Too much OBC

[bjahil47]

And how does one go about getting non refundable onboard credit? and get so much of it that it is too much? LOL

 

Last 3 cruises we have had over $1,000 OBCN to spend on each one.

Cruise next month is only $1,000 - $300 from the Go Best Package, $300 because we booked on board the last cruise and $400 from Celebrity because the original cruise we booked got chartered. Plus we have OBCR.

[Sascol]

Too much OBC......not a thing!

[Hatteras51]

Yea, we usually get the $300 OBC from Celebrity and around the same from TA which is good for a standard balcony cabin.

 

We easily spend that $600 with no problem. And no, we don't take home any OBCR as it's a vacation, have fun.

 

We take the first $300 and pay gratuities (10 night) and the rest is used in the casino, t-shirt, etc. Since my wife likes to gamble we take advantage of the bonus they offer for putting slot credits on your card. She can cash out any winnings but who cares, she would have spent that anyway.

 

Can't imagine having too much OBC but then we don't cruise in $5,000 cabins so maybe they get a lot more. Overall we get about 20% in OBC between Celebrity and our TA. i'm satisfied with that.

 

I'd love to know who your TA is that is giving you that much credit. I know that you can't give the name on this site, but if you could give me some hints or the initials, I'll try to figure it out. My TA doesn't give hardly any.

[Lastdance]

What wonderful news with so many suggestions! Very happy for you too!

[cheeseheads4ever]

Totally agree with you Ive never booked thru a TA and just cant put my arms around the TA’s giving all this OBC. I get it $300 from Celebrity thats a no brainer.

So being that TA’s cant be discussed as to names on Cruise Critic boards its all a guess.

I’ve gotten quotes from TA’s and they toss in another $25.

Im guessing Im not booking the higher end suites that others are. Ive researched and researched cant pull the trigger with a TA for $25.

Other fellow cruisers seem to get OBC but cant fiqure out how they get so much.. Maybe some day I will run into a cruiser onboard that can point me in the right direction.

[bighairtexan]

I'm with you for $25. The TA I use basically "rebates" around 10% as OBC. Also for RCI and X there may be "group rates".

 

I wish WWCruisers would weigh in b/c for decades she refused to use a TA (based on a previous bad experience). She and I decided we'd cruise together and I insisted we use my TA. So I booked a Celebrity Suite on a 7 day cruise and my TA "gifted us" w/ an OBC of $700ish. In addition to Celebrity's included perks. She and her DH kept wanting to know the "catch" and I said there WAS NONE! I can't understand booking directly when it's "free money".

 

HOWEVER on Princess and Carnival, even in a suite, the "rebate" from the same TA was $100 or less and I agree... not worth booking with them for $100 or less OBC.

[cheeseheads4ever]

Thats exactly what Im saying. How do you get a $700 OBC on a suite booking and I get tossed a $25 bill for booking a balcony?

We cruise like 2 times a year its not like its once every 5 years.

I guess Im missing something. I do agree its free money if you get it. Maybe Id better perfect my negotiating skills.

[hues of blue]

We booked the Summit last winter for this next February. We use an online TA- perk from Celebrity was $300.00 OBC, TA gave us another hundred plus pre-paid gratuities and and beverage package. Celebrity then cancelled our cruise because the Summit was going to Dry dock during the time we booked and gave us another $200.00, now at $600.00. We cruised this last May with freinds and family for a wedding and I received another $125.00 in referral OBC from the TA- now we are at $725.00. Being a loyalty member with the online TA will get us another $50.00 when we cruise plus another friend is cruising this fall and we will get another $25.00 referral OBC from the TA to go towards our next cruise once she completes this cruise. Total OBC for our Jan cruise on the Equinox will be $800.00:D:D:D. At this point I don't know what will be refundable OBC and what will be non-refundable but once we get on the ship I can get that information from the customer service desk.

I plan to upgrade one of our beverage packages and then spend another good portion of it on excursions. :DWe've never had this much to spend so I'm looking forward to it very much.

 

Sherri:D

[mandream]

At this point I don't know what will be refundable OBC and what will be non-refundable but once we get on the ship I can get that information from the customer service desk.:D

 

No need to stand in line at the desk. You can tell simply by looking at your account on the TV. OB-N will be non refundable. OB-R will be refundable.

 

Mike

[hues of blue]

No need to stand in line at the desk. You can tell simply by looking at your account on the TV. OB-N will be non refundable. OB-R will be refundable.

 

Mike

 

 

Thank you Mike!

 

Sherri

[garyl62]

We've only had one time when we didn't spend all our OBC and that was because we had over $2,000, but it was because our cruise had been shortened by X so they pro-rated a refund as OBC-R. We spent what we wanted and took the rest to offset our added hotel and food expense while we waited for departure.

 

To answer some posts about how you get so much credit, what we have on our next trip (7 nights) without any cancelations, or something unusual, is $1,250 available to us. We are in a CS with a Go Best package so tips, wifi, premium drinks and $300 OBC are already included. We booked onboard a previous cruise so we got $250 for that, we got another $100 from X for some reason I don't remember (I think it was also due to booking onboard) so the X OBC-N total is $650 then we transferred our booking to a TA and received another $600 from them which is typically refundable. We'll use it to buy shore excursions (I know we can self book, but why when we have the credit and the guarantee of never missing the ship on return with X sponsored), some general shopping onboard, a night or two of specialty dining, a spa treatment or two, we have tipped the butler out of this but now we just bring cash for that and plan on saving that same tip about in OBC-R so we get it back. We're not gamblers so we don't use the casino, we're thinking of doing the new glass blowing venue on the Equinox so that will use some too. Overall, we buy what we want and about 4 days into a 7 day cruise we check our balance and if needed adjust our spending at that point so we come home with what we want, but we really never end up with a balance due at the end.

[cheeseheads4ever]

So this is just a compilation of OBC from past cruises with issues that happen along the way.. I get that.

Im talking about just booking a cruise thru a TA. They dont drop $700 on you? I get the $300 OBC from Celebrity and weve gotten that before. Tell me if Im wrong but seems like these big OBC are compilations of current and past cruises?

[mandream]

So this is just a compilation of OBC from past cruises with issues that happen along the way.. I get that.

Im talking about just booking a cruise thru a TA. They dont drop $700 on you? I get the $300 OBC from Celebrity and weve gotten that before. Tell me if Im wrong but seems like these big OBC are compilations of current and past cruises?

 

Just got off a 14 night cruise on the Silhouette. Received 750 OBC from TA, 300 OBC from Perks and 250 OBC from booking onboard - before transferring to TA. No we were not in a Suite (but there were 4 of us in the cabin). So yes, a TA might drop 700 on you.

[garyl62]

So this is just a compilation of OBC from past cruises with issues that happen along the way.. I get that.

Im talking about just booking a cruise thru a TA. They dont drop $700 on you? I get the $300 OBC from Celebrity and weve gotten that before. Tell me if Im wrong but seems like these big OBC are compilations of current and past cruises?

 

What we are receiving is not any compilation of OBC from past cruise or issues. We got 350 OBC from X because we booked a CS level cabin while onboard a previous cruise. Had we booked a different level cabin we would have received more or less than that based on the level of cabin we booked. Everyone that books a future cruise onboard usually gets some OBC. That 350 coupled with the standard 300 that comes as one of our 4 perks totals 650 from X. After we booked onboard I called 2 online TA's and asked what type of perks they could offer if I transferred my booking to them. Both offered $600 of OBC, so yes, they did just "drop" that on us.

 

If you start with booking straight with a TA you can still get the X OBC and if you use the right TA you could see almost 10% of your cruise fare as an additional OBC from your TA. If you book a $700 PP cabin you won't see a 700 OBC, but you may see $125.

[Purplsmurf]

I'd love to know who your TA is that is giving you that much credit. I know that you can't give the name on this site, but if you could give me some hints or the initials, I'll try to figure it out. My TA doesn't give hardly any.

I agree! In the same boat! Would LOVE OBC from our TA!

[bighairtexan]

My $700 OBC is not a compilation. It's for anyone booking a higher value cruise. Basically it's 10%. So a Penthouse is going to get a LOT more than in inside; In fact it's going to get a lot more than $700. But it's approx 10% off your cruise price (usually not for taxes and port charges but YMMV)

[bighairtexan]

I assume I can do this since I'm not advertising a travel agent. If not then I also assume it will just get pulled.

This is a screen shot from an upcoming cruise I have booked. Perks 1-4 are provided by Celebrity for the booking promo for a suite. Perk 5 is from the TA. There's also a small Loyalty OBC that shows up elsewhere.

 

Perks

You are eligible for the following perks ( also referred to as “Amenities" and/or “Gifts" ) based on the current promotion you are booking into.

Changes to your reservation in the future could result in forfeiture of some or all of the perks listed.

1) Premium Beverage Package for two 2) Prepaid Gratuities for two 3) Unlimited Internet 4) $300 Onboard Credit 5) $700 Onboard Credit

[Hlitner]

Wish we can use Non refundable OBC to buy RCL Stock.Today price is 116.77

 

Yeah hard to complain when we paid $38 a share. But we bought RCI because at the time one could use it to get Stockholder Credit on just about every cruise. Now, they have made it all but useless. A friend put it right when she said if you get your stockholder credit on RCI..it means you got a very bad deal when you booked. They no longer allow the stockholder credit when you book any kind of promotional deal...and with RCI (and also Azamara).

 

Hank

[WAVTAM]

Casio and OBC nonrefundable.....

 

Do not go to cage and ask for money ……..will get promotional chips as mention.

 

We went direct to table and ask for chips(real) from the OBC. Was charges 5%. Got chips, excuse myself to the bar for a drink and just cashed the chips at cage.... 5 minutes later.

 

 

Used the monies as deposit for next cruise.

[Duanerice1]

Yea, we usually get the $300 OBC from Celebrity and around the same from TA which is good for a standard balcony cabin.

 

We easily spend that $600 with no problem. And no, we don't take home any OBCR as it's a vacation, have fun.

 

We take the first $300 and pay gratuities (10 night) and the rest is used in the casino, t-shirt, etc. Since my wife likes to gamble we take advantage of the bonus they offer for putting slot credits on your card. She can cash out any winnings but who cares, she would have spent that anyway.

 

Can't imagine having too much OBC but then we don't cruise in $5,000 cabins so maybe they get a lot more. Overall we get about 20% in OBC between Celebrity and our TA. i'm satisfied with that.

 

To elaborate on the above. We use an online travel agency but since going with a TA we've always gotten close to 10% of the cruise fare. Haven't always used the same one either. We are in a standard balcony cabin for this cruise but it doesn't matter as whatever we book it's close to 10% from the TA

 

I usually book directly with Celebrity online then "shop around". I know I want close to 10% and when I get it I'm happy. This cruise they were only offering $250 and I told them thanks but I'll look around for $300 OBC (which was right at 10%). They gave it to me without blinking.

 

I used to keep my reservations with Celebrity. No idea why but I did. Once I started transferring to a TA I never looked back. My next step might be actually booking with the TA to begin with - lol.

 

Anyone interested in who I am booking with can email me at Riced at comcast dot net.