using travel agent on board credit for gratuities

On the my last cruise aboard the carnival dream I had on board credit from my travel agent. I had planned to use this towards gratuities like I have done on other cruise lines. However to my surprise, the on board credit was not being used up unless I made a purchase. When I asked about this on board, I was told that you cannot use on board credit from travel agents towards gratuities. The agent seemed confused about this but ultimately this was the final answer I was given. I found this to be odd but was forced to make purchases just to avoid losing the credit. Is this a new carnival policy that anyone is aware of? Have you recently been able to use on board credit from travel agents towards gratuity? I don't want to be caught off guard for my next cruise. Thanks for the help.

From what I understand on board credits from TAs are now handled like group cruising perks, having multiple restrictions on their use. It's been this way since Carnival switched from the old FunDollars to offering Cruise Cash & issuing their own gift cards.

TA on board credit, at least the ones I am familiar with, are done via over payment. The TA after final payment is made sends a check to Carnival, essentially over paying the cruise. The balance gets put on the room sign and sail account as a negative. So you start with a negative balance and then once you spend past $0, the positive balance is your responsibility.

Of course I cannot speak for every TA out there, just the ones I am familiar with.

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Well I'm still confused! How do we know the difference between TA OBC and CCL OBC? And does that mean one can be used for tips but the other can't?

Well I'm still confused! How do we know the difference between TA OBC and CCL OBC? And does that mean one can be used for tips but the other can't?

I dont know. The TA obc I described is effectively cash, but it is not refundable. Ccl obc could be limited. Depends.

I was thinking about this and realized that maybe, the TA purchased the obc fun cash via the website. But instead of getting the cash version, they bot the drinks or photo version. Those are very limited. The TA (or anyone) can buy them and gift them to someone. It would be simpler for the TA than mailing in the check, or in larger agencies it maybe electronic funds transfer. That simpler process might make things more limited, or easier to make mistakes.

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Well I'm still confused! How do we know the difference between TA OBC and CCL OBC? And does that mean one can be used for tips but the other can't?

Don't know about Carnival specifically but some other cruise lines' invoices clearly state the source (cruise line/TA/travel consortium), type (refundable vs non refundable) and applicable purpose (gratuities/OBC/excursions/etc).

In all honesty, I've never heard of not being able to use non-refundable OBC (from any source) for the gratuities.

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I had never heard of this either so that is why I'm trying to get recent cruisers experiences. It seems like it's still confusing on what carnivals policy is on this.

It is also possible that the gratuity was pre-paid as part of the fare. Then it would not be able to be used for that. But then you get into a why would you want to question.

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We just used our for grats.

Our travel agent gives OBC based on the cruise fare we pay. Last 2 cruised we have gotten a card in our cabin stating that we had been gifted $x amount of credit, but the card did say we were to use them in the fun shops. We were allowed to use them for drinks & casino gambling- I think. But I think our OBC was refundable, so that might make a difference. You might ask your TA about using it for gratuities, maybe the TA could just pay your gratuities instead of giving you the OBC.

Thank you for all the advice. I will ask my agent and see what she says. Maybe it's refundable and that's why I couldn't use it. Just wish carnival was able to explain because they had no idea.

It's more likely it's a nonrefundable OBC, otherwise if you couldn't use it you would get the cash back when you go to guest services to close your S&S account (or by check if over $10 if you just leave the account to auto close).

When you book with a TA none of the cruise lines can help you with any questions concerning the terms of your fare contract or special perks the TA might be giving you.

This is why it is very important to make sure when you book a cruise outside of dealing direct with the cruise line that you make sure the TA office is certified by the CLIA, preferably with an agent that has a personal certification.

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So....after reading this thread I checked my OBC for our cruise this week and sure enough it was a "fun shop" credit. Can someone please advise if this can be used for the wine package or drinks at the bars? Or is this truly only good in the fun shops?

So....after reading this thread I checked my OBC for our cruise this week and sure enough it was a "fun shop" credit. Can someone please advise if this can be used for the wine package or drinks at the bars? Or is this truly only good in the fun shops?

I have seen OBC listed as refundable, as non-refundable, and recently as Cruise Cash (Bar, Photo, or plain), but have never as "Fun Shop" on "My Cruise" documents. You will have to contact your booking agent for clarification. If the agent is not a direct employee of Carnival (ie a PVP) then they might have to put you on a 3 way conference call when they contact Carnival that you can pose the question directly if they do not understand the distinction themselves..

Ours from last weeks cruise was listed as Cruise Cash that was non-refundable. It was applied to our gratuity.