Buying SBC/OBC Pre-Cruise

[cruise101]

I recall reading somewhere that you can buy SBC/OBC prior to boarding. I looked up the Celebrity website and couldn't find a link to buying OBC. If you have bought this before, would appreciate you providing a link on the X website.

 

Also is there any real advantage in buying SBC/OBC prior to boarding the sailing. Thx in advance.

[WestLakeGirl]

It's in the Gifts by Celebrity section

[cruise101]

Many thanks WestLakeGirl. We are from Canada and I just checked that a $25 SBC costs us $30.60 in Can funds. The resultant exchange rate (1.22) is much better than the prevailing official exchange rate. So definitely worth it. Thx for your guidance.

 

One more question, if I may: Can you use SBC that you have purchased to pay for the gratuities?

 

Thx again.

[WestLakeGirl]

As long as you don't have Select Dining, yes

[cruisergal 1]

Many thanks WestLakeGirl. We are from Canada and I just checked that a $25 SBC costs us $30.60 in Can funds. The resultant exchange rate (1.22) is much better than the prevailing official exchange rate. So definitely worth it. Thx for your guidance.

 

One more question, if I may: Can you use SBC that you have purchased to pay for the gratuities?

 

Thx again.

 

I called Celebrity this morning about this. If you are using a Canadian Credit Card to pay for the OBC, they will charge $25.00 U.S. and the bank then in turn will charge the going rate, which is closer to 1.36 They do not charge your credit card $30.60 Canadian. If you hear anything different let me know. But this is what they told me.

[upwarduk]

I bought 15 units earlier this year. First group of 9 units were purchased in January, the next 6 in March '15.

Each unit of $25 cost me £14.90 which was a fantastic rate.

Today's price is £16.80 which is just about par for the current exchange rate.

I used a C.C which doesn't charge for currency conversion.

 

http://www.celebritycruises.com/bonvoyage/gifts-by-celebrity-landing

[dl13]

I called Celebrity this morning about this. If you are using a Canadian Credit Card to pay for the OBC, they will charge $25.00 U.S. and the bank then in turn will charge the going rate, which is closer to 1.36 They do not charge your credit card $30.60 Canadian. If you hear anything different let me know. But this is what they told me.

 

I am Canadian as well and booked our cruise through a Canadian travel agent. A few months ago I puchased OBC by calling Celebrity.

 

Back then under Gifts by Celebrity, $25 USD cost $27.20 CDN. :):)

I purchased 40 units for a total of $1000 USD and my Canadian credit card (which DOES charge a fee for foreign exchange) was billed $1088 CDN. So the price listed by Celebrity was what I was charged...there was no conversion.

[rubiksgirl]

I called Celebrity this morning about this. If you are using a Canadian Credit Card to pay for the OBC, they will charge $25.00 U.S. and the bank then in turn will charge the going rate, which is closer to 1.36 They do not charge your credit card $30.60 Canadian. If you hear anything different let me know. But this is what they told me.

 

This is not true. I just purchased the onboard credit last week through Celebrity's website - the Canadian website which showed the price as being $30.60 per unit ($25 US). I purchased 4 units for a total of $122.40 Canadian. My receipt and everything is showing that I am being charged that amount and in Canadian funds.

 

I suspect that if you logged on to the US website and purchased the onboard credit in US funds, then what you said above would apply.

[helen haywood]

I purchased OBC once through the website. I got a generic email saying thanks for your purchase but it did not say what. I saw that my credit card was never charged. WEEKS later I saw a charge on my credit card. I called Celebrity. At first, when I supplied them with the invoice number of the cruise for which I'd purchased the OBC I was told no OBC had been purchased for that cruise. I then asked to speak to someone in the Accounting Department who could tell me what the charge was for, in that case. Got a nice young man who said the first rep didn't know what he was talking about, that it was indeed the OBC and he promptly sent me an email stating the amount of OBC and the cruise it was for.

 

So just make sure you have an email receipt before you sail because I certainly wouldn't want to have to handle this with Guest Services once on board.

[Been There, Planning That]

I called Celebrity this morning about this. If you are using a Canadian Credit Card to pay for the OBC, they will charge $25.00 U.S. and the bank then in turn will charge the going rate, which is closer to 1.36 They do not charge your credit card $30.60 Canadian. If you hear anything different let me know. But this is what they told me.

 

We made our OBCs several months ago for a February cruise when the Celebrity exchange was 20%.

 

The secret then was to have CELEBRITY tell you how much the OBC will cost in CAD dollars first, and have them charge this amount to your card. The bank will charge the current rate if Celebrity charges to account in US dollars.

 

I'd make a couple of calls to Celebrity. There's a general lack of consistency among phone operators until you find one who understands exactly what you wish to do.

 

We're just back from a Princess cruise where it worked perfectly too, when the penalty was just 10%.

 

Ruth

Edited September 29, 2015 by Been There, Planning That

[cruise101]

Thx to everyone for all the insightful responses, and especially to HelenHaywood (HH) for sharing her experience on this subject. Well, I bought myself some OBC this morning (or so I think). I completed all the information for the order and then pressed the Submit button. I never got any acknowledgement that my request was processed - no email and most regrettably, no evidence from subsequent web pages that my request was in fact successfully processed.

 

In fact my recent experiences with Celebrity's website has been less than ideal. In fact there is a thread on this board titled "I really hate Celebrity's website" and while I haven't read it, I can relate to the title of this thread. Each time I have attempted to interact in any meaningful way with X's website, I have experienced frustration to varying degrees. I am concerned that we have a little over 4 weeks before our cruise commences, and just hope that I get some form of confirmation from X re the purchase of my OBC before we board. As one of the posters on this thread states, I am certainly not looking forward to having this issue addressed through Guest Services once on board. If I see nothing appear on my credit card statement in about a week, I'll take HH's recommendation and contact X directly to check on the status of my request. Sorry for venting!!!

[upwarduk]

I would ring Celebrity ASAP.

Many people in the past have reported that they haven't had the email confirmation and when they have rung there has been no record of any transaction.

 

See post 28

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2156280&page=2

Edited September 30, 2015 by upwarduk

[Project_gal]

I purchased OBC once through the website. I got a generic email saying thanks for your purchase but it did not say what. I saw that my credit card was never charged. WEEKS later I saw a charge on my credit card. I called Celebrity. At first, when I supplied them with the invoice number of the cruise for which I'd purchased the OBC I was told no OBC had been purchased for that cruise. I then asked to speak to someone in the Accounting Department who could tell me what the charge was for, in that case. Got a nice young man who said the first rep didn't know what he was talking about, that it was indeed the OBC and he promptly sent me an email stating the amount of OBC and the cruise it was for.

 

So just make sure you have an email receipt before you sail because I certainly wouldn't want to have to handle this with Guest Services once on board.

 

This problem arises because the "purchase" of OBC online is not an automated process.

 

Human intervention is required and, sometimes, there is a backlog of orders [more often outside the USA where favourable exchange rates can generate high demand]. Orders are dealt with in sailing date order and may be in the queue for a very long time. It has been known for orders to get lost. As you discovered, the order is only confirmed when your credit card is debited.

 

Outside the USA, it is better practice to order OBC over the telephone when it is process while you are on the 'phone.

[rubiksgirl]

Thx to everyone for all the insightful responses, and especially to HelenHaywood (HH) for sharing her experience on this subject. Well, I bought myself some OBC this morning (or so I think). I completed all the information for the order and then pressed the Submit button. I never got any acknowledgement that my request was processed - no email and most regrettably, no evidence from subsequent web pages that my request was in fact successfully processed.

 

In fact my recent experiences with Celebrity's website has been less than ideal. In fact there is a thread on this board titled "I really hate Celebrity's website" and while I haven't read it, I can relate to the title of this thread. Each time I have attempted to interact in any meaningful way with X's website, I have experienced frustration to varying degrees. I am concerned that we have a little over 4 weeks before our cruise commences, and just hope that I get some form of confirmation from X re the purchase of my OBC before we board. As one of the posters on this thread states, I am certainly not looking forward to having this issue addressed through Guest Services once on board. If I see nothing appear on my credit card statement in about a week, I'll take HH's recommendation and contact X directly to check on the status of my request. Sorry for venting!!!

 

When I purchased this last week, after hitting submit, it went to a screen where I could print my order summary and there was an order reference number. I also received an email a few days later stating that my order had been processed and included a receipt detailing what was purchased that the amount charged to my credit card. If you saw nothing like this after hitting submit I'd be inclined to think the order wasn't processed. Call Celebrity to make sure.

[Rufferto]

Shore excursions, dinner packages, internet packages and pretty much everything else in the cruise planner show up with Canadian pricing for my upcoming cruise. However in the "gifts on board" section where the OBC is listed, all is in USD. Am I missing something? How can I get OBC to show up in $CAD?

[Been There, Planning That]

Shore excursions, dinner packages, internet packages and pretty much everything else in the cruise planner show up with Canadian pricing for my upcoming cruise. However in the "gifts on board" section where the OBC is listed, all is in USD. Am I missing something? How can I get OBC to show up in $CAD?

 

 

Your best bet is to call their 1 800 number and do it in person and if one operator doesn't understand call back. The key is to find out how much will be charged to your Cdn. credit card for the US OBC. It sure has worked perfectly for us.

 

Ruth

[helen haywood]

I would call now and sort it out. I wouldn't wait because if they claim they see no such order and re-process it for you, there is a possibility that the first charge might pop up later. If you call and see now that gives you more time to monitor your credit card before you sail. Alas, it is a sad fact that Celebrity's website is a waste of cyber space.

[OkanaganRon]

I used Guest Services to order my OBC on Sep.26th, receiving a confirmation email on Sep. 27th and my Credit card was charged the amount posted on the Celebrity site. It is a better price than the current Can/US exchange rate.

[rubiksgirl]

Shore excursions, dinner packages, internet packages and pretty much everything else in the cruise planner show up with Canadian pricing for my upcoming cruise. However in the "gifts on board" section where the OBC is listed, all is in USD. Am I missing something? How can I get OBC to show up in $CAD?

 

Was your booking made in US or CAD funds? I've read in other posts that if your booking was made in US dollars than you will not be able to pre-purchase in Canadian dollars (even with a Canadian credit card).

[Little Nell]

We have a "holiday" credit card which we use for our onboard spend. There are no fees or conversion charges. If we pay the bill on time (which we always do to avoid charges) there is no interest added. We are given the best rate available on the day a purchase is made. Lots of my UK cruise friends use this card. It saves any trouble.

[Paddy41]

For Canadians, I read on another thread that if you have a Sears MC they do not charge the extra conversion fee.

 

Royal Caribbean uses Vancouver to process Canadian bookings which avoids a lot of exchange fees.

 

For our last cruise we used a Canadian TA, booked in CAD, and she added the OBC for us in Canadian dollars. At the time I did it (and it was Royal C.) we got $500US for $550CAD. (That was the limit they would let us do at one time but we did it more than once.) Great deal. I don't think Celebrity is giving a rate this good and I know Carnival isn't. But any rate lower than the official exchange rate is worth while doing. We ended up not using all of our OBC and were able to go to Guest Services the last night of the cruise and withdraw the credit in US cash! Bonus!

[drakes2]

This is true, the currency you booked your cruise dictates whether or not your obc is charged in Cdn or US $. I booked my upcoming cruise through a US travel agency, as I got a group rate, $200 in OBC and a 1 category upgrade to a 2C balcony. The price was too good to pass up. When I called Celebrity today to inquire about purchasing additional credit to use onboard, they told me my bank would automatically convert at the prevailing rate which is about 1.37. So basically, whatever currency you used to book your cruise is what currency is used for additional OBC.

Was your booking made in US or CAD funds? I've read in other posts that if your booking was made in US dollars than you will not be able to pre-purchase in Canadian dollars (even with a Canadian credit card).

[Paddy41]

This is true, the currency you booked your cruise dictates whether or not your obc is charged in Cdn or US $. I booked my upcoming cruise through a US travel agency, as I got a group rate, $200 in OBC and a 1 category upgrade to a 2C balcony. The price was too good to pass up. When I called Celebrity today to inquire about purchasing additional credit to use onboard, they told me my bank would automatically convert at the prevailing rate which is about 1.37. So basically, whatever currency you used to book your cruise is what currency is used for additional OBC.

 

So from what you just wrote, it proves that it is better to book in CAD because the cruiselines are doing a better exchange rate. Last cruise I booked in CAD at a 10% exchange rate. Then I added a lot of OBC. Paid in CAD at 10% exchange rate. Paid my gratuities ahead at 10% exchange rate too.

[mjforfunca]

I booked my cruise in USD but the OBC price is in CAD at the website, so if I go ahead to order it, would X charge me in US or CAD?

[drakes2]

If you paid in USD and purchased credit to use onboard, your CC would be charged in US. Even if you were to buy credit as a gift for someone sailing, you would be charged in the currency they booked. No way around it, I called to inquire and was transferred to the accounting department so I'm sure they are correct.

I booked my cruise in USD but the OBC price is in CAD at the website, so if I go ahead to order it, would X charge me in US or CAD?