Ship accounts

[bobsuzla]

I have recently paid my trip off, so now it is all about the spending money Since I booked through a travel agent do I have to go through them, or can I call DCL directly to start prepaying on my stateroom account? Can I even do this? Is it recommended? I just thought, besides mt Disney Dollars and Trav. chks in the Safedep box, if I could charge between $50-$100 dollars a month onto my debit card, I would have a nice little savings, and not have to worry about any Credit Cards. Has anyone ever prepaid a statroom account like this? Would I get reciepts for each charge, besides my bank statements? HELP!
OH, and no economics 101 lessons please, I KNOW I am not earning any interest by doing this, but this is what is most practical and what works for me! Thanks! (and I work in a bank )

 

[traycie2201]

Hi Bob, yes you can prepay against your stateroom for shipboard credits directly through DCL go to their website and it will allow you to print a form to fax through with your request it's under the area where you can prebook trips etc, you can prepay against your cabin at anytime and i think it's a great idea, as i'm in the uk i'll be changing any extra £ to $ when i get them to avoid temptation of spending. Happy holidays.

 

[webray]

Hi,

I called DCL directly to put money on our stateroom account.
Works great..we didn't get any receipt..but it was listed on my bank statment so no problem. Showed up perfectly when we got the stateroom printout when it was time to leave, I think they even mentioned it when we checked in that day.

It is very nice not to have to worry about paying for things once you are on the ship. Using these boards, the dcltribute site and the castawayclub site we estimated what we would be spending on drinks, souveniers, laundry/pressing and washing, spa, tipping, etc.

We will do this again for sure.

 

[bobsuzla]

Thanks! I am trying to over-estimate everything, so that there are no surprises, and no dissappointments. If I see something that I want, I want to be able to buy it with out guilt

 

[KyCruisinSusan]

Hey Bob, why don't you open a savings account and put the $50-100 dollars a month in there. That way you at least get to accumulate a little interest on the money you save instead of having it sit on your DCL account.

You just have to be able to forget it is there and leave it alone.

We have been saving since October of last year and will have almost $2000 saved for our upcoming cruise, not to mention all the money I have spent on pre-cruise "stuff"

Granted the interest rate isn't that hot, but it is better than nothing.

 

[*Huey*]

I read somewhere that we have to deposit so much $ in our shipboard account if we intend on paying cash (at check in). Also, do they do that when using check cards? Obviously by the end you could be a little short in your checking account if you don't watch it. Do they cap your account (If you go over your initial deposit)? Or will they let YOU put a cap on it? Too many questions, I know, but I know I will go "overboard" with my shipboard account.

I was thinking about doing a cash deposit (my "spending allowance") for the ship account and using the check card for all port shopping, etc.

Anyone have tips on keeping within a budget?!?

Thanks!

 

[bobsuzla]

Huey, I too am planning that exact same thing for two reasons:
1. No longer own a credit card and 2: My bank has a daily card limit, and with that deposit on hold indefinately it could really mess up any other spending I might want to do or scheduled on line bill payments that I might have out there. I will put my travelers cheques and Disney dollars down on my account as well as prepaying as much as I can when I get there. I know that I will be refunded any overage at the end of the trip(as if there will be any)

 

[dsncruise lover]

Just an FYI: I have a "pre-paid" credit card that I got from my local CVS.

The card works likes this: you can put up to 2,500 on the card in $500 increments. THere is no credit check, no interest, and a $4.95 per month access fee. You control the amount of money you put on it and it is a regular Mastercard. I used it last August on my last Disney Cruise and it worked great. I've already set aside the money for this cruise.

For more info, go to mymccard.com.

HTH

Sorry this post is from ciadriamom (kids using my computer again).

 

[cathyscrapper]

Hey dsncruiselover- What is a CVS? Would love to get a credit card like that for trips.

Thanks,
Cathy

 

[disneyfreakk]

they now have travelers checks in the form on plastic. it works like a debit or credit card and you can add money to it. ( also they will replace it if it is lost or stolen .. just like travelers checks ) its only 14.95 for the card and no monthly fee. you can go to the travelers checks web site for more info. oh, and you can put up to 2700.00 on it.

as for the debit question... i am sure they will put a hold on your account for the amount you say. then you wont be able to "come up short " at the end because they will only let you spend up to that amount. after that you will have to go up and do the whole thing over agian

 

[ciadriamom]

CVS is a chain of pharrmacies. I don't know if they have them in your area, however, if you go to the website and click on locations, it will ask you to input your area and will list the places that you can get the card at.[

P.S. just so you don't think you're going nuts, I inadvertenly posted under my dd's name. The post was originally from me.

Hope this helps./COLOR]

 

[Trixiezzz]

I got one of the ING accounts to save up for my trip. That way it pays me interest (2.1%) while I put away a little every two weeks.

Plus, they gave me $25 just for opening the account. I like that better than sending the money ahead ~ I've got control of it.