Can you use OBC to pay gratuities?

[agabbymama]

Stop the bickering. Who cares what they call it. It still says if you aren't happy, you can go to the desk and have it removed. We all know it is what used to be called a tip. Now they call it fancy names and try to get people to believe they MUST pay it because so many people stiffed the staff on the last night of the cruise when paid directly. It's even called DSC, so what does the D stand for, if not Discretionary???

 

On the Star, I had purchased $1200 OBC knowing excursions, photos, drinks, dinner, etc. I also had $50 pp OBC from NCL. At the end of the cruise, I still had $200 of my OBC left and $100 NCL OBC. I tried to get it at the credit desk, but was told it was NCL policy to mail a check to my home address. So I went to the casino and paid the 3% to get my $200, but the cashier said she couldn't give me the NCL $100, so I went to the watch shop and bought a new watch. I left the ship with a credit still on the account of something like 32 cents. I never did receive those pennies.

 

Others have posted they received unspent REFUNDABLE OBC the last morning in cash, but that wasn't my experience.

 

Another tidbit of information. I had the amenities page with me to show my $1200 OBC purchase, but the agent & the agent's supervisor did not have access to those purchases, so still insisted on a credit card to open my on-board account. Upon entering our cabin, the vouchers were on the bed, they stated to sign & return to the desk and they would be credited to my on-board account. The next day they were there. Others have posted they had no problem with their pre-purchased OBC being on their account at check-in. Not sure if it is port dependent or just whoever is doing the check-in. But I was told either give them a credit card or go to the credit desk and deposit $1000. So I won't ever purchase OBC again.

 

 

Just goes to show, there is no hard and fast rule regarding anything.

Happy travels all.

[mianmike]

The ".eu" in that link means it's from NCL's European site, not its US site.

 

I went to my own "My NCL" page for my current booking and did see the word "discretionary" in the place you stated. As I stated it isn't used in the Guest Ticket Contract, and in the end that is the important document.

 

I don't know what to tell you. I'm not making this up. I have no dog in this fight.

 

You really don't need to be very computer savvy to find it. All you need to do is go to MyNCL, then Vacation Summary, then go down to "Pre-Pay Service Charges," click on the "+" symbol and you'll see "Add Prepaid Service Charges Why is there a service charge?" Hover your mouse over: "Why is there a service charge" and you'll see the quote. Without coming over to your house to show you how to find it, I don't know how I can prove it's right there on NCL's website.

[swedish weave]

I've used it several times to obtain cash in the casino...most recently in October. Do you have any evidence of a change in policy since October?

 

It was clearly spelled out in a letter I received in my cabin on the Getaway a couple of weeks ago. I had OBC left and the letter informed me of it and that it could not be used for the service charge or the casino.

Edited February 28, 2014 by swedish weave

[heakja]

It was clearly spelled out in a letter I received in my cabin on the Getaway a couple of weeks ago. I had OBC left and the letter informed me of it and that it could not be used for the service charge or the casino.

 

Ouch. This change I did not like.

[njhorseman]

I don't know what to tell you. I'm not making this up. I have no dog in this fight.

 

You really don't need to be very computer savvy to find it. All you need to do is go to MyNCL, then Vacation Summary, then go down to "Pre-Pay Service Charges," click on the "+" symbol and you'll see "Add Prepaid Service Charges Why is there a service charge?" Hover your mouse over: "Why is there a service charge" and you'll see the quote. Without coming over to your house to show you how to find it, I don't know how I can prove it's right there on NCL's website.

 

You didn't understand what I wrote. I confirmed that I also had found the wording on my own "MY NCL" page for my current booking. I also pointed out that the word "discretionary" is not used in the guest ticket contract, which is really the important place...very simply because it's the actual contract that binds both parties, you and the cruise line.

 

The ".eu" link you gave isn't valid for US passengers...it's NCL's European site and there are differences in contracts and procedures for European passengers due to different laws.

Edited February 28, 2014 by njhorseman

[njhorseman]

It was clearly spelled out in a letter I received in my cabin on the Getaway a couple of weeks ago. I had OBC left and the letter informed me of it and that it could not be used for the service charge or the casino.

 

I'm not too happy about that change!

[MRBOOKEND]

Does anybody need me to call my brother who has a LLM in contract law. He's retired and doesn't do much so I am always trying to find him things to do for me?

[vols_159]

Since when is it 14 dollars?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[njhorseman]

Since when is it 14 dollars?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

It isn't. The website has a long-standing glitch that causes it to calculate the number of days on your cruise improperly, which then affects the service charge daily rate that it quotes. For example I'm taking a 9 night cruise, but the My NCL page says my cruise is 8 days and quotes a rate of $13.50 per day if I wanted to prepay my service charge rather than the correct rate of $12 per day for 9 days.

[mianmike]

You didn't understand what I wrote. I confirmed that I also had found the wording on my own "MY NCL" page for my current booking. I also pointed out that the word "discretionary" is not used in the guest ticket contract, which is really the important place...very simply because it's the actual contract that binds both parties, you and the cruise line.

 

The ".eu" link you gave isn't valid for US passengers...it's NCL's European site and there are differences in contracts and procedures for European passengers due to different laws.

 

My bad. I clearly misread your response. My apologies.

 

I guess NCL forgot to add the word "discretionary" to their guest contract which is curious given they put it in their terms and conditions.

 

http://www.ncl.com/nclweb/cruiser/cmsPagesPopup.html?pageId=KidsSailAlaskaTerms

[njhorseman]

My bad. I clearly misread your response. My apologies.

 

I guess NCL forgot to add the word "discretionary" to their guest contract which is curious given they put it in their terms and conditions.

 

http://www.ncl.com/nclweb/cruiser/cmsPagesPopup.html?pageId=KidsSailAlaskaTerms

 

Those are terms and conditions for a specific Alaska cruise promotion that was in effect for a couple of days last year. not something general.

 

The wording of the Guest Ticket Contract is what matters. It clear just calls it a service charge, but does say it can be adjusted at your discretion. Really all that's going on here with the wording is people arguing over how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. All that needs to be known is it's called a service charge and you can adjust it.

[tallyho8]

I just got off the Jewel today. Going on I had $175 promotional OBC and I bought the Future Cruise Certificate that gave me an additional $100 OBC which if you use it in the casino they give you $125 casino credit instead of the $100 OBC.

 

Since I do not gamble much and had ordered a bar set-up to keep my bar bill down, I was afraid I would wind up with some unused OBC so I went down to the casino and got $100 cash by applying a $100 charge to my account plus a $3 fee. I hated paying the $3 fee so I tried to get it back at the poker machine. I put in $20 and got it up to $30 and cashed in so that I wound up winning $7 instead of losing the $3 fee.

 

When I got my statement the last night I discovered that I did not need to remove the $100 from my OBC because the $250 I paid for the Future Cruise certificate came out of my OBC leaving me owing them money.

 

With all the things you can use your OBC for such as drinks, food, gifts and souvenirs, bingo, etc., I think someone would have to have an awful lot of OBC to be able to walk off the ship with any remaining OBC left behind.