Do on board expenses have foreign transaction fee?

[Svenson]

I apologize if this has already been asked, but my numerous searches have not answered this question for me.

We are taking our "no foreign transaction fee" credit cards for all off-ship expenses in the various ports. But for on-board expenses (excursions, spa, gratuities, gift shop purchases, etc.), I was wondering if the credit card charges are processed in the U.S. or not. Our highest "cash back rewards" card unfortunately charges a 3% FT fee, so of course we won't use that in ports, but I'd like to save it to our onboard account if it is processed in the U.S. so that we can maximize our cash back rewards. Any personal experience from past NCL cruises?

[crdtrnr]

The credit card used is charged in US $.  The ship operates on US $.

[julig22]

Anything charged to your onboard account is processed as a US travel expense. So no FTF, use the card that gives the best travel reimbursement.  Cash in the casino is also charged as a travel purchase, so the 3% convenience fee could be offset by points, depending on the card - but no cash advance fee.  I sometimes use my NCL MC for casino cash just to build up points for future upgrades.

Edited September 10, 2023 by julig22

[9tee2Sea]

if you are a casino player, there is a fee charged for any monies you put into the machine that is charged to your room.  I put $100.00 bill, and what ever is left, I leave it in my '"bank account". I continue playing off of that until i need to replenish with another bill.  If I win big ( which does happen), I cash out my ticket, then put a bill into the machine to continue my play.

[Svenson]

Thanks for all the helpful info!  Glad we can get a little more "cash back" on our card for whatever splurges we decide on!

[eileeshb]

The charges from the ship don’t hit your card per transaction either, it all lands as a single transaction at the end of the cruise. You may see pre-authorisation showing up at the start but it’s not actually processed until the cruise ends. … or at least that’s what’s happened for me.

Edited September 10, 2023 by eileeshb

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, eileeshb said:

The charges from the ship don’t hit your card per transaction either, it all lands as a single transaction at the end of the cruise. You may see pre-authorisation showing up at the start but it’s not actually processed until the cruise ends. … or at least that’s what’s happened for me.

They do make pending charges, but by the time you are off your cruise, they will have disappeared and you will only see the real charge. However, if you use a debit card, and then intend to use it on shore, those pending charges just might take away some of your available funds on the card.

[phillygwm]

2 hours ago, eileeshb said:

The charges from the ship don’t hit your card per transaction either, it all lands as a single transaction at the end of the cruise. You may see pre-authorisation showing up at the start but it’s not actually processed until the cruise ends. … or at least that’s what’s happened for me.

This is actually a point that confuses a lot of people.  When you check in, a temp authorization is run on your card.  I think it's $200-300, though I may be off there.  This reduces your card availability by that amount.  Over the course of your cruise, if you spend more than that authorized amount loading up on artwork and Invicta watches, they'll run one or more subsequent authorizations.

 

The vast majority of the time, it's really no big deal unless you're using a card with limited availability.  You generally won't even notice unless you're looking at your card activity and you confuse these holds with actual charges posted (they're not.)  However, you don't want to use a debit card for this reason; those temp holds can mess up your checking account.  

Edited September 11, 2023 by phillygwm

[reveur15]

9 hours ago, crdtrnr said:

The credit card used is charged in US $.  The ship operates on US $.

I'm Canadian and my reservation is always in Canadian currency. In the past at check-in they offered me if I want to have my onboard account set in US$ or CA$. I always declined the CA$ account because the exchange rate is better with my credit card than the one from NCL. I don't know if they still offer this option.

Edited September 11, 2023 by reveur15

[sebas030]

9 hours ago, reveur15 said:

I'm Canadian and my reservation is always in Canadian currency. In the past at check-in they offered me if I want to have my onboard account set in US$ or CA$. I always declined the CA$ account because the exchange rate is better with my credit card than the one from NCL. I don't know if they still offer this option.

Never had that offered to me in any of my past cruises 🤷‍♂️ I will see in a few months 😃