On board credit

[jonsmum]

We are hoping to book a cruise for 2015 during our upcoming Med cruise this Sept. If we are offered an OBC as part of the 'deal' can this be used for/towards purchasing excursions in advance, or is it just for things that you actually buy whilst on your cruise?

Thanks

[Phxazzcruisers]

You cannot use an OBC to purchase excursions in advance. Excursions have to be paid for at time of purchase. You can use your OBC's to purchase excursions once on board the ship.

[jonsmum]

Okay - thanks for that.

[wallie5446]

We are hoping to book a cruise for 2015 during our upcoming Med cruise this Sept. If we are offered an OBC as part of the 'deal' can this be used for/towards purchasing excursions in advance, or is it just for things that you actually buy whilst on your cruise?

Thanks

 

Just got off the phone with the CC about useing our OBC credit from the Visa points to do just this. Nope, have to wait till we get on ship to use any OBC to pay for something.

[bena]

hi

 

we are going on Celebrity Infinity next month - and have quite a bit of on board credit. We are not too keen on the specialized restaurants and already have the drinks included. We also like to do our own thing instead of organised excursions.

 

I'm just trying to figure out how we will spend all of our OBC. If we don't use all of our credit - is there a way of cashing it in at the end of our cruise.

[cruisestitch]

Whether or not you can cash it, and the procedure to do so, depends on how the OBC is classified.

 

If it comes from Celebrity, either directly or via your travel agent, then it is classified as non-refundable. It cannot be put back onto your credit card. It can, however, be withdrawn as cash from the casino, for a fee of 5%.

 

If it came from your travel agent, or was a gift from a friend, or you purchased it yourself, it is classified as refundable. Any not used on the cruise will be put back as a credit to your Visa/MasterCArd, etc.

 

If you have both kinds of credit, they will use the non-refundable first, then the refundable.

 

Even though you have the beverage package, you may find that you want a drink that is not included in your package, and would pay for that. Or full bottles of wine, which are also not included. Or any soft drinks or alcoholic drinks from room service, also not included in a beverage package.

 

You may decide to have a massage, or buy a photo, or take a class in the gym, or have your hair done, or get a manicure, or play Bingo, or buy souvenirs in the gift shop, or liquor from the duty free shop. All of those are ways to use your OBC.

[cruzinbabes]

If it comes from Celebrity, either directly or via your travel agent, then it is classified as non-refundable. It cannot be put back onto your credit card. It can, however, be withdrawn as cash from the casino, for a fee of 5%.

 

If it came from your travel agent, or was a gift from a friend, or you purchased it yourself, it is classified as refundable. Any not used on the cruise will be put back as a credit to your Visa/MasterCArd, etc.

 

............

 

If the OBC credit qualifies to be refunded to your credit card, does it go back to the credit card used to pay for the cruise, or to the credit card used to guarantee onboard expenses? Also, how do you tell whether it was Celebrity or the travel agent that provided the OBC?

 

Thanks.

[Pushka]

We received a credit onto our credit card for the unused OBC just a week ago. It was from our TA. I thought we'd lose it!

[ghstudio]

No guarantees, but we have booked excursions in advance and paid on credit card. When on the ship, we discussed with the excursion folks to see if there was a way. We would up cancelliing the pre-cruise reservations and that money became refundable OBC. We then booked the same excursion on the ship which used the non refundable OBC.

[QE2_Fan]

No guarantees, but we have booked excursions in advance and paid on credit card. When on the ship, we discussed with the excursion folks to see if there was a way. We would up cancelliing the pre-cruise reservations and that money became refundable OBC. We then booked the same excursion on the ship which used the non refundable OBC.

 

Very Clever :D Its like OBC laundering :eek::p

[cruisestitch]

"If the OBC credit qualifies to be refunded to your credit card, does it go back to the credit card used to pay for the cruise, or to the credit card used to guarantee onboard expenses? Also, how do you tell whether it was Celebrity or the travel agent that provided the OBC?"

 

It goes to the one you registered at check-in.

 

That was the easy question. The second question is harder. The only way I know of is to ask the travel agent directly. Some OBC comes from agents who are willing to reduce their commissions, some comes as a special promotion from Celebrity, and there just isn't any way to see the difference so you will have to ask them. For some, this may be an awkward question to ask. It depends on how well you know your travel agent.

[bena]

Thanks to you all for your replies - much appreciated ..

[Rina155]

When you are on the ship and you look up your account on the TV it will show the OBC. If it shows OBCR, it is refundable. If it shows OBCN, then it is non refundable. Learned this on our most recent cruise in July.

[Richmond]

New to Celebrity. In the 123 Deal in January, we opted for OBC instead of gratuities as it was higher, with the intent of using it for gratuities as we have done many times on other lines. No one has mentioned this - is this an acceptable use of OBC with Celebrity?

[cruisestitch]

Oh yes, you can use for gratuities. It's just that the OP in this thread said that they already had paid their gratuities so they didn't get mentioned again in this thread.

[Richmond]

Oh yes, you can use for gratuities. It's just that the OP in this thread said that they already had paid their gratuities so they didn't get mentioned again in this thread.

 

WHEW - thanks so much for the quick reply!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!