Another Sign and Sail Question - Please bear with me

[aqualojoy]

I have prepaid the tips and shore excursions and the tips for my son and me on our upcoming Triumph cruise. The Carnival website says the deposit for a 7 day cruise is $200 per person. I have $200 in Funship dollars on my account already. How much more will Carnival need to charge as a hold on my credit card and/or do I need to put on my sign and sail card in cash or funship dollars to satisfy deposit requirements?

 

My husband usually takes care of this stuff when we cruise. However, this time he is staying home to take care of my mother so my 14 year old son and I can have a much needed vacation. I sure love that guy!:D

[klfrodo]

You'll need another $200 to cover the extra person

[francina]

Wow, it's been a long time since I was on carnival and didn't realized that there was a min. on the sign and sail card.:(

[Luckysll]

My understanding is that Carnival only requires a deposit if you are going to be settling your account with cash. If you are using a credit card for your sail and sign card, then there is no deposit required.

[doobe01]

When you sign up for a Sign & Sail card with a credit/debit card they put a $50 hold on your account. Then they put subsequent holds on your account to go along with your usage. Thus limiting the available credit/cash on your creditcard/checking account.

[*Mach*]

When you sign up for a Sign & Sail card with a credit/debit card they put a $50 hold on your account. Then they put subsequent holds on your account to go along with your usage. Thus limiting the available credit/cash on your creditcard/checking account.

 

 

There is a $200 hold placed on any account backed with a credit or debit card for 5 to 8 day cruises, $100 for 2 to 4 day cruise and $350 for 9 day or longer cruises.

If you indicate that you intend to use cash no money is required on the account unless you actually intend to purchase. It will have a 0 balance and purchases will not be allowed. As an example, if you have a ten year old and the account isn't linked to the adult's account there will be no charging privileges unless money is added to the account.

Please note that the $10/day gratuity will be added to the account so unless the auto tips are canceled that amount will be collected prior to debark.

Here's a link to the FAQs regarding Sail and Sign:

http://www.carnival.com/CMS/FAQs/Sail_And_Sign_On_Board_Account.aspx

[poobears]

Last year we were set up with a cash account. Near the end of the crusie we decided to add our debit card just in case we wanted to buy anything big. They didn't put any hold on our account except a $10 hold for the $3 we went over our cash. Maybe because tips were prepaid and we originally set it up for cash? I don't know but we never had a $100 hold on there.

[*Mach*]

Last year we were set up with a cash account. Near the end of the crusie we decided to add our debit card just in case we wanted to buy anything big. They didn't put any hold on our account except a $10 hold for the $3 we went over our cash. Maybe because tips were prepaid and we originally set it up for cash? I don't know but we never had a $100 hold on there.

 

 

Had you presented the debit card at the beginning of the cruise they would have done the hold...

[tef43]

Please note that the $10/day gratuity will be added to the account so unless the auto tips are canceled that amount will be collected prior to debark.

 

The OP indicated that they have prepaid the gratuities, so this does not apply in this case.

[aqualojoy]

I decided to call the department at Carnival that handles the fun passes to try and get the answer from the source. The lady that I spoke with said that the $200 per person deposit is the recommended minimum. I told her that I completed the fun pass indicating I would be using my credit/debit card. In addition, I told her I had $200 on my sign and sail card and had prepaid my gratuities and excursions. She told me that I can change my form of payment at the pier when we arrive. She reminded me that they only have the last 4 digits of my card right now. Since I have prepaid our shore excursions and our gratuities and we have $200 in onboard credit from the funship dollars, she said that I am not required to add any additional funds; the numbers they give are recommended when tips are not prepaid. She said I can make whatever arrangements I like. I only plan to buy the soda card for my son, the foo-foo drink voucher for me, a glass of wine each night at dinner, and a shot glass for the older son. We have been on enough cruises now that we are no longer tempted to buy all those photographs so I might just add another 50 in funship dollars then I will be able to just use the card for a real emergency and not worry about holds. I do have a Plan B if what she says is not correct. I will find out on April 5.

[BBigfoot613]

I decided to call the department at Carnival that handles the fun passes to try and get the answer from the source. The lady that I spoke with said that the $200 per person deposit is the recommended minimum. I told her that I completed the fun pass indicating I would be using my credit/debit card. In addition, I told her I had $200 on my sign and sail card and had prepaid my gratuities and excursions. She told me that I can change my form of payment at the pier when we arrive. She reminded me that they only have the last 4 digits of my card right now. Since I have prepaid our shore excursions and our gratuities and we have $200 in onboard credit from the funship dollars, she said that I am not required to add any additional funds; the numbers they give are recommended when tips are not prepaid. She said I can make whatever arrangements I like. I only plan to buy the soda card for my son, the foo-foo drink voucher for me, a glass of wine each night at dinner, and a shot glass for the older son. We have been on enough cruises now that we are no longer tempted to buy all those photographs so I might just add another 50 in funship dollars then I will be able to just use the card for a real emergency and not worry about holds. I do have a Plan B if what she says is not correct. I will find out on April 5.

 

When we went last year on our 6 day cruise we had a nice $800 of OBC. There were 3 of us so the recommended amount was already satisfied (600). I inquired at the counter before you board the ship about placing a debit/credit card on incase we went over that. The nice lady told me there'd be a $50pp hold placed on the card. and yes she said per person...I aked her 3 times to make sure I was hearing it correctly. I opted to wait until we got close to using the OBC to apply the card but never needed to. I just told her to use the OBC for the S&S and off we went. Didn't have to go to pursars to activate it or anything like that. It was fairly flawless and painless.

[doobe01]

Here is what the website says about holds when signing up for S&S cards.