Can You Purchase AI Package On Board

[surmy555]

Are you able yo purchase the $89 PP per Day A;; Inclusive package on board? or do you have to buy in advance? I'm interested but want to use OBC so i'd like to buy on the ship.

[CruiseOrLand]

This product is promoted and sold in the big lounge where you submit your passport and get your room key/id card. No problem to order any level of beverage package after boarding.

[msears101]

It was offered the first day of my recent Tahiti cruise despite what the marketing literature saying that the All In package needs to be purchases 7 days in advance.  I am not sure if OBC will work for it.  it will work for a normal drink package.

[milepig]

Is this one of cases where in some locations you pay VAT if you buy it on board?

[Misty Morning]

Good to know as when the All In plan was offered to us last year, you had to buy before you boarded so we couldn’t use OBC’s.  If you can buy on-board as it seems to be implied  on this thread, then maybe it’s worth it but don’t really care for the slow wifi as I use phone data plan.  The high wifi price has never made it a good proposition, for us anyways

[msears101]

On 7/8/2019 at 8:05 PM, milepig said:

Is this one of cases where in some locations you pay VAT if you buy it on board?

I bought nothing on board, but they *should* charge VAT.  French Polynesia charges EU VAT (French Rates).  We paid for the "All In Package" ahead of time.  No VAT was applied ahead of time.

 

I can't say that it will always be offered - we were surprised that it was offered.

[CruiseOrLand]

I would say that wanting to use OBC's is a reasonable strategic decision. But relying on one VAT policy or another is actually riskier than hoping they will continue to prioritize "selling" beverage packages upon boarding over "enforcing an advance-purchase" requirement.

 

I see a problem (as a consumer ... ) with the difference between an OBC credit for an actual expenditure (say, a cancelled excursion, or an inconvenience-remission of a charge-like our Panama City transfer when maintenance delayed boarding until 5PM ... ), with an incentive "credit" awarded with a certain cabin level. The first is "our own money", while the second is an "internal marketing expense" for Windstar. The degree of displeasure we feel for having to use-up the dollars for both cases should not be identical. Opinion.

[Karen13]

I am not sure about the OBC issue, but with regard to the WiFi price, check out the recent AI package, which includes all drinks, tips, laundry and wifi. We were offered it as a special offer on our Panama Canal cruise earlier this year and the package price saving meant we got WiFi for free. We would have purchased the other add ons anyway, so it was a no brainer. 

 

The wifi worked fine, much to my surprise, and was very useful for keeping in touch with the kids back home.

 

I see it is now being offered generally on the Windstar website, presumably because it has proved popular. We would certainly get it again for that saving.