Anyone buy arcade Credits in Advance?

[Cruisegirl138]

They have it for cheaper if you buy in advance. But I don’t think they give you a separate arcade card. I think just credit on sea pass?  My son‘s a teen so he can go off on his own, but I remember reading that It does not tell you when the funds are low. And I don’t want him connect to my credit card because you know a kid in the arcade can easily run up a bill when they run out of credits. So I’m just curious for anybody had any experience with this. Thank you. 

[poocher]

You can go to guest services and remove your CC from his seapass card.

[Cruisegirl138]

Just now, poocher said:

You can go to guest services and remove your CC from his seapass card.

Yes thank you. I plan to. But can he still use the arcade credits with his card? 

[poocher]

Those should be preloaded, kinda like OBC, I would think.

[Cruisegirl138]

3 minutes ago, poocher said:

Those should be preloaded, kinda like OBC, I would think.

Me too. I hope so. Just the fact that it said they don’t alert you when funds are low leads me to believe they’re hoping that they go crazy and the rest of it comes off your credit card LOL. So I’m hoping if I disconnect the credit card he can still use the arcade credits.

[HappyTexan44]

I've also read that they still charge you if you try to use a machine and it doesn't work.  You have to go to Guest Services to get an arcade refund.  

 

If you want to allow some money for him to use, you can also put a daily spending limit on his card.  There is one there by default, but it is an obscene amount for a kid. 

 

I'd bought that for our Feb 2024 cruise, then I worried I'd bought too much and it wouldn't be a bargain because too much in credits wouldn't be used.  So then I researched if the arcade was just in a no-adults-allowed area or if I could play too.  I learned that adults can go to a arcade, and that there is air hockey there.   I love playing air hockey, so if they get bored with the arcade, I can help use up the remaining credits playing that.  I told DD the wonderful news.   She said, "Don't worry mom.   We have it covered."  

 

 

 

[Cruisegirl138]

1 hour ago, HappyTexan44 said:

I've also read that they still charge you if you try to use a machine and it doesn't work.  You have to go to Guest Services to get an arcade refund.  

 

If you want to allow some money for him to use, you can also put a daily spending limit on his card.  There is one there by default, but it is an obscene amount for a kid. 

 

I'd bought that for our Feb 2024 cruise, then I worried I'd bought too much and it wouldn't be a bargain because too much in credits wouldn't be used.  So then I researched if the arcade was just in a no-adults-allowed area or if I could play too.  I learned that adults can go to a arcade, and that there is air hockey there.   I love playing air hockey, so if they get bored with the arcade, I can help use up the remaining credits playing that.  I told DD the wonderful news.   She said, "Don't worry mom.   We have it covered."  

 

 

 

Lol that’s awesome.  I love air hockey too. yes I think the spending limit is like $500. That is obscene.  

[moposh]

11 hours ago, Cruisegirl138 said:

Just the fact that it said they don’t alert you when funds are low leads me to believe they’re hoping that they go crazy and the rest of it comes off your credit card

I don't like that part.  Not notifying you when funds are gone.  

[Cruisegirl138]

3 minutes ago, moposh said:

I don't like that part.  Not notifying you when funds are gone.  

I agree.  Very sneaky 

[moposh]

Just now, Cruisegirl138 said:

I agree.  Very sneaky 

Stopped me from buying arcade package.    

[HappyTexan44]

What I wonder is can you keep track of the arcade balance like with other charges?   

I read that with charges in general, it is best to check the charges daily so that you can dispute fraudulent ones right away rather than wait until everyone is disputing at the end of the cruise.  

If I could see the remaining arcade balance, I'd feel better about giving the girls a spending amount per day.   (If you wonder why it seems I have one kid, but then use plural, we are taking a friend of hers).   

[smokeybandit]

I would not buy them in advance. Too often games are broken and there may not be anything your kid wants to play.

[HappyTexan44]

I'll demand a refund if too many games are broken.  I love air hockey, but even I can't see spending $150 on it (Two arcade packages that cost $75 each)   

[josh35b]

I got a $50 credit for my 14 yo son last year on the Anthem. We had the same concern about going over the $50 and then start charging my CC which was tied to his pass. I warned him about it so he was very meticulous in keeping track of how much he was spending. He knew he was getting low, however he did not get any warning from the machines, however he told me it did stop him when he got to $0. Whatever that means. He was kind of mad that he had kept track all that time when there was some sort of fail safe put in place to prevent you from going over without trying. He did end up playing a couple games later in the week using the card, which charged my credit card, which was obvious to him and he was expecting that. So I think as long as you have a responsible kid, you shouldn't have to worry about them running up a large bill without them being aware. 

[Cruisegirl138]

7 minutes ago, josh35b said:

I got a $50 credit for my 14 yo son last year on the Anthem. We had the same concern about going over the $50 and then start charging my CC which was tied to his pass. I warned him about it so he was very meticulous in keeping track of how much he was spending. He knew he was getting low, however he did not get any warning from the machines, however he told me it did stop him when he got to $0. Whatever that means. He was kind of mad that he had kept track all that time when there was some sort of fail safe put in place to prevent you from going over without trying. He did end up playing a couple games later in the week using the card, which charged my credit card, which was obvious to him and he was expecting that. So I think as long as you have a responsible kid, you shouldn't have to worry about them running up a large bill without them being aware. 

I have a great kid but when it comes to money and video games he doesn’t think

straight lol 

[pilot]

8 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

I would not buy them in advance. Too often games are broken and there may not be anything your kid wants to play.

Just got off Quantum…bought in advance.  Nine year old grandson had no problem with games and didn’t go over his limit. Did like it when he figured his card worked on air hockey. 

[Scoobydobe7]

We buy my daughter 100.00.  And we all play air hockey..we are usually playing the last night to use up the balance...She always knows how much is left, but I do not know how she knows 

Edited June 21, 2023 by Scoobydobe7

[twinmommy08]

I have bought the credits in advance several times. I can tell you it’s a HUGE POA to redeem the credits. You have to go to the arcade and link the card to the credits then pray the credits work on the machines. Sometimes the cards link, sometimes they don’t. Sometimes the credits take, sometimes they don’t. This happened to me on 3 different sailings (different ships) so it’s their system. It’s such a pain that I refuse to pre buy them. The money I would save is not worth the hassle. 

Edited June 22, 2023 by twinmommy08

[Cruisegirl138]

2 hours ago, twinmommy08 said:

I have bought the credits in advance several times. I can tell you it’s a HUGE POA to redeem the credits. You have to go to the arcade and link the card to the credits then pray the credits work on the machines. Sometimes the cards link, sometimes they don’t. Sometimes the credits take, sometimes they don’t. This happened to me on 3 different sailings (different ships) so it’s their system. It’s such a pain that I refuse to pre buy them. The money I would save is not worth the hassle. 

Thank you for that.  Do you just use the sea pass otherwise? 

[geneparmesan]

I was on the Oasis last week. We pre-purchased $100 in arcade credits (I thought my kids would visit it often). We still hadn't made it to the arcade until day 7. We visited and it was in rough shape - about 30% of the games were not working. After using $49 in credits, my card stopped working. I used the arcade phone to call guest services who did not know the problem and said they were sending a technician. No one showed up after 25min of waiting, so I figured I'd stop by guest services on the way to my room.

 

Guest services made some calls and offered to refund my pre-paid arcade credits. I accepted as we didn't want to play anything else with so many games broken. Guest services made another call and found that there is a $50 max spend limit in the arcade daily - they offered to override it but I declined and said I would rather have the refund. They said I would have to pay for any credits used ($49). I asked if I would still get the 20% discount I had by pre-paying, but they replied they "couldn't" do that. 

 

Note it was also hard to see your remaining pre-paid balance - I only found one (working) game that would display it. The instructions say you can call guest services to ask (which seems like a hassle).

[jbrinkm]

I did a lot of research for our spring cruise 2 years ago and ended up deciding to take advantage of the C&A deal instead once onboard rather than pre-purchasing at a discount, but then my teens ended up not using the arcade at all during the cruise so it ended up being a moot point. 

 

Some downsides of pre-purchasing credits that I read about, posted by people here on this forum and in another RCI specific one:

1. As others here have said, your kids may not use them for various reasons, like machines are broken or the hours don't work for your schedule. 

2. As of 2 years ago, you had to go to the casino to get a print out of how many credits you had left.

3. The arcade can override a limit you set on your kids' spending. Once they run out of credits, they can just keep running up a bill on the account. 

 

The C&A offer - if your kids are Gold or above - is that if you spend $50, you get a $25 credit back on your account the last full day. So it could be used to pay off any additional charges or refunded back to your payment method. I thought it would be easier to keep track of the amount spent that way because it shows up on your spending account and you can see when it hits $50. Also it was a better deal if you're going to spend $50.

[twinmommy08]

On 6/21/2023 at 11:25 PM, Cruisegirl138 said:

Thank you for that.  Do you just use the sea pass otherwise? 

Yes, the kids just swipe their card when they want to play a game. Their cards are linked to my account but I am not concerned about that. 

Our house is rule is they must ask permission before spending money.

 

Their bank accounts are linked to my account and it’s super easy to transfer money from their account to mine if they make unauthorized charges. I don’t play! 

 

Typically I get a text asking to spend $X in the arcade. I generally approve if the amount isn’t excessive. One time, one of them went over by $2 and they immediately called me and explained what happened. Internally I was laughing because I gave them a healthy dose of anxiety for breaking my rule.

Oh, and they get $25 back as a credit if they spend $50 in the arcade during the sailing. It’s typically not hard for them to do if the machines are working.