Sending OBC to own account?

[sagittarius]

To all you experienced cruisers: am thinking of buying OBC for cruise next year as charges will be in USD.

 

How easy is it to do? Going on Princess ship.

 

Do you use a debit or credit card? I ask as girl on phone at Princess Help desk said I would incur a fee with my bank if used a credit card as classed as cash advance?

 

Exchange rate seems favourable at present.

[MicCanberra]

To all you experienced cruisers: am thinking of buying OBC for cruise next year as charges will be in USD.

 

How easy is it to do? Going on Princess ship.

 

Do you use a debit or credit card? I ask as girl on phone at Princess Help desk said I would incur a fee with my bank if used a credit card as classed as cash advance?

 

Exchange rate seems favourable at present.

 

Very easily done, along with Casino OBC as well. I use a 28 degrees Mastercard as it attracts no fees.:D

[sagittarius]

@micanberra

Do you mean 28 degrees doesn't have fee for cash advances or are you referring to conversion fee from one currency to another.

 

I'll be paying in aus dollars to princess who will then credit me with US dollars at their own exchange rate. Girl on phone seemed to think that this would be like me taking cash out on my credit card which usually attracts instant interest charges unlike if I use my card to purchase something which gives me an interest free period.

[cheznandy]

@micanberra

Do you mean 28 degrees doesn't have fee for cash advances or are you referring to conversion fee from one currency to another.

 

I'll be paying in aus dollars to princess who will then credit me with US dollars at their own exchange rate. Girl on phone seemed to think that this would be like me taking cash out on my credit card which usually attracts instant interest charges unlike if I use my card to purchase something which gives me an interest free period.

 

HI Sagittarius,

 

I see Mic isn't online so I will try to answer as I use 28 Degrees as well.

28degrees has a cash advance if you withdraw from an ATM, but as you will be purchasing something (OBC) it will be like buying something on credit, so no fee's.

I just recently used mine with RCI, purchased OBC over the phone, AUD to US, no charges. Had I have used my ANZ credit card I would have been charged the conversion fee.

I believe she is wrong, it is not a cash advance, you are buying a product.

 

Hopefully someone else will chime in and explain it better than I did haha!

 

Chez

[cruisine21]

HI Sagittarius,

 

 

I just recently used mine with RCI, purchased OBC over the phone, AUD to US, no charges. Had I have used my ANZ credit card I would have been charged the conversion fee.

I believe she is wrong, it is not a cash advance, you are buying a product.

 

Hopefully someone else will chime in and explain it better than I did haha!

 

Chez

 

You have explained it well. I also have purchased OBC from Royal with my 28 Degrees card and there were no charges..

[MicCanberra]

@micanberra

Do you mean 28 degrees doesn't have fee for cash advances or are you referring to conversion fee from one currency to another.

 

I'll be paying in aus dollars to princess who will then credit me with US dollars at their own exchange rate. Girl on phone seemed to think that this would be like me taking cash out on my credit card which usually attracts instant interest charges unlike if I use my card to purchase something which gives me an interest free period.

 

As explained, Buying OBC is a purchase rather than a cash advance so it attracts no fees with the 28 degrees card.

Edited October 12, 2015 by MicCanberra

[Aus ATC]

A similar question. I understand we can buy OBC (in USD), but the transaction is in AUD at the cruise line's rate (which may be a lot better than the prevailing bank rate).

 

Is that correct? - for Royal Carribean in particular.

[victravellers]

You can purchase onboard credit on the cruise personaliser. Just go to onboard reservations and you can purchase 25, 50 or 100 usd. The amount is converted to AUD. I don't know if princess charges a credit card fee but you pay in AUD. The exchange rate is quite favourable. 100USD=125AUD

 

Linda

Edited October 12, 2015 by victravellers
Adding info

[Relaxing Robbies]

We purchased onboard credit from Princess before our Alaska cruise in May.You telephone them and tell them how much Usd you want to purchase. They convert it at their own special rate and advise you how much it will cost in AUD.

That AUD amount is then charged to your credit card. We used American Express and there were no extra credit card charges. It was treated like any other local purchase as it was processed by Princess Australia. Not a cash advance.

[MicCanberra]

A similar question. I understand we can buy OBC (in USD), but the transaction is in AUD at the cruise line's rate (which may be a lot better than the prevailing bank rate).

 

Is that correct? - for Royal Carribean in particular.

 

You can purchase onboard credit on the cruise personaliser. Just go to onboard reservations and you can purchase 25, 50 or 100 usd. The amount is converted to AUD. I don't know if princess charges a credit card fee but you pay in AUD. The exchange rate is quite favourable. 100USD=125AUD

 

Linda

 

Correct, RCI do not charge a CC fee but your CC may charge a international transaction fee (depending on the card).

[sagittarius]

So to clarify:

 

I'll be buying a "product" (like a gift card really) so NO cash advance charge!

 

I'll be paying them in australian dollars so NO conversion fee!

 

 

As Princess will sell me a "gift card" otherwise known as OBC worth $100 US for only $125 Au I think it's worth doing. Thanks for the replies.

[victravellers]

So to clarify:

 

I'll be buying a "product" (like a gift card really) so NO cash advance charge!

 

I'll be paying them in australian dollars so NO conversion fee!

 

 

As Princess will sell me a "gift card" otherwise known as OBC worth $100 US for only $125 Au I think it's worth doing. Thanks for the replies.

 

Yes that is correct. You may be charged a fee for using your credit card, I'm not sure if princess does that. ( my TA does not charge me to use my credit card but princess might)

I am purchasing a heap of onboard credit for my cruise in 2016.

 

Linda

[Fletch1]

We recently bought some OBC for our forthcoming cruise on the Coral Princess. Exchange rate was .90 and still is (I just checked). US$500 cost us AUD$550. We paid by our MasterCard over the phone direct to Princess. No fees by princess and no fees with our credit card as we were charged in AUD$ and we put the money on our credit card before the interest rate fee kicked in (45 days I think).

 

AND the best thing is Princess will refund any OBC we don't spend.

 

I have read on the boards that Princess with maintain the .90 exchange rate for the rest of this year and for next year, it will be lowered to .80.

 

We did the same thing earlier this year on the Ocean Princess and got the refund in cash in US$ from the Pursers desk before we got off the ship.

[Pushka]

Ok. I purchased OBC. My personaliser says the amount purchased is $250 which is the same AUD charge on my card. So what does your personaliser say? The corrected USD amount or the AUD you paid?

[victravellers]

Ok. I purchased OBC. My personaliser says the amount purchased is $250 which is the same AUD charge on my card. So what does your personaliser say? The corrected USD amount or the AUD you paid?

 

Mine says the amount I paid in AUD. 500 AUD, I expect to have 400 USD on my account when I cruise.

[crochetcruise]

Yes that is correct. You may be charged a fee for using your credit card, I'm not sure if princess does that. ( my TA does not charge me to use my credit card but princess might)

I am purchasing a heap of onboard credit for my cruise in 2016.

 

Linda

 

I'm planning to "gift" myself Gift Services Purchase, several Culinary Delights, the Soda & More Beverage Package On Board and Casino Credits and plan to buy through the TA using cash when I go to make my fortnightly Cruise Payment. Gift Services, Photography, Beverage and Culinary Delights purchases while I'm still paying off my cruise, then On Board and Casino Credit. I may have quite a number of vouchers to redeem-I am limited in the amount of money I can save fortnightly so at present it is the AUD$31.25 voucher, then I can get the AUD$62.50. Have costed very thoroughly, and have just discovered souvenir magnets are DEFINITELY available so I will bring separate small plastic bags to keep them from sticking to each other. Also found out Calypso Cove is the main boutique I will need

 

Naturally I don't know what amount you'd be spending, but I respectfully suggest, if you're comfortable handling that amount of cash, asking your TA if they accept payments for On Board and Casino Credits in cash-mine does, and I also have a Debit card which I will use for back up in case I find more souvenirs than I had budgeted for. Hoping for a sale on souvenir merchandise from cruises other than Australia-Alaskan souvenirs would be great-Alaska is on my "Bucket List!"

 

HTH, if irrelevant, please ignore.

[Pushka]

Mine says the amount I paid in AUD. 500 AUD, I expect to have 400 USD on my account when I cruise.

 

 

Ok. So how do you know the exchange rate then? I bought in $25 AUD lots. So really there is no way of knowing what the USD amount will be until you board.

[victravellers]

Ok. So how do you know the exchange rate then? I bought in $25 AUD lots. So really there is no way of knowing what the USD amount will be until you board.

 

I bought it through the cruise personaliser. To buy $100 USD it cost me $125.

You can buy in multiples of either $25, $50 or $100 USD

 

Princess seem to set their exchange rate in advance for the whole year. It worked out to 90 cents to the dollar for cruises this year, 80 cents to the dollar for 2016 cruises and I'm not sure for 2017 but I guess it will be about 70 cents to the dollar.

 

So for my $125 dollars I expect to receive $100 USD on board credit.

[victravellers]

I'm planning to "gift" myself Gift Services Purchase, several Culinary Delights, the Soda & More Beverage Package On Board and Casino Credits and plan to buy through the TA using cash when I go to make my fortnightly Cruise Payment. Gift Services, Photography, Beverage and Culinary Delights purchases while I'm still paying off my cruise, then On Board and Casino Credit. I may have quite a number of vouchers to redeem-I am limited in the amount of money I can save fortnightly so at present it is the AUD$31.25 voucher, then I can get the AUD$62.50. Have costed very thoroughly, and have just discovered souvenir magnets are DEFINITELY available so I will bring separate small plastic bags to keep them from sticking to each other. Also found out Calypso Cove is the main boutique I will need

 

Naturally I don't know what amount you'd be spending, but I respectfully suggest, if you're comfortable handling that amount of cash, asking your TA if they accept payments for On Board and Casino Credits in cash-mine does, and I also have a Debit card which I will use for back up in case I find more souvenirs than I had budgeted for. Hoping for a sale on souvenir merchandise from cruises other than Australia-Alaskan souvenirs would be great-Alaska is on my "Bucket List!"

 

HTH, if irrelevant, please ignore.

 

That's a great idea. I am hoping to gift myself as much as I can to cover my onboard spend. It's a much better exchange rate than the bank.

[MicCanberra]

Just a note for those buying OBC and not knowing what charge it is. It is possible that you are buying OBC for an Australian based cruise which may well be using AUD rather than USD. If the price is not shown differently (no currency difference) than it is most likely AUD.

Edited October 13, 2015 by MicCanberra

[sagittarius]

On the cruise personalizer my charges show up in AUD but refer to USD so that the OBC asks for $125 AUD which equates to $100US can't remember the smaller amounts which equate to $25/$50 and the daily charges are listed in AUD and seem to be at better rate than bank so will pay them now with TA before they go up and the exchange rate goes down.

[Pushka]

My personaliser is all AUD and no reference to USD except for the cruise excursions.

[sagittarius]

Am travelling on caribbean princess next year with onboard currency USD so where it talks about pre pay gratuities in the "blurb" it says $11.50 pp per day but the amount quoted for me to pay is quoted in AUD $172.50 per person for the trip. (12 days).

 

Again if I read about purchasing OBC the info says USD 25/50/100 but once I go to buy now part the amounts are shown in AUD $?/?/125 so assume the amounts equate to the USD.

 

 

?=can't remember actual amounts but it's not 25/50

[MicCanberra]

On the cruise personalizer my charges show up in AUD but refer to USD so that the OBC asks for $125 AUD which equates to $100US can't remember the smaller amounts which equate to $25/$50 and the daily charges are listed in AUD and seem to be at better rate than bank so will pay them now with TA before they go up and the exchange rate goes down.

 

Good idea.:D

 

$25 USD will make it $32.50 AUD

[crochetcruise]

Am travelling on caribbean princess next year with onboard currency USD so where it talks about pre pay gratuities in the "blurb" it says $11.50 pp per day but the amount quoted for me to pay is quoted in AUD $172.50 per person for the trip. (12 days).

 

Again if I read about purchasing OBC the info says USD 25/50/100 but once I go to buy now part the amounts are shown in AUD $?/?/125 so assume the amounts equate to the USD.

 

?=can't remember actual amounts but it's not 25/50]

 

It's USD$25=AUD$31.25; USD$50=AUD$62.50 and USD$100=AUD$125. I've been keeping a sharp eye on the prices to assist with my own budgeting for assorted purchases.

 

I'm planning to get a Photography credit, On Board and Casino Credits of AUD$31.25. Yes, it will mean a pile of vouchers to redeem as needed-I can handle that. For me AUD$31.25 is an easily achieved fortnightly saving, and I can get the TA to put through On Board Purchases in cash, allowing for Cocktail and extra Souvenir purchases to be covered by On Board Credit, topped up by Casino Credits if needed. I'm also taking the taxi fares needed in Melbourne the day of Disembarkation and out to the Melbourne Airport and home from my local airport as Casino Credit and will cash these out, and put the money into designated coin purses.

 

There was a lively discussion on the main forum about buying the All Inclusive Beverage Package in Australia-it seems to be only available on board or at a higher price if bought through the Personalizer. I'm not eligible, the cruise is only a 3 night positioning cruise, so getting the Soda and More Package and budgeting Cocktail consumption and cans of Soda for the Suite overnight-a real horror for waking in the early hours wanting a cold drink, and I'm NOT a plain water drinker. If it's still possible, I'm going to bring on a 10 can Fridge Mate of Sprite, and swop out the tonic water and hopefully the beer for extra cans of Coke. I will see if I can swap alcohol for Soda on board.