Celebrity is Testing Several Cruises for Using OBC Pre Cruise???

[aquanaut1]

I called them yesterday and booked an excursion using OBC . They booked it all and emailed confirmation of trip and how much OBC we have remaining . Very efficient . Very happy they've started doing this

 

 

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[johhnnyt]

I noticed today that we show $600 available for our Infinity sailing for Pacific Coastal for May 17th, so booked an excursion and some specialty dining packages

[frealan]

For dining packages, will there be better deals on the first day once you've boarded? Better to wait?

 

 

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[oneputt18]

We got the email for our November Equinox cruise, so it seems they are extending it fleetwide.

 

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[Pushka]

I used the obc for excursions and dining on the Silly Baltic July 6th cruise. Cancelled original paid for bookings and will get a refund. I had nothing to spend the obc on so it was a fabulous thing for us.

[XtaSea]

We did the same...had already booked the train in Skagway for our Sept. Alaska cruise. Called Captain's Club and the rep immediately refunded my credit card and applied some of our OBC to cover the train excursion. Sweet.

[dutchclogs]

Just out of interest, has anyone experience of non-US bookings obc pre-cruise? Pre-cruise payments are in currency of booking -- euro, pound sterling, Australian $... yet balance of obc on board must be in US $ ?

[aquanaut1]

Just out of interest, has anyone experience of non-US bookings obc pre-cruise? Pre-cruise payments are in currency of booking -- euro, pound sterling, Australian $... yet balance of obc on board must be in US $ ?

 

 

Yes me , they converted the US dollar cost into sterling , and it also appeared on the e mail in our local currency too

And the obc remaining was also in sterling

 

 

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[Pushka]

Just out of interest, has anyone experience of non-US bookings obc pre-cruise? Pre-cruise payments are in currency of booking -- euro, pound sterling, Australian $... yet balance of obc on board must be in US $ ?

 

 

 

Yes. I'm in Australia. Our OBC was in $AUD.

[ClaudiaB]

Hope it continues to be available. Azamara has been rumored to be thinking about this which makes sense as they're from the same parent company. I hope so. On our 15 night Journey cruise into the North Cape (Norway) in 2018, we have in the neighborhood of $3000 OBC between what Azamara gave us and what the TA gave us. We'd use a good chunk of that to book the ship's excursions that we can't get independently in those small towns. I heard that the small companies in the villages often just give all their slots to the cruise, which means if you want to do that excursion you book through the ship. FYI we just have a regular balcony and still that much OBC.

 

It was asked earlier in this thread how someone got so much OBC. Simple, really. Book a higher cabin like a suite (we typically book S1 on X). Transfer that booking to a TA and get both sets of perks. If you're REALLY fortunate, you book a cruise on Black Friday while onboard a cruise. ;) Get the ship's extra OBC and special 1-day-only deals. Then transfer all that, using your internet minutes on board, to the big online TA who is ALSO offering combinable Black Friday Perks. That's how we got so much for our Azamara. Just one of the TAs perks that day was 10% of the total cruise fare in OBC. But like I said, that nearly $3000 is for just a verandah, nothing special. I think it's called penthouse verandah. We didn't want to spend for a suite on Azamara, at least not on our first time sailing with them.

[BigB0882]

I was able to use my OBC and went ahead and upgraded our drinking packages so we don't have to do it when we get on board. Won't really save a lot of time but it is one less thing to worry about. I am on the Infinity out of Vancouver June 4th.

[Pushka]

All my original bookings have been now refunded and OBC used to book them again. I still have some OBC left over but very happy to be able to use this feature.

[stavy]

Any idea which 3 are the test cruises? I'd really like to use our Celebrity OBC to book a dinner package precruise.

 

Our cruise on the solstice 9 day alaska on may 17 2017 is offering this

[TRadle]

Any idea which 3 are the test cruises? I'd really like to use our Celebrity OBC to book a dinner package precruise.

 

I just used our OBC to book excursions on our Alaska cruise on the Solstice this July. It was very easy to use.

[jrby]

Just used OBC for pre-cruise booking of two shore excursions for an Equinox sailing 24 April. :D

[klfhngr]

Just booked 2 tours for our May 5th Equinox cruise. Love that we can use the OBC, very convenient. I almost booked these tours a few months ago, I would've had to use my own money.... I've been informed that the remaining OBC will be used by my wife at the Michael Kors store, ugh! ;)

[jellyfish39]

Just checked into our booking for Solstice May 7 cruise - our OBC is showing (in Canadian dollars) and we are thinking of using it to upgrade our drinks package to premium. Its a good idea for them to offer access ahead as it may cause us to book shore excursions with Celebrity in future if OBC is available ahead of time.

[Pushka]

Just booked 2 tours for our May 5th Equinox cruise. Love that we can use the OBC, very convenient. I almost booked these tours a few months ago, I would've had to use my own money.... I've been informed that the remaining OBC will be used by my wife at the Michael Kors store, ugh! ;)

 

 

 

We did book and pre pay but were able to cancel and we have received the refund within a week. Very happy.

[dog]

would love to know what sailings they are allowing this

 

My April 22/17. Japanese Explorer cruise on Millenium. Got message when I signed in 2 weeks ago. That I could use my OBC pre cruise. Booked 4 excursions with it.

Dog:)

[Cruise a holic]

I was told by Captain's Club that Celebrity is doing a marketing test on cruisers being able to actually use their OBC to purchase things before they embark. She told me it will be on three different cruises to see how it works. Sounds interesting to me...what are your thoughts?

 

 

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Heard this also and even verified by celebrity. This is great as we can make our dining reservations before our August Summit cruise.

[Italy52]

I used my OBC to book a shore excursion on my Millennium cruise to Alaska for May 2018 --- very easy to do and nice to have that option.

[Laurab23]

One of the perks I am getting is the beverage package. I plan on upgrading it to platinum when I board using my OCB. Can I do this ahead of time and how do I do it?

 

Laura

[klfhngr]

We did book and pre pay but were able to cancel and we have received the refund within a week. Very happy.

 

Wow, nice that they did it fast!!

[watchdiva]

I have booked a shore excursion for our Dec 2017 cruise using my credit card. I was able to cancel, get a refund to my credit card and rebook using OBC. Easy peasy....

 

 

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[Pushka]

Wow, nice that they did it fast!!

 

 

I know. It was very quick. So pleased with this new scheme. Saved us around $500 and still some cash to spend on say toiletries and such. We've booked two excursions and a specialty meal.