Beware OBC !

i am sure this has been discussed before, but just be aware the OBCs given by NCL are not good for daily service gratuities. Also if you were given obc by you TA and you do not use them on ship products, you will lose them. Check you bill daily and SPEND all that is showing. They WILL NOT go back on your credit card. Buy anything in the shops to use them up, or lose them.

I hear your frustration... but yes, non-refundable OBC that is given as a perk cannot be used for the daily s.c. And like most perks - if you don’t use it you lose it!

Easy enough to use them...drinks, sodas, excursions, spa treatments, specialty restaurants, shops, game room for the kids....etc.

I believe there was some debate here as to whether or not you can cash out at the casino.

i am sure this has been discussed before, but just be aware the OBCs given by NCL are not good for daily service gratuities.....

Discussed before? New threads every week.

but thanks for sharing for new folks

I had a substantial amount of OBC some from NCL and some from my TA. Some of it didn't show up on my account until almost 2nd day of boarding. From what I am reading each person seems different but what I experienced it seemed they took from my TA and NCL OBC and I was able to use both for my casino playing .

I use it to play bingo. Because it's ridiculously expensive and it's an easy way to use up obc.

Look at your folio. It will show how much you have that is NON-refundable. That will be used first for most things on board but, as has been said, not for the DSC. Keep looking to make sure it is decreasing.

For a newbie to NCL what is OBC?

For a newbie to NCL what is OBC?

OBC refers to On Board Credit. Some people receive OBC as a benefit from the travel agent or directly from NCL to spend on board.

Thank you

i am sure this has been discussed before, but just be aware the OBCs given by NCL are not good for daily service gratuities. Also if you were given obc by you TA and you do not use them on ship products, you will lose them. Check you bill daily and SPEND all that is showing. They WILL NOT go back on your credit card. Buy anything in the shops to use them up, or lose them.

going to add or clarify some of what you are saying. You are right about OBCs given by NCL not being able to be used for gratuities and it makes good sense. As for OBC given my your TA, no, of course you can not turn around and get credit on your credit card, but you do not have to use them in the gift shop. If it is a refundable credit, given as a gift you can use it anywhere on the ship for anything, not just in the gift shop. We have always used part of our credit in the casino and for specialty dining if we don't have the dinning package and only have our 2 platinum meals. There are lots of places to use OBC.

going to add or clarify some of what you are saying. You are right about OBCs given by NCL not being able to be used for gratuities and it makes good sense. As for OBC given my your TA, no, of course you can not turn around and get credit on your credit card, but you do not have to use them in the gift shop. If it is a refundable credit, given as a gift you can use it anywhere on the ship for anything, not just in the gift shop.

Sorry if this is redundant but can you use the OBC from a TA for DSC? I know it's probably been answered over and over but I don't remember seeing it.

Sorry if this is redundant but can you use the OBC from a TA for DSC? I know it's probably been answered over and over but I don't remember seeing it.

Depends on if it's refundable or not. If it's non-refundable OBC, originally came from NCL, then it cannot be used for DSC. Ask your TA what kind it is.

the easy way to remember the difference between refundable and non refundable obc is this:

if the OBC was purchased by you, or the person gifting it to you, it is refundable

if it was given as a perk by NCL or you TA, it is not refundable. Make sure you ask the TA how they process the OBC

Depends on if it's refundable or not. If it's non-refundable OBC, originally came from NCL, then it cannot be used for DSC. Ask your TA what kind it is.[/

 

Thank you, it's refundable from the TA.

We had a substantial OBC on our last cruise so we used it to purchase Cruise Next certificates.

Discussed before? New threads every week.

 

but thanks for sharing for new folks

There's no stickied thread of NCL tips, so yes, new folks greatly appreciate the new repeat threads.

The fact that the non-refundable ones can't be used towards gratuities was shocking and this tip was greatly appreciated by me.

I use it to play bingo. Because it's ridiculously expensive and it's an easy way to use up obc.

How much does bingo cost?

Sorry if this is redundant but can you use the OBC from a TA for DSC? I know it's probably been answered over and over but I don't remember seeing it.

OBCs from a TA are normally what is referred as refundable. You can check you account to learn if it is or not. If it is part of a group perk where your TA has set aside X numbers of cabins, no. That is just like being given an OBC as a perk from NCL. If it is a "thank you for booking with me" OBC yes.

There's no stickied thread of NCL tips, so yes, new folks greatly appreciate the new repeat threads.

 

The fact that the non-refundable ones can't be used towards gratuities was shocking and this tip was greatly appreciated by me.

Yes, even though the subject comes up every so often, I think, for new cruisers it is important for them to know where the OBC can be used. If I had any objection to the OP reminding us of this it would be, she didn't seem to realize there are places to spend the credit other than in shops for instance. Op, yes, thank you for the forewarning.

the easy way to remember the difference between refundable and non refundable obc is this:

if the OBC was purchased by you, or the person gifting it to you, it is refundable

if it was given as a perk by NCL or you TA, it is not refundable. Make sure you ask the TA how they process the OBC

OBC from my TA has always been refundable.

Whatever Refundable OBC I have left has always been returned to me via check within 6 weeks.

It is important to keep track of any OBC entitled to you and that it is applied to your account. There have been a few occasions where I have had to request monies owed me by both NCL, TA and Shareholder.

Additionally know that if you have WiFi packages it isn’t just there, you have to log in for it by going to http://www.login.com.

Look at your folio. It will show how much you have that is NON-refundable. That will be used first for most things on board but, as has been said, not for the DSC. Keep looking to make sure it is decreasing.

Believe this or not, we had 925.00 obc and we still had to pay 315.00 to Not lose them. This was on the Pearl, and because of the timing of their acct. dept. actually crediting our acct. there was no way to track what was being taken from either non ref. Or refundable. Not a new cruiser, but not a big NCL cruiser, so it took me a while to get the gist of what was happening. Also it took calling TA from the ship to actually get the promised invoiced obcs from ncl. Then at the end,had to get the concierge to navigate the bill and talk directly to accounting. The biggest deal, was that with all the delayed action from the ship acct. dept. they started actually charging our credit card daily for DSC only to have to re credit it in the end. A major mess. Was told later that quite a few people involved were new. We came away very flustered. Other than this business we had a wonderful 50 anniversary, on a great ship, wonderful crew and delicious food. Superb attention to our celebration and would like to commend all involved. This whole post was started, only to say that do not wait till the bitter end to really read the bill. One other point, is that this was a b2b which further confused the situation. Lessons were learned this cruise, just passing it along.

How much does bingo cost?

The games usually start at around $29.00 and go up depending on the number of cards you want to play. There was a day they had advertised $20.00 bingo but I don't know how many cards a player received.

How much does bingo cost?

$39/$49/$59 depends on what package you choose. They play 3 games, you get tickets towards the last day's bingo games where they pick a winner for a cruise or cruise credit from those tickets. They have a rollover cover all that if you win before they pick 47 numbers, it's usually a few thousand dollars. But normal wins for other games is anywhere from say $100 to maybe $500 for the full cover card game picked after the 47 numbers.

Sometimes they have a $20 card, but that's just one tiny card for one game.