Registration of your credit card on Seaside

[traveline]

I'm booked on Seaside 21 April 2018 sailing. MSC agents told me we register our credit card when we process in. If we need to register on the ship, where can we register? What decks are the Kiosks located on and where? I will greatly appreciate any info you guys can give me. Thanks so much in advance.

[broberts]

If the Seaside is like most cruise ships, check in occurs landside in the terminal building. It's much like checking in for an airline flight.

[sidari]

There are Kiosks on the ship where you register and nowhere else, they are placed around the Atrium near customer services, no need to rush as long as you do it within 48 hours, we forgot and did it on the 3rd day with no problem.

[nikkiw60]

If the Seaside is like most cruise ships, check in occurs landside in the terminal building. It's much like checking in for an airline flight.

 

 

 

You check in landslide and register your credit card at one of the kiosks on the ship as Sidari has said within 2 days.

MSC is different to other cruise lines this way!

 

 

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[toinoi]

There are Kiosks on the ship where you register and nowhere else, they are placed around the Atrium near customer services, no need to rush as long as you do it within 48 hours, we forgot and did it on the 3rd day with no problem.

 

Hi Sidari - maybe you can confirm, but I understood that until you register a credit card against your account, you cannot make any onboard purchases. Something for the OP to consider.

[sidari]

Never stopped us, and I did buy a Xmas gift onboard for my other half during that time.

[Jimbo59]

Use a credit card with no foreign transaction fees.

[Grandma Rambo]

Good morning, everyone:

 

We will be making final payment next week on our 4/28 cruise on MSC Seaside. This discussion has me wondering. if when we make final payment will it be from a USA office or the Italy/France office? This is a large amount to be adding a foreign transaction fee. Our original deposit of $49/each had no fee.

 

I think if the final deposit goes through a USA office we will also pay the gratuities to avoid onboard charges.

 

Many thanks for any assistance.

 

Jennie

[eanselm]

And don’t forget to call your credit company to let them know you will be using it on the cruise. One of our family found out the hard way. It was on a different cruise line but applies here. She gave her credit card when they embarked but when she went to leave the last day she was refused exit because her card was declined. The credit card company had detected unusual activity, tried to call her and couldn’t reach her because her phone was off so they put a hold on her account. She had to go back to guest services to get it resolved.

[sidari]

Hi Jennie ... We are also on the same sailing, only the final onboard bill is dealt with overseas and not the actual booking payment or deposits.

[joeyjeremiah]

Hi Sidari - maybe you can confirm, but I understood that until you register a credit card against your account, you cannot make any onboard purchases. Something for the OP to consider.

 

 

 

I just got off the divina. And we had 2 days to register our credit card. Our onboard account was setup right away with a $300 limit per person to allow for purchases until you register your card at a time convenient for you.

On the divina we were also able to put down a cash deposit instead of using a credit card to secure our onboard account which one person in our group really appreciated. She put down a deposit at the front desk on the first day then on the last night got a cash refund for the balance of her deposit.

 

I’d imagine the seaside works the same way.

 

 

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[js]

A tip I read on these boards is to go to the casino kiosk to register your card when you board. Empty and the kiosk machine(s) are in there too.

[helenb]

Are there kiosks in YC?

[DCGuy64]

A tip I read on these boards is to go to the casino kiosk to register your card when you board. Empty and the kiosk machine(s) are in there too.

 

Great tip, thanks! Is the casino open (the actual room) since the ship is in port at embarkation?

[suzyed]

There are Kiosks on the ship where you register and nowhere else, they are placed around the Atrium near customer services, no need to rush as long as you do it within 48 hours, we forgot and did it on the 3rd day with no problem.

There was a blurb about having a pin number for your "credit card/debit card". Wouldn't a pin number only be required for the debit card and not for a credit card?

[broberts]

There was a blurb about having a pin number for your "credit card/debit card". Wouldn't a pin number only be required for the debit card and not for a credit card?

 

I believe they are not common in the US, but in other countries many/most cc with chips have a pin that can be used to verify card use.

[DCGuy64]

There was a blurb about having a pin number for your "credit card/debit card". Wouldn't a pin number only be required for the debit card and not for a credit card?

 

No, because they changed the law in Europe a few years ago in the interests of fraud protection. In some locations in Europe, you are required to enter your credit card PIN when making a transaction. If you don't know yours, your financial institution can send you one by mail, in most cases.

[cruisinglady65]

And don’t forget to call your credit company to let them know you will be using it on the cruise. One of our family found out the hard way. It was on a different cruise line but applies here. She gave her credit card when they embarked but when she went to leave the last day she was refused exit because her card was declined. The credit card company had detected unusual activity, tried to call her and couldn’t reach her because her phone was off so they put a hold on her account. She had to go back to guest services to get it resolved.

 

 

Eanselm...that is true.....because the same situation happened to me....first of all when you register your credit card, MSC only takes a small hold of $150 on the card...This was on MSC Divina....I had purchased a few items...and wanted to purchase something else...but was told that they would have to put another hold on the credit card, which i allowed them to do...the morning of debarkation i received my bill and checked it over, everything was fine....it said to leave the bill on the vanity, if i agreed and i did...when i was about to leave the ship, same thing happened to me, i was refused exit....they wouldn't even let me resolve this with my credit card using their phone...so i had to return the item to finally get to exit the ship....

 

But what i found out through my credit card was that MSC uses a foreign bank in france, for all of the transactions....and when they went and put another hold on my credit card, the credit card company caught this, and thought that there were fraudulent charges being charged to my credit card so they blocked the card....which was unfortunate for me...but they were only doing their job... when i called the credit card company up before i went on this cruise, i had told them that i was going on a caribbean cruise for seven nights, and that i was going to be using the card for onboard purchases....and when they saw transactions being made from a foreign bank...that put the red flag up.... MSC put a bad taste in my mouth after that, because their customer services, were far from nice to me...I felt i was treated like a thief.... It took my four years to book another MSC cruise...but i believe i am going to open up a cash account so this way i dont have to deal with something like this again.....I had more than enough money on the credit card that i used....and had to beg the credit card company to unblock my account, as i was left with no money, as i spent all the cash on the islands... A big lesson to be learned.....so i can imagine how the lady must of felt like when she was refused to leave the ship

[lcpagejr]

Everytime I read about MSC logistic issues I shake my head.... Like their competitors...why can't they allow you to set up your credit card account when completing paperwork online prior to sailing date??? They just seem to make everything more difficult!?

[js]

Great tip, thanks! Is the casino open (the actual room) since the ship is in port at embarkation?

 

I haven't sailed yet (two weeks) but I believe it is like any other ship on embarkation. The casino is "open" to walk around but the machines are not open to play. So the kiosk machine would be in there just waiting to be used LOL

[DCGuy64]

Everytime I read about MSC logistic issues I shake my head.... Like their competitors...why can't they allow you to set up your credit card account when completing paperwork online prior to sailing date??? They just seem to make everything more difficult!?

 

Oh-oh, looks like somebody's going to cancel now... ;) (just kidding...)

[js]

Are there kiosks in YC?

 

Hi. We sail in YC in two weeks and I thought I remembered someone posting that yes, there is/are kiosks and/or the concierge can also do for us.

[suzyed]

No, because they changed the law in Europe a few years ago in the interests of fraud protection. In some locations in Europe, you are required to enter your credit card PIN when making a transaction. If you don't know yours, your financial institution can send you one by mail, in most cases.

But we're not in Europe. We'll be sailing from the US to the Caribbean.

[DCGuy64]

But we're not in Europe. We'll be sailing from the US to the Caribbean.

 

Doesn't matter, MSC is an Italian vessel and their credit card transactions on the ship (and online) are processed using European banks. I think technically MSC is headquartered in Switzerland, I've read that online in press releases and our latest deposits were processed through Geneva, Switzerland. At any rate, it'll be the banks processing the transactions that decide, so having the PIN handy is a good idea.

[SNJCruisers]

Are there kiosks in YC?

Yes, there is one located on deck 16 across from the concierge desk. There is also one in the casino area adjacent to the left hand side of the money cage.