Buying OBC through Gifts by Celebrity - Cdn Question

Stumbled on a thread discussing this - and went on a search to find more info and it appeared that buying this is advance saved money on the exchange rate. When I went on site to check the price it only shows me the cost in cdn and not what the OBC credit is worth on board. One credit is $33.60 CDN which works out right around $25 - so... my question is, are they sold in increments of $25? If so, it appears no benefit in buying?

When the CDN dollar first started crashing, both Royal and Celebrity kept the same exchange rate (so around $1.10-$1.11) even though the CDN dollar was trading at $1.24-$1.34. In that situation, you could save a lot by buying OBC ahead of time.

Now however, the exchange rate is pretty much on point so no more savings.

You are correct - they come in $25 increments.

well that's a bit of bummer, but thanks for the help.

well that's a bit of bummer, but thanks for the help.

Not for us Brits !! I have just bought and got a rate of $1.44 to the GBP at home the rate is $1.27 win win in our case[emoji6][emoji6]

Not for us Brits !! I have just bought and got a rate of $1.44 to the GBP at home the rate is $1.27 win win in our case[emoji6][emoji6]

Yes it's strange that X hasn't reduced its exchange rate since the Brexit vote. We got the same rate as you 4 weeks ago and have also told friends who are on X soon to but their OBC.

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The gifts by Celebrity will only be in Canadian Dollars if your cruise is booked via a US TA, you pay in us$ and have whatever the current exchange rate is applied to it.

The gifts by Celebrity will only be in Canadian Dollars if your cruise is booked via a US TA, you pay in us$ and have whatever the current exchange rate is applied to it.

this $ amount was on Celebrity.com who recognizes I am in Canada so everything shows up in CDN prices - i.e. shows the charge for OBC in CDN but doesn't tell what you are actually getting onboard in US$

I am in the UK and have purchased Shipboard Credit due to the exchange rate. My bill is in £, but each unit I have purchased is $25. It doesn't tell me that on the site, it shows each unit in £s, but I know that it is from previous experience and other posters on this site.

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If you live outside the US but book with a US TA you pay in US$ not in your local currency.

Yes it's strange that X hasn't reduced its exchange rate since the Brexit vote. We got the same rate as you 4 weeks ago and have also told friends who are on X soon to but their OBC.

 

 

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Is it because the rates locked to when you booked.. I did the same and bought up and note I can still buy at that rate..

Just wondered if anyone had tried it who had just booked in the last cpl of weeks

Q Quick question on the back of this...

On Sunday (24/07/16) I ordered some "Shipboard Credit" through their Gift section and received an Order Reference Number. The order states that they will issue an email when the order has been processed, but as yet (Thursday 28/07/16) still not received anything.

Is there anyway to check the status of the order online, or will I have to resort to phoning them?

Ta muchly

For all UK cruisers - you may have seen this on other threads but definitely worth buying some OBC now if you want to save money. The rate is at $1.44 to £1 so just saved nearly £30 by getting $400 OBC. I play poker in the casino and even with the 5% charge on the card that is still a saving on the current exchange rate- don't believe it will go back up to $1.44 before we sail :-/

If you do it on the X website - don't do it through your Manage my booking do it through the main page. (Taken me over an hour of online faf and customer services to sort this out so hope it helps!)

Cheers

Pat

If you live outside the US but book with a US TA you pay in US$ not in your local currency.

The currency is based on what currency your cruise is paid in - not necessarily where the TA is located. If you book with a US TA in CAD$ then you will pay for your OBC purchase in CAD$.

If you pay for your cruise with USD$, even though you are on the Canadian website and they quote you CAD$, they still charge your credit card $25 US and you pay the credit card exchange rate. I was able to successfully argue with them on this when it happened to me (they could not change what they billed me, but the provided extra OBC for the difference).

When you enter your booking number, it should change to the currency of your cruise and not be based on the location you are in. I want to gift someone $25 OBC, I should know what I am paying - not be shown one thing when I purchase and then be billed in another format. I believe that practice to actually be fraudulent.

That having been said, anyone who has dealt with Celebrity knows that their IT department is completely incompetent and this is probably not at the top of the list of things that require fixing!

Forget posting above - I'm a muppet :o

I was searching for 'Celebrity' in my inbox, but the confirmation (Tuesday 26/07/16) was sent by Royal Caribbean - duh!

Happy days that it's gone through okay though!

Not for us Brits !! I have just bought and got a rate of $1.44 to the GBP at home the rate is $1.27 win win in our case[emoji6][emoji6]

Does anyone know if this is refundable if there's any left at the end of the cruise?

Does anyone know if this is refundable if there's any left at the end of the cruise?

Yes they will put it back on your card

Bought OBC last week paying £17-30 for each $25, which at today's dismal rate of exchange is a great buy!

Well I bought some today too. Printed out my receipt £276.80 for $400.

Got an email later with a receipt for £300.80

Really not on. I will be calling customer services first thing tomorrow - that is outrageous to bill me for more than I have agreed to - I'm glad I printed out my receipt - I don't think that's legal is it?

Well I bought some today too. Printed out my receipt £276.80 for $400.

Got an email later with a receipt for £300.80

Really not on. I will be calling customer services first thing tomorrow - that is outrageous to bill me for more than I have agreed to - I'm glad I printed out my receipt - I don't think that's legal is it?

I called to buy as couldn't do it online, asked for email confrontation but it didn't arrive, called back and confirmed $425 for £294.10, cc statement just arrived and £294.10 debited, so hopefully $425 OBC sat on our account next week😀

Well I bought some today too. Printed out my receipt £276.80 for $400.

Got an email later with a receipt for £300.80

Really not on. I will be calling customer services first thing tomorrow - that is outrageous to bill me for more than I have agreed to - I'm glad I printed out my receipt - I don't think that's legal is it?

Did you get in touch with them? Same has happened to me:confused:

Did you get in touch with them? Same has happened to me:confused:

Same here, ordered on Thursday and expected to pay in pounds they have charged me £304.80 plus a transaction fee so I'm £37 down. Not happy!

I rang them and ordered over the phone. Paid for in pounds. Credit card shows the correct amount of pounds for the number of units I have bought.

My booking is through Celebrity UK.

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I've bought OBC for 2 of my upcoming cruises.

The first booking is through a US agent and I bought OBC through the UK website and my credit card has been charged in the current exchange rate for USD.

My second booking is through a UK agent and I also bought OBC through the UK website and was charged £17.30 for each $25 credit.

I expected this and I'm happy with what I have, even though the first purchase was more expensive in GBP.

I booked through my agent in the States, but when I ordered the OBC it came up as payment in pounds.I will ring them tomorrow and see what they have to say.

Today the payment comes up in dollars and the exchange rate as changed too!