What is a 'shipboard account'?
When a person checks in for a cruise, they open a shipboard account. Everybody does this. You provide the cruise line with your credit card, they do an imprint of your credit card, and they open up an account for you during your vacation. Anything you charge onboard ship, such as alcoholic beverage, a glass of wine, a spa treatment, or what have you, that's an extra charge you put on your shipboard account. What that does, is it's really a convenience to the passenger. The passenger doesn't have to carry credit cards around, and doesn't have to carry a wallet around while they are on the ship - they can leave it in their stateroom in the safe. It's just terrific. You sign for the expense, and at the end of the cruise, the day before you get off the ship (the last full day of the cruise), usually that evening you will get your printed out statement, just like in a hotel. You get a printed out statement that shows all of your charges. If there's something that's in error or dispute, you talk to the pursers office and address that. Generally, it's correct. It's just charged to your account, so there's nothing else you have to do. You don't have to show up, and you don't have to pay. You're already taken care of.
