Hey All,

I have a RCCI cruise booked for this June and I have a few questions as it relates to using my Credit Card and miles. I am wondering if anybody knows how your card is coded for onboard purchases. If I remember correctly, you get a spend card while on board that is tied to a credit card. Do the purchases get coded as Travel? If so, what would be the best card out for turning that into points? Also, I plan on doing quiet a bit of gambling, and I believe you also use your "Spend Card", will this get coded as cash advanced?

I looked at the RCCI Visa, but it seems pretty lame. 15k signup points, 2x points for RCCI spend and 1x for everything else. I am pretty sure there are cards out there that have 5x Travel, so if the spend while on the ship is coded that way it would be awesome! Also, will I get hit with Foreign Transaction fees if my card has them or will get charged in the US when the ship returns?

These threads might help:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...lp-cruise.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...ake-miles.html

Yes, everything charged to your card through the cruise line is considered a purchase vs a cash advance, so if your card is one that gets miles, you will get miles for your total onboard expenses.

However, you can no longer get cash for casino play without the 3% and now they give you chips vs straight cash.

In the glory days of the past, we used to be able to get cash from the casino without the 3% fee and then redeposit into the bank once we got back home. But those days are long gone.

1) The shipboard account is USD based and you will NOT incur any forex fee.

2) The charges are posted directly from the cruise line - hopefully the cruise line would correctly identify itself in the merchant code that it is a cruise line, not a general merchant. It depends on how the cruise line identifies itself in the merchant category.

I have asked Chase Sapphire Preferred in similar questions - they said if the providers not identify themselves being travel related provider such as airlines and rental car, then the additional earning on travel will NOT automatically posted. However it can be reviewed on a case by case merit if you submit your invoices and such. I would think a charge from a cruise line should qualify automatically. If not, then a manual review should be in your favor should that is needed.

3) Cruise lines have gotten smart now that the casino chip sales will be padded with 3% on the amount you purchased - they are still purchases as they are lumped into your shipboard account, but they would have 3% added on so you still come out losing 3%, as if you are taking a cash advance that incurs the fee (but no interest in this case.)

I just retruned from a Carnival cruise 3 weeks ago and used my Chase Sapphire for the whole tab. Everything was credited as "Carnival Sail & Sign" (aka travel) on the statement: drinks, excursions, even an art purchase on board went under that category as a lump sum

Cool, I appreciate all of the input. For travel, is the Chase Sapphire about the best available right now?