A question about the cashless system.

[Woody309]

I have a question about the cashless system used on board the Disney ships. Is this system like other cruise lines, in that you deposit money up front, or does it require the use of a credit card? Or does it use a combination of both? Thanks in advance for any information on this subject.




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[xABearx]

I'm not sure about how other lines do it as we have only cruised with DCL. We always register a credit card at the time we check in and then you can spend as you wish, they will charge your credit card once the balance reaches $400 so if you want to pay cash, go to guest services and settle your account before the balance reaches the cap....you can always get a balance check at the guest services desk.....hope this answers your question......Andy

 

[Woody309]

Thanks! I appreciate the information very much.

 

[Lloyd Dobler]

In addition, I'm pretty sure that you can also pre-pay into your shipboard account with cash, traveler's checks or even Disney Dollars, but the account must be secured by a credit card.

 

[AnnMorin]

If (or in our family's case WHEN) you reach the $400.00 mark (each time) they will charge your credit card. If you pay down on your balance with DD's or cash they will simply credit your cc back. We usually don't settle up until the night before disembarkation and our card has usually been charged at least once more likely twice headed quickly to number three. We usually pay about $1000.00 in cash or DD's and then have the balance just ride on the cc until we get home. They automatically credit back your credit card.

 

[NAT&MAGSMOM]

On our last cruise..we paid in cash.

We did not have to give them a cc #. I have money taken out of my paycheck every two weeks and that is what we are using for our cruise. I will probably take 500-600 and put it on our account and go from there.

They never asked me for a cc#.

Just the way I handled it...
Phyllis

 

[Woody309]

I was hoping to be able to use a cash deposit. It might help curb a bit of the spending frenzy on board, but I doubt it!

 

[ivanova]

here's something I was pondering: after we've paid in fu ll for our cruise, can we continue sending $$$ to Disney to create an onboard credit??? I was thinking this would be more effective for me than trying to squirrel away the money myself (where I'd be more likely to spend it before the cruise).

 

[AnnMorin]

Like you I will spend the cash if I put it aside so instead I buy DD's several times a month. We just bring them with us when we sail and apply them to our account at that time. I don't know if you can send in DD's through out the year, you can purchase stateroom credits in 25.00 increments though.

 

[minniemouse1]

Woody309 don't forget to either put a cap or deactivate your childrens cards. They can really work up a tab at the arcade and gift shops. Another thing you can do is punch holes through the magnetic strip on the card. I have heard of tabs being run up by kids on board even though the cards have been deactivated. The kids just tell them that the card strip doesn't work so they charge it to the stateroom number. If the strip is punched then the crew knows that the child shouldn't be charging. They can still exit and reboard the ship. The crew member just punch in the card manually.

 

[AnnMorin]

on a person's card. (adult or child) I believe it is either they can charge or can not. If someone is worried about kids charging more than was agreed upon they could get a printout daily of what the charges are. My son knows full well to not abuse his charging priveldges and that if he goes over what we had agreed upon, he will work it off when he gets home. (while he is grounded ) For our family it is a trust issue, he is told an amount he is allowed to spend and if he respects us and that amount he is free to charge as he pleases, if he disrespects us by charging more than he will be held accountable for it. If he had not earned my trust throughout the years I would simply hole punch his card so I would not have to worry about it!

 

[Alex]

If I told DD not to charge and found out she was doing that I would pay the bill happily. I would then have plenty of slave labor available while she worked it off.....

 

[Woody309]

for all the info, Ladies and Gentlemen. I think I will deactivate my DDs cards myself, although they are only 5 and 8, they can pick up on little tricks pretty quick. I also like the idea of buying Disney Dollars throughout the year instead of avoiding the temptation to spend the saved money. Though the reward of having extra cash for the cruise is a great incentive, everyone here tends to fall into the old "I will replace the money next payday" trap. If it isn't there to spend, you can get by without it. Once again "Thanks" to everyone.