Anyone ever used multiple onboard credit deals on the same cruise?

[wo5m]

For those that remember years ago Carnival offered a future cruise certificate and we took advantage of it every time we cruised until they canceled the program. One of the perks was you got onboard credit for your next cruise. So we would buy a $100 certificate and then apply that to the cost of a 7 day cruise and in addition we got an additional $100 of on ship credit.

 

Well our problem was during one of our trips aboard the Carnival Magic. We wanted a cheap cruise so we called our PVP and asked for an interior for three people. He presented us with a special deal and said for just a little more we could have an interior cabin on the lido deck and as part of the special we each would get $50 onboard credit. So using this option, we figured going into the cruise we would have a total of $250 on onboard credit($100 for FC certificate + $50/pp X3 for lido upgrade).

 

Fast forward to the cruise, on the third or fourth day I discovered that $150 for the lido upgrade wasn’t reflected on the sail and sign card. The first time I went to guest services I was told “it just hasn’t applied yet” then on the last day and after several GC trips we were told after they checked with corporate, the onboard credit for the future cruise certificate superseded the lido upgrade and the two couldn’t be combined. Needless to say I was angry, but there wasn’t much I could do. It was also about that time they killed the program.

 

Have any of you encountered this when combining more than one on-board credit deal? I’ve recently became aware of the sleepers cruise and have thought about taking advantage of it on our next trip, but wonder if I would run into the same issue with other on-board credit offers.

 

Just FYI for those who don’t know a “Sleepers Cruise”(unofficial name, I actually had to search all over the forums the first time I saw someone mention it) is a cruise you book on-board using the past guest rate for a cruise that you have no intention going on(ideally the furthest in the future). Since you book it on-board you get the same benefits as the future cruise certificate except your booking an actual cruise instead of buying a certificate. The advantage of past guest rate is you are allowed to reschedule your trip and even change ships without any penalty and the on-board credit benefits follow. You can even reschedule it multiple times as long as you keep the past guest rate and you’re not within so may days of the cruise(I think its 60 or 30days) . However, once you switch to something different like the early saver rate your stuck(well at least not without paying a penalty).

 

My fear is I'll schedule a Sleepers Cruise then use it on one of those specials where Carnival is offering on-board credit, and then only to discover like before, I can't have both.

 

Any thoughts?

[laprof]

We typically cruise with 2-3 different types of OBC and have never had any problems.

[PAPERBKWRITER]

In the past we used FCC certificates with owners OBC

[wo5m]

We typically cruise with 2-3 different types of OBC and have never had any problems.

 

In the past we used FCC certificates with owners OBC

 

Hearing both you say that, upsets me a little bit(with Carnival not you). At the time I wasn't sure what else I could do. Part of me wanders if I was just told that to get off there case. Anyway it was years ago and its not worth dwelling over the past. Besides, I think both of you just answered my question.

Edited June 14, 2016 by wo5m

[JLee1973]

I have done it several times. My current cruise in October had $200 in OBC. $100 fir billing on-board last year. $50 from a promotion abs another $50 in price drops.

 

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[Sillyjilly]

I mostly cruise with Princess, but have always been able to combine FCC with other OBC promotions.

 

I have a FCC coming up in Nov. on Carnival and it better be combine-able with my 25th cruise certificate or I will be very unhappy.

 

I think somebody at the desk steered you wrong.

 

I think the OBC's are usually only for the 1st and 2nd passenger though. The 3rd person usually pays less.

Edited June 14, 2016 by Sillyjilly

[SadieN]

We were able to combine Book Onboard, Shareholder's and Milestone OBC on our HI cruise. Even got some port refund OBC.

Edited June 14, 2016 by SadieN

[2Shoes2Go]

We were able to combine Book Onboard, Shareholder's and Milestone OBC on our HI cruise. Even got some port refund OBC.

 

We've done exactly the same for each of our 25th, 50th and 75th milestones. The OBC can be quite substantial. :)

[summersigh]

We typically cruise with 2-3 different types of OBC and have never had any problems.

 

On one of our last 2 cruises we had CCL OBC and OBC from our TA. No problem.

 

When we booked one through an online TA we also had both ... again no problem.

[rwilk1129]

This thread is interesting. In the past we always bought the future cruise deposits when you could leave the date open but when they changed to having to make it a specific cruise we stopped. I asked onboard if I could buy and use a date in the future and then later change to another date and the guy said I could change date but obc would be lost. So I stopped purchasing them. The obc was the only reason to buy for me. Low deposit means nothing to me. I will definitely ask again on next cruise and buy a couple if it is so.

[laprof]

We too had Book Onboard, Shareholder and Milestone OBC on our recent Breeze cruise. Because we knew we would not use all the OBC and most was non-refundable, we purchased a Carnival gift card from the candy store, then used it to pay the deposit on another cruise. So we're benefitting twice from those OBCs plus have the current Book Onboard and Shareholder OBC.

[SadieN]

This thread is interesting. In the past we always bought the future cruise deposits when you could leave the date open but when they changed to having to make it a specific cruise we stopped. I asked onboard if I could buy and use a date in the future and then later change to another date and the guy said I could change date but obc would be lost. So I stopped purchasing them. The obc was the only reason to buy for me. Low deposit means nothing to me. I will definitely ask again on next cruise and buy a couple if it is so.

 

 

Changing the date is simply cancelling one cruise and booking another. Can't keep the first cruise's fare but if the second cruise has an OBC included fare then book that one.

In our experience most (not all) OBC included fares cost more than nonOBC included fares.

 

 

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[Sparky2]

We usually cruise with several kinds of OBC.

 

1. For booking onboard previous cruise

2. Military OBC for Military Appreciation Month

3. Shareholder credit

4. Maybe OBC for price drops but don't think so this next January 2017. Prices keep going up.

[riclop]

Yes we have a few times.