What's wrong with Holland America

[Florida_gal_50]

3 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Cards used to say to let them know when you are travelling, but now seem to say not to bother. I still like to call or use the online chat feature to let them know. They will say it is not necessary, and then thank you for letting them know.

Amex in the only one of mine that says that.  I have to phone visa.

[kevingastreich]

23 hours ago, Hlitner said:

This likely has nothing to do with being a 5 Star Mariner 4 Star or no Star.  It might be a mistake (HAL makes plenty of those) or it might be an issue with the credit limit on your card.  When you cruise on HAL they put a "credit hold" on your card and I believe it is $60 per passenger day (for cruises up to 24 days) and $30 per person/day for longer cruises  So a little math tells us that if you took a 24 day cruise, HAL would put (at embarkation) $2880 credit hold on your account.  If you do not have that kind of available credit limit then there is going to be an issue.  Consider that a couple doing a World Cruise would have over $6000 put on hold.

 

Just so folks understand, you are not actually charged a credit hold amount, but the credit card company may show it as a "pending charge" and reserve that amount out of your credit limit.  That credit hold may not be released until well after your cruise has finished.

 

Hank

We are contemplating a 128 day world cruise.  Your post made we wonder how people do pay off the bills while they are away on a long cruise?  My CC company won't let me go that long without making a payment.

[Mary229]

6 minutes ago, kevingastreich said:

We are contemplating a 128 day world cruise.  Your post made we wonder how people do pay off the bills while they are away on a long cruise?  My CC company won't let me go that long without making a payment.

Either pay in advance or put it on autopay.   You can have use your cellular data while in port to manage your banking. 

[Hlitner]

18 minutes ago, kevingastreich said:

We are contemplating a 128 day world cruise.  Your post made we wonder how people do pay off the bills while they are away on a long cruise?  My CC company won't let me go that long without making a payment.

Mary beat me to the punch,  These days it is generally easy to set-up credit cards and utilities for direct debit payments to one's checking account  Folks have asked me if we trust giving our bank account info to folks and we just smile.  Why?  When you write a check and give it to anyone, they have all your banking info (i.e. bank, account number, your name, and often your address).  When you set up direct debits you are simply giving the same info but it is actually better controlled by the banking system.  ire

 

I have also suggested that if folks are planning on taking a very long trip they go back over their checking account payments from the previous two or three years for that same time period,   You are looking for periodic payments such as taxes, insurance, etc.  Once you spot those payments you can either set up direct debits or make other arrangements to pay those bills.   When we first started taking long trips it was somewhat stressful dealing with these issues.  Now, DW and I can usually go away, on very short notice, with few issues.  Yes, one does need to think ahead and do some planning, but it does eventually become routine.  A big issue can be dealing with your mail, but there are various solutios including simply getting a small mail box at your post office (even if your box overflows...they will save it all) or have your mail forwarded to a private mailbox place.  Some folks prefer to trust a friend or family member to routinely pick up and check their mail.  

 

Hank

 

 

[sandiego1]

Everything is on autopay. I can’t remember the last time I wrote a physical check!

[durangoscots]

1 hour ago, kevingastreich said:

We are contemplating a 128 day world cruise.  Your post made we wonder how people do pay off the bills while they are away on a long cruise?  My CC company won't let me go that long without making a payment.

I put on autopay through my bank.

 

Susan

[0106]

I use credit card and banking apps.  I can check my balances daily from anywhere in the world.  

[Mary229]

11 minutes ago, 0106 said:

I use credit card and banking apps.  I can check my balances daily from anywhere in the world.  

I only check if I am on my cellular data.  I don’t do so on public WiFi. 

[0106]

2 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

only check if I am on my cellular data.  I don’t do so on public WiFi.

Me too.  Never use public wifi for private data.

[Roz]

I'm on a cruise from March 8 - April 10.  I'm setting bills up on autopay, but my biggest challenge is going to be taxes.  I hope I have everything I need to send to my accountant before I leave, and I'm only going to have a couple of days to review the return and file it.  

[fatcat04]

On 10/27/2022 at 9:03 PM, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

I agree. They say "Don't worry. If there's a problem, we'll contact you." But I'm not online all the time at sea, or even when I'm traveling on land, so I may not get a text or email for a day or two. 

 

I would ask the Front Desk what's going on and check with my credit card company asap.

Yes, I was flabbergasted when they made that decision. We always went online and delineated on their website when we would be gone and where. When I could no longer do that it was frustrating. When we were in France last year the first two days we had issues. Thankfully we have Google Fi international unlimited cell phone service but it was still time consuming. A simple fill out form online seems so much logical and less time consuming.

 

Our Schwab travel debit card still has that option plus no international transaction fees. Never had an issue. 

[0106]

@Lucy Jane How did you get your credit card situation resolved?

 

I hope you had an enjoyable cruise.🛳

[Hobby3333]

After reflection, I can tell you exactly what is wrong with HAL.   Pure and simple, I am not on one of their ships now.   Tragic. Horrible.  

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, Hobby3333 said:

After reflection, I can tell you exactly what is wrong with HAL.   Pure and simple, I am not on one of their ships now.   Tragic. Horrible.  

Not their fault. 😉

[oakridger]

9 hours ago, Roz said:

I'm on a cruise from March 8 - April 10.  I'm setting bills up on autopay, but my biggest challenge is going to be taxes.  I hope I have everything I need to send to my accountant before I leave, and I'm only going to have a couple of days to review the return and file it.  

I was on a three month trip in 2019 over the tax time. I easily filed for an extension. I had an approximate amount I thought I would owe based on the previous years and paid that. It worked out great. I filed when I got home in June.  Extension went to October. 

[sailingdutchy]

Have we found out yet what exactly the problem was ?  So we can learn from what happened ............

[BermudaBound2014]

11 hours ago, Roz said:

I'm on a cruise from March 8 - April 10.  I'm setting bills up on autopay, but my biggest challenge is going to be taxes.  I hope I have everything I need to send to my accountant before I leave, and I'm only going to have a couple of days to review the return and file it.  

 

I spend Jan-April in Maui and have my tax account file for an extension in January so that once I return to Michigan I still have all of May  to get my act together and file.  It's no big deal and doesn't cost a dime. 

Edited October 30, 2022 by BermudaBound2014

[ontheweb]

13 hours ago, oakridger said:

I was on a three month trip in 2019 over the tax time. I easily filed for an extension. I had an approximate amount I thought I would owe based on the previous years and paid that. It worked out great. I filed when I got home in June.  Extension went to October. 

And that is exactly how it is supposed to work.

[ontheweb]

11 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

I spend Jan-April in Maui and have my tax account file for an extension in January so that once I return to Michigan I still have all of May  to get my act together and file.  It's no big deal and doesn't cost a dime. 

As long as you do not owe, it does not cost a dime, otherwise there is interest owed. Be sure that you are either getting a refund or pay an estimate to make sure there is not a balance owed.

 

I am sure the poster who I replied to knows this, but sharing it with others.

[Banditswife]

It appears "Lucy Jane" has either gotten it figured out & is out enjoying her cruise or she is in panic mode trying to figure out how her card got compromised.  Let's hope it was all just a misunderstanding.

[MandB]

On 10/27/2022 at 8:58 PM, Hlitner said:

This likely has nothing to do with being a 5 Star Mariner 4 Star or no Star.  It might be a mistake (HAL makes plenty of those) or it might be an issue with the credit limit on your card.  When you cruise on HAL they put a "credit hold" on your card and I believe it is $60 per passenger day (for cruises up to 24 days) and $30 per person/day for longer cruises  So a little math tells us that if you took a 24 day cruise, HAL would put (at embarkation) $2880 credit hold on your account.  If you do not have that kind of available credit limit then there is going to be an issue.  Consider that a couple doing a World Cruise would have over $6000 put on hold.

 

Just so folks understand, you are not actually charged a credit hold amount, but the credit card company may show it as a "pending charge" and reserve that amount out of your credit limit.  That credit hold may not be released until well after your cruise has finished.

 

Hank

On our recent 7 day HAL cruise from Boston to Montreal the ship put the normal credit card hold on our card when we boarded. After boarding we bought the drink package for the two of us. The next morning I got a text from my credit card company that HAL had put through an additional $1,600 charge (hold).  When I ask the front desk about this they said the hold was adjusted based on our actual spending (the only charge had been for the drink packages; $148.27 each).   They said an additional hold would be added based on any further spending.  At my request they input something to block any further hold amounts being added. As it was I think a hold of over $2,000 for a 7 day cruise for 2 was a bit much.  Our only other charges for the cruise were the daily gratuity charges.

[Copper10-8]

Sooooooooo, did the cloudburst in the proverbial tureen blow over or make landfall, thereby surely (and I'm not calling anyone Shirley) indicating that those garb attired scoundrels in the emerald city are playing skullduggery with plastic moolah onboard their blue hulled ocean greyhounds?? 😬