understand why. But then they did not do anything until the last day of the cruise.

 

I am wondering also if this was an issue with the person doing the holds not knowing what they are doing. I am really sorry for the inconvenience this caused you. It would certainly make anyone unhappy. Hopefully this is the exception not the rule.

 

Has this happened to anyone else?

[fan1080]

Never travel with a CC that has a low limit, or your balance is close to the limit prior to departure.

 

Lesson learned.

[Love_to_cruise83]

If you simply have a 'HOLD' placed on your bank account you can usually call your banking instuition directly and they can instantly remove these holds based on my personal experience. I'm not sure if it is different for other banks.

 

Again, this can only be done on 'holds'.

[jules815]

I guess I never really noticed if a hold was put on either our debit or cc on past cruises, but I'm glad I read this, because we were planning on using our Chase debit when we sail in October. (We earn points with our debit card.)

 

I kind of like the idea of putting cash down upfront; we may do this next time. Is this something you do online in advance, or at the customer service desk the day you board?

 

And to really split hairs...let's say I put $500 cash down on the first day, but by day 5 of a 7 day, I'm over the $500 and need to give them a credit or debit. Has that happened to anyone here? Do they take a secondary form of payment in addition to your cash, upfront?

 

Also, when do they release the card? I would be worried I might try to use my debit on debarkation day for rental car gas or something at the airport, and it might not work. Once you're off the ship, is the hold taken off of your card?

[Carolin]

I have a rather large milestone b-day happening somewhat near that date, and I've never been to Bourbon Street. I'll get back to you later on it. (unless you were just being polite ;) )

 

Message sent via Facebook with details.

[Surfwench]

I guess I never really noticed if a hold was put on either our debit or cc on past cruises, but I'm glad I read this, because we were planning on using our Chase debit when we sail in October. (We earn points with our debit card.)

 

I kind of like the idea of putting cash down upfront; we may do this next time. Is this something you do online in advance, or at the customer service desk the day you board?

 

And to really split hairs...let's say I put $500 cash down on the first day, but by day 5 of a 7 day, I'm over the $500 and need to give them a credit or debit. Has that happened to anyone here? Do they take a secondary form of payment in addition to your cash, upfront?

 

Also, when do they release the card? I would be worried I might try to use my debit on debarkation day for rental car gas or something at the airport, and it might not work. Once you're off the ship, is the hold taken off of your card?

 

You can place a credit card on your S&S account as back up in case your cash is exhausted before the cruise ends.

 

I really don't know how long each credit card company waits until they release holds.... if you plan on a week, you'll be safe.

 

:)

[S.S.Oceanlover]

This thread is not meant to be a Carnival bashing or cheering for another cruise line, as I have only cruised Carnival and loved them....until the last few months. While their product is still a great value and their ship personnel are the best, their customer service at HDQ is the worst! I would love to continue cruising with them, but I fear if I do, it will continue to be a financial disaster for us.

 

Here is my story:

 

My June cruise was fabalous!!!! Until I got off the ship. Carnivals cc hold practices (and yes they are carnivals, not my cc) put me and my bf in a serious situation at Boston aiport. (see thread http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1658365). We were stuck in Boston without an available cc to rent a car or get a hotel. We had to call our parents to use their cards. When I spoke with Customer Care, I basically told 1) we didn't do that and then after they realized they did rack up our holds 2) we're sorry but there is nothing we can do for you....this is just our practices.

 

Today we had to cancel our November cruise. We made weekly payments on various cc and debit cards. One of the cc is now cancelled. The other cc have a zero balance. We tried to get Carnival to refund us in another method (check, all into the checking accounts), but we were once again told, sorry this is our practices. We were told it's not their problem that an $1000 credit will sit on our credit cards. As far as the cancelled card, they will still process the refund and when they get the rejection, they will contact me then to schedule a check refund which would take 6-8 weeks to process. Ugh!

 

I spoke to multiple supervisors and explained over and over again the problems I've had with Carnival and their financial practices with customers, but my complaints fall on deaf ears. I can no longer afford for Carnival to just hold my money as they wish.

 

I told the supervisor to immediately cancel my Revently booked aft wrap Breeze cruise and that I will never spend one red cent on Carnival again.

 

Sadly I will need to start looking for another cruise line that can provide me the value and entertainment that Carnival could (and hopefully have better customer service).

 

Again, this thread is meant to educate people of how badly Carnival treats their customers. I am not a troll, nor am I one to just spout off over the littlest things. I am (or was) a loyal customer for the last 10 years that is tired of battling Carnival when it comes to my money.

 

Feel free to comment, and I'm sure that I will get many sarcastic "see ya" or "bye" comments. All I ask is that you read my thread link first and maybe you'll understand my frustration level with them.

 

Can anyone recommend a suitable cruise line for 30/40 years olds at a comparable price and itineraries?

 

Thank you

 

Why does Carnival have to refund you on your cancelled card? Was it actually charged for all the holds?

 

How long did it take before the holds actually dropped off?

 

If not cruising Carnival I would check out NCL but if you cruise the Caribbean in the summer you are out of luck with them.

 

Only Royal Caribbean does the Caribbean in the summer besides Carnival.

 

Bill

[tfrcal]

My question is I usually take the one card I have that has a low limit placed on it , $1000 max just in case it gets compromised while we are on the islands . Take another just for back up dont use it . Our sail and sign will come in under $500 so how can they put a triple hold or whatever on a card that maxes at $1000. :confused::confused:

 

The limit on your card has nothing to do with your liability for that card if it is "compromised". Cardholder liability is usually capped at somewhere between $50-$100 for fraud etc. Read your cardholder agreement.

[relic2]

In spite of all the sympathy and ideas presented here, only one poster addressed the actual question of what other cruise line is good for the 20-30 year old cruiser. I am an NCL cruiser almost exclusively and, even though my 30s are just a distant memory, I see a lot of that age group onboard. If you check their sales, you can often find comparable prices.

Sorry for OP's problems and you may experience holds anywhere, but the bad taste may never go away from your carnival experience. Come join us on NCL!

[MsTabbyKats]

I apologize in advance if the sounds like a flame, but it isn't meant to be.

 

You say your credit card was canceled. Did you close the account, or was it done by the bank?

 

I'm getting the feeling that you may have "credit issues".

 

Didn't your bf have a card to use?

 

Holding charges is a standard practice, and generally only becomes an issue when someone is about to go over their limit. This is why it's always a good practice to take 2 unrelated cards.

 

Again, if I am misinterpreting anything, I apologize.

[Jenbo57]

In spite of all the sympathy and ideas presented here, only one poster addressed the actual question of what other cruise line is good for the 20-30 year old cruiser. I am an NCL cruiser almost exclusively and, even though my 30s are just a distant memory, I see a lot of that age group onboard. If you check their sales, you can often find comparable prices.

Sorry for OP's problems and you may experience holds anywhere, but the bad taste may never go away from your carnival experience. Come join us on NCL!

 

 

I second that! We love NCL, particularly the whole Freestyle set up. Our November cruise on Carnival will be the last with them for a while...Celebrity is up next (our 2nd with them), and then we'll just see what looks interesting. I don't understand anyone who sticks with only one line, when there's so much else out there...

[CGEOYF]

We have sailed Carnival quite a lot, but we have done Royal. I an say this much - I HAVE had Carnival place holds on my cc, a lot of holds. Totally screwed with my debit card since they had 6 holds which takes days to come off after the cruise. Since then I switched to just charging it on my Visa instead. I also learned to control the sequence of charges so not to prompt the hold (not that it matters on Visa) but I was told by Carnival that they estimate your spending.

 

Example - first day on let's say they hold $300 and you spend less than it. No harm no foul. BUT if you spend more (say $400) then there will be another hold put on for 150% of that (max) so anywhere from $400 - $650. The faster you spend, the faster and greater the holds.

 

I have noticed one difference, the Casino doesn't seem to effect it like bar charges do.

 

Aside from that - try Royal. We are changing due to an inside piece of information I just recieved as a "heads up". That I am about to post on a separate thread.

[Chirpbird]

Part of this is on you OP. If a CC hold is going to affect your available credit so much that your cards become unusable while that hold is in effect, perhaps some better budgeting before departure is in order.

 

This reply feels very preachy, and I don't think I should be taking it that way. OP's total bill was $370. OP had $3,000 free, open, available on CC. What is a better budget than nearly 10 times what you expect to spend?

[scperk]

For the OP I totally feel for ya. I don't understand why holds are placed on credit cards. It makes no sense to me. It is just an inconvenience. :(

As far as I know they never place holds on Credit cards , only on debit cards...Thats why I NEVER use a debit card and people should know that they always place holds on debit cards...Everyone keeps saying credit card but I'll bet the farm that what she used was a debit card and that WILL have holds placed on it.......Dennis

[tweak89]

This reply feels very preachy, and I don't think I should be taking it that way. OP's total bill was $370. OP had $3,000 free, open, available on CC. What is a better budget than nearly 10 times what you expect to spend?

 

 

I agree and seems you caught me before my edit (which is strange since I edited it at 11:51am and your post is later...must be time zones :confused:) : "I always make sure I budget at least 1.5 times (sometimes more depending on the trip) the amount I anticipate needing and have a secondary card for emergency use."

[DebJ14]

Yes --all cruise lines put a hold on your credit card. However Carnival Corp takes much longer to remove hold on credit card than other cruise lines.

 

I have tracked this on my own card when I have returned from CCL cruise.

 

Never a problem for us but it can present major problems for many.

 

Not sure why CCL waits so long to remove the hold and they must remove the hold not your cc company.

 

Sorry this happened OP!!!

Carnival could remove all the holds immediately but they will disappear when the bank sees fit to drop them. It is bank policy that determines when that will be. My credit card just recently started showing the pending holds. Our last 5 night cruise in May there were 7 holds from Carnival- the initial $50.00 hold and then a hold was placed every evening for the amounts we spent each day. Then the last day there was a hold for the total amount of the Sail and Sign bill. When all added together they were more than double the actual Sail and Sign bill. A couple of days later charges showed up for the last night's mini bar purchases. Our bank takes 7 days to drop a hold, so the last one came off 13 days after we boarded the ship. It is no big deal for us because we have high credit limits and never use debit cards (on the advice of our personal banker at Wells Fargo). We sail all of the major cruise lines and find they all have the same practices.

 

A land based vacation can be even more problematic if you have a low line of credit or use a debit card. I stayed 4 nights at a Hilton last month. The total charge was to be $513.00 including tax. The hold was for $1226.00. Then my car rental was supposed to be $232.00. Avis held $750.00. The Shell station held $90.00 (actual gas purchase was $19.00). The restaurants put holds on that were 20% higher than the bills as they assumed I would put the tip on the credit card. I don't - I tip in cash because I want the waiter to actually get it. The total holds for the trip were nearly $3,500 yet the actual trip cost was only 1591.00.

 

Leaving Carnival will not solve your problems.

[mlzangel78]

EVERY cruiseline i have been on put a $100 PER DAY hold on my CC... i no longer offer up a CC and use a cash deposit only.. i take extra cash , if i need more, i put more on it.. As for the refund.. Carnival as well as almost every other company in the country must physically RECV the funds in order to release them, which cause a big hold up in the refund department. Unless you have a high limit credit card my suggestion has always been to pay cash. Got burned on my 1st cruise using a debit card.. the next two cruises were $500 limit cards, got screwed there too... 4th cruise was cash and has been ever since

[luvscruising2007]

DD had a similar experience at a local bar. They put a hold on her debit card and then as she charged drinks it was a separate charge. The bank explained that the hold is released when that exact amount is put through. For example, $100 hold will only be released when a $100 charge is put through. The additional charges are also on your account. The $100 hold is released when the merchant releases or a predetermined time period has elapsed. I believe she said 7 work days.

I have also seen this on one of my credit cards from a restaurant charge. The put the hold on the initial bill, put the final isn't put through with a tip until later.

I hope this helps some of you who have not experienced this before.

Also, credits take longer than an initial sale because they actually take a different electronic path. That is a banking issue not the merchant's.

[MsTabbyKats]

OP-

I just read your original thread and am trying to trace what happened. It does sound like a Carnival screw-up. (Haven't finished the entire thread yet.......)

 

In any case, it really is a good idea to have 2 unrelated cards...and keep one with a $0 balance for emergencies.

 

For the future and in general...you shouldn't have closed the credit account. I had something happen once where I was expecting a refund but wanted to close an account (someone charged $1300 of phone calls to Viet Nam on my card), and I made it so nothing could be charged but the refund was accepted.