Excited to think we had unexpected OBC...

[winterbliss]

We traveled recently on the Breeze and were excited when we looked at our onboard account on the in room tv, that we each had $45.00 promotional OBC. We have occasionally had unexpected OBC's on different ships and different cruise lines and were just thrilled.

 

As it turns out, because we are Platinum, this was actually something related to laundry, ie. I think with Platinum you can each have 3 bags of laundry at what would normally be $15.00 per bag. It wasn't until the very end of the cruise when we got our bill, that we see that... no, we really didn't have that $90.00 OBC (the two of us). That disappeared because we didn't use it for laundry. In fact, as we checked our onboard account several times during the cruise, our amount owing to that point, reflected that OBC being used up by our other spending on the ship.

 

We went to guest services to ask for explanation at end of cruise, and it was only at that point that we were told that this was a credit that was only good for laundry. She noted that we were not the only ones to complain about how this was done and she wished that Carnival would change this. Does anyone else think that this is dirty pool? My feeling is that if this is the way they want to handle the 'free laundry' thing by placing it as an 'onboard promotional credit', they could have simply said 'onboard promotional laundry credit', and that would have given us a heads up. As well, we had just sailed on Celebrity a short time before that, in which we also have free laundry if we wanted to, there's none of this nonsense.

[rlkubi]

When we have been on cruises since Platinum (several cruises) they always show a charge of $15 and then a credit. I believe it is for inventory reasons and keeping count. I never had an OBC for the cruise.

[ready2cruzagain]

We traveled recently on the Breeze and were excited when we looked at our onboard account on the in room tv, that we each had $45.00 promotional OBC. We have occasionally had unexpected OBC's on different ships and different cruise lines and were just thrilled.

 

As it turns out, because we are Platinum, this was actually something related to laundry, ie. I think with Platinum you can each have 3 bags of laundry at what would normally be $15.00 per bag. It wasn't until the very end of the cruise when we got our bill, that we see that... no, we really didn't have that $90.00 OBC (the two of us). That disappeared because we didn't use it for laundry. In fact, as we checked our onboard account several times during the cruise, our amount owing to that point, reflected that OBC being used up by our other spending on the ship.

 

We went to guest services to ask for explanation at end of cruise, and it was only at that point that we were told that this was a credit that was only good for laundry. She noted that we were not the only ones to complain about how this was done and she wished that Carnival would change this. Does anyone else think that this is dirty pool? My feeling is that if this is the way they want to handle the 'free laundry' thing by placing it as an 'onboard promotional credit', they could have simply said 'onboard promotional laundry credit', and that would have given us a heads up. As well, we had just sailed on Celebrity a short time before that, in which we also have free laundry if we wanted to, there's none of this nonsense.

 

They have been doing this for years, I believe since they changed the Loyalty Program. Has been like this on every cruise we have been on since then.

[atbull]

We traveled recently on the Breeze and were excited when we looked at our onboard account on the in room tv, that we each had $45.00 promotional OBC. We have occasionally had unexpected OBC's on different ships and different cruise lines and were just thrilled.

 

As it turns out, because we are Platinum, this was actually something related to laundry, ie. I think with Platinum you can each have 3 bags of laundry at what would normally be $15.00 per bag. It wasn't until the very end of the cruise when we got our bill, that we see that... no, we really didn't have that $90.00 OBC (the two of us). That disappeared because we didn't use it for laundry. In fact, as we checked our onboard account several times during the cruise, our amount owing to that point, reflected that OBC being used up by our other spending on the ship.

 

We went to guest services to ask for explanation at end of cruise, and it was only at that point that we were told that this was a credit that was only good for laundry. She noted that we were not the only ones to complain about how this was done and she wished that Carnival would change this. Does anyone else think that this is dirty pool? My feeling is that if this is the way they want to handle the 'free laundry' thing by placing it as an 'onboard promotional credit', they could have simply said 'onboard promotional laundry credit', and that would have given us a heads up. As well, we had just sailed on Celebrity a short time before that, in which we also have free laundry if we wanted to, there's none of this nonsense.

 

Agreed, they should change the credit title so it can be more clear. I figured it out early but I can see how many might miss it.

[BabyJacks17]

Yes, I ran into the same confusion a few years ago. I even posted on John Healds facebook about it and at the time, he agreed that it was confusing and said he would pass on the feedback. Obviously, nothing has changed, so the "beards" must not think like the rest of us. It could be such a simple solution, I don't know why they wouldn't just add something as little as "laundry" to this credit and satisfy their Platinum/Diamond customers.

[winterbliss]

Yes, my sentiments exactly.

[AHS123]

It may be a number of characters that can be typed on the line issue in which case Carnival accounting should drop the word "promotional" and with the characters saved type in: Plat Laundry Credit. Just a thought...

[cmitch9999]

we were just on the Breeze and experienced this as well. The guest services people said it was a glitch in their system...guess they have no intention of fixing it if it is still a problem 7 mos later. have not had this on any other cruise besides breeze where I Had used the platinum laundry credit. there is no reason they can't put that in as a laundry credit or send a letter at least to let the passengers know it's not a special promotional credit that would disappear!!! we had tracked our expenses every day on the TV and the last day statement change was a big disappointment, I sailed the following week on a back to back and had several conversations with the guest services, they did reword it on my 2nd week final statement but the TV promotional credit still showed all week. I will be addressing it with cclsupport.

Edited November 8, 2015 by cmitch9999

[ScottsSweetie]

we were just on the Breeze and experienced this as well. The guest services people said it was a glitch in their system...guess they have no intention of fixing it if it is still a problem 7 mos later. have not had this on any other cruise besides breeze where I Had used the platinum laundry credit. there is no reason they can't put that in as a laundry credit or send a letter at least to let the passengers know it's not a special promotional credit that would disappear!!! we had tracked our expenses every day on the TV and the last day statement change was a big disappointment, I sailed the following week on a back to back and had several conversations with the guest services, they did reword it on my 2nd week final statement but the TV promotional credit still showed all week. I will be addressing it with cclsupport.

 

I had this credit on my last two cruises on the Magic and Freedom. It's not exclusive to the Breeze.

[Budget Queen]

Are you a new platinum cruiser? In my case of 10 Carnival cruises last year- yes this was standard. I don't recall it being so, prior, but have been platinum for several years, so, knew very well what any credits were for.

 

Frankly, it would have been simple to have asked what the credit was for at the beginning of your cruise. Were you afraid- they would take it away- if you did this, because you knew nothing about it, and found it in error? You didn't have any problem asking about it with th final bill.

[ATL_Miami_Cruiser]

This is good info to know. I'll be Platinum in 2016 and I'm sure I would have thought the same thing if I would have seen the OBC on my account. It sounds like they do it this way for tax purposes and tracking so they can write it off as an expense.

[cmitch9999]

we had an additional onboard credit for 9.99 or so that I believe was a credit for port charges or taxes. it's the word PROMOTIONAL that makes it seem like some special gift not a credit for an earned platinum perk. I thought that there was some special credit from my travel agent or for platinum cruisers and sure I was happy until it disappeared. the credit still showed on the tv sail,and sign statement even after the printed final bill was printed. I just wonder if the bean counters won't fix it cuz they assume (and correct in my case) that the passenger will spend the 'credit' above what they might without that bonus and by the time it's billed and gone the cruise is over and you have to face the last morning guest services mania to address it. Regardless, it left a unpleasant feeling even after the several times I spoke to guest services onboard. ( they originally said they would get back to me after checking with accounting and didn't so I asked again about it and got the 'glitch' in our system answer)

[niiaka]

The same thing happened to us our 1st time on Breeze. We went to guest services and we explained how unfair this was as we were onboard with a casino offer and assumed it was a promo gift from them like so msny other gifts were. They did credit us the $90

[GreytRacer]

Just got off the Ecstasy on Friday. We sent out one bag of laundry and had the charge and then the credit. No "Promotional Credit" listed.

[Who Cares?]

Just got off the Ecstasy on Friday. We sent out one bag of laundry and had the charge and then the credit. No "Promotional Credit" listed.

 

The Ecstasy doesn't have interactive TV (or at least they didn't 2 years ago).

[DonnaBeachLover]

I am platinum and never saw it put this way before.

[DonnaBeachLover]

All my other cruises laundry shows up as laundry charge then credited back. Never shown up as a $90 credit the entire cruise. We are both plat. But only send out laundry once during a cruise.i prefer to take swimsuits and MDR clothing home to do Oma gentle cycle. I have seen posts that said everything is washed in hot water together and some posted their clothes came back grey!

[tlw440]

I am platinum and never saw it put this way before.

 

Same here. We just got off the Breeze 3 weeks ago, we saw it on our account on the tv, we went to guest service and they told us what it was.