Fanmail Friday: April 24th Edition

Swapping Partners Before We Cruise

We have a group of 6 going on a cruise this summer, but one of us now isn’t sure if she will be able to make it.  The cruise contract is structured in a way that if she cancels she will forfeit a significant portion of her payment.  Is there any way she can sell her spot to someone else so that she will not be out of her money?

Honestly, it all depends on the cruise line.  The first step is for your friend to actually decide if she is going to go.  If the answer is no, you need to find a replacement ASAP. Once that is done contact the cruise line and ask them to do a name change.  Please be mindful that there is a fee associated with this that will need to be paid.  Assuming that the cruise line allows name changes the new passenger will need to provide all of their information to the line.  Of course, any transferring of funds to your friend will need to be worked out between her and the new passenger.  Just make sure you get this sorted out right now since the longer you wait the more rigid the cruise line is likely to become.

A Hold On My Sail and Sign Card

I am going to be sailing with my two daughters on the Carnival Glory and have a question about sail and sign accounts.  How much of  a hold will the Carnival place on my credit card?

The amount placed on hold depends upon the length of your cruise.  Since you stated you are sailing on the Glory I am going to assume you are going on a seven day cruise.  Here is the section that answers your question taken directly from the Carnival website

Important Note: A hold will be placed on the credit card or checking account debit card at the beginning of the cruise as a deposit for an onboard purchases. This will reduce the amount of available credit on the credit card or restrict the availability of cash in the checking account. The hold will be released and actual charges will be billed at the end of the cruise.

The following dollar amounts, per guest, are used as a deposit when the Sail & Sign Account is opened:
2-4 day cruises: $100 deposit pp
5-8 day cruises: $200 deposit pp
9 + day cruises: $350 deposit pp

So as you can see the amount that will be frozen on your credit card is 200.00 per person. You can have it so the kids don’t have charging privileges if you are not sure if they can behave responsibly but the hold will still be placed on the card. While I am not if this will effect the amount that will be put on hold it will definitely ensure that you don’t have any surprise charges.

All-Inclusive Cruises

Are there any Cruise lines that are all-inclusive.  Normally we vacation at Sandals but we have friends that have convinced us to try a cruise.  I don’t want to be hassled with a pay as you go vacation but would most likely cruise if I can find an all-inclusive.

While most cruise lines typically only charge you for certain beverages and upgraded options there are some that are all-inclusive.  Crystal Cruises, Regent Seven Seas and Silver Seas are some of the cruise lines that fit into the all-inclusive category.  However, I must tell you that the prices for these cruises are a lot more expensive than main stream cruise lines.  Now, I will admit that these ships are much more luxurious than anything the main stream cruise lines offer.  I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that if luxury is not your priority you could probably save a lot of money by prepaying a hefty deposit on an account with a main stream cruise line.  They would still have to swipe your boarding pass every time you ordered a drink but the financial aspects would already be covered (any money not used would be refunded to you).

Related posts:

1. Fanmail Friday: January 16th Edition
2. Fanmail Friday: February 27th Edition
3. Fanmail Friday: April 3rd Edition
4. Fanmail Friday: November 14th Edition
5. Fanmail Friday: March 6th Edition

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