I am not sure about when one's credit card is charged, as mine was charged on the day at sea on the 4-day in Jan., and the amount was less than $250. I had planned to charge everything anyway, to be able to do the "express check-out" on the day of disembarkation, but I thought it a little odd when I looked over my account summary that $247 was charged to my visa, then another $53 was charged later the same day.