Preauthorized holds??

[DTXCruiser]

OP: while I understand your frustrations with some of the responses..the issue is that you posted a question that is fairly common knowledge ...and if you had questions, it is certainly not Carnival's fault.

 

The other issue is your comment about food. While food quality is generally opinion based...saying there was no variety is almost laughable, be it Carnival, Royal, etc.

 

The boards are not kind to "ignorance" or unsupported critique.

 

But at least you know now.

[cruizinisthebest]

You can also just use cash if the holds are that bothersome. There's no denying holds can be a pain to put up with. But so many purchases use holds. That it would happen on a cruise and isn't removed in a matter of a couple of days just doesn't warrant being upset. Not yet.

 

And the thing about the food went on longer than the part about the hold. Plus it's just not true.

[Leo's Rule]

Some of you were harsh with the OP. While I don't agree with the statement about the same food being served, I didn't offer a response because I can't speak on holds; I've never seen them on any credit card that I used.

 

And for the person that mentioned the holds on the debit card when purchasing gas; the only one that has ever done it to me was Wal-Mart; I have $1 holds on my debit card, but I don't use their gas anymore because my car was acting weird after filling up one time. Anyhow, I use Chevron, and the amount I spend on gas automatically shows up on my bank account; no holds period. And I use my debit card to purchase gas.

[MadManOfBethesda]

I did one cruise using my debit and they "held" a small amount of money, and I was told it was to make sure funds were there because of it being DEBIT, attached to a checking account, not credit.

 

WHen we have used our credit card there has never been a hold.

 

Maybe that is why.

 

However, like the OP said, its usually standard the there are holds on stays, trips, etc. I would expect it. I don't think it has to do with credit, becasue we pay our Amex off monthly never carrying over a balance. It's sad that some people have ruined it for those that have been good behaved guests... anywhere for that matter..and there has to be a hold, but really if you need your money so bad then cruising(or any vacation) probably shouldn't have been on the itinerary. I wouldn't think it was wise for anyone to travel if they only had limited funds and were not able to do things after their cruise or any vacation because of fund holds.

 

Yes, there has. You just haven't noticed it. And why would someone notice it unless they obsessively check their account online or they're up against their credit limit? Holds don't appear on mailed statements.

 

Your good credit and the fact that you pay off your AmEx has absolutely no bearing on whether a hold is placed on your account. And nobody has ruined anything for others. This has been SOP in certain industries for decades. If you go on a cruise, check into a hotel, rent a car, buy gas, etc., a hold will be placed on your account.

[Seago2]

So.... If you put cash down, say $1,000, do you have to stand in that hellish line the night before to get your change?

[klfrodo]

I understand how holds work....our gas station does them and the Atlantis does it too. We use our debit card (visa) for those however.

 

So.....we didn't use credit cards. I got a new one to use just when we travel. If it has a $1000 limit......and your total S&S bill is $800-999......when they charge at the end of the cruise, will it be covered? Or will the holds lower your available amount?

 

The HOLDS will lower your available amount until released by your financial institution.

[TennGirl615]

Thanks for the laugh everyone. I don't do credit cards so yes it was my bank. And it's all good now. I knew about the $1 hold with gas. But I was just confused with this hold because for one it has never happened and 2 they took the amount out already plus had 3 other holds for the same exact thing. So no I'm not an idiot I've just never had it happen. Is that ok?!

 

And again about the food. I cruised with my 16 month old and we attempted the dining room the first night. Didn't turn out so great and my opinion it was just chaos because I had no clue who our waiter was. 4 different people came to the table and never introduced who they were. There was a man that took our order. We had to leave before desert so I asked the same man if we could get desert to go. He said ok I'll tell your waiter. When in fact he was our waiter. And I personally didn't like the food that night. Hence the reason I got the steak which was way over cooked.

 

Like I stated there was 'The Grill' which had hamburgers and blah blah blah. The salad bar which yes it did have the same thing on it every night. Deserts changed every night. There was pizza and the sandwich station and Ice Cream. And there was one side of the lido buffet that was open at night for a period of time that had some of the options that was on the main dining room. But if you don't eat fish or lamb or anything out of the 'norm' than like I said you were left to eat the same thing every night.

 

And out of respect for the other passengers I didn't want to interrupt their dinner with a cranky baby so no I didn't eat in the main dining room other than the first night for meals.

 

Every ship and every line is different. This is my opinion and what I experienced. Sorry if you don't agree.

[DTXCruiser]

OP...your final explanation about the food is much better. Explains a lot!

 

The fact is, your choices were limited only because you had a small child, again, not an accurate critique of Carnival. Additionally , you still had many choices, including room service, coffee shops, etc.

 

Again, your post was not accepted well, you should've known from other threads that you would be subject to "attack". Live and learn.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app

[CanWeGoYet?]

And yes they did have one half of the buffet open at night with different stuff but in my opinion it wasn't good. Several people made the comment. Other than that everything was the same. The grill had the exact same thing. Breakfast was the exact same every morning and the salad bar had the exact same stuff. Last time I cruised they changed it up every day. If you don't like fish or odd stuff they fixed then you were left to eat hamburgers, hot dogs and chicken fingers. I asked them to make my son a grilled cheese since he's only 16 months and doesn't eat steak or what ever else and they said they couldn't do it. I mean a grilled cheese. Not that hard. This is all just my opinion. Everyone has one.

 

I agree that there is not a lot of variety at the buffet. Meaning not a lot of change from day to day. Was there no deli to get a grilled cheese sandwich? It's a deli thing, might not be available elsewhere. I've had pretty good luck getting them to make sandwiches how I want them - my weird turkey or tuna reubens, etc. I usually ate lunch at the mongolian grill if I did lido - that or deli. I like that what I was getting was freshly made.

 

It doesn't help you now but another place to get grilled cheese is the room service menu.

[Leo's Rule]

Thanks for the laugh everyone. I don't do credit cards so yes it was my bank. And it's all good now. I knew about the $1 hold with gas. But I was just confused with this hold because for one it has never happened and 2 they took the amount out already plus had 3 other holds for the same exact thing. So no I'm not an idiot I've just never had it happen. Is that ok?!

 

And again about the food. I cruised with my 16 month old and we attempted the dining room the first night. Didn't turn out so great and my opinion it was just chaos because I had no clue who our waiter was. 4 different people came to the table and never introduced who they were. There was a man that took our order. We had to leave before desert so I asked the same man if we could get desert to go. He said ok I'll tell your waiter. When in fact he was our waiter. And I personally didn't like the food that night. Hence the reason I got the steak which was way over cooked.

 

Like I stated there was 'The Grill' which had hamburgers and blah blah blah. The salad bar which yes it did have the same thing on it every night. Deserts changed every night. There was pizza and the sandwich station and Ice Cream. And there was one side of the lido buffet that was open at night for a period of time that had some of the options that was on the main dining room. But if you don't eat fish or lamb or anything out of the 'norm' than like I said you were left to eat the same thing every night.

 

And out of respect for the other passengers I didn't want to interrupt their dinner with a cranky baby so no I didn't eat in the main dining room other than the first night for meals.

 

Every ship and every line is different. This is my opinion and what I experienced. Sorry if you don't agree.

 

Though you weren't obligated to explain anything to us, a bunch of strangers, I do thank you for elaborating; it helped me understand why you said the same food was served every night. I will say, had I been a newbie and never went on a cruise; that would have scared me. I eat leftovers, but after day 3, it's a wrap...I don't want that any more.

 

Well, that was my two cents. :p

[luddite]

This is another reason why you should never, ever use a debit card for this.

[DebJ14]

Are you now using a different debit/credit card or bank than you did 4 years ago on your prior cruise?

That may be the reason you didn't notice the holds before but do now, the new bank is not releasing the holds as soon.

But you need to understand, Carnival is not holding your money. It is your debit/credit card issuer. Talk with them if you need the holds released sooner.

 

Part of the banking reform act was for the banks to be more transparent in their dealings with consumers. All of my credit card companies started showing the pending holds. When we cruise I look at my credit card statement and watch the holds pile up. Usually there is the original hold, plus holds placed every night and then the final hold for the full amount of the Sail and Sign Account. Depending on which credit card I use it takes 7-10 days for all of the holds to drop off. They go away after so many days when an actual charge for the smaller amounts never comes through.

 

I got gas at a Shell station on Monday with my Discover. The hold placed by Shell was for $75.00. Actual cost of the gas was $42.25. So, my credit line is temporarily reduced by $117.25.

 

On the advice of our personal banker at Chase the only thing we use the debit card for is to get cash out of the ATM at the bank, never anywhere else in case they have skimmers set up. It can take much longer to clear up debit card hacking than it does to clear up credit card problems.

 

We have one credit card dedicated to recurring payments (phone, electric, Direct TV newspaper) and don't take the card out of the house. We have another one for daily use at restaurants, grocery stores, department stores etc. and 2 cards with very high limits and no international transaction fees that are used only for travel expenses. It gets too complicated having to change all the payments when a card gets hacked, which was happening when we used the same card for everything. We've been doing this for several years with good results. We pay off all of our credit cards every month. We rack up cash back, miles and other reward points on the credit cards.

[Havingfun2010]

I was debating doing a review but decided not to. For many reasons I will be going back to cruising with RCI. The service, food and activities on board were not what I remembered them being. Could be all lines now though since it has been 4 years since I have cruised. I enjoyed my cruise but the food was awful. They had the same thing every single day. The one night we went to the dining room the steak was so dry I couldn't even eat it. And not to mention the anytime dining is chaos. I had no clue who our server even was.

 

At one time not very long ago, RCCL and CCL were very similar. Than one day, CCL starting cutting back, remodeling old ships and giving them new names, and dispanding most entertainment. RCCL on the other hand has placed more entertainment on ships, and actually made the MDR menu better. Now I'm not saying it's great, just better. Just in the news, NCL announced they are no longer competing with CCL to be the low cost cruise line.

[somesong12]

Yes, there has. You just haven't noticed it. And why would someone notice it unless they obsessively check their account online or they're up against their credit limit? Holds don't appear on mailed statements.

 

Your good credit and the fact that you pay off your AmEx has absolutely no bearing on whether a hold is placed on your account. And nobody has ruined anything for others. This has been SOP in certain industries for decades. If you go on a cruise, check into a hotel, rent a car, buy gas, etc., a hold will be placed on your account.

 

 

I agree.. Why would someone check obsessively? We don't. We know what we spend and how much, etc. We get texts and email alerts for charges over $50.00 just so we can be in tune with our account without having to check so often.

 

 

I mentioned the the credit part because another person suggested that maybe due to using a credit card with a decent amount of open credit may be the reason there isn't a long or noticable hold at all. I meant for the fact that we don't have balances for very long and usually less than what the billing cycle for the month is.

It was only a suggestion in regards to other ruining it for others, that there are holds in general for most everything nowadays due to economic reasons, and safety measures. That's all.

 

I don't mind if there is a hold at all or ever. I think it is a good thing. It is temporary and if you plan smart, have the money, then it really shouldn't affect anything.

 

:-)

[Athankfulheart]

Someone posted that gas stations will hold $1.00 then the $60 in gas you bought. Totally wrong when you use a debit card, they can/do place a hold for $100, then charge you the $60 for gas. So in fact $160 is held from your account until they release the $100 hold which can/and does sometimes take 7-10 days.

!

 

This may depend on differing policies. I have been watching my credit and debit account for years online, daily. The gas stations that I use most definately DO put a $1 hold through and then the charge for the purchase. It does not take 7-10 days for my cards to release the holds either. I just don't think that we can make a blanket statement when it comes to this situation.

[cruizinisthebest]

This may depend on differing policies. I have been watching my credit and debit account for years online, daily. The gas stations that I use most definately DO put a $1 hold through and then the charge for the purchase. It does not take 7-10 days for my cards to release the holds either. I just don't think that we can make a blanket statement when it comes to this situation.

 

This is what happens where I live with almost every station. They swipe the card and hold $1, then the actual purchase shows up within a few days.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

[Sparky2]

Interesting...I've never noticed holds on my CC account...been on 21 cruises so far...perhaps it's because I have a real high credit limit and always pay off my card each month? I also notify my CC company that I am going on a cruise and give them some details so maybe that's it.

 

That is my experience also. We fly home the same day our cruise ends. I always check my bank accounts, credit cards, etc. to make sure everything looks OK and don't remember ever seeing any holds on them.

 

I also notify the credit card company that I am cruising and will be out of the country.

[Sparky2]

This is what happens where I live with almost every station. They swipe the card and hold $1, then the actual purchase shows up within a few days.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

 

Forgot about the gas station temporary hold of $1.

[MadManOfBethesda]

Yes, there has. You just haven't noticed it. And why would someone notice it unless they obsessively check their account online or they're up against their credit limit? Holds don't appear on mailed statements.

 

 

I agree.. Why would someone check obsessively?

 

I have been watching my credit and debit account for years online, daily....

 

:eek: :D

[EZ4]

I just registered an new Roku today and had to list a credit card in case I wanted to purchase pay channels in the future. I notice they put a $1 hold on my account as well.