Room Security Deposit

[BrianAlt]

My son and his girlfriend are on their first cruise together, and her first ever, on the Mariner of the Seas.  On the first day a charge for $99.75 appeared on their account.  They had no idea what it was, so they asked me.  I had no idea either, so I suggested they stop at guest services.  When they spoke to someone, probably the triage person on the line, and told them the problem was a charge on their account, the person asked, "is it the $99.75 charge?"  So presumably they weren't the only ones asking.  They were told it was a security deposit for damages to the room and they would get it back at the end of the cruise.  Okay, fine.  But shouldn't you be telling people about that BEFORE it happens?  I know that they do a test charge on the credit card so they know it's valid. But I never heard it going on the ACCOUNT. I thought that maybe it was due to the fact that they are under 25, or that she was a first-time cruiser, but apparently it applies to all cabins.

Has anyone encountered this?  Is this a Mariner only procedure?  Cause I've never heard of such a thing in my 33 cruises.

[AshleyDillo]

It's never shown as an actual charge for me; always a pending charge after boarding. Once my onboard account hits the $100 mark, each time there's a charge after I get another pre-authorization hold. Fun part is for me these holds always last a couple days beyond my final bill that actually gets charged to my account   

This is why I always use a credit card to secure my onboard account.

[BrianAlt]

24 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

It's never shown as an actual charge for me; always a pending charge after boarding. Once my onboard account hits the $100 mark, each time there's a charge after I get another pre-authorization hold. Fun part is for me these holds always last a couple days beyond my final bill that actually gets charged to my account   

This is why I always use a credit card to secure my onboard account.

Exactly my experience too!  To be clear, they did secure their account with a credit card (not debit or cash).

[tjcruisers]

Never had it on any of my cruises, but then again I didn't start cruising until I was in my late 30's. I know when I was under 25 I'd get hit with those whenever I traveled, even for business. 

[BrianAlt]

12 minutes ago, tjcruisers said:

Never had it on any of my cruises, but then again I didn't start cruising until I was in my late 30's. I know when I was under 25 I'd get hit with those whenever I traveled, even for business. 

One of my first thoughts.  But if that's the policy, where is it?

[tjcruisers]

22 minutes ago, BrianAlt said:

One of my first thoughts.  But if that's the policy, where is it?

I find business aren't really up front about those thing, my first trip caught me off guard. Interestingly I took the family to Buffalo in earlier December and on checkin to a hotel was told I had to pay a security deposit (I'm now 50). Nothing mentioned when I booked and it was a hotel chain I stay at a lot and never had that before. Definitely wasn't happy.

On a ship it's not like you can sneak off it at the end though. Looking at my last cruise contract they do mention security surcharges in the fine print, but they don't specifiy if/when they apply

[FloatyBoaty]

I am not in my 20's, or 30's or 40's and have had this temporary charge appear on a couple of cruises at least.

It is a policy. It is printed in the Cruise Compass on Day 1 at minimum:

[BrianAlt]

16 minutes ago, tjcruisers said:

I find business aren't really up front about those thing,

It's a dumb way to do business. My son has cruised several times with us and has our D+ status.  His girlfriend is a new cruiser.  We told her everything we know about cruising (which I personally think is a lot!).  She was surprised by this and so were we.  It could potentially turn her off from cruising again.  Will it?  Probably not.  But it could be on her list of, "things I didn't like about cruising."

[BrianAlt]

13 minutes ago, FloatyBoaty said:

I am not in my 20's, or 30's or 40's and have had this temporary charge appear on a couple of cruises at least.

It is a policy. It is printed in the Cruise Compass on Day 1 at minimum:

 

Thanks.  Just odd that I've never seen it happen myself.

[BrianAlt]

16 minutes ago, FloatyBoaty said:

It is a policy. It is printed in the Cruise Compass on Day 1 at minimum:

 

Actually, reading that is the policy as I understand it...

A hold on your credit card. Not a charge to you onboard account.  The charge was on the onboard account.

 

[FloatyBoaty]

13 minutes ago, BrianAlt said:

Thanks.  Just odd that I've never seen it happen myself.

I don't check my onboard account everyday, so that's probably why I didn't notice it each time - I feel like there was only one time where it was still there on the last day before the final accounting. I do like that it's an unusual number, 99.75, that they use that sticks in my head to watch for - so maybe it just fell back off before you saw it? Or maybe because they have more history with you and it just gets flagged to do on newer cruisers? I just started cruising last year. Who knows - as long as it falls back off my account, I'm fine with it.

[smokeybandit]

I get these holds on every cruise I go on. It's no big deal in the end

[BrianAlt]

11 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

I get these holds on every cruise I go on. It's no big deal in the end

It isn't.  They just were surprised since they weren't expecting it. I would have been too.

[BrianAlt]

12 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

I get these holds on every cruise I go on. It's no big deal in the end

Again though, to be clear, I've always had a pre-charge, a hold, on my credit card.  This was a charge to their onboard account.

[Xaa]

24 minutes ago, BrianAlt said:

 It could potentially turn her off from cruising again.  Will it?  Probably not.  But it could be on her list of, "things I didn't like about cruising."

I think if having a charge hit an onboard account only to be removed at the end is a tiny thing really.  It has no impact on her that I can see.  It's not charged to her credit card and not impacting any liquidity.  If someone gave up cruising over that, they probably didn't enjoy cruising very much.

Now I agree that it is kind of a stupid thing if it is really for damage.  They do have a steward in the room 2x per day and the ability to add it in the end if damage occured.

I'm still not sure if there isn't a miscommunication about what it is, but I certainly accept what you're saying at face value.

[BrianAlt]

15 minutes ago, Xaa said:

I'm still not sure if there isn't a miscommunication about what it is, but I certainly accept what you're saying at face value.

I'm quoting what they told me. So could be their misunderstanding, but I'm assuming it's correct.  Yes, I wouldn't expect this to be the breaking point.  But it could be one point of a list of 5-6 things.  This was a "test cruise" as we have a big family cruise where she is invited later this year.  I don't want nitpicky excuses of why she doesn't want to join us.

[smokeybandit]

23 minutes ago, BrianAlt said:

Again though, to be clear, I've always had a pre-charge, a hold, on my credit card.  This was a charge to their onboard account.

Ah sorry, I missed that detail.

So was it really charged to their onboard account? Or did they just get a credit card alert that said it was from Mariner? 

I've never had that kind of charge to my onboard account.

Other random thoughts. Were they using a debit card for their seapass account? Cash account?

[WAAAYTOOO]

I've been on over 50 cruises with RCI and this is the first time I have ever heard of a security charge or hold.  I guess I just don't check my account for such things.  News to me, but good to know, I guess.

[Xaa]

28 minutes ago, BrianAlt said:

I'm quoting what they told me. So could be their misunderstanding, but I'm assuming it's correct.  Yes, I wouldn't expect this to be the breaking point.  But it could be one point of a list of 5-6 things.  This was a "test cruise" as we have a big family cruise where she is invited later this year.  I don't want nitpicky excuses of why she doesn't want to join us.

It's going to be a blip.  I think we may end up finding out that it wasn't actually on her onboard account, but a pending on her CC and the guest services rep explained it as a security deposit that she immediately relates to damage.  Either way, she's going to love her cruise overall and be counting the minutes until you take her later this year.

[asquared17]

i noticed the $99.75 charge pop up as a notification from my linked CC on my iphone on day one. i thought it was maybe auto-gratuities (since i had pre-paid, i figured it would drop off) or something similar.

this makes a little more sense, but i am glad to know the actual reason for the charge now!

[BrianAlt]

18 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Ah sorry, I missed that detail.

So was it really charged to their onboard account? Or did they just get a credit card alert that said it was from Mariner? 

I've never had that kind of charge to my onboard account.

Other random thoughts. Were they using a debit card for their seapass account? Cash account?

To their onboard account.  Not from the CC.  It is a credit card.

[Carlyn3]

The hold wouldnt bother me but an actual charge to the onboard account would.  I would be dreading the eventual standing in the long guest services line at the end of the cruise to get it removed if it didnt.  Props to your son for noticing- Im not sure my daughter would.

[Censored]

2 hours ago, BrianAlt said:

My son and his girlfriend are on their first cruise together, and her first ever, on the Mariner of the Seas.  On the first day a charge for $99.75 appeared on their account.  They had no idea what it was, so they asked me.  I had no idea either, so I suggested they stop at guest services.  When they spoke to someone, probably the triage person on the line, and told them the problem was a charge on their account, the person asked, "is it the $99.75 charge?"  So presumably they weren't the only ones asking.  They were told it was a security deposit for damages to the room and they would get it back at the end of the cruise.  Okay, fine.  But shouldn't you be telling people about that BEFORE it happens?  I know that they do a test charge on the credit card so they know it's valid. But I never heard it going on the ACCOUNT. I thought that maybe it was due to the fact that they are under 25, or that she was a first-time cruiser, but apparently it applies to all cabins.

Has anyone encountered this?  Is this a Mariner only procedure?  Cause I've never heard of such a thing in my 33 cruises.

NEVER. So this must be something new and perhaps applies to a certain age group thats more prone to "party up" in their stateroom? This is common in most hotels now, so this would not totally surprise me. I think we have all seen evidence of ratted up rooms over the years.... ie stains on couches, chairs, kids marking up walls, curtains, smoke burns on chairs/tables  balcony,  ....yup seen it all.

[BrianAlt]

15 minutes ago, Censored said:

NEVER. So this must be something new and perhaps applies to a certain age group thats more prone to "party up" in their stateroom? This is common in most hotels now, so this would not totally surprise me. I think we have all seen evidence of ratted up rooms over the years.... ie stains on couches, chairs, kids marking up walls, curtains, smoke burns on chairs/tables  balcony,  ....yup seen it all.

My thought too.  But the cruise they're on isn't filled with 20-somethings.  At least not what they've seen so far.  And when they went to Guest Services, their question was anticipated.  Which could mean that many asked OR looking at them their age was guessed.  We'll probably never know.

[smokeybandit]

Maybe it was just some accounting screw up if others had the same issue. 

I was on Mariner last week and nothing was any different.

[BrianAlt]

15 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Maybe it was just some accounting screw up if others had the same issue. 

I was on Mariner last week and nothing was any different.

No.  Guest Services said it was specifically a security deposit against any damages to the cabin.

[smokeybandit]

34 minutes ago, BrianAlt said:

No.  Guest Services said it was specifically a security deposit against any damages to the cabin.

Maybe it's a new policy. Or maybe GS was trying to save face.

[BrianAlt]

14 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Maybe it's a new policy. Or maybe GS was trying to save face.

Based on GS reaction, they weren't the only ones that asked about it.  Maybe a new policy.  That's why I came here to talk about it.

[smokeybandit]

13 minutes ago, BrianAlt said:

Based on GS reaction, they weren't the only ones that asked about it.  Maybe a new policy.  That's why I came here to talk about it.

Right, I meant that if there was some mass errant billing, maybe GS decided to explain it as something intentional, not a mistake.

I base that on:

1) 99.75 is a small and odd number for a security deposit (like why not a flat $100?) that wouldn't pay for much in the event you wreck your room and they hold back that amount.

2) 99.75 matches a very common credit card temporary authorization that many of us get on a ship.

[BrianAlt]

13 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Right, I meant that if there was some mass errant billing, maybe GS decided to explain it as something intentional, not a mistake.

Certainly possible.  

[smokeybandit]

I guess we'll have to wait and see if similar reports crop up elsewhere.

 

[melmar02]

Could it possibly be just for NYE sailings? Anticipation of some guests taking more than full advantage of the drink packages so they just added it to everyone's account to be sure?

[BrianAlt]

14 minutes ago, melmar02 said:

Could it possibly be just for NYE sailings? Anticipation of some guests taking more than full advantage of the drink packages so they just added it to everyone's account to be sure?

Sailed on 1/2.

[Pattycruise]

5 hours ago, FloatyBoaty said:

I am not in my 20's, or 30's or 40's and have had this temporary charge appear on a couple of cruises at least.

It is a policy. It is printed in the Cruise Compass on Day 1 at minimum:

This is why I prefer to have a paper Compass over the app, although they are now offering the Compass via a  QR code, but to me it is not the same as paper

[BrianAlt]

15 minutes ago, Pattycruise said:

This is why I prefer to have a paper Compass over the app, although they are now offering the Compass via a  QR code, but to me it is not the same as paper

But the paper Compass says the hold will be put on the credit card, not a charge to the onboard account.

[PL8SWPR]

Will be on Mariner 1/23 and will watch for it. 

[BrianAlt]

28 minutes ago, PL8SWPR said:

Will be on Mariner 1/23 and will watch for it. 

Let me know if you see it occur.  Thanks.

[CruiseGus]

4 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

Right, I meant that if there was some mass errant billing, maybe GS decided to explain it as something intentional, not a mistake.

I base that on:

1) 99.75 is a small and odd number for a security deposit (like why not a flat $100?) that wouldn't pay for much in the event you wreck your room and they hold back that amount.

2) 99.75 matches a very common credit card temporary authorization that many of us get on a ship.

I would tend to go along with your first statement as a mass errant billing.  That along with GS trying their best to explain.  

Personally I'm glad that I don't have to visit GS very often because I find that around 50% of the time they don't really know the answer, not sure if it is the language barrier or just lack of training.

[AshleyDillo]

3 hours ago, BrianAlt said:

But the paper Compass says the hold will be put on the credit card, not a charge to the onboard account.

I'm curious how it posted to their onboard account..as in what was the line item description? Can they screenshot the charge from the onboard account in the app and send that to you?

[ChessE4]

We took three cruises in 2022, and all of them had the pending charge of 99.75.  I think this is a new thing, as WAAAYTOOO noted.  I do not recall the pending charge in  our last pre-Covid cruise, September 2019.