Cruise Recs

Except for spending in the casinos, ships are cashless. You will be issued either a plastic card (like a hotel key) with your name, folio ID, VIFP #, ship name, sailing dates, and muster station printed on it -or- some cruise lines have moved to an RFID bracelet containing similar information -or- they may offer both options. Royal Caribbean, for example, uses a “SeaPass” card system with an optional bracelet they call a WOW band (which is offered at an additional charge). We have not sailed on a ship that uses bracelets (YET), so we can’t comment on them, but the principle and use-cases, as described below, are the same as a card.

Since Carnival is our preferred line, the particulars below are specific to Carnival. Each line does something similar, but please check your line’s website for more specific information.

On Carnival ships, these cards are called Sail & Sign® cards and they are color coded based on your VIFP (Very Important Fun Person) benefit level. You will use your Sail & Sign® card for EVERYTHING on the ship.  It’s how they keep track of if you are on or off the ship at ports (they scan you off and back on), it’s your stateroom/cabin key, and it’s how you pay for things in the shops, bars, arcade, etc. while onboard. 

Your Onboard Account: When you do your online check-in via carnival.com or Carnival’s “My Cruise Manager”, or on the first day of your cruise at embarkation, Carnival will ask for a credit/debit card to create your onboard account.  Each onboard expense account must have a designated account owner and the cardholding guest must be an authorized signer by the card-issuing bank.  

At the end of the cruise, everything you charged on the ship gets settled to this card. On embarkation day, an initial bank hold of up to $200 (depending on cruise length) is placed on all credit/debit card accounts to verify that the card is valid. As money is spent throughout your cruise, additional holds on bank funds are obtained, which may result in multiple amounts being held.  On the day the cruise returns, Carnival immediately settles the guest’s account with their bank for the total amount of their onboard expenses. Holds will remain on the account for one or more days depending on the issuing bank’s hold policy, which will limit access to funds.

If using a Debit Card, the bank will process the final total spent on the guest’s Sail & Sign account plus retain the bank holds processed, per the bank policy. The bank is responsible for releasing any pending holds from the guest’s account. This means if you use a debit card, it may be a few of days after you get off the ship before you will have access to these funds in your bank account. Because of this, we strongly recommend you use a CREDIT card instead of a DEBIT card. Limited access to credit funds is a whole different ballgame than limited access to cash sitting in your bank account.

Acceptable Cards

• Visa Card and Visa Gift Card*
• MasterCard and MasterCard Gift Card*
• ATM/Debit Card (registered MasterCard or Visa Card ONLY).
• The Discover Card and Discover Gift Card
• American Express Card and the Carnival Corporation Reward Card from American Express
• Diner’s Club and Diner’s Club Gift Card
• JCB Card only

*Note: Gift Cards may also be referred to as ‘secured’ or ‘pre-loaded’ credit cards or ‘Travel Funds Card’.

Unacceptable Cards

• Gift Cards and Travel Funds Cards issued by American Express and/or Optima
• Keychain (mini) credit cards
• The American Express ‘Persona Select’ Card
• ATM/Debit Card other than those registered by MasterCard or Visa Card

Cash Deposit Accounts: If you don’t want your on board incidentals to be charged to a credit/debit card at all, you can put down a cash deposit when you get on board. Cash and Traveler’s checks (USD currency only) are accepted to open a cash deposit.  Simply go to Guest Services with your cash/Traveler’s Checks and ask them to remove your credit/debit card (if you entered on during online check-in) and opt to use cash instead.  You can’t charge more than the cash you put down and you will get any unspent cash back at the end of the cruise, but if you want that cash before you get off the ship, you must go to Guest Services or a Sail & Sign Kiosk the DAY BEFORE debarkation. If you don’t, any refundable overages greater than $10 USD will be refunded via check mailed within 7 days after the cruise to the guest’s home address on file. Overages less than $10 USD will be donated to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital®. 

Guests who elect to use the cash deposit method must do so at Guest Services on the FIRST DAY of the cruise. The following minimum cash deposits are recommended by Carnival:

• 2 – 4 day cruise: $100 USD per person
• 5 – 8 day cruise: $200 USD per person
• 9 days or longer: $350 USD per person

Guests may check their balances and add additional cash to their account by visiting the Guest Services desk or via a Sail & Sign Kiosk on board throughout the sailing.

Sail & Sign Kiosks: Sail & Sign Kiosks are self service terminals that allow guests to manage and access their onboard accounts. Kiosk terminals are usually located near Guest Services and the Fun Shops and are accessed by using a touch screen monitor. Functions available are:

• Check onboard account balance
• View/print statement
• Review or restrict account Users
  • Set charge limits (see Traveling with Minors below)
  • Set-up guests as ‘Not Authorized’ to charge (see On Board Account Access below)
• Open new accounts
• Apply payments (cash and credit/debit card)
• Withdraw any balance left on an onboard account in cash ($5 or more)
• Change bills into smaller bills (Kiosk will dispense in increments of $20 / $10 / $5)

On Board Account Access: When you are adding a card to your account online through the check-in process, you will have the opportunity to indicate who is allowed to charge to your onboard account. You’ll have the option to include or not include anyone in your booking. So if you have multiple cabins in your booking, all travelers in those cabins will be available for you to select, or not select, as the case may be. You can add multiple cards to the same booking to create multiple onboard accounts tied to specific individuals. For example, if you are traveling with your immediate family, you may elect to have one onboard account attached to one card. If you’re traveling with friends or extended family, you may elect to each have separate onboard accounts attached to individual cards. This allows you keep each person traveling accountable for their own onboard purchases without issue. Either way, every guest must be a member of an onboard account in order to obtain a complete online check-in status.

Traveling with Minors: If you are traveling with minors, the account owner has the option to set spending limits or not allow charging privileges to their account at all. This can be set-up during online check-in or on board at Guest Services. Setting spending limits allows the account owner to control the spending of minors in places like the arcade or candy shops where excited eyes may get a little bigger than your carefully planned budget. Be sure to have conversations with any minors under your care about what the spending limits are to ensure expectations are not only aligned, but understood. This will help set the stage if you need to have uncomfortable conversations about running out of allotted funds part-way through your cruise.