crisp1 Posted May 13, 2017 #1 Share Posted May 13, 2017 Our last cruise on NCL we had a $300 obc as part of our NCL booking- which we thought we could use towards our service charge- did not find out until the morning of of disembarkation that we couldn't- had to purchase a bunch of pics and frames just to use it. I've read here that you can use the obc from X towards your service charge- but from what I read in the X small print- you can't- so I took the bev package and internet- was I wrong Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostchild Posted May 13, 2017 #2 Share Posted May 13, 2017 I think you can, but my $375 OBC was gone so fast that I didn't check the account on the last cruise. :p On Celebrity, the prepaid gratuity is charged every day on the account. I think ours was something like $32 a day? The internet and beverage packages are both worth more than $300 if you have at least a 7 days cruise. Internet would be like $250 + $125 (50% off 2nd device in same cabin) = $375. And classic beverage would be like $700+ for 2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helen haywood Posted May 13, 2017 #3 Share Posted May 13, 2017 Yes, on Celebrity you can use OBC (theirs or other) towards the DSC (Daily Service Charge AKA gratuities.) Celebrity will use non-refundable OBC first and then refundable. Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jelayne Posted May 13, 2017 #4 Share Posted May 13, 2017 Looks like you had a choice of 2 perks. IMHO the beverage package is a very good choice with bottled water, speciality coffee/tea, soda, fresh squeezed juice plus beer, wine & cocktails. Depending upon the length of your cruise the $300 OBC can be a better choice than prepaid gratuties. In a veranda the grats are $13.50 pp, per day so on a 10 day cruise that would be a total of $270. So if one took the $300 that would cover the grats with $30 left for something else. On Celebrity your OBC is a credit and anything you spend or your daily gratuties will be charged against the OBC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiseGal999 Posted May 13, 2017 #5 Share Posted May 13, 2017 I've seen a lot of posts about the OBC. I've never had OBC. What are you supposed to do/apply the OBC to? Spa treatments? Booze? I don't understand the issues people are having. Just thought I'd ask. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrk2cruise Posted May 13, 2017 #6 Share Posted May 13, 2017 It is basically a credit applied to your onboard account. Everything you purchase onboard is done via your onboard account with the exception of any deposit on booking a future cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiseGal999 Posted May 13, 2017 #7 Share Posted May 13, 2017 Ok. So say I have a $300 On Board Credit (OBC). And I drink cocktails and have a massage and facial and it all totals $300. Will the OBC cover ALL of the charges for those types of items? Cocktails and spa? Mostly I see people saying the OBC isn't being applied to their gratuities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alakegirl Posted May 13, 2017 #8 Share Posted May 13, 2017 You shouldn't be seeing that on any Celebrity posts. On some lines you are restricted from using on board credit for gratuities but not on Celebrity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare villauk Posted May 13, 2017 #9 Share Posted May 13, 2017 Mostly I see people saying the OBC isn't being applied to their gratuities. We always use the OBC towards our gratuities. The amount of OBC you have is placed on your account and then each day the grats are charged. You are able to see the balance on your interactive cabin TV. Unsure where you have read on the X boards that OBC isn't being applied towards grats :confused:? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karena1 Posted May 13, 2017 #10 Share Posted May 13, 2017 You can use your OBC for your tips. Just off Summit in April and we used part of our non-refundable OBC to pay our daily tips. They automatically got charged to our account daily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
griffy116 Posted May 13, 2017 #11 Share Posted May 13, 2017 At the time we booked, we got a good deal that included the four perks. A few months later, they had a price reduction and we upgraded our cabin and still got to keep the perks. Since we have the premium beverage package already, we don't have to spend our OBC to upgrade that so we will probably use some of it for an excursion or two. We haven't used the cruise line excursions in several years, but there are a couple of them that are comparable in price to what we would pay for an independent vendor without putting us on a big bus rolling around an island. We usually buy one photo and it's the one of us getting on the ship. After that, we really prefer the candid shots we take around the ship and the ports. I know I'm in the minority, but I don't care for the spa treatments. I don't feel a need to go to the specialty restaurants either, so I'll probably spend anything left over on shopping, the casino or liquor. I'm sure it won't go to waste. We found out that my Grandson and a friend he took on the cruise with us had OBC left on the last night of a cruise a few years ago and he had no problem spending it in the shops and at the casino. I think it took them less than two hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helen haywood Posted May 13, 2017 #12 Share Posted May 13, 2017 Ok. So say I have a $300 On Board Credit (OBC). And I drink cocktails and have a massage and facial and it all totals $300. Will the OBC cover ALL of the charges for those types of items? Cocktails and spa? Mostly I see people saying the OBC isn't being applied to their gratuities. If you have $300 in OBC and your bill totals $300 at the end of your cruise then you will owe nothing. And any people saying the OBC cannot be applied to gratuities are incorrect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvcrusn Posted May 13, 2017 #13 Share Posted May 13, 2017 Our last cruise on NCL we had a $300 obc as part of our NCL booking- which we thought we could use towards our service charge- did not find out until the morning of of disembarkation that we couldn't- had to purchase a bunch of pics and frames just to use it. I've read here that you can use the obc from X towards your service charge- but from what I read in the X small print- you can't- so I took the bev package and internet- was I wrong I have occasionally taken OBC in lieu of prepaid gratuities if the OBC was greater than the gratuity amount and used the OBC for gratuities without any problems. I have also used OBC to add additional gratuity amounts for my waiter, cabin steward or any other staff member I felt warranted extra. You will not have a problem using it. You can probably change back to your original choice if you are outside of final payment. On our last cruise we chose OBC because it was greater than the gratuity amount. X raised the gratuity amount in our selected cabin category and we had the perk changed to prepaid gratuities since that was a greater value. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvcrusn Posted May 13, 2017 #14 Share Posted May 13, 2017 I've seen a lot of posts about the OBC. I've never had OBC. What are you supposed to do/apply the OBC to? Spa treatments? Booze? I don't understand the issues people are having. Just thought I'd ask. Anything you purchase on the ship with the exception to deposits on a future cruise. We've used it for specialty dining, gratuities, shore excursions, spa treatments, bottles of wine, photos, shopping, gratuities, room service extra fee items, beverages, internet packages, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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