Out of money

[travsmom]

I was just wondering how Carnival would handle it if you accidentally spent more than you meant to on your S&S card and didn't have anymore money with you to put on the card.I know this should never happen since you would need money to get back home, on but I know the person that went with me on my first cruise spent all her money on the cruise and had no money left. What if she had over spent.? I was just wondering how they would handle this? Has this happened to anyone?

[Tjcalley]

Don’t you put a credit card on deposit?

[Nic6318]

Hi

 

Without having first hand knowledge, I can only guess.

 

For cash accounts, as I understand, they will freeze spending and require further deposits before they allow any additional onboard purchases. So possible overspending would be quite limited.

 

So, if you are asking what they might do if someone were to refuse to pay whatever small amount owed, consider, they have you captive. You can't leave the ship if they don't let you. They can confine someone and turn them over to authorities at the next port. (which might not be home) It wouldn't be any different than if you broke any serious rules. I think most people will somehow make arrangements to clear their account. It really can't be compared to a dine and dash scenario. I wouldn't want to try and find out.

[bury me at sea]

I agree with Nic. I believe if you have a cash only account, not backed by a debit or credit card, your charging privileges are suspended if you run out of cash.

[salty dingo]

I agree with Nic. I believe if you have a cash only account, not backed by a debit or credit card, your charging privileges are suspended if you run out of cash.

Same if it is backed by a CC. They put holds on the card to cover future spending. Same exact thing a hotel does. Actually the ship is a hotel.

 

If the hold is declined they summon you to put another payment method. If you have none, you can't use the card to make any new purchases. It will still unlock your room though.

 

At the end off the cruise, they expect you to settle up immediately. If you can't, they don't hold you hostage... they give you a bill like anyone else you owe. If you don't pay the bill you get to deal with a debt collector.

[Purvis1231]

You can over spend on the ship. I once talked to a guy who have overspent on booze. He borrowed my computer to email his father for a loan. I also talked to a person who incurred a $3000 medical bill on the ship. She had to sign a 30 day note. She hoped her insurance would pay some of it..

[SkyPiglet]

This sort of/almost happened to us on the Carnival Liberty a few years back.

 

Our Story: My wife and I have always been paranoid about credit cards, and only bring the one on our cruises. In hindsight, this wasa bad idea. My credit card was not set to expire until about 6 months after the cruise was over, but the credit card company was migrating all of the accounts from Mastercard to Visa. They had sent a notice, which we apparently missed or never received. Anyway, all cards were changed over while we were on the cruise, and the card went defunct about halfway through. We didn't find out until near the end, when our S&S account started to post balances and the credit card was declined. This was also going to cause a problem for the baggage fees as the airport, and self parking once we arrived back in Detroit. I am really frugal with my cash spending money, so we were able to pay the balance, and get ourselves to the airport in Orlando. The clerk at the airport terminal was able to help with the baggage fees for one bag, and we literally stuffed everything into our checked bag (including the carry-on). By now, it was severely overweight, but the clerk waived that fee. From the airport, we called Chase, and they were able to "temporarily" reactivate the account so we could finish the way home. It actually deactivated again in Detroit, but we had our phones by then.

 

Your Answer: When weighing our options, we did ask at Guest Services what would happen in the event that it did not work out to settle the account on board. They said that the last resort procedure is to create a promissory note. This would cover our charges, but would negatively affect our credit, and they prefer to avoid it all costs.

 

Lessons Learned: Prepay what you can, both for the cruise and airfare, fees, etc. Bring a secondary checking card or credit card as a backup, just in case something happens outside of your control!

 

I hope this helps!

[Micahs Grandad]

They make you sign some sort of promissory note or IOU.

[grandmarnnurse]

And THAT is why a credit card is the best choice, and the ONLY choice I’ve ever used on any of my cruises. I don’t understand why people mess around putting cash on an account. Just pay your charge bill when you get home. I have no idea how much I’m going to spend on a cruise. My hubby and I often will buy a nice Citizen watch when onboard, so we could go over what we thought we’d spend. Charge card (NEVER a debit card) is the best choice.

 

 

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[coevan]

it's all about the mileage for our next cruise's airfare, credit card only. Credit card companies also back you up with fraud protection.

[vamartha]

I have a friend who works in Guest Services and I asked her the same question, just because I was curious.

 

They will give you several options all the way from "phoning a friend" for the friend pay via credit card to setting up payment plans in the case of a "worst case scenario" where the cruiser is unable to raise the funds. Her answer was much more detailed but that is the gist of it.

 

:eek:

[travsmom]

Hi

 

Without having first hand knowledge, I can only guess.

 

For cash accounts, as I understand, they will freeze spending and require further deposits before they allow any additional onboard purchases. So possible overspending would be quite limited.

 

So, if you are asking what they might do if someone were to refuse to pay whatever small amount owed, consider, they have you captive. You can't leave the ship if they don't let you. They can confine someone and turn them over to authorities at the next port. (which might not be home) It wouldn't be any different than if you broke any serious rules. I think most people will somehow make arrangements to clear their account. It really can't be compared to a dine and dash scenario. I wouldn't want to try and find out.

Thank you for you answer,I was just curious.I don't plan on that happening.

[grandmarnnurse]

it's all about the mileage for our next cruise's airfare, credit card only. Credit card companies also back you up with fraud protection.

Totally agree! I earn rewards on mine, that translated to $1200 off my next cruise. And it has fraud protection.

[Organized Chaos]

I don’t understand why people mess around putting cash on an account. Just pay your charge bill when you get home.

It's easy to understand. I'm a cash person. Always have been, probably always will be. It's not an inconvenience to me because it's how I prefer to handle my business and I accept it. I'll bring enough cash with me for my S&S according to how much I think is best. If I run out, they're not going to let me make any more purchases, so it's not like I'll go in the red. And if I do run out, there's plenty of free food, drinks, and entertainment on board to keep me happy without paying extra. :)

[LuckyZ]

Not sure if they changed things but firstly, everyone needs to have a credit line using a credit card. Secondly they charge the card each day so if you run beyond your credit, they’ll stop allowing you to charge to your credit. And on the last day, you’ll have to come up with the balance (if you can’t pay, not sure what they’d do but by that time they’ve taken most of what’s owed through the daily charge)

 

 

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[Organized Chaos]

Not sure if they changed things but firstly, everyone needs to have a credit line using a credit card. Secondly they charge the card each day so if you run beyond your credit, they’ll stop allowing you to charge to your credit. And on the last day, you’ll have to come up with the balance (if you can’t pay, not sure what they’d do but by that time they’ve taken most of what’s owed through the daily charge)

They don't charge the card each day. They place holds on the card based on the length of the cruise. If you reach that amount, they place another hold, and so on. The card is charged at the end of the cruise.

[coevan]

It's easy to understand. I'm a cash person. Always have been, probably always will be. It's not an inconvenience to me because it's how I prefer to handle my business and I accept it. I'll bring enough cash with me for my S&S according to how much I think is best. If I run out, they're not going to let me make any more purchases, so it's not like I'll go in the red. And if I do run out, there's plenty of free food, drinks, and entertainment on board to keep me happy without paying extra. :)

 

 

 

How do you book a hotel or rent a car? I pay everything with a credit card, even utility bills, insurance, phone, satellite, most of them are on auto pay, no worries, no late payments and tons of miles. Two miles for every dollar spent with Capital One Venture

[Elustriah]

I wondered about this too. We always use a cash account but we have credit cards and debit cards on hand.

 

We put 500 on when we first get on board and then load more as needed.

 

Our last cruise we were behind a couple at the kiosk asking each other how they only had 15.00 left. It was the second day. I was like damn, lol

[CruiseGal999]

I wondered about this too. We always use a cash account but we have credit cards and debit cards on hand.

 

We put 500 on when we first get on board and then load more as needed.

 

Our last cruise we were behind a couple at the kiosk asking each other how they only had 15.00 left. It was the second day. I was like damn, lol

 

 

LOL ... that is the epitome of no impulse control. Casino?? Drinking?

[Elaine5715]

I have seen it. They were required to call someone and the charge was put on that person's credit card. If you refuse to assure payment, you will be met by police and placed under arrest. Similar to defrauding an innkeeper, they will pursue.

[SkyPiglet]

I have a friend who works in Guest Services and I asked her the same question, just because I was curious.

 

They will give you several options all the way from "phoning a friend" for the friend pay via credit card to setting up payment plans in the case of a "worst case scenario" where the cruiser is unable to raise the funds. Her answer was much more detailed but that is the gist of it.

 

:eek:

 

When we had our issue with our CC shutting down mid-cruise on Liberty, we were nickel and diming to make sure we could at least get off the ship with no problems, but thought it would be easier to call the credit card company's 1-800 number to see if we could sort the issue out. We were afraid to do it from the room phone because we were literally down to the dollars, and s long call could put us over the our spare cash. We asked if they would allow us to call for assistance, and the response was "We don't offer any courtesy phone service," so it may vary based on who you talk to in guest services. The only option we were given was to sign a promissory note, or pay it off.

 

For the record, once we did get to the airport, I was able to call the credit card company and get the card temporarily reactivated with a five minute call from a payphone (Yes, they do still exist!).

[jayowl]

I always bring a couple of checks just in case.

 

 

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[sparks1093]

I did read about this on CC once. As I recall they were required to return everything that they had purchased at the onboard store and they had to sign a promissory note.

[Schoifmom]

How do you book a hotel or rent a car? I pay everything with a credit card, even utility bills, insurance, phone, satellite, most of them are on auto pay, no worries, no late payments and tons of miles. Two miles for every dollar spent with Capital One Venture

 

I, too, am a "cash" person. In fact, the only credit card I have is a corporate card (so it technically doesn't even belong to me). I pay all of my bills through my checking account. Most of my bills are also on auto-pay ;) I use my debit card for hotels and car rentals (yes, you can use it as long as it is within the parameters of the the rental car company's rules).

[Alaskan Joe]

And THAT is why a credit card is the best choice, and the ONLY choice I’ve ever used on any of my cruises. I don’t understand why people mess around putting cash on an account. Just pay your charge bill when you get home. I have no idea how much I’m going to spend on a cruise. My hubby and I often will buy a nice Citizen watch when onboard, so we could go over what we thought we’d spend. Charge card (NEVER a debit card) is the best choice.

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Amen, We 100% agree instead of putting cash into my S&S account, we put it in our bank account. Furthermore, some credit cards have rewards for using them, so why not get what they are offering. This cruise we are get a 100% match on all flyer miles we receive (not just this cruise, but what ever flyer miles we accumulate in the year). They do this excepting to get their monies back through interest rates, month after month. However, like grandmarnnurse said we too pay it off as soon as we get back, before interest rates are applied. DW and I (1) - credit card companies (0):cool:.