Are Up-Front Payments Making Onboard Credits Less Relevent?

[jeph]

I recently got back from an excellent cruise on the Summit, round-trip out of San Juan (Jan 2nd-9th). The following is an excerpt from the review I wrote:

 

"Between Celebrity's 1-2-3 booking offer, and the $75 additional provided by my travel agent, I had a total of $275 worth of onboard credit-- but I wound up leaving half of it "on the table", and after the cruise ends it's gone for good. Here's what happened: when you chose open-seating dining, you're automatically pre-billed about $85 for all the daily gratuities / service charges on your credit card, months before the cruise even begins; those service charges no longer appear on your onboard tab at cruise's end. THAT part I've been used to seeing, for many years now. However, this time around, my credit card was also pre-billed for the shore excursions I ordered, so those weren't part of the final tab, either. (I guess the only way to avoid that would have been to wait until I was on the ship to order the shore excursions I was interested in-- which of course puts you at risk of finding that they've already sold out of space on those.) So the only items on that shipboard tab were my drinks-- and I'm not a big drinker. I figure I had more than half of my onboard credit left over, which I only realized when a preview version of the final tab appeared in my cabin the night before we returned to San Juan. Heck, if I had known how much was gonna be left, I'd have treated myself to a massage or something! Moral of the story: don't be fooled by a big fat "onboard credit" dollar figure-- you may already have paid for what you thought that credit was going to cover."

 

So I was wondering if others had a similar experience on recent cruises...Is a the lure of a big onboard credit total becoming less useful or relevant because so much is pre-paid before you even GET onboard?

[cb at sea]

Many ships are stopping the "prepaid tips" for Anytime dining option....(whatever they call it)..

 

If you have substantial OBC, it's best to wait until you're ONBOARD to book things to use that OBC....

 

Of course the cruise lines are hoping you WON'T use it...it's best for them if you don't!

[SPacificbound]

We check our tab about every other day, don't want any surprises. :)

[Robinsoncruiseso]

I am not a Celebrity cruiser, but the accountant in me is looking for a way for you to use your OBC. Could you sign up for assigned seating at dinner, (so tips will not be charged to card in advance), then change to anytime once on board?

 

Just a brainstorm idea. Hoping to help.

[spookwife]

our last cruise we had $300 in board credit.. about $300 more than we usually have.

 

since I have always prepaid tips (regardless of need or requirement) and sail in Suites so my evening drinks are free, and I refuse to pay ship prices for a massage that is sub par, I had to seriously choose to spend money. we did it by eating at specialties more often, and I splurged on a few wine flights in Vintages.

 

I still left about $30 behind.

 

I suppose I could have spent it on some useless trinket in the shops but I am not the kind of person to spend money just because it's there. and none of the baubles on board caught my eye( I don't do Pandora or any of those things)

 

(in port is a WHOLE other story.....)

[Hlitner]

It is a yes and no thing. We faced the same situation on our late November 14 day Eclipse cruise where we had the Classical Drink Package, pre-paid gratuities and $600 of dollars of onboard credits...all as part of our booking. So, we upgraded to the Premium drink package (onboard...so it went against our OBCs) and ate in Murano (twice) and Qsine where we negotiated very good discounts (50% and 30% off in Murano and 30% off in Qsine). Note: we do not ever pay full price for those alternative restaurants as we not think they are worth the money. It is up the staff whether they want to give us nice discounts or not have our business.

 

At the end of the cruise we still had about $100 of OBC remaining, but it was refundable so Celebrity immediately credited back to our credit card.

 

Hank

[Robinsoncruiseso]

I am not a Celebrity cruiser, but the accountant in me is looking for a way for you to use your OBC. Could you sign up for assigned seating at dinner, (so tips will not be charged to card in advance), then change to anytime once on board?

 

Just a brainstorm idea. Hoping to help.

[cbr663]

The $75 OBC provided by your TA should have been refunded. You may have to call X to request it though, as that is what we had to do when we didn't use all the OBC on our cruise.

 

The moral of the story is to check your onboard account regularly on board so as you do not leave money on the table. If you know your OBC is going to be generous, you should also wait to book dinners and excursions onboard to make use of the OBC.

[jeph]

Never even OCCURRED to me that I might be able to get any sort of refund! But I can't see why Celebrity would even consider it, since it's sort of like "play money" to them, or the equivalent of an unused gift card...

[WinksCruises]

I see your point... but leaving it on the table?

 

Book a specialty restaurant dinner, purchase some photos or buy the cruise DVD, take a spa treatment, place it all on black on the casino's roulette wheel, pad the gratuity to your favorite crew member, heck, buy everyone at the martini bar a round! Just don't hand it over to the greedy shareholders who are systematically ruining our collective cruise experience with scams like this!

 

winks

Edited January 25, 2016 by WinksCruises

[LHT28]

Not all OBC from TA's are refundable

you should ask in advance so you will know if you can get the credit back

 

If you pre paid tips & excursions before you left on the cruise why was it a surprise that they would not be on your onboard account ??

[paul929207]

You could also consider a different cruise line, if you keep wasting this money.

 

Princess requires neither prepayment of autotips nor of the cost of ship's excursions.

[Hlitner]

Celebrity has two basic types of OBCs, which are "refundable" and "nonrefundable." As a general rule (and its not always the case) the credits given by the cruise line are considered nonrefundable while ones given by a cruise/travel agency are refundable. If you simply stop at the Guest Relations Desk they can quickly look at the coding of all your OBCs and tell you how much is refundable. The norm is that they will use the nonrefundable first. Also consider that you can use your OBCs to purchase things in any of the shops (DW reminds me of this all the time).

 

Hank

[CHEZMARYLOU]

We have a free premium beverage package, unlimited internet, prepaid tips, unlimited specialty dining and $950 on board credit on each of our 7 day Silhouette cruises. We don't plan on taking any excursions. I'll use the spa for a massage on a port day and will spend the rest on bottles of wine or champagne, maybe a Chef's Table.

 

It will be all used by the end of the cruise or we will withdraw some from the casino if that is still available in December. :D

[jeph]

I see your point... but leaving it on the table?

 

Book a specialty restaurant dinner, purchase some photos or buy the cruise DVD, take a spa treatment, place it all on black on the casino's roulette wheel, pad the gratuity to your favorite crew member, heck, buy everyone at the martini bar a round! Just don't hand it over to the greedy shareholders who are systematically ruining our collective cruise experience with scams like this!

 

winks

 

As I said, I only realized how much was left over when the end of the cruise was just hours away. In any case, cynical as I can be, I don't know that I'd put it in the category of a "scam"...:cool:

[jeph]

Not all OBC from TA's are refundable

you should ask in advance so you will know if you can get the credit back

 

If you pre paid tips & excursions before you left on the cruise why was it a surprise that they would not be on your onboard account ??

 

As mentioned, I was used to being charged up front-- pretty much right at the time of originally booking-- for gratuities / "daily service charges", since for many years now that's been standard procedure for most cruise lines, I believe, when passengers choose open-seating dinner over set "early seating" or "late seating" dinner. I DID notice the charges on my credit card bill for the shore excursions, which appeared about a month before I left since I ordered them relatively late...but I just didn't put it together as to what that would mean relative to the OBC's until the nearly-final tab appeared in my cabin that last night. In the run-up to departure for the trip, my mind was elsewhere.

 

Well, live & learn! :rolleyes:

[jeph]

You could also consider a different cruise line, if you keep wasting this money.

 

Princess requires neither prepayment of autotips nor of the cost of ship's excursions.

 

This is the first time it's happened, so it's not like I "keep wasting this money"...and thanks to the suggestions I've received here, the issue is manageable, once you're aware of it. It's way down on the list of reasons to choose one cruise line over another. Itinerary, timing, and price / value for money are predominant in my decision process.

 

That said, I do have favorites-- Celebrity and Holland America-- and I did very much enjoy a 10-night Star Princess cruise (round-trip out of San Francisco) to Mexico a year prior to the Celebrity trip under discussion.

[LHT28]

Not sure if it would work on your cruise line of choice but after booking the excursion before the cruise once onboard go & cancel them & rebook so you can use the OBC

We also check a few days prior to the end of the cruise what our balance is on our S & S account then I can shop ;)

[sail7seas]

Seeing you probably knew you were 'leaving money on the table' as you put it, why not go into the shops and buy some frivolous thing you usually would not purchase. May as well have something vs nothing. Surely if not for yourself, you could give some thing as a gift.

[cbr663]

Celebrity has two basic types of OBCs, which are "refundable" and "nonrefundable." As a general rule (and its not always the case) the credits given by the cruise line are considered nonrefundable while ones given by a cruise/travel agency are refundable. If you simply stop at the Guest Relations Desk they can quickly look at the coding of all your OBCs and tell you how much is refundable. The norm is that they will use the nonrefundable first. Also consider that you can use your OBCs to purchase things in any of the shops (DW reminds me of this all the time).

 

Hank

 

This is a true story. When I called to request the OBC refund from our cruise, X told me that it non refundable as it was OBC from X. I explained that no, we spent the OBC from X, and the OBC that was remaining was refundable. The person I spoke with let out a most noticeable sigh, abruptly put me on hold, and then came back a few minutes later to tell me that the refund had been issued.

 

Definitely not the last memory you want of your cruise.