Can OBC be used for gratuity?

Hi,

First time cruiser here, and am planning a trip on the Volendam - Round trip to Alaska from Vancouver.

I plan to book through Amex using my points and was told that I'll get a $150 OBC. I asked if this could be used to pay for some of the gratuity for the trip and they did not know.

Does anyone else know the answer to this? Sounds strange, but we don't drink alcohol or soft drinks and have no intention of spending much money on the ship! The meals that are included sound wonderful and we're not shoppers at all. (After spending a year purging my house of dusty nick-knacks, I'd like to bring home only photos and memories, NO souvenirs!!) I would really like to be able to spend most of that OBC on the gratuity if I can!

Yes. That's the main reason we love OBC. We have $250 OBC for upcoming trip on the Eurodam ($200 from a mistake from HAL) and that will leave us with $100 left to pay for gratuities (there are 4 of us). We are in the same boat about OBC. We don't spend much on the ship, so OBC makes the cruise even cheaper. When comparing prices to other cruises, we always look at the amount of OBC included, because that definitely can make a more expensive cruise cheaper than another cruise when we look at obc.

Yes. That's the main reason we love OBC. We have $250 OBC for upcoming trip on the Eurodam ($200 from a mistake from HAL) and that will leave us with $100 left to pay for gratuities (there are 4 of us). We are in the same boat about OBC. We don't spend much on the ship, so OBC makes the cruise even cheaper. When comparing prices to other cruises, we always look at the amount of OBC included, because that definitely can make a more expensive cruise cheaper than another cruise when we look at obc.

PERFECT! Thank you so much for a quick answer!

It is wonderful to get shipboard credit and be able to use it to help pay the Hotel Service Charge.

For future reference, if you should happen to not use all your OBC the balance will be refunded to your credit card.

For future reference, if you should happen to not use all your OBC the balance will be refunded to your credit card.

Doesn't that depend upon the source of the OBC? It's not clear that the OBC is from AMEX or from HAL.

For future reference, if you should happen to not use all your OBC the balance will be refunded to your credit card.

Doesn't that depend upon the source of the OBC? It's not clear that the OBC is from AMEX or from HAL.

Correct. If the source of the OBC is HAL- stockowner's OBC, for example, leftover will not be refunded. But, HAL is good about consuming the non-refundable OBC first. Discussed here frequently.

Just two weeks ago we used our OBC for the hotel service charge and ended up with a bill for only $29 for the 10 day cruise, so I know it can be done.

If we have a lot of refundable OBC coming to us, we request a check for it from our TA pre-cruise. Then if we use up our non-refundable, we use our Sapphire card to pay whatever balance might be on our account and get 3x cc points. If unused refundable credits were to go back on the card, we'd actually loose points (have had it happen). For us it's a win/win to get the check in advance. YMMV

Hey we-love!

Write me at my Cruise Critic ID (at) that yodel sound (dot) com. Put Volendam in the subject.

Have some things to suggest for your itinerary!

Doesn't that depend upon the source of the OBC? It's not clear that the OBC is from AMEX or from HAL.

Thanks for all of the feedback here! I just did call HAL as someone suggested, told them I'm thinking of booking through Amex and was offered a $150 OBC. They said ABSOLUTELY, yes, I can use that for gratuity! I was impressed with the phone service I got, as well!

Enjoy your cruise Montana!