Debit Cards

[giljr]

I am a new member of the forum, and I wish I had found it sooner. My wife and I are sailing on the Magic Eastern Carib. cruise leaving next Saturday the 24th. The information I have found here has been incredibly helpful.

I have one quick question. Has anyone used a debit card for their onboard account? I don't use credit cards, and I wanted to know if there was a problem with this. If there has been a problem, what are the other options?

Thanks!

Gil

 

[wide awake]

We used a debit card and had no problems. Be aware that they will take the money out after you have spent $400...and each $400 increment thereafter, something to be aware of if you have automatic payments coming out of your account.

 

[jinx]

Be careful with debit cards. Each bank has their own policy, but we ran into a lot of problems with our debit card two years ago. We used it to reserve a hotel room, rental car on two islands and for our on board account. Each one of these placed a $300 -$600 hold on our account to cover damages or future charges. We barely had enough in our account to cover it all. I had to call our bank from vacation to try to free up some of the holds so that we would have spending money. I originally put it on our debit card because I didn't want to carry a balance. I've since learned my lesson and will always use a credit card. The hold always clears by the next posting period as opposed to coming out immediately with our debit card. Each back has their own rules though, so it may not be a problem with your bank.