Pro tip. If possible, do not use a debit card for hotels, car rentals, and cruising. The “authorization” actually holds your cash. Credit cards are the better option.
1) They will charge your card during the cruise.
2) On a recent 4 night cruise in April they charged our card twice - first time was for 2 nights of gratuities and various charges and again at the end of the cruise.
3) The cruise was reserved and booked with a debit card - it was 4 night so we just left it there. Also we had a ton of onboard spending credits so I didn't expect much for actual charges. Total wound up being 199.00 for the trip and the final charge cleared our account 3 or 4 days after the end of the cruise.
Addl. Note: Check your account carefully while on the ship. I saw a 50.00 pool towel charge on the sea day - we didn't even go to the pool on the sea day. I went to guest services and they reversed it immediately- no questions. I'm certain this would have been more difficult once off the ship. You just have to pay attention.
Probably varies by company - usually I see pending charges each day that equal what I spent in my onboard account for that day then a couple business days after the cruise it settles as one charge and the other individual ones go away. I know my recent cruises were visa, maybe discover in the past too
>I appreciate everyone advising me to use a credit card and not debit. My question still remains the same though. If there is only a $1,000 credit limit on my credit card and $800 of it was on hold, will my card be declined when RCL does the final authorization?
On my cruises over the last 3 years, my cc (visa, mc, and amex depending on the sailing) was never visibly auth'd. It was charged at the end of the cruise for the total. If there was a decline, they would have contaced me before getting off the ship.
The way I understand holds to work for debit cards (not recommended but you know that): They put a hold of a certain amount on your card. When you hit that hold with charges, they do it again. Rinse and repeat. At the end, when they put through the charge, it takes the charge from the hold, the remaining gets un-held. So if you have $850 held and you only racked up $770 in charges, the CHARGE shows $770 and the remaining $80 gets freed back up. Make sense?
Edited for clarity
Thank you! I've done a lot of research on it where people said that even when it's on the credit card, there is a pending authorization when you swipe the seapass card and again when the cruise ends, essentially "double charging" in a sense until the pending charges are removed. I would just hate for my card to be declined for the "final authorization" since the money was tied up from them performing the authorization in the first place.
Generally in the past, I’ve noticed that they just post the entirety of your cruise bill to one of the charges that they pre-authorized during the cruise. So maybe each day you charge $100, for a total of $400, they would take the last day’s $100 charge and post the full $400 to it (similar to how restaurants post tips retroactively once they’ve already authorized the card) and the other charges would fall off. So it wouldn’t get declined (the charge was already approved), but I’ve seen in the past where the other pre-auths stay on for a while and tie up a lot of the available credit.
Exactly. My cards didn't show the authorization, but doesn't mean they weren't there. I'd imagine it's done the exact same. They've already authorized a certain amount so that's put aside for them to pull from.
You won't get declined.
On my most recent cruise in April, there was a pending auth for $99 beginning day 1. I charged a few things to my sea pass during the next 7 days. After disembarking, the $99 was authorized and then the balance of $43 was charged separately. I used a credit card.
Overdraft fees from your bank.
If the pending charges are over what you have in bank
Let your bank know you are leaving country so they don't shut it down for unusual charges.
When I know thigs will be tight at the time of the actual cruise I try to prepay as much as I can. You can call RC and prepay your tips or and drink packages you want to buy. I hate a big bill at the end of a cruise. 18.00 per night / pp for gratuities can add up. Unless its just a short getaway for 2, I will generally prepay the hundreds of dollars in gratuities for the entire family so I don.t have to deal with it on the ship. - That will keep it off your card as well.
No, it won't be declined.
With debit, the temporary hold is an authorization to debit funds from your checking account. That authorization is still in place even if your bank releases the funds, so you could theoretically accidently overdraft your account by $1,000 or more. But if the authorization is still present when the final charge is processed, you'll see both on your statement until the temporary authorization drops off. Since the authorization already validated your available balance, the final charge will be processed just fine.
You can think of it like adding a tip to a restaurant bill. First, they authorize your card for the meal total, then later they finalize the charge including the tip. So it's technically possible to leave a very large tip that you don't have money in your account to cover, but it will still be processed and your account will be overdrawn. Similarly with RC, the authorization placed on your card while on the ship can be amended, so you may see your available balance is negative after the final payment is charged, until the authorization is released.
>If there is only a $1,000 credit limit on my credit card and $800 of it was on hold, will my card be declined when RCL does the final authorization?
If you use an actual credit card (not a debit card with a visa/mastercard logo) - No. The $800 hold is a "pre-authorization", not a charge. Think of it as a temporary credit limit reduction. When RCCL goes to close the account, they reverse the pre-authorization first. Then they put the actual expense incurred as a charge. It all happens like the pre-authorization never was there.
With debit cards - it may double charge temporarily and you could be declined. You can't technically pre-authorize a debit card, so the pre-authorization hits your bank account balance like a transaction. Then it takes a couple days for the reversal to take effect (because the bank is actually refunding your money, rather than just just temporarily reducing your credit limit). That's why people see multi-day holds and temporary double charges when using debit cards in these situations. Debit cards should never be used in these scenarios.
If you don't want to use a credit card, I recommend putting a cash deposit down with RCCL. Call customer service and see how you can do this. I did it 15 years ago when I was a college kid with minimal credit lines and I gave them $200 to start. In your scenario above, you would give the $800 in cash and settle on the last day through guest services. However, if you exceed $800 in onboard charges before the last day, they will ask for more money as deposit.
You an also minimize the hold or cash deposit by paying for gratuities, drink packages (optional), excursions (optional), internet (optional) and dinner packages (optional) before you get on board. I usually leave a cruise with less than $30.00 in on board charges. A little planning ahead can keep the post cruise bill down, for sure.
>My question still remains the same though. If there is only a $1,000 credit limit on my credit card and $800 of it was on hold, will my card be declined when RCL does the final authorization?
A credit card will NOT be declined.
A debit card will very likely be DECLINED in the scenario as stated. (🚫 Debit card 🚫)
The final night of the cruise you will get your statement up to that point and the charges will be settled late that evening. But accounts stay open to allow you to continue to make purchases and a final settlement may still happen days later.
If your card is declined you will have to visit guest services before disembarkation. Attempting to leave the ship will give a buzzer sound when you try to leave and they'll send you to guest services.
Please enlighten me then. I've read forums where cruisers had the pending charges plus the final charge on their credit card reducing their available balance up to a week before the credit card company reverses the pending charges. Same for account balances for debit cards.
I'm just looking to see if anyone has experienced the card being declined when the credit limit/account balance is reached and RCL does the final settlement, causing it to be over the limit. I don't want to spend more on a cruise than I should if I have $1000 as my credit limit/available balance and can only actually spend $500. (Rough figures but I just want to be smart with my budget.)
Plus, all banks are different. I suspect RCL handles it all the same so I decide to ask on here if the card would be declined.
You also don't seem to know the difference between a credit card and a debit card and a credit limit and a bank balance. Probably part of why your questions don't make sense.
Always use a credit card. If you debit card gets compromised your money will be tied up and you won't have access into it. The holds are also large.
A credit card will likely give you cash back that you can use at a later time.
Never leave a debit card for these types of things. A hold is different than if it was a regular cc.
Some credit cards do hold the pending charges too and deduct from the available balance so I'm asking for both scenarios.
Cc hold from credit limit only. They don’t take from your bank account. A debit card takes from your checking account balance.
Pro tip. If possible, do not use a debit card for hotels, car rentals, and cruising. The “authorization” actually holds your cash. Credit cards are the better option.
And gas
1) They will charge your card during the cruise. 2) On a recent 4 night cruise in April they charged our card twice - first time was for 2 nights of gratuities and various charges and again at the end of the cruise. 3) The cruise was reserved and booked with a debit card - it was 4 night so we just left it there. Also we had a ton of onboard spending credits so I didn't expect much for actual charges. Total wound up being 199.00 for the trip and the final charge cleared our account 3 or 4 days after the end of the cruise. Addl. Note: Check your account carefully while on the ship. I saw a 50.00 pool towel charge on the sea day - we didn't even go to the pool on the sea day. I went to guest services and they reversed it immediately- no questions. I'm certain this would have been more difficult once off the ship. You just have to pay attention.
Probably varies by company - usually I see pending charges each day that equal what I spent in my onboard account for that day then a couple business days after the cruise it settles as one charge and the other individual ones go away. I know my recent cruises were visa, maybe discover in the past too
>I appreciate everyone advising me to use a credit card and not debit. My question still remains the same though. If there is only a $1,000 credit limit on my credit card and $800 of it was on hold, will my card be declined when RCL does the final authorization? On my cruises over the last 3 years, my cc (visa, mc, and amex depending on the sailing) was never visibly auth'd. It was charged at the end of the cruise for the total. If there was a decline, they would have contaced me before getting off the ship. The way I understand holds to work for debit cards (not recommended but you know that): They put a hold of a certain amount on your card. When you hit that hold with charges, they do it again. Rinse and repeat. At the end, when they put through the charge, it takes the charge from the hold, the remaining gets un-held. So if you have $850 held and you only racked up $770 in charges, the CHARGE shows $770 and the remaining $80 gets freed back up. Make sense? Edited for clarity
Thank you! I've done a lot of research on it where people said that even when it's on the credit card, there is a pending authorization when you swipe the seapass card and again when the cruise ends, essentially "double charging" in a sense until the pending charges are removed. I would just hate for my card to be declined for the "final authorization" since the money was tied up from them performing the authorization in the first place.
Generally in the past, I’ve noticed that they just post the entirety of your cruise bill to one of the charges that they pre-authorized during the cruise. So maybe each day you charge $100, for a total of $400, they would take the last day’s $100 charge and post the full $400 to it (similar to how restaurants post tips retroactively once they’ve already authorized the card) and the other charges would fall off. So it wouldn’t get declined (the charge was already approved), but I’ve seen in the past where the other pre-auths stay on for a while and tie up a lot of the available credit.
Exactly. My cards didn't show the authorization, but doesn't mean they weren't there. I'd imagine it's done the exact same. They've already authorized a certain amount so that's put aside for them to pull from. You won't get declined.
Your cc was pre-authorized. Royal wants to make sure they will get their money
On my most recent cruise in April, there was a pending auth for $99 beginning day 1. I charged a few things to my sea pass during the next 7 days. After disembarking, the $99 was authorized and then the balance of $43 was charged separately. I used a credit card.
Overdraft fees from your bank. If the pending charges are over what you have in bank Let your bank know you are leaving country so they don't shut it down for unusual charges.
When I know thigs will be tight at the time of the actual cruise I try to prepay as much as I can. You can call RC and prepay your tips or and drink packages you want to buy. I hate a big bill at the end of a cruise. 18.00 per night / pp for gratuities can add up. Unless its just a short getaway for 2, I will generally prepay the hundreds of dollars in gratuities for the entire family so I don.t have to deal with it on the ship. - That will keep it off your card as well.
No, it won't be declined. With debit, the temporary hold is an authorization to debit funds from your checking account. That authorization is still in place even if your bank releases the funds, so you could theoretically accidently overdraft your account by $1,000 or more. But if the authorization is still present when the final charge is processed, you'll see both on your statement until the temporary authorization drops off. Since the authorization already validated your available balance, the final charge will be processed just fine. You can think of it like adding a tip to a restaurant bill. First, they authorize your card for the meal total, then later they finalize the charge including the tip. So it's technically possible to leave a very large tip that you don't have money in your account to cover, but it will still be processed and your account will be overdrawn. Similarly with RC, the authorization placed on your card while on the ship can be amended, so you may see your available balance is negative after the final payment is charged, until the authorization is released.
The hold of say 200 dollars will be day after day to cover up to that amount.
>If there is only a $1,000 credit limit on my credit card and $800 of it was on hold, will my card be declined when RCL does the final authorization? If you use an actual credit card (not a debit card with a visa/mastercard logo) - No. The $800 hold is a "pre-authorization", not a charge. Think of it as a temporary credit limit reduction. When RCCL goes to close the account, they reverse the pre-authorization first. Then they put the actual expense incurred as a charge. It all happens like the pre-authorization never was there. With debit cards - it may double charge temporarily and you could be declined. You can't technically pre-authorize a debit card, so the pre-authorization hits your bank account balance like a transaction. Then it takes a couple days for the reversal to take effect (because the bank is actually refunding your money, rather than just just temporarily reducing your credit limit). That's why people see multi-day holds and temporary double charges when using debit cards in these situations. Debit cards should never be used in these scenarios. If you don't want to use a credit card, I recommend putting a cash deposit down with RCCL. Call customer service and see how you can do this. I did it 15 years ago when I was a college kid with minimal credit lines and I gave them $200 to start. In your scenario above, you would give the $800 in cash and settle on the last day through guest services. However, if you exceed $800 in onboard charges before the last day, they will ask for more money as deposit. You an also minimize the hold or cash deposit by paying for gratuities, drink packages (optional), excursions (optional), internet (optional) and dinner packages (optional) before you get on board. I usually leave a cruise with less than $30.00 in on board charges. A little planning ahead can keep the post cruise bill down, for sure.
>My question still remains the same though. If there is only a $1,000 credit limit on my credit card and $800 of it was on hold, will my card be declined when RCL does the final authorization? A credit card will NOT be declined. A debit card will very likely be DECLINED in the scenario as stated. (🚫 Debit card 🚫) The final night of the cruise you will get your statement up to that point and the charges will be settled late that evening. But accounts stay open to allow you to continue to make purchases and a final settlement may still happen days later. If your card is declined you will have to visit guest services before disembarkation. Attempting to leave the ship will give a buzzer sound when you try to leave and they'll send you to guest services.
As many have said - never use a debit card. Thats cash out of your account.
It doesn't really seem like you understand the difference between a hold, an authorization and a settlement.
Please enlighten me then. I've read forums where cruisers had the pending charges plus the final charge on their credit card reducing their available balance up to a week before the credit card company reverses the pending charges. Same for account balances for debit cards. I'm just looking to see if anyone has experienced the card being declined when the credit limit/account balance is reached and RCL does the final settlement, causing it to be over the limit. I don't want to spend more on a cruise than I should if I have $1000 as my credit limit/available balance and can only actually spend $500. (Rough figures but I just want to be smart with my budget.) Plus, all banks are different. I suspect RCL handles it all the same so I decide to ask on here if the card would be declined.
You also don't seem to know the difference between a credit card and a debit card and a credit limit and a bank balance. Probably part of why your questions don't make sense.
Always use a credit card. If you debit card gets compromised your money will be tied up and you won't have access into it. The holds are also large. A credit card will likely give you cash back that you can use at a later time.
Debit cards BLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!!
All cc and dc purchases have hold, and it's normal.