Onboard Credit bought as gift--used for???

[girlbuffalo1]

I just found out that my future mother in law and sister in law have gifted us some onboard credit for our honeymoon cruise departing next Monday (Nov. 7)--they had thought we could use it for shore excursions--however was then told it could not be used for that...

 

Is there a section on Celebrity's website which lists the things it can be used for? What all can it be used for? I know drinks, shops on board..what else?

[MSBYRDY]

Spa treatments, basically anything that is a charge on your card.

Marilyn

[Trixsea]

Onboard credit can be used for any excursion you book onboard. The credit can be used for drinks, spa, shopping, tips, etc. Enjoy it!!

[ahoymatey3]

What a nice gift.

 

Here is a link to the onboard certificate which says it can be used for any purchase, which I would assume i

ncludes booking shore excursions.

 

http://www.celebrity.com/shopceleb/giftList.do;jsessionid=0000AruVse9_V0KH1QM9YJzhCV5:1028etni0;jsessionid=00003kyFap77-J6tg9UIK44Xmzb:1028etmk3?pagename=gift_certificates

[Barry ATL]

It is very easy to run up a large onboard bill. Our first cruise was last year and because we went a little crazy, our onboard bill was just a little over $3000.00 for a seven day Alaska cruise. We were addicted to the spa! :)

 

It is very easy to spend money on the ship... drinks, gifts, spa, etc. Since it is your honeymoon, they have spa treatments for couples. Not sure about Celebrity, but the Princess ship we were on even had a "couples room" in the spa that was designed to allow you to apply mud or some such to each other.

[girlbuffalo1]

Thanks for the responces! I think I may call celebrity and check again on if we can use it for excursions booked onboard--as that is where most of our money is going to go to! Generally we don't buy soda cards--maybe buy 2-3 drinks each for the entire cruise, and do not use the spa...but we DO take an excursion at almost every port--thus incurring those costs.

 

I can't wait--only 4 more days till wedding bells ring and 6 more days until we set sail!

[girlbuffalo1]

I just found out shipboard credit bought for you as a gift cannot be used for excursions--I was really hoping! Oh well!

[cyscopup]

Congrats on your wedding. Where are you going on your cruise? My wife and I recently moved from Lafayette to Arizona and will b going on our cruise in three weeks to celebrate our 10th anniversary. We are doing the Mexican Riv out of San Diego.

[Trixsea]

If it cannot be used for excursions onboard, this must be a very new policy. I did it last month. :confused: You may want to double check with Celebrity. Have a wonderful honeymoon.

[girlbuffalo1]

Trixsea-- I just called them..nope! :(

 

cyscopup--we are sailing on the 10 night Carribean on Centurty coming up on Monday Nov 7th..

 

Do you miss Lafayette?--sure the weather is better in AZ though

[98Charlie]

I just found out shipboard credit bought for you as a gift cannot be used for excursions--I was really hoping! Oh well!

 

Although your gifted credit can not be used for excursions it can be used for things you perhaps would not have purchased - a romantic dinner in a ship's alternative dining room; his & hers spa appointments; a special purchase of a momento on board to keep from your honeymoon, etc.:D

 

Enjoy the credit to the hilt and best wishes on your wedding! :cool:

 

Dianne

[ahoymatey3]

On that link I posted, there were 5 types:

 

Casino Credit Certificate

Shipboard Credit Certificate

Bar Credit Certificate

Aquaspa Gift Certificate

Specialty Restaurant Gift Certificate

 

 

Did they give you one of the specialized ones? If they gave you a Shipboard credit Certificate, their website cleary states:

 

"A highly versatile gift, a Celebrity shipboard credit certificate can be redeemed for any purchase made onboard the ship. Available in increments of $25.00."

[girlbuffalo1]

I believe it is just the shipboard credit--none of the others. I called and specifially asked about that one and they said no to excursions reason being that you pay upfront with your credit card not your shipboard card--and that it can be used for anything else--I know we were planning on getting quite a few pictures--so that will be good at least--and also for buying a few drinks--I just hope it isn't like $300 or more because then I will have no idea what to do with it without using it for excursions!

[rucruisn2]

Happy honeymoon. If you don't use up all the money in your onboard credit, go to the casino. Ask for chips and give them your shipboard card. Later on cash in the chips and walk away with the money. The charge will be taken out of your shipboard account.

[98Charlie]

Buffalogirl1: If you can't use the remaining onboard credit for excursions and you run out of ideas of how to use it - then head to the casino and take a gamble. Who knows, you just might come home with more money than you had before -- and you will always have memories of the time you took a gamble on someone else's money.

 

And this is coming from a couple who don't gamble much!:D

 

And when you mentioned photos - those little dickens can add up to a lot of dough. You will be surprised how many of those photos you will want as keepsakes as long as you take every advantage of the photo options over the week. Smile and say ``yes, take another one,'' and then spend your credit on honeymoon memories.

 

Dianne

[ahoymatey3]

I believe it is just the shipboard credit--none of the others. I called and specifially asked about that one and they said no to excursions reason being that you pay upfront with your credit card not your shipboard card--and that it can be used for anything else--I know we were planning on getting quite a few pictures--so that will be good at least--and also for buying a few drinks--I just hope it isn't like $300 or more because then I will have no idea what to do with it without using it for excursions!

 

Ah - there's the critical bit of information. I wouldn't think they would allow you to use them for pre-booking excursions as those get charged to your credit card right away. And I mean RIGHT away. If you wait to book those when you get on the ship, you will be able to use your certificate, because excursions bought onboard are charged to your shipboard account.

[Trixsea]

Exactly!!

[claud925]

pre-booking excursions get charged to your credit card right away. And I mean RIGHT away; excursions bought onboard are charged to your shipboard account.

 

And that's how you get around that little dilemma, girlbuffalo1 . . . ;)

 

Once onboard, go to the excursions desk (usually found not far from the purser's desk). They will have hard copies of all excursions available; take the list back to your cabin; choose at will, then call the desk and make your choices. Trust us - these charges will appear on your shipboard account as a debit. Your gift dollar-amount posts as a credit.

 

So there you have it - you've come to the right place -- because we here at CCdotcom have the answer for everything!

 

Happy honeymooning.

[ahoymatey3]

Now the question becomes, why the heck didn't X tell her that on the phone? Not that we aren't happy to help here on CC

[Desertbelle]

The credits can also be used to pay for your staff tips. :)

[Schplinky]

I don't know how they could keep them from being applied to excursions? They create a credit on your account. Billing excursions to it creates debits. You pay the balance at the end of the trip. I might eb missing something but this doesn't seem like rocket science.

 

Also, you could pre-book and pay for them now and then, once on the cruise, you can take an equivalent advance on your room account in the casino. Then, use that money to pay the credit card bill for your excursions. That way, you protect yourself from their selling out.

[ahoymatey3]

Also, you could pre-book and pay for them now and then, once on the cruise, you can take an equivalent advance on your room account in the casino. Then, use that money to pay the credit card bill for your excursions. That way, you protect yourself from their selling out.

 

Very sneaky. I like that.

[dszrew]

Just another example to point out you likely can use the credit for excursions--

 

We pre-booked an excursion and were charged on our credit card. Once onboard, we changed our minds. So they did a refund for the excusion we had booked, then charged us for the excursion we switched to. The refund was posted to our shipboard account, not to our credit card. And the new excursion was also charged to our shipboard account.

 

Also, you can only use a credit for your tips if you choose to pre-pay the tips which also means you must pay the suggested amounts or more. If for any reason you want to pay less than the suggested amounts, you'll have to pay cash.

[girlbuffalo1]

Thanks everyone! I didn't think they made you pay with your credit card on the ship when booking excursions onboard! Thanks! I am sure the money will get spent either way!!

[ahoymatey3]

You're welcome. happy honeymoon and have a great cruise.