Debit cards for Sail &Sign account??

[bosoxfan23061]

Wife and I don't have credit cards, so what would be the best way to do the S&S account, cash or our debit card?

[girlscruise2011]

Wife and I don't have credit cards, so what would be the best way to do the S&S account, cash or our debit card?

 

I always use cash and its very easy. Start off with a few $100 and add as needed as you go along. Last night of the cruise, close out your account and get whatever is left back in cash.

 

The problem with debit cards is Carnival will throw on holds throughout the cruise and then charge your card accordingly. Depending when the holds are released, it may put you in a bad situation with not having enough availability for either Carnival or other bills that come out during your cruise.

 

It can even be days after you get home for the holds to be released so it can even effect you when you get home and may need the money to catch up on bills.

[ccruisequeen]

I use cash. You can either go to the Guest Services desk or the kiosk in the lobby. You can also use the kiosk to keep track of your spending. Don't forget to add enough for tips which will be taken out the third or fourth day of the cruise (unless you've prepaid).

 

 

 

 

 

[bosoxfan23061]

So Carnival puts a hold on funds and charges separate? In essence double charging you, but the holds get released sometime later?

[bosoxfan23061]

We are doing a 9 day cruise and plan on doing the cheers package. Guess I better get lots of cash out!

[Tapi]

So Carnival puts a hold on funds and charges separate? In essence double charging you, but the holds get released sometime later?

 

 

It's my understanding that Carnival will only authorize your credit card for $50pp at a time. As you charge things to your Sail and Sign account, and start approaching $50, then Carnival will make a second hold for another $50 and so forth. Nothing is actually charged to your credit card until the end of the week. Just holds/authorizations.

 

In theory, when you get home after your cruise, you should see a total amount charged for what you actually spent and maybe a temporary hold on your credit card of no more than $50 beyond what you actually spent, which should clear within a few days.

 

On other cruise lines, hold are done differently. When we sailed on Holland America last summer, I set up our account online before the cruise. It stated that my credit card would be authorized for $400 per passenger all at once (that meant a hold of $1,600 for my family of 4 :eek:). Thankfully the hold was not an issue for us, but I can see how it would be for a LOT of people.

 

 

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Edited February 3, 2014 by Tapi

[ccruisequeen]

We are doing a 9 day cruise and plan on doing the cheers package. Guess I better get lots of cash out!

 

Don't forget ones for tips (bags and room service)!

 

 

 

 

 

[luddite]

Never, ever use a debit card for this.

[Carnival_Brides]

So Carnival puts a hold on funds and charges separate? In essence double charging you, but the holds get released sometime later?

 

Yup--that pretty much sums it up and every bank is different. Our bank used to put holds on our account daily and it would accrue as it went, so it looked like this and none of the holds dropped off until several days after the final hold was put on.

 

Day 1- Initial hold

Day 2- Initial hold+tips+drinks

Day 3- Initial hold+tips+drinks+bingo

Day 4- Initial hold+tips+drinks+bingo+shore excursion

 

 

Now our bank does one hold at the end, but we use traveler's checks (yes, they still exist) and cash instead. Guest Services will cash traveler's checks ($1,000 per guest, per cruise) by the way in case you feel more comfortable carrying those.

[bosoxfan23061]

I think I'm going to go remove my debit card from my S&S account and just sign up for cash. I'll just go to the bank on the way to the airport and withdraw enough to cover the tips, Cheers, and maybe a few hundred extra for misc. stuff.

[luddite]

Get a credit card.

[Mysticks1]

You can pay your gratuities in advance before you board so those amounts will be out of the way and you won't have to worry about them going on your card. Then the only things charged would be what you actually purchase onboard.

[carrieluvsgreg]

So Carnival puts a hold on funds and charges separate? In essence double charging you, but the holds get released sometime later?

 

Yes, that's exactly what happened to us and nearly caused a catastrophe. We used the debit card because we thought that it would be better than cash. (Visa logo and all...) but the way they run the actual charges almost messed us up royally. They place a deposit "hold" on the sail and sign on day one, fine. Then they didn't do any charges until we actually closed out the account, at that time the actual charges were pulled from the account, but the hold was not released. It was not a double charge for us, a lingering $200 per stateroom hold. (We had two cabins). Thankfully, we had the $ in the account to cover the hold, but we had to use an alternate method of payment while driving home for gas and meals. I called my bank and they said it was how carnival runs the charge.

 

Long story short, I will never use a debit card again. We now use a credit card and pay it off when we get home. Less hassle, no worries about the temporary holds.

[StaceySteveDMB]

We do not have a credit card and always use our debit card on our S&S account. In six cruises we have never had an issue with funds being held for a long period of time. They only hold certain amounts at a time so even if there is money due back to you it would not be that much. If you are like me and not worried about having a credit card than I don't think you will have to worry about a hold on your debit card.

[Dare2Believe]

So, I'm a little confused...we have our S&S accounts set up to link to our debit cards for our cruise in a couple weeks. I thought that they just charged you at the end of the cruise for the amount of your purchases (we prepay gratuities).

 

Do I understand this right...They put a hold of $50 on your account the first day, then an additional $50 each day after that? And then don't refund the holds til after you're home?

 

I mean, I get that they would put an initial hold on the account to ensure that you have money in the account...but to put additional holds (on top of the amount taken out for purchases) doesn't make sense.

 

Maybe I'm misunderstanding. I was hoping to bring the debit card and not have to carry wads of cash through the airport etc...we plan on buying Cheers, so that right there is about $300.

 

Help me out!

[Tapi]

Do I understand this right...They put a hold of $50 on your account the first day, then an additional $50 each day after that? And then don't refund the holds til after you're home?

 

Help me out!

 

 

There's always an initial hold of $50pp. If you don't charge ANYTHING to your S&S account (including tips), there won't be further holds. However if you start charging things to your account and you approach the held amount, then they will make additional holds to cover what you are charging.

 

There won't be an actual charge to your credit card until the last day. Just holds in $50 ( per person) increments matching what you have spent on your S&S account.

 

Carnival will actually charge your credit card at the end of the cruise and release the hold, but depending on your financial institution and how quickly they release these holds, it may take a few days for it to disappear during which time, both will be posted.

 

If for whatever reason you don't have a credit card with a limit high enough to cover all of your charges and hold, or enough money in your bank account to cover both as well, then your best bet is to open a cash account.

 

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Edited February 3, 2014 by Tapi

[Dare2Believe]

There's always an initial hold of $50pp. If you don't charge ANYTHING to your S&S account (including tips), there won't be further holds. However if you start charging things to your account and you approach the held amount, then they will make additional holds to cover what you are charging.

 

There won't be an actual charge to your credit card until the last day. Just holds in $50 ( per person) increments matching what you have spent on your S&S account.

 

Carnival will charge you at the end and release the hold, but depending on your financial institution and how quickly they release these holds, it may take a few days for it to disappear.

 

 

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Thanks for your quick reply! So basically..they withhold the funds from your account while you are on board to ensure that they will be paid, then make an actual charge on your account the last day. Then they release the holds, but it may be a couple days before the bank/credit union releases the money...I think I've got it!

 

So basically, it's smart to have what you're going to spend (plus double) in your account to be safe, because they are (in essence) charging you twice - even though not really, lol. I'm thinking just in terms of having enough to cover in the account, plus the couple days afterwards when the bank may be sluggish in returning the funds...

[Tapi]

So basically, it's smart to have what you're going to spend (plus double) in your account to be safe, because they are (in essence) charging you twice - even though not really, lol. I'm thinking just in terms of having enough to cover in the account, plus the couple days afterwards when the bank may be sluggish in returning the funds...

 

 

I was actually editing my response to address that in my last paragraph, but yes :). If you're using a credit or debit card, make sure you have either a high enough limit or money in your checking account to cover BOTH charges and holds. Otherwise it's smarter to just open a cash account on the ship.

 

 

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[carrieluvsgreg]

We do not have a credit card and always use our debit card on our S&S account. In six cruises we have never had an issue with funds being held for a long period of time. They only hold certain amounts at a time so even if there is money due back to you it would not be that much. If you are like me and not worried about having a credit card than I don't think you will have to worry about a hold on your debit card.

 

We hadn't had any problems before this particular cruise (that I remember...) the hold for us actually lasted the entire weekend. (We arrived back home on Saturday.) I knew it was going to drop off the account, but my bank couldn't release the funds to me because technically, Carnival could still submit for them. It was a headache that just wasn't worth it to me, so all future cruises we just used a credit card and then paid the balance.

[Dare2Believe]

I was actually editing my response to address that in my last paragraph, but yes :). If you're using a credit or debit card, make sure you have either a high enough limit or money in your checking account to cover BOTH charges and holds. Otherwise it's smarter to just open a cash account on the ship.

 

 

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Thanks! You've answered a few of my questions before...you're always so helpful! Appreciate it..

[Sue Do-Over]

When we're lucky enough to be ahead at the casino, we make a cash payment against our S&S account before the end of the cruise.

 

Whether we used credit or debit to secure the account, the final charge is smaller, which we appreciate.

[Dare2Believe]

I just had to call Carnival about another question, and I brought this up to get their perspective...

 

The PVP told me that if you're using a debit/credit card, upon embarkation day you will see a $100 charge/hold - per person on the S&S account, not necessarily per person in the cabin - from Carnival on your card. As soon as you exceed that $100 in spending on board, they will put another hold for the same amount as your embarkation day hold (for example, another $100) to cover any further spending.

 

So...For my 5 day cruise, I am the only one on my S&S account. I will be charged the $100 upon embarkation (she said the charge could even show up prior to check-in at the terminal.) I plan to purchase Cheers, which for all intents and purposes let's say costs $300. Carnival will see that my $100 hold will not cover the Cheers package so they will charge my account for the entirety of the Cheers cost, plus put another $100 hold on my account to cover any new spending.

 

If I don't spend the entire amount of what they've put on reserve for my card, they will release that hold by the end of the cruise.

 

 

I asked her about holds taking awhile to process/be released after the cruise and she said that the only reason there should be any delay (from Carnival at least, can't really speak for banks) would be if you had put cash on your account and were waiting for a refund of balance check.

 

 

I think it's still good to be prepared for a delay in the release of any holds, because that will vary by bank..but it was good to get Carnival's stance on it as well for the still semi-confused like myself...:o

[AmandaBlue]

Will they apply Cruise Cash before accessing more funds thru a debit card?

 

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[Donray]

I don't understand traveling without one or more credit cards with at least 10K available credit. What happens if you miss the ship in some port? What do you do if you need a doctor or hospital?

 

We charge almost everything and pay off all cards every month. I don't pay the credit card compares one added cent and do get many benefits like cash back form AM and Points on Citibank card.

 

So, overall I get paid by the card componies to use there cards.

[Mt Lassen]

Does anyone know if you can swipe your debit card at a kiosk to apply funds to your S & S account? That wouldn't put a hold on the OP's account anymore than a normal purchase or cash withdrawal and may be an option rather than carrying cash.