nonrefundable OBC help please

[39august]

I spoke with a cruise planner yesterday who told me that my Celebrity OBC cannot be used in the casino! Is there any way around this? With the "Go Best" package, I have little to spend the $300 OBC on that I want. Don't want to just waste it spending on "stuff" or specialty dining. Been to the ports many times so don't want to take a lot of ship tours, but I have booked one. I still have over $200 OBC! On RCI that is no problem as I can take it out at the casino for 5% fee.

[cruisestitch]

I think the cruise planner was wrong, or perhaps confused. Celebrity used to have the system where you could take your OBC in cash at the casino for the 5% fee. That is no longer the case. But you can gamble with your OBC. If you play table games, they give you specially marked chips. These can only be used to gamble, not to cash in. But if you win, you get regularly colored chips and they can be cashed in. If you gamble at the slots, they again have a scheme where you can load the money from the OBC into the machine for you and you can keep what you win.

[NemoCrownie]

We used luggage valet - $25 pp - and loved it; go to a specialty restaurant one or two nights, upgrade your beverage package, leave extra tips with whatever is left. It isn't hard to figure out how to spend $200 onboard.

[bigbenboys]

We get $600 non-refundable OBC with each cruise. We do not have any problems spending it. But you can give it to anyone you want. You can go to Guest relations and transfer your OBC to someone's cabin.

[cruisestitch]

Transferring to someone is a viable option -- if you know another passenger who will be leaving with a big bill, you can transfer your credit to them and have them reimburse you. I was with a friend last cruise who ended up going to the medical a couple of times and that was an unexpected expense for her. I transferred my credit to her and she paid me back.

[39august]

Don't know anyone on the cruise, so certainly not giving it away! Thanks for the info about using in the casino. I thought I had read something about that before. I certainly will use $25 per person for luggage valet. Thanks for that reminder.

[merinski]

Go to the spa, shop in the shops...jewelry maybe..

[DHADEN]

I think the cruise planner was wrong, or perhaps confused. Celebrity used to have the system where you could take your OBC in cash at the casino for the 5% fee. That is no longer the case. But you can gamble with your OBC. If you play table games, they give you specially marked chips. These can only be used to gamble, not to cash in. But if you win, you get regularly colored chips and they can be cashed in. If you gamble at the slots, they again have a scheme where you can load the money from the OBC into the machine for you and you can keep what you win.

 

It has been a year or so since we cruised on Celebrity, but on RCI all the time. We have NEVER had a problem going to the blackjack table with Seapass card, telling the dealer, I want $200, and getting them - then going to the Cashier and getting cash.

 

Has this changed in the last year?

[cruisestitch]

Yes it has changed about a year ago.

[2theship]

Someone already told you about using OBC at table games in the casino. Here's how it works for the slots. I'm going use hypothetical numbers just to make it easier to understand:

 

Go to the cashier and ask to have money transferred from your account to use in the casino. Your card will be swiped and you'll be given written instructions on how to transfer from your card to any machine. Select a machine and transfer $20.00. You then have to use that $20.00 in that machine. So, if your chosen bet is 1.00 per spin, it will take 20 spins. You have now spent the $20.00 in OBC. If you have any winnings, cash out of the machine. You'll get the usual voucher that you can take to the cashier for cash.

 

If you bet less than the amount you transferred, the balance will be put back in your card. I chose to just use small amounts at a time because I might find I didn't care for a machine or we might decide to leave the casino for some reason.

[ClaudiaB]

Things I've spent OBC on (after using some for internet, beverage pkg upgrade, etc.):

 

Michael Kors black leather quilted bag that looks like Chanel. I use it almost every day. Normally I wouldn't buy a MK bag at retail but I was in the market for a nice black bag anyway, so...

An overpriced name-brand all purpose rain jacket that I didn't need but is beautiful and I love it and felt "free."

Some makeup. Why not?

We also have had guest relations transfer some to people we wanted to tip extra.

[Duanerice1]

Someone already told you about using OBC at table games in the casino. Here's how it works for the slots. I'm going use hypothetical numbers just to make it easier to understand:

 

Go to the cashier and ask to have money transferred from your account to use in the casino. Your card will be swiped and you'll be given written instructions on how to transfer from your card to any machine. Select a machine and transfer $20.00. You then have to use that $20.00 in that machine. So, if your chosen bet is 1.00 per spin, it will take 20 spins. You have now spent the $20.00 in OBC. If you have any winnings, cash out of the machine. You'll get the usual voucher that you can take to the cashier for cash.

 

If you bet less than the amount you transferred, the balance will be put back in your card. I chose to just use small amounts at a time because I might find I didn't care for a machine or we might decide to leave the casino for some reason.

 

Exactly what my wife does. Our last 10 day cruise she ended up using about $400 obc an turned it into right about $400 cash after gambling for 10 days. She would have gambled either way.

 

They also offered a special that if you transferred $100 they gave you an extra $10, if transferred $200 you got an extra $20 so she ended up with an extra $40 to gamble with.

 

She just transfers small amounts at a time into the machine because if it doesn't "hit" early on she likes to switch machines.

[jules815]

Things I've spent OBC on (after using some for internet, beverage pkg upgrade, etc.):

 

Michael Kors black leather quilted bag that looks like Chanel. I use it almost every day. Normally I wouldn't buy a MK bag at retail but I was in the market for a nice black bag anyway, so...

An overpriced name-brand all purpose rain jacket that I didn't need but is beautiful and I love it and felt "free."

Some makeup. Why not?

We also have had guest relations transfer some to people we wanted to tip extra.

 

On both cruises I've done now with X, I've always stocked up on my Clinique moisturizers, Estee Lauder mascara, etc. They carry a lot of the high end brands, and these are things I would normally buy at home anyway. Next cruise I might look at a nice bag, or maybe put it toward a watch for my husband. He'll be sailing with me on the next one, and I think we have $600 obc. :)

[villauk]

On both cruises I've done now with X, I've always stocked up on my Clinique moisturizers, Estee Lauder mascara, etc. They carry a lot of the high end brands, and these are things I would normally buy at home anyway. Next cruise I might look at a nice bag, or maybe put it toward a watch for my husband. He'll be sailing with me on the next one, and I think we have $600 obc. :)

 

Or perfume/aftershave. If not for yourself, then perfect for gifts for someone else (birthdays/Christmas etc.).

[jules815]

Or perfume/aftershave. If not for yourself, then perfect for gifts for someone else (birthdays/Christmas etc.).

 

Exactly. And as our next cruise is in early December, might be a good way to get a few last minute Christmas gifts. :)

[griffy116]

Booze to bring home? We always get a couple of nice bottles for gifts that would be more expensive at home and they hold them for us until the last day, then we take some bubble wrap and put them in a zip-lock and sandwich them in the clothes in our checked bag. Heck, I've even bought scarves and handbags for Christmas gifts if there was a good sale in a shop on the ship. We have a good bit of OBC and since we already have the four perks, including Premium drink package and don't really care about the cruise line's excursions, each of us will probably spend it differently. My daughters will use some of the spa services. Since we will be in the casino anyway, some of it will go in the slot machines. My Grandson has the same amount of OBC and is taking a friend who hasn't been anywhere to gamble since she turned 21, so she's planning to use some of her OBC in the casino and in the gift shop. We will not have any problem spending our OBC. We may use some of it for excursions such as a transfer to a beach, since that wouldn't involve being on a big bus circling an island. Spending OBC has never been a problem.

[whittfamily]

Off the Reflection yesterday. We used onboard credit in the casino. You have to go to the customer counter in Casino and have them transfer how much money you want from your onboard credit to your card to use. We could use onboard credit everywhere, no problem at all. We used for our regular gratuity's and then went the last day and got form from guest services to give extra gratuity from our onboard credit to have transferred to specific people like our room steward and dining staff. You have to list their names and how much you want to give. Our room steward said he does get the extra shows up in his account who gave it to him, does not go in to the pool to be split. Our total bill was $1.77 but we had the drink package and $500 onboard credit.

[NantahalaCruiser]

Someone already told you about using OBC at table games in the casino. Here's how it works for the slots. I'm going use hypothetical numbers just to make it easier to understand:

 

Go to the cashier and ask to have money transferred from your account to use in the casino. Your card will be swiped and you'll be given written instructions on how to transfer from your card to any machine. Select a machine and transfer $20.00. You then have to use that $20.00 in that machine. So, if your chosen bet is 1.00 per spin, it will take 20 spins. You have now spent the $20.00 in OBC. If you have any winnings, cash out of the machine. You'll get the usual voucher that you can take to the cashier for cash.

 

If you bet less than the amount you transferred, the balance will be put back in your card. I chose to just use small amounts at a time because I might find I didn't care for a machine or we might decide to leave the casino for some reason.

If you decide to use some of your non-refundable OBC in the casino for your enjoyment, then pick your game - slots or tables - and enjoy.

 

But if you are using OBC in the casino in order to convert it to cash, then playing the slots is one of the worst choices since they have a relatively much higher house advantage compared to table games. The craps table has the lowest house advantage (less than 1.5% if you bet on the pass line or don't pass line.)

[39august]

Thanks for the reassurances about using in the casino. Also about extra tips. We nearly always tip our room steward extra, so that will come in handy. Also we are dining in Blu so I assume we can use extra to tip there as well.