post BREXIT vote OBC

[madmacs]

Hi

 

Someone in here kindly pointed out that those of us in the UK have the exchange rate effectively set at time of booking for buying OBC. I have booked two cruises on Crown Princess next year. The first I booked pre June 23 and my OBC rate is $1.46 to the pound. My second was booked recently and has an OBC purchase rate of $1.28 to the £.

 

It makes sense for me to buy OBC at the higher rate. Can any un-spent OBC be transferred to the second cruise? If the money is refunded is it refunded at the rate at which it was purchased or the exchange rate current at the end of the cruise?

 

Thanks for any advice.

[kruisey]

Hi

 

Someone in here kindly pointed out that those of us in the UK have the exchange rate effectively set at time of booking for buying OBC. I have booked two cruises on Crown Princess next year. The first I booked pre June 23 and my OBC rate is $1.46 to the pound. My second was booked recently and has an OBC purchase rate of $1.28 to the £.

 

It makes sense for me to buy OBC at the higher rate. Can any un-spent OBC be transferred to the second cruise? If the money is refunded is it refunded at the rate at which it was purchased or the exchange rate current at the end of the cruise?

 

Thanks for any advice.

Do not quote me but I have never heard of OBC being credited to a second cruise.If you financed this OBC yourself I thing you get it refunded at end of cruise but probably to the exchange value of the current rate.

[crows nest club]

Hi

 

Someone in here kindly pointed out that those of us in the UK have the exchange rate effectively set at time of booking for buying OBC. I have booked two cruises on Crown Princess next year. The first I booked pre June 23 and my OBC rate is $1.46 to the pound. My second was booked recently and has an OBC purchase rate of $1.28 to the £.

 

It makes sense for me to buy OBC at the higher rate. Can any un-spent OBC be transferred to the second cruise? If the money is refunded is it refunded at the rate at which it was purchased or the exchange rate current at the end of the cruise?

 

Thanks for any advice.

 

Hi

You may want to do what we did this year. We had two cruises booked with the first cruise having the $1.46 rate to the £, with the second one having the lower rate. We loaded the obc on the first cruise with more than we would ever spend and then withdrew

the excess in dollars via the slots in the casino and took them on board in cash for the second cruise and. once on board; paid them into our on board account. Job done.

 

Waiting for them to be returned in sterling can take up to six weeks and you will have lost the benefit of your good dollar rate.

[Corfe Mixture]

Hi

You may want to do what we did this year. We had two cruises booked with the first cruise having the $1.46 rate to the £, with the second one having the lower rate. We loaded the obc on the first cruise with more than we would ever spend and then withdrew

the excess in dollars via the slots in the casino and took them on board in cash for the second cruise and. once on board; paid them into our on board account. Job done.

 

Waiting for them to be returned in sterling can take up to six weeks and you will have lost the benefit of your good dollar rate.

 

Forgive my ignorance, but as I never go to the casino, I am not sure what you are saying about the 'slots'.

 

It appears to me that you are saying that I can turn refundable OBC into cash through the 'slots' in the casino.

 

Exactly how does this work and how do I go about doing it?

[SadieN]

Princess will transfer the balance of one cruise to another if you're doing a B2B.

Instead of going to the Casino, can cash out your OBC the last night of your cruise. If you cannot get cash then do the slot thing. It's easy to do.

[madmacs]

Hi

You may want to do what we did this year. We had two cruises booked with the first cruise having the $1.46 rate to the £, with the second one having the lower rate. We loaded the obc on the first cruise with more than we would ever spend and then withdrew

the excess in dollars via the slots in the casino and took them on board in cash for the second cruise and. once on board; paid them into our on board account. Job done.

 

Waiting for them to be returned in sterling can take up to six weeks and you will have lost the benefit of your good dollar rate.

 

Checked on another thread about the casino suggestion before posting. Seems to be some confusion about this. At the very least you do apparently have to spend some money on the slots. I am not a gambler so a bit dense on these matters. I guess if you only have to risk $20 it is probably worthwhile.

[crows nest club]

Oh sorry. Well, here goes. Like you we don't go to the casino - only to withdraw on board credit lol. Slots are what we call fruit machines in UK. Go to any machine in the casino - we usually choose a 1 cent one, put in your cruise card and follow instructions to open an account. It usually asks for your d o b and then enter a pin number of your choice. I usually ask one of the casino staff members to help set up the account. After you have done this you can then put on any amount you wish by pressing the button 'charge on board account' and enter your required amount. We usually just play a few spins for luck and then withdraw the amount

by pressing the appropriate button 'cash out' You then take your cruise card to the casino cashier and ask to cash out. They then give you the cash. We normally do this a few times during the cruise taking say 50 -100 dollars a time until you have what you want. By the way, each time subsequently you go to the casino; just enter your pin number and your good to go.

 

Hope this helps, if not just ask I would just say, if I can do it; anybody can

[SWORRUB1]

crowsnestclub wrote:

Waiting for them to be returned in sterling can take up to six weeks (end quote)

(Why has quotes stopped working for me?)

 

Ive been waiting 9 weeks now so dont bank on the 6 weeks that is commanly quoted if you need the cash in a hurry!

[crows nest club]

crowsnestclub wrote:

Waiting for them to be returned in sterling can take up to six weeks (end quote)

(Why has quotes stopped working for me?)

 

Ive been waiting 9 weeks now so dont bank on the 6 weeks that is commanly quoted if you need the cash in a hurry!

 

We learnt that; so that is why we go down the 'casino route' .

[mklions]

As previously posted i can buy OBC for my up coming cruise in November at a exchange rate of $1.53 to the UK pound.

 

This is because I booked my cruise nearly 12 months ago ( pre Brexit)

The current exchange rate on the UK high street is at a all time low of $1.20 to the pound.

 

Hypothetically ,if I were to buy several thousand of $$$$ of OBC and then not spend them, then i would be hundreds of pound in profit when I cashed then back to ££££,s.

Mklions...

[crows nest club]

As previously posted i can buy OBC for my up coming cruise in November at a exchange rate of $1.53 to the UK pound.

 

This is because I booked my cruise nearly 12 months ago ( pre Brexit)

The current exchange rate on the UK high street is at a all time low of $1.20 to the pound.

 

Hypothetically ,if I were to buy several thousand of $$$$ of OBC and then not spend them, then i would be hundreds of pound in profit when I cashed then back to ££££,s.

Mklions...

 

Yes, you would, but I think somewhere I read that Princess imposes a maximum amount of obc that any one person may purchase, so back to the drawing board! !

[Glenndale]

So for clarification any preloaded OBC bought at the booking date £ to $ rate, will be refunded to the credit card / debit card it was purchased with?

Has anyone done this? Is the refund in $'s or £'s?

 

The casino method is allowable? We don't play the slots either but if this leaves us with hard cash in $'s it seems a good way to go.

Basically just seeking reassurance that this works :o

We have 2 Princess cruises booked, one was booked last February and the other in July so the extra $'s would be useful for the 2nd cruise.

I remember doing something similar on Cunard many years ago and we were able to cash out our remaining dollars at reception, sadly this is no longer possible :(

 

Does anyone know what the maximum amount is?

Edited October 9, 2016 by Glenndale

[pjrockman]

This approach is now a gamble. Princess is cracking down on this practice. There are several recent threads on it with comments that go as far as saying that accounts are being frozen if you don't gamble with it. Again, how it may be handled may be based on ship, casino manager, itinerary, etc.

 

I put credits on my account, but most of mine ends up in the casino!!

 

Since it is hard to tell what is fact, conjecture or rumor at this point, I just caution you to not count on the money during the cruise unless you plan on using it in the casino.

 

As most have noticed, the statement's accounting has changed quite a bit in the last year. Princess is keeping a closer watch on what credits go where and how they are being credited and debited.

 

Paul

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[SWORRUB1]

So for clarification any preloaded OBC bought at the booking date £ to $ rate, will be refunded to the credit card / debit card it was purchased with?

Has anyone done this? Is the refund in $'s or £'s?

 

 

No, not in my experience they are going to send me a sterling cheque.

I will report further when it arrives

[mklions]

I have now brought $1000 for £650.

This is at a rate of 1.53 dollars to 1 pound.

 

This should be enough for our 3 week cruise in November, I don't anticipate having much left over to cash back.

 

This rate was offered to me when I booked our cruise back in February and it is still showing the same rate on my cruise personalizer today.

 

I could buy more but don't think i will spend much more than £$1000 and I am sure that any dollars left over will be transferred back into £,s at the same rate as I brought it.

 

If I knew you could cash in the OBC for hard cash whist on the ship I would probably buy some more, but I am not sure if you can?

[brian1]

Princess will transfer the balance of one cruise to another if you're doing a B2B.

Instead of going to the Casino, can cash out your OBC the last night of your cruise. If you cannot get cash then do the slot thing. It's easy to do.

 

HI,we got our leftover obc from our south America cruise over Christmas transferred to our recent Alaska cruise.All we had to do was phone Southampton and it was sorted,cheers,Brian.

[madmacs]

HI,we got our leftover obc from our south America cruise over Christmas transferred to our recent Alaska cruise.All we had to do was phone Southampton and it was sorted,cheers,Brian.

 

Phoned Princess in Southampton today and Gemma told me you cannot transfer outstanding OBC to the next cruise. However any outstanding OBC is returned at the then current exchange rate, so currently much better changing dollars to pounds.

[englishbird]

How do I find the rate on my personaliser for OBC. I have done many Princess cruises but have never sent myself OBC. I booked before brexit. So i guess the rate should be better than the current rate here in the Uk.

 

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[antsp]

How do I find the rate on my personaliser for OBC. I have done many Princess cruises but have never sent myself OBC. I booked before brexit. So i guess the rate should be better than the current rate here in the Uk.

 

Sent from my SM-G930F using Forums mobile app

I'm not sure, my April cruise booked in the U.K. States £70 onboard credit, it doesn't state what you get but I'm guessing $100

[madmacs]

The bottom rate buys $25. So £70 buys $100 in your case. That equates to $1.43 to a £. Great deal as today you get about $1.18 to a£.

 

I bought £600 of dollars today at that rate,

[crows nest club]

I have now brought $1000 for £650.

This is at a rate of 1.53 dollars to 1 pound.

 

This should be enough for our 3 week cruise in November, I don't anticipate having much left over to cash back.

 

This rate was offered to me when I booked our cruise back in February and it is still showing the same rate on my cruise personalizer today.

 

I could buy more but don't think i will spend much more than £$1000 and I am sure that any dollars left over will be transferred back into £,s at the same rate as I brought it.

 

If I knew you could cash in the OBC for hard cash whist on the ship I would probably buy some more, but I am not sure if you can?

 

You can. Please see my post No 9 and others on this thread m. Explains the casino route to take.

[brian1]

Phoned Princess in Southampton today and Gemma told me you cannot transfer outstanding OBC to the next cruise. However any outstanding OBC is returned at the then current exchange rate, so currently much better changing dollars to pounds.

 

HI,it seems some agents do and know their jobs better than others.We only transferred our leftover obc a few months ago and we had the superman of agents Jordan Brewer.It now seems he has left the company,I'm gutted because he would sort out any problem,cheers,Brian.

[SWORRUB1]

No, not in my experience they are going to send me a sterling cheque.

I will report further when it arrives

 

 

The cheque has turned up today from Carnival.

 

It has refunded the OBC at the rate applicable when I asked for it to be refunded.

 

So that's 11 days from their promise of 10-14 days, well done, but 11-12 weeks since I docked back in Southampton. :-(

 

The moral of the story is to have excess OBC when your home currency is falling, but not when its increasing in dollar value!....and if you need the cash DONT DO IT!

Edited October 20, 2016 by SWORRUB1

[mklions]

If I buy a load of OBC because I can buy it at $1.53 to the pound. ( because I brought the cruise last February) The US$ that I don't use on the ship will I be able to get it back in dollars at the end of the cruise? or will I have to wait until the cheque arrives through the post?

 

Another senario for me is that I am on two back to back cruises on the Emerald starting on 8th November

.

The first cruise is sailing from Perth to Sydney which the on board folio is in US dollars.

 

The second cruise is Sydney to Sydney ( sailing around New Zealand) the onboard folio changes for this cruise to AUD dollars, so will I be able to transfer my OBC from the first cruise to the second cruise?

 

I have already brought some OBC for both cruises which I will probably spend on ship, but maybe i should buy some more at such a fantastic exchange rate if I can cash it in?

 

Mklions

[madmacs]

Similar to the question I asked at the start of the thread. I understand from others any outstanding OBC cannot be transferred to another cruise. Some folks say you can get OBC back in dollars via slots in the casino, others that Princess is tightening up. The good news is that you will buy your OBC at $1.53 to a pound but get any outstanding back in pounds at current exchange rates meaning around 20per cent + gain.

 

If I buy a load of OBC because I can buy it at $1.53 to the pound. ( because I brought the cruise last February) The US$ that I don't use on the ship will I be able to get it back in dollars at the end of the cruise? or will I have to wait until the cheque arrives through the post?

 

Another senario for me is that I am on two back to back cruises on the Emerald starting on 8th November

.

The first cruise is sailing from Perth to Sydney which the on board folio is in US dollars.

 

The second cruise is Sydney to Sydney ( sailing around New Zealand) the onboard folio changes for this cruise to AUD dollars, so will I be able to transfer my OBC from the first cruise to the second cruise?

 

I have already brought some OBC for both cruises which I will probably spend on ship, but maybe i should buy some more at such a fantastic exchange rate if I can cash it in?

 

Mklions