OBC for Casino?

[twentyknots]

I'm sure this question has been discussed a lot so forgive me for asking again, but I have more OBC's than we will use on an upcoming December cruise so I would like to apply some of it to the casino.  If I use my ship's card to get chips in the casino will that charge to my cabin be treated as just another hotel charge?  We were just on the Oosterdam in Alaska and had $400 in OBC's which were applied right at the top of the bill and everything we spent was net of that credit.  I didnt use my card in the casino but I wonder if I had would the billing system be smart enough to disallow the OBC to apply?

[DaveOKC]

My clear answer to your question - MAYBE.  It seems to vary by ship.  Plus, HAL reportedly is cracking down on this loophole.

 

HAL's rules states that promotional OBC (any credit provided by HAL) cannot be used for casino charges.  On the other hand, OBC that you purchased yourself (lots of people do this) or is gifted to you by a third party (including your TA) CAN be used in the casino).

 

 

[richwmn]

On my last three cruises (all this year) the Guest Services Representative spent a bit of time going through my account before authorizing my refund. On one, the GSR allowed the refund but in the morning I had a note to check before leaving to pay an amount still due. I had several refunds so I actually got back more than the amount of credit I had purchased. The night auditor decided that was not right and billed me the difference. When I went to the GSR she said she couldn't change it so I requested the auditor. When he came out I showed him that I had spent more then the non-refundable credit. He grumbled and went back to the office and sent a GSR out with the corrected bill showing I didn't owe anything.

[twentyknots]

I think I will go to the cage and get $100 of chips to pay blackjack and charge it to my room.  I understand there will be a 5% surcharge.   If I check my bill and the OBC is offsetting the $105 charge I'll know the answer.  If it doesn't, I'm only out 5 bucks.  I'll find some other uses for the OBC.    I've read of other ways in the casino involving slot machines as a workaround to maybe use the OBC but I dont play slots.

[TAD2005]

Here is a screen shot of my onboard folio from the HAL Navigator concerning use of the HAL onboard credit.

Date:    Location:    Charges:
3/9/2019    Promo Credits(Not Valid For Casino Or Cash)    ($400.00)
3/9/2019    Promo Credits(Not Valid For Casino Or Cash)    ($400.00)

 

At least on the Eurodam last March, you could not tap your OBC for use in the casino.  You could buy chips at the casino cage (no fee) or load up a one-armed-bandit with cash, but that cash will come from the credit card you have on deposit.

[twentyknots]

Interesting Tad2005.  I dont recall seeing that notation on our onboard account screen on the Oosterdam recently,  Just showed the OBC of $400 at the top and all debits from various charges.

[richwmn]

1 hour ago, TAD2005 said:

Here is a screen shot of my onboard folio from the HAL Navigator concerning use of the HAL onboard credit.

Date:    Location:    Charges:
3/9/2019    Promo Credits(Not Valid For Casino Or Cash)    ($400.00)
3/9/2019    Promo Credits(Not Valid For Casino Or Cash)    ($400.00)

 

At least on the Eurodam last March, you could not tap your OBC for use in the casino.  You could buy chips at the casino cage (no fee) or load up a one-armed-bandit with cash, but that cash will come from the credit card you have on deposit.

 

8 minutes ago, twentyknots said:

Interesting Tad2005.  I dont recall seeing that notation on our onboard account screen on the Oosterdam recently,  Just showed the OBC of $400 at the top and all debits from various charges.

My most recent 3 or 4 cruises have shown the same notations with other OBC listed with no notations.

Example -

The promo credit is always listed last but used first.

[twentyknots]

I checked my printed copy of the final statement of the recent Oosterdam cruise and it shows right at the top:"Promo credits(not valid for Casino or Cash)."  I'll still try the $100 charge to my key at the casino cage and see what happens.

[DaveOKC]

16 hours ago, twentyknots said:

I think I will go to the cage and get $100 of chips to pay blackjack and charge it to my room.  I understand there will be a 5% surcharge.   If I check my bill and the OBC is offsetting the $105 charge I'll know the answer.  If it doesn't, I'm only out 5 bucks.  I'll find some other uses for the OBC.    I've read of other ways in the casino involving slot machines as a workaround to maybe use the OBC but I dont play slots.

This may not work.  On a recent cruise, the casino charges were posted daily to our bill and everything looked fine.  Then on the final day, they corrected it and charged me separately for the casino charges.  This could result in you not being able to use up all of your OBC.

 

In my case it was only a couple of dollars, so no big deal, but I would hate having wasted $100 or more.

 

 

Edited June 26, 2019 by DaveOKC

[twentyknots]

Dave, you make a good point.  Maybe a smaller amount, say $25 from the casino.  If navigator in the room shows the charge being offset by the OBC, I might go to guest services and ask for a printed copy and see if it agrees with the online version.    If they agree, seems Holland would have a tough time disallowing the casino charges on the last day.  OTOH, they do say clearly it can't be used for casino.  We have $900 in OBC.  Unlikely we'll use the full amount on this particular cruise.  I play blackjack every night for several hours and generally lose $500-1000 on a 10 night cruise.  I sure would like to use the OBC for some of that.

[richwmn]

9 minutes ago, twentyknots said:

Dave, you make a good point.  Maybe a smaller amount, say $25 from the casino.  If navigator in the room shows the charge being offset by the OBC, I might go to guest services and ask for a printed copy and see if it agrees with the online version.    If they agree, seems Holland would have a tough time disallowing the casino charges on the last day.  OTOH, they do say clearly it can't be used for casino.  We have $900 in OBC.  Unlikely we'll use the full amount on this particular cruise.  I play blackjack every night for several hours and generally lose $500-1000 on a 10 night cruise.  I sure would like to use the OBC for some of that.

As I noted in post #3, the day to day accounting on your screen will just show your OBC balance decreasing without regard to where it is coming from. The copy you get from Guest Relations will show the same thing. On the last night your account will be reviewed and that is when the determination is made about Non Refundable OBC. On a recent 7 day cruise, as mentioned, I spent a little more than my Non Refundable OBC. Because of some refunds, I actually got more back than I had purchased. The night auditor took exception with that and put a charge of less than $10 which I had to clear up the last morning. When I pointed out to him that I spent more than I needed and the excess was because of refunds he grudgingly reversed the charge he had placed on my account.

 

[twentyknots]

1 hour ago, richwmn said:

As I noted in post #3, the day to day accounting on your screen will just show your OBC balance decreasing without regard to where it is coming from. The copy you get from Guest Relations will show the same thing. On the last night your account will be reviewed and that is when the determination is made about Non Refundable OBC. 

 

So, I could be charging casino chips to my room, checking Navigator and seeing the OBC reducing, double checking it with Guest Relations and confirming same, only to find on the last day that all the casino charges were billable to me?

[DaveOKC]

18 minutes ago, twentyknots said:

So, I could be charging casino chips to my room, checking Navigator and seeing the OBC reducing, double checking it with Guest Relations and confirming same, only to find on the last day that all the casino charges were billable to me?

Yes, exactly.  It happened to me.  As normal for HAL, every ship seems to handle this differently, so you will likely be reading about some people who were able to do what you propose, while others were not able to.  In this case, I would rather be safe than sorry on the last day.