OBC towards gratuities?

[Tapi]

Hello:

 

We will be sailing on our 1st Holland America cruise in a few short weeks. :D

 

We ended up with almost $500 of OBC and I'm wondering if HAL will allow us to apply some of the OBC towards gratuities.

 

Thanks for your input!

[Hflors]

Hello:

 

We will be sailing on our 1st Holland America cruise in a few short weeks. :D

 

We ended up with almost $500 of OBC and I'm wondering if HAL will allow us to apply some of the OBC towards gratuities.

 

Thanks for your input!

 

Yes I think that your obc can be part of your gratuities. If you look at your account day by day it will most likely show the $500.00 to begin with. Each day as the gratuities and your on board spending are charged to your account the $500.00 will decrease by that amount until it is zero and at that point HAL will start to charge the credit card you put up at the beginning of the cruise, for your on board spending. Hal doesn't charge the card each day with the exact amount spend they just put a "hold" for a certain amount and actually do the "charge" at the end of the cruise. It is important to review and save your last on board statement from your cruise and compare it with what is actually charged on your credit card. If the amount isn't correct (what hal charged) call right away.

 

Hope you have a great cruise.

[CruiserBruce]

Yes it will be used towards tips.

[luvteaching]

Yes, the Hotel Service Charge is applied to your OBC. The print-out you get at the end of the cruise will show your OBC and then all the charges will go against that until it runs out (if it does). Hope this helps!

[adrift@sea]

Hello:

 

We will be sailing on our 1st Holland America cruise in a few short weeks. :D

 

We ended up with almost $500 of OBC and I'm wondering if HAL will allow us to apply some of the OBC towards gratuities.

 

Thanks for your input!

 

Yes, you can apply the OBC towards gratuities. Be sure to bring with you a copy of document stating exactly how much OBC you have been issued. A day or two into the cruise, visit the Front Office to be sure that the OBC has been applied to your OB account. If the credit has not been applied or the amount is incorrect this will allow the FO to contact Seattle to rectify this. Most of the time the credit is there but every once in a while it takes a few days to catch up with you on board.

[sail7seas]

Yes. Once the credit goes on your account, any charges can be offset by that credit.

[Tapi]

Thanks for the replies. I was planning on pre-paying tips, but I'll just use OBC instead. :)

[sail7seas]

Thanks for the replies. I was planning on pre-paying tips, but I'll just use OBC instead. :)

 

 

Don't prepay your tips.

Depending upon the source, some unused OBC could be paid to you in cash but some would be lost if you don't use it. Don't prepay anything that can wait until you are on the ship to pay.

 

[Krazy Kruizers]

We always use our Shipboard Credit to offset the Hotel Service Charge.

About day 2 or 3, ask for a copy of your account to make certain that you have received all the shipboard credit that is due you.

[suec12]

I will have a stockholder OBC and I thought I read that it could NOT be used for gratuities - so is there a difference between other OBC's and the stockholder's? seems a bit strange.

[PatsyAnne]

I will have a stockholder OBC and I thought I read that it could NOT be used for gratuities - so is there a difference between other OBC's and the stockholder's? seems a bit strange.

Yes and yes.

[RuthC]

I will have a stockholder OBC and I thought I read that it could NOT be used for gratuities - so is there a difference between other OBC's and the stockholder's? seems a bit strange.

Sometimes how things are supposed to happen, and how they do happen, just aren't in synch.

The reality is that your on-board credits will be given to you at the beginning of your account. The daily charges will be subtracted from that, and when you have no credit left, the charges will accumulate.

 

That's just how the bookkeeping works.

[Linda&Vern]

Sometimes how things are supposed to happen, and how they do happen, just aren't in synch.

 

The reality is that your on-board credits will be given to you at the beginning of your account. The daily charges will be subtracted from that, and when you have no credit left, the charges will accumulate. That's just how the bookkeeping works.

Good explanation Ruth! The first time we had Stockholder OBC's I went to the front desk and asked exactly how those credits would be kept apart from several other OBC's we had. I remember clearly that the staff smiled and said ;) "there is no way we could keep all that apart. Your OBC's will be added together and posted to your account. Your expenses will be deducted. Very easy."