Best use of SBC

[Hutchinj]

Thanks to our TA, we have $700 in ship board credit (SBC) to spend. I'd like to spend this on excursions (and the laundry package) but I'm concerned the excursions we want might sell out since we can't apply the SBC until we are actually onboard.

 

I'm considering the Bora Bora Lagoon Excursion (BRB-1602 or 1603) & Waverunner Tour (BRB-1604)

 

Thoughts?

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

1 hour ago, Hutchinj said:

Thanks to our TA, we have $700 in ship board credit (SBC) to spend. I'd like to spend this on excursions (and the laundry package) but I'm concerned the excursions we want might sell out since we can't apply the SBC until we are actually onboard.

 

I'm considering the Bora Bora Lagoon Excursion (BRB-1602 or 1603) & Waverunner Tour (BRB-1604)

 

Thoughts?

 

It is my belief that SBC/OBC is extended from PG on some some cruises, they are not a 'gift' from your TA 😉  .... Nice that you have a big OBC from PG. You should be able to book ship excursions 60 days out with no problems 😉

Edited October 15, 2019 by Tahitianbigkahuna

[SWFLAOK]

Based on our experience, you can book the PG excursions 60 days in advance, and you won't need to pay for them until the end of your cruise. Since you don't need to pay for your excursions until the end of your cruise, your shipboard credits can be used to pay for them. This is different than other cruise lines that we've cruised on (such as Regent) where you pay in advance for excursions that you book in advance.

We've never felt the need to do the laundry package, but we have sent a few items to be washed. We've never spent more than 60 or 70 dollars total. All of our cruises have been longer ones (Society Islands and Marquesas, SI's and Cook Islands, Papeete to Fiji).

[FlightMedic555]

If you were already planning to book some PG excursions, vs. those that you set up independently, than SWFLAOK is 100% correct on the process.  If you are challenged to use up that much credit speak with your TA.  We commonly receive both an OBC courtesy of PG and extra from our TA.  Our TA will also rebate that back after the cruise via a check vs the OBC.

[Hutchinj]

18 hours ago, Tahitianbigkahuna said:

 

It is my belief that SBC/OBC is extended from PG on some some cruises, they are not a 'gift' from your TA 😉  .... Nice that you have a big OBC from PG. You should be able to book ship excursions 60 days out with no problems 😉

 

Thanks TBK but in this case, we have $200 in OBC from PG's Sweetie offer + $500 OBC direct from our TA which is shown as such on our PG itinerary page. Whatever the source, we intend to make good use of it! 🙂

 

[Hutchinj]

18 hours ago, SWFLAOK said:

Based on our experience, you can book the PG excursions 60 days in advance, and you won't need to pay for them until the end of your cruise. Since you don't need to pay for your excursions until the end of your cruise, your shipboard credits can be used to pay for them.

 

Yep, absolutely correct. I just confirmed this with PG before I read your reply.

 

Since we will be booking excursions both thru PG and independently we wanted to make sure we didn't leave any "money" on the table. 😉

 

We also have a couple of no-charge excursions thrown in by our TA during our pre and post-cruise time but want to be sure we leave ourselves some down time to just relax and enjoy being in paradise! 🙂

 

 

Edited October 16, 2019 by Hutchinj

[SWFLAOK]

There's also the WiFi charge if you need to stay in touch while cruising. If  you want access anywhere on the ship for 1 device without counting your minutes, it can easily be 2 or 3 hundred dollars . The OBC can be used for that as well.

[AMKujo]

Noticed many of you received OBC and even for the July 4th sailing. I know it is one of the discounted weeks and we weren't offered anything additional. Any ideas how to get OBC or "extras" though our TC? Not to mention we paid in CAD and the USD exchange was significant so anything additional would be great 🙂

[Hutchinj]

18 hours ago, AMKujo said:

Noticed many of you received OBC and even for the July 4th sailing. I know it is one of the discounted weeks and we weren't offered anything additional. Any ideas how to get OBC or "extras" though our TC? Not to mention we paid in CAD and the USD exchange was significant so anything additional would be great 🙂

 

Ask your TA to try to get the "Sweetie" promotion deal for you from PG. It is *supposed* to be only for new bookings made around Valentine's Day but our TA got it for us well after we had already booked. It's a $200 OBC so worth trying for! And while PG says it is a Spa Credit, my TA says they will accept it for anything you can purchase on board... excursions, gifts, premium liquors, etc.

[Hutchinj]

19 hours ago, SWFLAOK said:

There's also the WiFi charge if you need to stay in touch while cruising. If  you want access anywhere on the ship for 1 device without counting your minutes, it can easily be 2 or 3 hundred dollars . The OBC can be used for that as well.

Yeh, I looked into that as well. PG's unlimited plan is $29/day. Kinda pricey so we may just opt for their 400 minute plan for $80. If their Internet speed is like other cruises we've been on, it's pretty slow.

 

Have you every used Tahiti WiFi? They have a pocket-sized router you can rent at the PPT airport which offers unlimited WiFi on most FP islands from about $5 to $24/day. They start you off with 4G/3G speeds and then throttle down your speed after reaching a daily data limit. But then it's unlimited although slower at 2G. Seems like an interesting option since you are not restricted to WiFi only onboard. It won't work while cruising between the islands, though, so if you only use WiFi at those times the PG option might be better. Hmmm....

Edited October 17, 2019 by Hutchinj

[AMKujo]

Thanks for the tip! I put it in my calendar to have her ask in February! This forum is so helpful, friendly and supportive! Thanks everyone!

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

21 hours ago, AMKujo said:

Noticed many of you received OBC and even for the July 4th sailing. I know it is one of the discounted weeks and we weren't offered anything additional. Any ideas how to get OBC or "extras" though our TC? Not to mention we paid in CAD and the USD exchange was significant so anything additional would be great 🙂

Your TA did get you the Canadian price  .... correct?

Edited October 17, 2019 by Tahitianbigkahuna

[AMKujo]

Yes we did get the Canadian price:)

[SWFLAOK]

4 hours ago, Hutchinj said:

Yeh, I looked into that as well. PG's unlimited plan is $29/day. Kinda pricey so we may just opt for their 400 minute plan for $80. If their Internet speed is like other cruises we've been on, it's pretty slow.

 

Have you every used Tahiti WiFi? They have a pocket-sized router you can rent at the PPT airport which offers unlimited WiFi on most FP islands from about $5 to $24/day. They start you off with 4G/3G speeds and then throttle down your speed after reaching a daily data limit. But then it's unlimited although slower at 2G. Seems like an interesting option since you are not restricted to WiFi only onboard. It won't work while cruising between the islands, though, so if you only use WiFi at those times the PG option might be better. Hmmm....

We stayed 2 nights at the IC Papeete and their internet was pretty good so we used that. Renting the router at PPT would not have worked for us on the cruise we just finished since we flew back to LAX from Fiji. We only spent the first 3 days of the cruise in FP,  then headed West. We bought the unlimited plan on board (which gives you only 1 device at a time), and at some times of the day it works pretty well, and at others it doesn't, depending on how many others are using it. When everyone is out for the day on excursions, it works very well, which it the same timeframe that Tahiti WiFi would work.