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How to check my OBC before departure


lissie
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We're cruising for the fist time in a few weeks on the QE ex Sydney - booked via a New Zealand travel agent.  

 

We're about to claim the shareholder credit - when I can figure out how to fax- haven't done that this century!  Should I expect an acknowledgement via email?  There is nowhere on the VP login that shows OBC so how do you know that OBC has been allocated correctly. Given the deplorable state of Cunard's website I wary of just trusting them. I also don't trust faxs!  

 

Can my TA see my OBC balance? Or should I just call the California number? Also does anyone have a number  for Cunard which is not a 800 number (which you can't normally call from overseas) - what I have is 800 728 6273 ext. 30317 

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Assuming your TA has the visibility that a US TA has, he/she should be able to see or inquire as to your total OBC. The invoices from my TA show the OBC as well as any other perks included in the booking (e.g., paid gratuities or Verandah dinner). About 2 weeks after I fax in my shareholder info I contact my TA to get verification that shareholder OBC has been applied and an updated invoice showing the total OBC that should be applied to my onboard account. On the first or second day of the cruise I visit the purser's desk to get an account printout to verify that it reflects what I'm expecting (once it was missing several hundred dollars, but I was able to point out the discrepancy and email my TA so both sides could work it out during the cruise).

 

If you're working with a TA the Cunard/Princess office may not discuss your booking with you.

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You will get zero confirmation from Cunard.  Simply put, Cunard does not do this unfortunately.  Some other Carnival Corp lines do confirm.  Your TA will hopefully be able to verify that the OBC has been added and should be able to provide you an updated booking.

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3 hours ago, tv24 said:

You will get zero confirmation from Cunard.

Not my experience.

 

I applied for two lots of Shareholder Benefit, for two different cruises, yesterday. Within an hour or so I had automated responses to each of them basically just acknowledging receipt of my applications but saying that updated Booking Confirmations reflecting the OBC would be sent, either to me, if I booked direct, or to my TA. 

 

Fortunately they do accept email applications in the UK.

 

The only problem I've had was a couple of years ago. I think I applied for two cruises in the one email and it was only credited to one of them but was quickly sorted.

 

So to answer lissie's question. I would expect your TA to receive an updated Booking Confirmation (which they may, or may not, automatically pass on to you). I applied yesterday so I'll let you know how long it takes for mine to come through.

 

Colin.

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Yeah why on earth they think faxs are more secure than email is beyond me!  

56 minutes ago, Colin_Cameron said:

 

So to answer lissie's question. I would expect your TA to receive an updated Booking Confirmation (which they may, or may not, automatically pass on to you). I applied yesterday so I'll let you know how long it takes for mine to come through.

 

Thanks - that will be interesting. Although there does appear to be an Australia office for bookings there is nothing mentioned in terms of the shareholder credit thing - so I'll apply to California as its closest. 

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You could always try asking shareholderbenefits@carnivalukgroup.com where to apply if you can't do it through Australia.

 

It doesn't seem to be emails that are the problem as much the attachments with your 'proof'. When the UK started accepting email applications (about 5 years ago?) they wouldn't accept attachments and the proof had to be inserted into the body of the email. From talking to a couple of people, it looks like they have got around that problem by opening the attachments on a machine that is isolated from their network. Guess they don't fully trust their anti-virus precautions. (Which isn't necessarily a bad attitude)

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3 hours ago, lissie said:

Yeah why on earth they think faxs are more secure than email is beyond me!  

 

They are, actually, particularly for the recipient who otherwise has to open an email attachment that might or might not be a PDF.

 

There's also an extremely low chance that a fax will be intercepted en route, while an email attachment passes through many intermediate servers.

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4 hours ago, lissie said:

Thanks - that will be interesting. Although there does appear to be an Australia office for bookings there is nothing mentioned in terms of the shareholder credit thing - so I'll apply to California as its closest. 

 

I see the Cunard Australia FAQ for the questions "How do I apply shareholder benefits to my booking?" directs you to Carnival UK. It states in part:

 

Email your share holder information to : shareholderbenefits@carnivalukgroup.com

 

Sending information by Fax - 023 8065 7360

 

Applications can be sent by postal mail for processing to:

 

Shareholder Benefits Team
Carnival UK
100 Harbour Parade
Southampton
Hampshire
SO15 1ST

 

Now I know we can't necessarily rely on the FAQ giving accurate information, but I'd suggest checking with these resources at Carnival UK (as Colin_Cameron also suggested above) before sending your shareholder benefit request to California.

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7 hours ago, Colin_Cameron said:

Not my experience.

 

I applied for two lots of Shareholder Benefit, for two different cruises, yesterday. Within an hour or so I had automated responses to each of them basically just acknowledging receipt of my applications but saying that updated Booking Confirmations reflecting the OBC would be sent, either to me, if I booked direct, or to my TA. 

 

Fortunately they do accept email applications in the UK.

 

The only problem I've had was a couple of years ago. I think I applied for two cruises in the one email and it was only credited to one of them but was quickly sorted.

 

So to answer lissie's question. I would expect your TA to receive an updated Booking Confirmation (which they may, or may not, automatically pass on to you). I applied yesterday so I'll let you know how long it takes for mine to come through.

 

Colin.

Colin:  Good for you!  Apparently the customer service at the Cunard office in the UK is way superior to that in their California office.

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9 hours ago, Underwatr said:

 

They are, actually, particularly for the recipient who otherwise has to open an email attachment that might or might not be a PDF.

 

There's also an extremely low chance that a fax will be intercepted en route, while an email attachment passes through many intermediate servers.

Not enroute but I'm old enough to recal receiving faxes - there is no proof that they've arrived - because the receiving machine  could be out of paper, jam - or the wrong person can pick up the fax intended for someone else. 

 

Lot of software can scan attachments reliably - and yes all attachments  should be pdfs 

Edited by lissie
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Sure, a legitimate attachment can be scanned as a PDF. That's not where the risk lies for an organization that has to create a workflow around daily receipt and processing of scores if not hundreds of attachments that appear to be PDFs.

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I spoke to my TA about our booking on QE in May regarding the amount of OBC . He was somehow able to access the Cunard account and confirmed the amount to me. The "2 Star" P&O Australia cruiseline ( also owned by Carnival Corp) clearly shows this on every booking in their Cruise Personaliser. Cunard is NOT the best cruiseline in the World in many respects!!!! 

Edited by bazzaw
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I've found Cunard to be very efficient 're share holder credit. 

 

You get and immediate automatic response that email has arrived , and if you've booked directly  a new booking confirmation with the OBC in a few days. 

 

If through a TA , it may take a bit longer , but when I  used a TA , they forwarded the email the same day

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I just got an acknowledgement from the UK office of receipt of my fax - and a promise that I will get an email update when credit has been applied.  All seems so old fashioned - in theory it would be good to do it via the VP - but given the state of that - no way! 

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1 minute ago, oskidunker said:

Can onboard credit, ie military credit, be used to prebook excursions? Princess is allowing this. 

 

No, unless there has been a very recent change I don't know about, that's one more area of the pre-voyage experience where Cunard lags behind some other lines. I'm afraid Cunard takes the concept of on board credit literally in that it can only be used once on board.

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