Can obc be used to pay grats?

[rickechambers1@aol.com]

Don't mean to ask a likely repeat question but I just don't know the answer. Not new at cruising but not too savvy with promo obc. I understand shareholder credit but don't know if they're the same.

 

For a cruise next fall on Summit we chose the drink package and $300 obc (plus bonus $100 obc from trvl agent) rather than drink pkg and free grats, can the obc be used for paying grats? If so, why would anyone choose the free grats?

 

Thanks!

[bookitdanno]

Yes, OBC can be used for paying Gratuities.

As to why anyone would choose free grats instead of $300 OBC,

try doing the math for an 14 day cruise at 2 x 13.50 x 14 = $378.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

Edited July 2, 2016 by bookitdanno

[rickechambers1@aol.com]

Yes, OBC can be used for paying Gratuities.

As to why anyone would choose free grats instead of $300 OBC,

try doing the math for an 14 day cruise at 2 x 13.50 x 14 = $378.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

 

I pride myself on being a numbers guy...sometimes the answer is so simple. Thanks for the clarity!

[Wine-O]

Don't mean to ask a likely repeat question but I just don't know the answer. Not new at cruising but not too savvy with promo obc. I understand shareholder credit but don't know if they're the same.

 

For a cruise next fall on Summit we chose the drink package and $300 obc (plus bonus $100 obc from trvl agent) rather than drink pkg and free grats, can the obc be used for paying grats? If so, why would anyone choose the free grats?

 

Thanks!

 

By the way, the $100 OBC from your travel agent will be returned as a credit to your credit card if you do not use it on board.

 

P.S. As an FYI, unless you are madly in love with your current travel agent, if you do some research, there are lots of travel agents out there that will give you way more than $100 for your business in booking the cruise thru them. For example, way back when, I received a bottle of wine from my TA when I boarded a 10-night cruise. I thought, how nice. Another cruiser on that same cruise, paying the same amount as I did, received $250 from his TA.

[ClaudiaB]

By the way, the $100 OBC from your travel agent will be returned as a credit to your credit card if you do not use it on board.

 

P.S. As an FYI, unless you are madly in love with your current travel agent, if you do some research, there are lots of travel agents out there that will give you way more than $100 for your business in booking the cruise thru them. For example, way back when, I received a bottle of wine from my TA when I boarded a 10-night cruise. I thought, how nice. Another cruiser on that same cruise, paying the same amount as I did, received $250 from his TA.

 

Yep. We typically get anywhere from $500 to $900 OBC from our online TA for a 2 week cruise in a sky suite. That's in addition to all the Celebrity perks - all four of them including premium beverage. We always have to think about where to spend our average of $1300 OBC! We also don't have problems with the TA money just going back on our AmEx.

[rickechambers1@aol.com]

By the way, the $100 OBC from your travel agent will be returned as a credit to your credit card if you do not use it on board.

 

P.S. As an FYI, unless you are madly in love with your current travel agent, if you do some research, there are lots of travel agents out there that will give you way more than $100 for your business in booking the cruise thru them. For example, way back when, I received a bottle of wine from my TA when I boarded a 10-night cruise. I thought, how nice. Another cruiser on that same cruise, paying the same amount as I did, received $250 from his TA.

 

Thanks for the help. The TA actually is offering the Go Better package plus the 100 obc for less than the Go Big pkg on other sites. Same TA as the 4th of July thread. I only had a TA allegiance in the past when we would book expensive cruises (ranging from $7000-$15000 per cabin) but those days are over. :)

Edited July 2, 2016 by rickechambers1@aol.com