Sign & Sail linked to debit card

[EasyBreezy83]

I was going to link my sign and sail card directly to my debit card. I was on Carnival.com and saw something that said they put holds on your cards of up to $100 or $200, and that this can have an outcome as to how much you have available in those accounts. Um... what??

 

Can someone explain this to me? So, they will put a hold on my card for $100, and lets say for the sake of argument that I only have $200 in my bank account.. that means I really now only have 100 to spend? I'm a little lost on this one. For that I just put cash on my SS card and be done with it, no?

[pbsteve]

You're correct. A hold is like a charge that will later get reversed. I also have no credit cards and cruise on cash. So I bring the cash, load the account and never worry about my account putting a hold.

 

Fyi the hold will equal what you spend and more

 

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[cruizinisthebest]

On more than one cruise, I've attached my s&s account to a debit card and had no problems at all. The total charge for our bill came through as one debit a day or two post cruise and that was that.

[Fitzget]

It's no different than an authorization on a credit card, the authorization will reduce the available credit on your credit card. They do the same for both, but since Debit Cards work differently, they usually charge the hold amount to your debit card and refund what you don't use.

 

If they don't put a hold on the funds, or an authorization on a CC, and someone spent all their money, at the end of the cruise, Carnival would be screwed because there were no funds in the account to cover the S&S charges. They do it to cover their a**, just like any hotel does to cover any additional room charges.

Edited March 19, 2014 by Fitzget

[Buffalofirsttimer4]

On more than one cruise, I've attached my s&s account to a debit card and had no problems at all. The total charge for our bill came through as one debit a day or two post cruise and that was that.

 

Thank you for stating this. We have cruised three different lines and always linked our debit card to our onboard account, never had any of the issues others have listed, I thought we were the only ones, your post shows that we are not!

 

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[SteelerCruiser]

be careful if you do decide to use the debit card and not cash or credit card. The holds that may be put on your account may affect your available balance which could cause you fees with your bank should you not have enough to cover the hold plus any other items you may have coming through.

[Fitzget]

Thank you for stating this. We have cruised three different lines and always linked our debit card to our onboard account, never had any of the issues others have listed, I thought we were the only ones, your post shows that we are not!

 

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I too have used a debit card, on two cruises, never had a problem. I guess it could be a problem for someone who may not have a lot of money in their account at the time.

[Donray]

Just surprised how many people know nothing about how credit or debit cards operate.

 

Holds for both debit and credit cards are put in place by gas stations, hotels, car rentals, cruise lines, etc.

[klfrodo]

The merchant places the "Hold" or "Pending".

The financial institution "guarantees" those funds.

 

The financial institution has the final say as to whether you as a customer see those Holds or Pendings whether it's a credit card or a debit card. Just because you didn't see the hold, doesn't mean it wasn't there. It's also the financial institutions decision as to when those holds or pendings are removed and your available credit or cash is given back for you to use.

[EasyBreezy83]

I'm fully aware how debit cards work. What concerned me was them saying they put an auto hold of up to $200. When I use my debit card at say the gas station or what have you, the hold is usually for a small amount. So I was just wondering if it worked the same here.

 

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[atate75]

I use credit cards exclusively for purchases. Then I pay them off at the end of the month. I only use my debit card for ATM withdrawals. If something bad happens nobody has access to my cash. It's a lot easier to recoup a line of credit than it is to get someone out of your bank account. Plus I gain points for all of my purchases.

[EasyBreezy83]

Thanks everyone. I'm thinking I'll prob just use cash and not worry about anything.

 

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[klfrodo]

 

 

Can someone explain this to me? So, they will put a hold on my card for $100, and lets say for the sake of argument that I only have $200 in my bank account.. that means I really now only have 100 to spend? I'm a little lost on this one. For that I just put cash on my SS card and be done with it, no?

 

In this example, you're screwed.

They put a hold for $100

You only have $100 available now

 

2 days later when you had about $50 worth of drinks, they'll place another $100 hold.

Now you have $0 available

 

At the end of your cruise, let's say your final bill is $75,,, they will then charge your account $75 for final billing.

 

You're now MINUS $75. You're overdrawn, the bank now hits you with a $50 over draft fee. Your now down to minus $125.00

 

If you have no credit card, and low funds in checking,,,,,,, go cash all the way.

[cruizinisthebest]

I can tell you exactly how my s&s account went last year:

 

We used a debit card. I did it once onboard as I had previously completed the online check-in planning to set up a cash account. I went to guest services, handed them my debit card. The counter person asked me how much I wanted to place on my account, I told them $800. She swiped it and that was that. Our s&s bill total a little over $700. We got off the ship on a Monday. By Tuesday, there was a single charge on my credit card for the total amount we had on our s&s. One charge. I never went over. No bank fees. Nothing. I had other sources of money and credit to use as backup and for other expenses during our vacation, but I specifically set aside $800, which I put in a second bank account to use for our s&s spending. Now if they had swiped my account with a whole bunch of holds over and over again, I certainly wouldn't have been able to run up a $700+ bill with just a $100 cushion. We purchased alcohol, plenty of camp carnival fees, fun shop purchases, a few pictures, etc. We never went in the casino, but just about every other onboard charge was made and I didn't have a problem with holds. And because I printed out my s&s account a couple of times via the kiosks, I knew how much I was spending. The amount charged was to the penny what the s&s final bill was.

[StaceySteveDMB]

We always use our debit card mainly because we do not have credit cards. We have never had an issue on our seven cruises, however, if you are worried about low funds in your account use cash option.

 

 

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[cdamion]

Here is what happens sometimes (assuming you spend $50/day on a 3 day cruise)

 

Day 1: Your sign and sail account is $50, they put a $50 hold on the card to cover.

 

Day 2: Your sign and sail account is now $100, they put a $100 hold on the card.

 

Day 3: Your sign and sail account is now $150, they put a $150 hold on the card.

 

Day 4: They put through the final charge of $150. However, they have held a total of $300. They do not go and release the earlier holds. They will fall off after a few days depending on your bank. In the meantime, that $150 they are holding is unavailable and your card will be declined, or checks will bounce.

 

Make sense? They aren't doing anything devious. Often it is the bank that is doing it. If you have plenty of money in your account, you will never know it because the holds just fall off. Same thing would happen with a credit card with a low limit.

[LCTXcruiser]

We have never believed in credit cards. We always have saved to pay for our cruises, Christmas, birthday trips, etc....

 

With that said, we just got a credit card specifically deposits. When we took our last cruise, we had a bill at the end of 180.00 (give or take) of which $60.00 was inadvertanty put on our account instead of the appropriate room. Come to find out it was a hand written receipt from the "gold by the inch" store they had on the ship. Although we got it corrected eventually (about 1 week later), it was tied to our checking account through our debit card so we were out the money.

 

The great thing about having a card for these situations is that if you dispute something, it's held off until you reach a resolution. Just make sure that you pay it off asap - just like if it was out of your bank account. Just a suggestion....

 

Have a wonderful trip!

:D

[maldenmusic]

Linked my S&S to my debit for 7 cruises and never had any kind of a problem. Never even noticed anyting different.

[Buffalofirsttimer4]

Here is what happens sometimes (assuming you spend $50/day on a 3 day cruise)

 

Day 1: Your sign and sail account is $50, they put a $50 hold on the card to cover.

Day 2: Your sign and sail account is now $100, they put a $100 hold on the card.

Day 3: Your sign and sail account is now $150, they put a $150 hold on the card.

 

Day 4: They put through the final charge of $150. However, they have held a total of $300. They do not go and release the earlier holds. They will fall off after a few days depending on your bank. In the meantime, that $150 they are holding is unavailable and your card will be declined, or checks will bounce.

 

Make sense? They aren't doing anything devious. Often it is the bank that is doing it. If you have plenty of money in your account, you will never know it because the holds just fall off. Same thing would happen with a credit card with a low limit.

 

I guess it does depend on the bank you're using since I have only had one charge on my debit card(s) and just one- not several as you indicate above. I guess I am just lucky we have not just one great bank but two!!!

[CheckersMidwest]

We have used our debit card and never had a hold put on it. Only at Casey's, when we get gas, sometimes there is a $1 preauthorization but not the whole amount. It goes away at the same time the actual charge comes in.

 

Maybe it depends on the bank or type of debit card. Mine is a Visa through our bank.

[frugalKansan]

I use a prepaid credit card for all of my vacation stuff. I put the cash into the account over the months preceding vacation with the amount on there I want to spend, plus a little cushion.

 

 

Carnival Destiny jan 2010

Carnival Liberty 9/28/13

Carnival Victory 10/5/13

Carnival Sensation 3/9/14

Carnival Sensation 3/13/14

Carnival Splendor 11/1/14

[awhcruiser]

Use cash or a CC for onboard charges.

I was going to link my sign and sail card directly to my debit card. I was on Carnival.com and saw something that said they put holds on your cards of up to $100 or $200, and that this can have an outcome as to how much you have available in those accounts. Um... what??

 

Can someone explain this to me? So, they will put a hold on my card for $100, and lets say for the sake of argument that I only have $200 in my bank account.. that means I really now only have 100 to spend? I'm a little lost on this one. For that I just put cash on my SS card and be done with it, no?

[1Honey12]

If you're worried I'd say use cash and worry less.

Both of my cruises i used cash. My very first cruise i only put $200 on my account, there are kiosks throughout the ship where u can deposit more cash onto your account (which i ended up doing).

Second time around we put more cash on the account and ended up getting a check in the remaining amount of what we didn't use. Maybe $10 :D:eek:

[rooster1961]

they put a $200 hold on my debit card, by the time my week cruise was over, the hold fell off, money was back in account and then they took what i spent when cruise was over.

[Donray]

I use credit cards exclusively for purchases. Then I pay them off at the end of the month. I only use my debit card for ATM withdrawals. If something bad happens nobody has access to my cash. It's a lot easier to recoup a line of credit than it is to get someone out of your bank account. Plus I gain points for all of my purchases.

 

I totally agree. Never have made a partial payment to a credit card company. I get money back or points using only credit cards and let others pay for these perks.

 

The worse card you can get is an ATM card that has the Visa or MasterCard logo.