Splitting OBC from TA

[jeno]

On our 1/16-26 Crown Princess cruise we were given $350 from our TA.  It was given to the lead person on the reservation.  We went to the Guest Services desk to ask them to split it between our two accounts.  They said they can’t do that.  Had to stay on the person that received it.  I take many cruises with women friends ( my book club or Mah Jongg group) and this has never happened before.  We were always able to go to the desk and split it.  The second time I went back,  the woman I talked to said they can’t split the $$$ but they can move charges from one account to another.  We eventually moved enough charges to cover the split.  The OBC from Princess was split when we got it. This was one more irritating thing that happened on this cruise. Not a big thing, but just one more fail on Princess’s part. 
The reason I am asking is that I’m on a cruise with my book club on the Regal this Sunday and expect the same thing to happen again. This obviously isn’t an issue when cruising with my husband, but is when my cabin mate is a friend.  
Has anyone else found a way to solve this issue? 

[RocketMan275]

Simply 'buy' the OBC from your friend.  If the cruise line gives $400 in OBC, keep it for yourself, and pay $200 to your friend.  Same result and far less hassle.

[Coral]

If this is a rebate from her commission? Why don't you have the TA split the money instead? Or, have the TA give you money (discount) off the top of the cruise at final payment instead of a large OBC.

 

I am glad my TA gives me a discount off the top of the cruise at final payment. Makes life simpler.

 

 

[jeno]

21 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

Simply 'buy' the OBC from your friend.  If the cruise line gives $400 in OBC, keep it for yourself, and pay $200 to your friend.  Same result and far less hassle.

I was in New Zealand last year when the group booked this cruise so my friend booked it and was the lead on this cruise.  I use more OBC than she does. If she doesn’t spend it she has to wait for the refund for 8-10 weeks according to posts on CC.  She didn’t even spend all of hers, much less mine, too. We realized that one could pay the other, but didn’t want to do it that way. When I walk off a cruise, I want to be done with it and on to the next one.  Not trying to remember to watch for a check weeks in the future and making calls if it doesn’t arrive. She didn’t want to do that either.   It’s pretty obvious it should be split.  That’s why Princess split the OBC they gave us Immediately.  It was posted as split on Princess.com when first posted.  I’ve been cruising with these groups of women for 18 years, multiple cruises a year and this has never been a problem. 

Edited January 31, 2020 by jeno

[RocketMan275]

1 minute ago, jeno said:

I was in New Zealand last year when the group booked this cruise so my friend booked it and was the lead on this cruise.  I use more OBC than she does. If she doesn’t spend it she has to wait for the refund for 8-10 weeks according to posts on CC.  She didn’t even spend all of hers, much less mine, too. We realized that one could pay the other, but didn’t want to do it that way. When I walk off a cruise, I want to be done with it and on to the next one.  Not trying to remember to watch for a check weeks in the future and making calls if it doesn’t arrive. She didn’t want to do that either.   It’s pretty obvious it should be split.  That’s why Princess split the OBC they gave us Immediately.  Posted as split on Princess.com when posted.  I’ve been cruising with these groups of women for 18 years, multiple cruises a year and this has never been a problem. 

You can't control what Princess chooses to do.  Posting here on CC won't change that.  Buying the OBC from your friend may not be  your preferred solution but it does achieve your objective of splitting the OBC.  And, you can control that.

[jeno]

I’m sorry I didn’t post this as a question.    Has anyone had experience splitting TA OBC with Princess? 

[Steelers36]

I think Princess can and might split their own OBC, but OBC from a TA is considered a gift to a person that receives it, so I am thinking they won't touch that.  Unless you happen to run into a Passenger Services rep who cooperates, but I suspect it is a policy. 

 

If it shows in the Cruise Personalizer ahead of the voyage (not sure if it does), have you asked a Princess telephone rep that if both of you send a letter in and sign it, will they transfer pre-cruise?  

 

Another option is that you may have noticed, Princess sells OBC packages in the Personalizer.  The person with all the OBC could buy OBC for the other person up to 50% of the amount owed.  If it doesn't work out exactly to a multiple of $25, seems to me there would be just a small amount of cash to hand over to square things up.

 

You mentioned not wanting to deal with this post-cruise.  There is lots of time for one person to pay the other 50%.  You mentioned all being friends, etc.  And even if it was split, you mentioned at least one person not spending it all so they are going to be waiting for a check to come in the mail in any case. 

 

Personally, I think there are different ways to do this than expect Princess to split OBC from a TA that wasn't theirs in the first place.  As @Coral suggested above, have the TA split it in the first place or try a TA that gives a cash discount off the fare?

 

Good luck.

 

[franktown]

My TA split the OBC between 2 different cabins for me.  I just had to ask.  As others have said this is a gift from the TA not from Princess.

[jeno]

I talked to the TA and they are astounded that Princess won’t split it. They said they always tell their customers to go to desk and do exactly what I did. This is a huge TA.   It was too late for them to split it this time.  Maybe when we go to Guest Services on the Regal it will be no problem (as never was in the past).  Possibly just one more issue on the Crown.  Like everything else.  Nothing major, but many, many minor issues.  I’m hoping for a much better experience on the Regal or this will probably be our last Princess cruise.