Do this before you go out to sea if you haven't already!

Most dd/ds have credit cards. 1) Make sure the credit card company/s know that the card will be used overseas or in places it usually isn't used. Very often cards can be blocked from usage, especially with all the identity theft these days. So make sure that information is recorded in their computers and have it changed when they go out to sea for their 8 months 2) Our ds gave us access to his bank and credit card accounts to make sure we could pay his credit card bill online with monies from the bank account. Why have access you ask??? Well, while on a ship ds/dd may not have access to internet to pay their bill online. Now they don't want to mess up their credit worthiness do they! Be sure to get all the info password, login or whatever else you need. Doing #1 and #2 made that part of sea life much easier for our son! Now of course if their bills are still being sent home to you mom and dad, you don't need that info

make copies of everything in your wallet and leave it at home...

and bring a 4 passport pictures with you too...ever try and find a photographer in a foreign country if you lose your passport? The pictures can easily add up to a hundred bucks if your running around and trying to find a photographer.

KP2013dramamama said:

Most dd/ds have credit cards. 1) Make sure the credit card company/s know that the card will be used overseas or in places it usually isn't used. Very often cards can be blocked from usage, especially with all the identity theft these days. So make sure that information is recorded in their computers and have it changed when they go out to sea for their 8 months 2) Our ds gave us access to his bank and credit card accounts to make sure we could pay his credit card bill online with monies from the bank account. Why have access you ask??? Well, while on a ship ds/dd may not have access to internet to pay their bill online. Now they don't want to mess up their credit worthiness do they! Be sure to get all the info password, login or whatever else you need. Doing #1 and #2 made that part of sea life much easier for our son! Now of course if their bills are still being sent home to you mom and dad, you don't need that info

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Are the Mids able to get a credit card through the Navy Credit Union? Just wondering when to tell DS to go in and apply.

Yes. Navy Federal offers good credit card rates and it is easy for mids to apply and qualify for a card. It made sea year much easier for our DS to have checks deposited into his Navy Federal account and then auto-pay to the credit card while he was at sea.

We put DS on our credit card before he went to KP (he went to China in high school). Even though we notified our provider when DS shipped out in March, it looks like they noticed unusual online activity and just yesterday we received new cards in the mail. It's really not a big deal, but understand that it's not just a case of using credit cards in foreign countries, but also that the ship's ISP can trigger a warning.

KP2013dramamama, PM coming your way....

YES, YES, YES!! Make a copy of everything in your wallet and give them to your parents and keep a copy for yourself in your cabin quarters. DON'T PACK YOUR SEA PROJECT AND BOOKS INTO YOUR MAIN LUGGAGE TO GO UNDER THE PLANE. KEEP YOUR SEXTON WITH YOU AT ALL TIMES, AS WELL AS YOUR COMPUTER. I know of some mids who kept half their books in the luggage, which didn't arrive before they got on the ship. All their clothes and half their books they got about 3 wks later in another port. Don't separate yourself from those items you need for your sea project. Now go off and have a safe fun time....

Sea Project, Schmee Project. . . It'll get done eventually. . . .

cmakin said:

Sea Project, Schmee Project. . . It'll get done eventually. . . .

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Spoken like a true Kings Pointer!

Credit Cards?? I wish my parents got me one for sea as cadet.

Take a draw and use the money you make as a cadet for fun for little time you get in port. You don't spend that much money at sea. Ships officers will usually buy drinks for cadets if they work hard on vessel.

Keep a pack of cigerettes on you in some ports to trade. It works.

Most of the ships I sailed on kept your passport locked up in Capt safe. It is a pain for shipping company if seafarer losses passport. (Make a copy of your passport for wallet if worried.)

Nothing you can really do with having credit card/Debit Card issues at sea. Use cash as much as possible for small things, especially to party. Call card company when you get into port if you need to use. Let card company know what port you are in and items you may want to purchase.

kps99 said:

Credit Cards?? I wish my parents got me one for sea as cadet.

Take a draw and use the money you make as a cadet for fun for little time you get in port. You don't spend that much money at sea. Ships officers will usually buy drinks for cadets if they work hard on vessel.

Keep a pack of cigerettes on you in some ports to trade. It works.

Most of the ships I sailed on kept your passport locked up in Capt safe. It is a pain for shipping company if seafarer losses passport. (Make a copy of your passport for wallet if worried.)

Nothing you can really do with having credit card/Debit Card issues at sea. Use cash as much as possible for small things, especially to party. Call card company when you get into port if you need to use. Let card company know what port you are in and items you may want to purchase.

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Yeah, I never had a credit card during my sea year, either. I agree with the cigarette deal, too. We used to get cartons from the slop chest for about half of what a pack goes for now. US Cigarettes can be like gold in some countries, and still are-or at least were the last time I traveled when I still smoked. Just don't do what I did back then and start smoking them.

In my day, we didn't even have passports. In fact, I didn't get one until quite a few years after I got out of school. Back then, there weren't any problems traveling on a Z-card. In once case, I was injured on a ship in the English Channel (on my first job after graduation). I was put ashore in the UK and eventually flew back to NYC to get back on the ship. No problems with immigration at all back then.

Cadets don't get paid much, but as you state, you don't need that much either. Like you, I found many of the officers more than willing to "sponsor" the cadet if he hustled. That is a better lesson than any of the sea projects.

great advice- thanks!

thank you for this! VERY VERY important and good advice!