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One
of the best things about cruising is the convenience of being able to sign
for all your expenses, excluding stamps and tips to your stateroom and
dining room staff. Casino chips, slot tokens and bingo cards can also be
obtained on a casino room charge. You can settle your shipboard account on
the day of disembarkation after reviewing the itemized statement that's
delivered to your stateroom.
Most lines accept U.S.,
Canadian and British currency and travelers checks. Visa, MasterCard,
Discover/Novus, the JCB Card, Diners Club/Carte Blanche and American
Express/Optima. Personal checks drawn on U.S., Canadian or British banks
are generally accepted with the proper approval and identification with a
limit of $250 (U.S.) on a personal check. Casino room charges for
obtaining chips and tokens in the casino are usually limited to $1500 per
day, to the total limit of $5000 per cruise, unless prior arrangements are
made. There is usually a hefty processing fee applied to all casino room
charges. These advances are billed to your shipboard accounts.
Express Check-Out
As do the finest hotels, the cruise lines offers a quick and easy express
check-out service. Just bring your credit card (any of those listed above)
or personal check and identification to the Purser's Desk, if not taken at
embarkation check-in or pre-registered before the cruise (exotic cruises
only), as early as possible during your cruise.
Tipping
Effective January 2002, some cruise lines have implemented an automatic
gratuity program. A charge of $10 per person per day for Dining and
Stateroom Personnel will be automatically added to the passenger's
shipboard account. We are confident that passengers will find the
services onboard exemplary and should a passenger wish to reward a staff
member for service "above and beyond", they may do so by adding to the
automatic gratuity. Similarly, if a passenger feels that the service
levels fall short of his/her expectation, then they may subtract from the
automatic gratuity amount simply by visiting the Purser's Desk onboard and
requesting the change. It is important to remember that passengers will be
able to increase, decrease or remove the automatic gratuities at their
discretion. Gratuities for other shipboard staff such as Casino dealers
and Spa Personnel is at the passenger's discretion. Please note that a 15%
gratuity is automatically added to all bar tabs. |
