OBC and Drinks Package

[Balsam12]

Hi Folks,

Just wondering about using OBC to pay for the beverage package.

Two people, 11 nights, currently $87.68 AUD pp/day for the package means it's just under $2000 in total

I'm confident the price will drop at some point, let's say to $70, meaning a saving of about $400.

If I pay for the package by credit card, for the period between buying the second package and getting my refund, I'm out of pocket by about $3500.

My thought was to put $2000 into the onboard account, then use that to pay for the beverage package. Then if the price drops, I cancel the package, the credit instantly goes back to OBC, and I can purchase at the lower price, leaving the $400 saving in the onboard account. If that doesn't get used during the cruise, which is highly likely, I can then have it refunded to my bank account/credit card.

Can anyone tell me if there's any catches to this thinking?

 

Cheers,

 

Balsam

[M-H-B]

Hi Balsam

From what I understand you’re correct. Any OBC that you purchase yourself is refunded if not used at the end of the cruise. 

As for the price going down, I saw on another thread that there is a Cruise Planner sale meant to start on Monday morning US time. The flyer didn’t say AU was excluded so sometime in the next day or so there should be some level of drop. I can’t imagine it going down to $70 though. You might have to wait and hope for the Black Friday sales to get close to that amount (if your cruise is departing after November!). 

 

I’m having a similar wait as I’m definitely not purchasing at that current rate of $87+

[Balsam12]

@M-H-B,

 

Our cruise is March 2020, so plenty of time.

 

We got the package for $67 on a Voyager cruise from Singapore earlier this year. Cruises from Australia could be a different story as we tend to have a reputation for getting better value out of beverage packages 🙂

I actually called RC after posting this thread, and the only point is that if we purchase OBC before the cruise, we won't see it in the Cruise Planner. This means we will have to call to make any purchases.

.Other than that, everything should work as I have suggested,

[M-H-B]

😂😂true about that value!

I got the package at $71 on Explorer leaving Sydney for the South Pacific this past March. I purchased too late to get the Black Friday sale. I’d be happy with $71-74 this time around and very happy with $67!

 

[Clarea]

To my knowledge, purchased OBC does not show up in the Cruise Planner and cannot be used pre-cruise.

[Balsam12]

13 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

To my knowledge, purchased OBC does not show up in the Cruise Planner and cannot be used pre-cruise.

Yep... This was confirmed by my call to RC. The credit won't show, but if we call them we can use it to make purchases.

I will check this again, possibly via email, BEFORE I buy any OBC 🙂