Now please understand, it pains me to have to post this because I do not like to make negative statements about anything or any one/place but I feel I need to warn anyone who may be going to Belize and this shop in particular.
I sailed to Belize last week (Sept. 20th) on the Carnival Valor. It was a wonderful trip and I had a blast doing the Cavetubing.com excursion. The boys that run that excursion are the best!
After the excursion, I stopped at the Duty Free Shop on the pier in Belize. It is called Lauren International. I purchased a carton of cigarettes for $19.00 and used my bank card. That night when I came back from dinner (on the ship) there was a note from the Pursers Office stating that my bank was not honoring my card and that Carnival could not post charges. I was asked to come to the office and clear this up.
Well, long story short. I called my bank from the ship and found out that someone had tried to take $900.00 from my account. My bank asked me if I had tried to do this and when I said no, they immediately cancelled my card. Thank the powers that be, I had another way of paying for my Carnival charges or I would have been literally up a creek (ocean) without a paddle.
I went to my bank this morning to get things straightened out and the gentleman there pulled up the record of the transactions (3 in all for a total of $900.00). Each one had Lauren Int. as the party that was making the transactions.
Now I have no way of knowing if this was the Business doing this or just a person working for them trying to do something illegal but either way, I wanted to give you all a heads up.
I learned a valuable lesson here. Never use your bank card when out of the country. Always pay in cash. I was lucky. My bank was on top of this and I didn't lose a dime but I am sure that others did and it probably ruined their cruise.
I will be contacting Carnival and letting them know of this situation. I do not hold Carnival responsible in any way shape or form but I hope they can find someway of warning other future cruisers.
Oh wow.. isn't it a shame that people have to add fraud to a vacation experience.. I am so sorry you had to deal with this
I am guessing when you say "Bank Card" you are talking about your Visa/MC debit check card and not a true credit card?
Yes, I was referring to my VISA debit check card.
Thanks for caring. Things worked out for me but I am so very afraid that others got caught in this scam. There were a bunch of people in that shop purchasing booze and jewelry.
IMHO, debit cards are risky. I will use a CC but not a debit card. Most CC companies will work with you.
hanna
in
Radiance of the Seas 6-2003
Brilliance of the Seas 11-2004
Jewel of the Seas 3-2006
Rhapsody of the Seas 12-2006
Rhapsody of the Seas 5-2007
Freedom of the Seas 11-2007
Radiance of the Seas 5-2008
Thanks for the warning, Sallie! We NEED to hear about this sort of thing!
LuLu ... Visit SOUTH CAROLINA!
1/09 B2B (20 days) Emerald Princess
OVER 40 (started young) Princess, Celebrity, RCCL, HAL, NCL, Costa, Disney, Carnival, Sitmar (Princess bought), and (a very long time ago) SS Bahama Star
Always use a credit card...otherwise you are opening yourself up to having your bank account drained and it takes a long time to get that money back. It's not like a charge that can be suspended while an investigation goes on.
Sallie, so glad you didn't get caught by that fraud!
Charlene (& the Bobster)
Crown Princess 2nd Annual Official CLF Group Cruise in
33days 13hours 30minutes