Is it necessary to prepay a thermal spa pass?

We are very interested in using the thermalossophy (?) pass on our 18-day cruise. I have considered pre-paying to insure that we can get a pass. But, we will have a LOT of onboard credit, plus our daily service charge is included. How difficult is it to get some OBC returned to our credit card? If I prepay the spa pass, I know we will have OBC credit which we will not use.

Do the spa passes tend to to be sold out before the cruise begins?

Thermal Suite passes do not tend to be sold out before the cruise, and on many cruise they don't sell out even during the cruise. The price is usually the cheapest on embarkation day, maybe also the first full cruise day, then they usually go up. I'd suggest going to the spa as soon as you board and buying it then and your OBC will be cove it or help cover it.

If you decide to pre-purchase passes, and find you have OBC leftover at the end of the cruise, it might be refundable, in which case it is easy to get it credited to your credit card at the end of the cruise. But not all OBC is refundable: usually, not always, OBC from a TA is "use it or lose it" but OBC from HAL is refundable. If you explain here what the sources of your OBC are, people here can tell you what their experiences have been. m--

What ship are you on?

The thermo pools are not the same.

The R and S class ships have just a small whirlpool -- like you see beside the pools.

The Vista, Signature and Pinnacle class ships have the larger thermo pool.

I have no idea what the Prinsendam has.

But not all OBC is refundable: usually, not always, OBC from a TA is "use it or lose it" but OBC from HAL is refundable.

The other way around. Usually OBC from a TA can be refunded, while HAL (for example CCL stock, 'please forgive us for what happened before', FCD/ZPM) OBC is not.

The other way around. Usually OBC from a TA can be refunded, while HAL (for example CCL stock, 'please forgive us for what happened before', FCD/ZPM) OBC is not.

OH Gosh! I know I'm dyslexic! But how did I get that backwards...

Thanks for setting it straight Ruth, and my apologies. :o:o:o

m--

We will be on the Westerdam. $400 OBC is for signing up for a cruise while on board another cruise. $250 is for stock ownership, $75 is TA. Just wondering how they would determine which OBC is used first, and which hasn't been used. Think the safe thing is to wait to get the spa pass when on board, but just to know that I will end up owing money at the end of the cruise. However, if I prepay $600, I might not use all of the OBC which I am supposed to receive.

We will be on the Westerdam. $400 OBC is for signing up for a cruise while on board another cruise. $250 is for stock ownership, $75 is TA. Just wondering how they would determine which OBC is used first, and which hasn't been used.

They just need to know how much is refundable, in your case $75. If you have $75 or less remaining, then that's the amount you are eligible to have refunded.

However, since you want to book the Thermal Suite, and the odds of that being booked out before you board are remote at best, then wait, and you will use a lot of OBC for it.