cruisehabits Posted September 19, 2018 #1 Share Posted September 19, 2018 Hello all! I am considering a 5 night sailing on Celebrity Infinity and two perks are offered as part of booking. My first choice would be the classic drink package for two. The three remaining choices are internet, gratuities or $150 each ($300) total on board spending. Here’s my question: Can I select the on board spending totaling $300 for the 5 night cruise and then while I am on the ship can I pay the $145 we would owe for gratuities from the $300 on board credit?......which will essentially leave me with $155 to spend on board OR is it not possible to pay for the gratuities with the on board credit they give us? Thank you in advance for your responses! Safe travels to all! [emoji4] Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
39august Posted September 19, 2018 #2 Share Posted September 19, 2018 Anything that is charged to your account can be paid with OBC. The nonrefundable ($300 as a perk) will be charged first, and when that is gone, anything else will be owed on your account. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dancing Shoes Posted September 19, 2018 #3 Share Posted September 19, 2018 If you don't want the perks, the fare is often less expensive. This my experience when doing some mock bookings for an upcoming cruise. They make it sound like I was getting the perks for free.....not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrk2cruise Posted September 19, 2018 #4 Share Posted September 19, 2018 To answer your question directly yes the daily gratuities will be subtracted from the $300 of OBC you have leaving the remainder to offset any other charges. Technically the $300 is a credit to your onboard account and the daily gratuities are billed to your account daily. The first $300 charged to your account will be offset by the OBC and any remainder will be due at the end of the cruise. The OBC perk is use it or lose it so if you have credit remaining at the end of the cruise it is just lost. In addition the $300 could be used pre-cruise to book things via the cruise planner on the web. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marelaine Posted September 19, 2018 #5 Share Posted September 19, 2018 You can use your OBC for gratuities. Did you know you can use OBC to book excursions, specialty dining, internet before your cruise? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tallnthensome Posted September 19, 2018 #6 Share Posted September 19, 2018 From mock bookings there is no value in picking the on board spending and the gratuities perks. It's not free and the case of our cruise it as actually more expensive to go better or best then to simply pay later. The whole thing, besides the classic drink package, was ridiculously stupid and more of a scam than anything else. Imagine if I offered you $300 OBC and paid grats as a special for only $60 more than it would be to pay on board! That's what a joke it was. I suggest you mock book with and without the "deals" to see if your cruise "deal" was a ripoff like ours booked on the silhouette was for 2020. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lourdest Posted September 20, 2018 #7 Share Posted September 20, 2018 We are doing a 4 day cruise on the Infinity in Nov and picked the 2 perks, classic beverage and 300 OBC. When I compared the price of the cruise without the perks (senior rate) and the price with the 2 perks, it was a no brainer. We get the beverage package which works for us (drinks, water, coffee, beer) and the $300 to pay for the gratuities, shore excursion in the Bahamas and left over OBC to eat in a speciality dinner. I always do a spreadsheet and compare the price of the cruise with no perks and with the perks they are offering. On these short cruises it seems that picking the beverage package (if that is important to you) and OBC are the best value. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisehabits Posted September 20, 2018 Author #8 Share Posted September 20, 2018 Thank you all for your responses. A lot of insight was provided and I’ll be sure to weigh my options before making a final decision. Thank you all again! Safe travels to all! [emoji4] Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davekathy Posted September 20, 2018 #9 Share Posted September 20, 2018 We'd go with the BP and the OBC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sr4mjc Posted September 20, 2018 #10 Share Posted September 20, 2018 How do I get the no perks price to show? If I choose two perks or click the 'No Thanks' box, the total price is the same. Pricing Nov 14, 2019 Silhouette. No suite, just a veranda, like a 1C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NantahalaCruiser Posted September 20, 2018 #11 Share Posted September 20, 2018 How do I get the no perks price to show? If I choose two perks or click the 'No Thanks' box, the total price is the same. Pricing Nov 14, 2019 Silhouette. No suite, just a veranda, like a 1C. Quite often, the Senior Rate with Zero Perks is not available - especially for bookings a year in advance or more. But for bookings after final payment date they are often available. To find the Senior Rate with Zero Perks, if it is available, you first have to click on "SEE IF YOU QUALIFY FOR OFFERS" on the web-page where you specify the number of adults and children; after clicking you will be taken to a page where there is a check box for "Senior (age 55+)". After clicking on the Senior box, then click on Select and Continue and you will be taken to the standard page where you select your cabin choice. If the Senior, Zero Perk rate is available for your cruise at the time of the mock booking, you will see that the Go Big or Go Better current offer is no longer complementary - and if you click on "no thank you" instead of ADD TO STATEROOM, the final price will be lower than if you had made the mock booking without originally clicking on the Senior Box. If the Senior, Zero Perk fare is not available for your cruise at the time of the mock booking, you will see that the Go Big or Go Better current offer is complementary - and the price will be the same regardless of whether you click on "no thank you" or ADD TO STATEROOM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHEZMARYLOU Posted September 20, 2018 #12 Share Posted September 20, 2018 When you check for senior rates, also check for a resident rate. Sometimes there is no senior rate but there is a rate for residents of certain states. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miched Posted September 20, 2018 #13 Share Posted September 20, 2018 How do I get the no perks price to show? If I choose two perks or click the 'No Thanks' box, the total price is the same. Pricing Nov 14, 2019 Silhouette. No suite, just a veranda, like a 1C. If it is the promo at the time it will always be part of the cruise fare that wouldn’t allow it to be eliminated becasue it was included “at no extra charge 🙄”. It is a promo. 🤗 As time goes on the fare may increase due to supply and demand, after final payment there may be a price reduction in the form of exciting deals that many times are still more than what the initial fares were but now doesn’t have the perks. Sometimes there will then be a option to include the perks for more but now it really high. An example is the fares for Oct thru Nov 2018 for the Inifinity. If you look up that cruise you can see how the price is played with I booked AQ a year ago for $1022 total for two passengers that included 2 perks now AQ is $999 pp. a suite is $1099 pp but comes with no perks, include all perks and it jumps to $1429. The cruise following that one has AQ at $339 pp with no perks. Same exact cruise just 4 days later. Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travelexpert35 Posted September 23, 2018 #14 Share Posted September 23, 2018 We too are on the Infinity for 5nts in Nov and we chose the Bev Pkg and Tips for our perks. After reading your posts we called Celebrity and changed to the $300 OBC instead of the tips perk. Well worth it....thanks for the heads up on this.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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