Do we loose OBC if not used?

[dandee2]

Do we loose OBC if not used or do we get credit on our CC. We got our OBC from our TA. Are they good for the casino?

 

Thanks

[alreadypacked]

There are threads on this topic regarding how one can cash out OBC--regardless of the source--in the casino (for use as gambling money or cash to pocket as you see fit).

 

Unfortunately, the search feature of cc has been down...

 

I would keep checking back or keep an eye out for threads concerning this topic--especially threads from those who gamble on the ships.

[dandee2]

Thanks;)

[vickykay]

OBC given by your TA is refundable back to your credit card ( just received a credit from Celebrity from our recent Eclispe cruise). OBC from Celebrity is not refundable. Your OBCs appear on your account a few days into your sailing listed as OBCR or OBCN.

[robtulipe]

OBC from your TA is refundable and you can get it in cash from the service desk on the last evening. Being Cdn if you get it refunded to your credit card you'll lose out with the exchange and service fee if it is converted to $CAD for that currency credit card. There is a 5% service fee if you draw cash in the casino from your onboard account even if you have a credit in it so I only do this for left over non-refundable OBC such as you receive from X.

Edited February 26, 2014 by robtulipe

[MisterBill99]

Unfortunately, the search feature of cc has been down...

If you just search in Google, it will find Cruise Critic threads. You can tell it specifically to search from CC as well.

 

OBC given by your TA is refundable back to your credit card ( just received a credit from Celebrity from our recent Eclispe cruise). OBC from Celebrity is not refundable. Your OBCs appear on your account a few days into your sailing listed as OBCR or OBCN.

My OBC was visible on my account on the first day of our recent cruise.

Edited February 26, 2014 by MisterBill99

[SrTrPro]

I would assume (I know, I know) that charges for drinks (if not on beverage plan) and the automatic gratuity charged at the end of the cruise would or should eat up all of ones OBC.

 

Am I wrong?

 

Bruce

[gimletgal]

I would assume (I know, I know) that charges for drinks (if not on beverage plan) and the automatic gratuity charged at the end of the cruise would or should eat up all of ones OBC.

 

Am I wrong?

 

Bruce

 

Quite possible, but would depend on how much OBC you have. Some people have way more than what covers drinks and gratuities. (Especially if they don't drink!) :)

[SrTrPro]

Thanks gimletgal - in our case our OBC is quite small - $140.

 

Bruce

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

As others have stated, OBC from your TA is refundable. I just got off the Century and the refund has already been posted to my AmEx. I had other non-refundable OBC from Celebrity which was used first.

[MisterBill99]

Quite possible, but would depend on how much OBC you have. Some people have way more than what covers drinks and gratuities. (Especially if they don't drink!) :)

Or if they've done Select Dining and had to pre-pay gratuities, or have the free drink package with the 123go promo.

 

If you have a lot of OBC that will be non-refundable and are concerned about using it, you should not sign up for Select Dining in advance so you don't have to pay gratuities before the cruise. You can always switch once you're on board.

 

We're going to have $1000 OBC across 2 cabins on our upcoming cruise. It should be split 50/50 between refundable and non-refundable. I figure tips for 4 people and one dinner at Qsine and incidental shopping on board will eat the $500. One cabin has the free drink package and the other is Elite so gets free morning and evening drinks, so I don't expect any beverage charges (we're not big drinkers to begin with).

[Andym]

If you have any non refundable left , we went to the Casino and drew the money out there. There is a small deduction, but better than losing it all.

[TeaBag]

Dandee2, get a printout of your account from Guest Relations a few days before the end of the cruise. Your OBC's will be on there as OBR if it is refundable on your credit card or OBN if it is nonrefundable. Celebrity is kind enough to use the non refundable credits first when charges are made to your account. If you object to the 5% charge at the casino to cash out the OBN, you can always get something at the shops, eat at Bistro etc. We never lose an OBC no matter how it is designated.

[MisterBill99]

Dandee2, get a printout of your account from Guest Relations a few days before the end of the cruise. Your OBC's will be on there as OBR if it is refundable on your credit card or OBN if it is nonrefundable.

The same information is available on your television by reviewing your account. The OBC should be there by the second day of your cruise.

Edited March 2, 2014 by MisterBill99

[kevinyork]

We have fair bit of OBC from a T/A promotion on each of our cruises this year. Reading this thread has neen very helpful as we already have the classic drinks package and tips thrown in.

 

So just to confirm, for any unused OBC from the T/A, we can;

 

a). Draw it out as cash on the last evening from the Pursars desk ;

 

b). Draw it out as cash at the casino at any time they are open or

 

c). Let Celebrity automatically refund any unused OBC to our credit card (subject to exchange rates and cc service fees).

 

 

I always believed that OBC from and agent wouldnt actually cost that agent the full face value, e.g. $100 of OBC might cost the agent $75 but the above would suggest this isnt the case.

 

 

 

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[robtulipe]

We have fair bit of OBC from a T/A promotion on each of our cruises this year. Reading this thread has neen very helpful as we already have the classic drinks package and tips thrown in.

 

So just to confirm, for any unused OBC from the T/A, we can;

a). Draw it out as cash on the last evening from the Pursars desk

b). Draw it out as cash at the casino at any time they are open or

c). Let Celebrity automatically refund any unused OBC to our credit card (subject to exchange rates and cc service fees).

I always believed that OBC from and agent wouldnt actually cost that agent the full face value, e.g. $100 of OBC might cost the agent $75 but the above would suggest this isnt the case. correct

 

Yes on all three options for TA provided OBC which should be refundable with the code OBN on your onboard account and not OBN which is the non-refundable from X. Note that there a a 5% service fee for the casino option b) so $100 in cash obtainedthere will be charged $105 to your onboard account. The shot below is from my final statement for the X Century cruise we returned from Sunday. The first $100, coded OBR, came from our TA and the second, coded OBN, was from a X promotion.

 

Edited March 2, 2014 by robtulipe

[Lsimon]

I would assume (I know, I know) that charges for drinks (if not on beverage plan) and the automatic gratuity charged at the end of the cruise would or should eat up all of ones OBC.

 

Am I wrong?

 

Bruce

 

Personally, I can't ever imagine not easily using all of our OBC. We've always had pretty good sized bills by the end of the cruise even if we start out with a good amount of OBC. Of course we usually buy our wine and drinks on board and haven't had a prepaid beverage package for these. Just the same I can think of lots of fun ways to use up a couple hundred dollars of leftover OBC should the need ever arise to use it or lose it!

 

But with that said, there are a lot of posts here from people concerned about not being able to use their OBC and others who have cruised and didn't use it all. So there are a lot of cruisers who either are a lot thriftier than us or who prepay a much larger portion of the expenses. So the question is relevant for some.

[robtulipe]

I would assume (I know, I know) that charges for drinks (if not on beverage plan) and the automatic gratuity charged at the end of the cruise would or should eat up all of ones OBC.

 

Am I wrong?

 

Bruce

If one wants Select (anytime) Dining you must prepay your gratuities so that onboard option of using OBC is no longer available to you and Capt's Club Elite and higher members have the opportunity for complimentary drinks, both alcoholic and non at the Evening Cocktail hour and daily coffee house style breakfast in the Capt's Club Lounge which for us reduces greatly this expense.

Edited March 2, 2014 by robtulipe

[kevinyork]

Yes on all three options for TA provided OBC which should be refundable with the code OBN on your onboard account and not OBN which is the non-refundable from X. Note that there a a 5% service fee for the casino option b) so $100 in cash obtainedthere will be charged $105 to your onboard account. The shot below is from my final statement for the X Century cruise we returned from Sunday. The first $100, coded OBR, came from our TA and the second, coded OBN, was from a X promotion.

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you. We have $300 on our May cruise and $400 on our Oct cruise both from our Travel Agent. As we have the free classic drinks and tips on the first cruise and free premium drinks and tips on the second then beside a speciality restaurant visit we dont envisage using our OBC.

 

 

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[cle-guy]

How is OBC used? Do they automatically first use up the balance in the non refundable OBC then start using the refundable OBC? Or is it vice-versa?

 

If there are 2 in a cabin, does the OBC get split between the 2 names and folios equally, or is it only on a single folio or do both occupants have access to the OBC to use until it's gone?

[grandgeezer]

How is OBC used? Do they automatically first use up the balance in the non refundable OBC then start using the refundable OBC? Or is it vice-versa?

 

If there are 2 in a cabin, does the OBC get split between the 2 names and folios equally, or is it only on a single folio or do both occupants have access to the OBC to use until it's gone?

 

From my experience, the nonrefundable obc is always used first.

An obc is per cabin, not to individuals. If each person in the cabin is paying their incidentals seperately, I would guess they would split it 50-50.

[MisterBill99]

If one wants Select (anytime) Dining you must prepay your gratuities so that onboard option of using OBC is no longer available to you and Capt's Club Elite and higher members have the opportunity for complimentary drinks, both alcoholic and non at the Evening Cocktail hour and daily coffee house style breakfast in the Capt's Club Lounge which for us reduces greatly this expense.

If you're going to have non-refundable OBC and want to do Select dining (and have a choice of a seating when you book) you're better off selecting a seating and then switching to Select once you're on board. That way you can use your OBC to pay the gratuities rather than prepaying them with real money.

 

I agree with you on the rest. We rarely drink while on board, but now that we'll be Elite on the next cruise, we will take advantage of the free drinks.

Edited March 2, 2014 by MisterBill99

[ARIES59]

I would assume (I know, I know) that charges for drinks (if not on beverage plan) and the automatic gratuity charged at the end of the cruise would or should eat up all of ones OBC.

 

Am I wrong?

 

Bruce

 

We have select dining and our gratuities are prepaid. Are there any other daily gratuities charged on your account? We have $300 OBC and are hoping to put it towards drinks (we are not big drinkers) Internet pkg, maybe speciality dining, massage, photos.

Any other suggestions on what else we can put it towards that's if we have any left.

[MisterBill99]

We have select dining and our gratuities are prepaid. Are there any other daily gratuities charged on your account? We have $300 OBC and are hoping to put it towards drinks (we are not big drinkers) Internet pkg, maybe speciality dining, massage, photos.

Any other suggestions on what else we can put it towards that's if we have any left.

Is it refundable OBC? If so, then you don't really have anything to worry about. If not, unless you've already made your final payment, why not switch from Select dining and then switch back on-board so you can pay your tips there? Other ways to spend the OBC is at the on-board shops or stuff like DVD's from the guest performers.

[gimletgal]

How is OBC used? Do they automatically first use up the balance in the non refundable OBC then start using the refundable OBC? Or is it vice-versa?

 

If there are 2 in a cabin, does the OBC get split between the 2 names and folios equally, or is it only on a single folio or do both occupants have access to the OBC to use until it's gone?

 

If you have 2 in a cabin and wish to have the OBC "split" between the 2 names, whoevers name appears with the OBC will need to go down to Guest Relations and request that the OBC be split with the other person in your cabin. It does not happen automatically. Easy enough to do!