How does Carnival let you use onboard credit

[Mattsudds]

With all the cancellations, the offer for a cancelled cruise include onboard credit to be used on a new or rebooked cruise. I would like to know whether there is set out anywhere how onboard credit can be used. I have two specific questions

1) On a cruise I would often prebook some things before boarding. These might be drinks packages, specialty dining and shore excursions. If I booked those whilst onboard, I would assume the cost would be deducted from any onboard credit balance I had. My question is do Carnival allow you to pre book (before embarkation) things like the drinks, excursions and speciality dining from the onboard credit balance? If not would I basically be left with OBC only for the items bought onboard? If that sounds like an odd question, I ask because in the past on a different cruise line, -prebooked things were deducted from my OBC balance first.  I know that some people also prebook things so that they have less of a surprise bill at the end too. 

2) What things onboard cannot be charged against OBC? Does Carnival have a future cruise booking onboard opportunity and if so, could I use OBC as my deposit for instance? 

 

Thanks for your help. If anyone knows where Carnival put any official guidance on this it would be especially appreciated. 

[teknoge3k]

1. ON BOARD credit can only be used on board. Only on the ship, nowhere else. It can be used for ANYTHING on the ship. Specialty dining, gratuities, alcohol, casino donations, excursions, fun shop purchases, etc.

 

2. There is no longer a future cruise booking desk on board. The offer that you used to be able to get, is now emailed to you post-cruise. 

[Joe817]

Matt, believe it or not, that is a fairly often asked question. The answer is simply no....you cannot use your On Board Credit prior to actually boarding. Prior to your cruise, you have no option but to pay for it with credit card, or gift cards(which is fairly common).

 

There is nothing that cannot be charged against OBC, except perhaps, any trip to the infirmary if you get sick or injured while on your cruise. 

 

I cannot answer your last question with certainty.  

[Mattsudds]

Thanks for the replies. I know it must have seemed like a strange question. After all onboard credit - the clue is in the name isnt it? 😉 But in fact some lines do let you use it for things you will use or consume during the cruise, regardless of when they are booked or arranged, and essentially they seem to define onboard as ‘things to be consumed onboard’.  

[Jamesatgsu]

It is quite annoying that you can't use it to take advantage of pre-cruise discounts.

 

This will be my first time with more than the gratuities, but I'm sure I'll fly through $600 with booze, gambling, & arcade.

[S and D cruisers]

On 7/7/2020 at 11:07 AM, Mattsudds said:

With all the cancellations, the offer for a cancelled cruise include onboard credit to be used on a new or rebooked cruise. I would like to know whether there is set out anywhere how onboard credit can be used. I have two specific questions

1) On a cruise I would often prebook some things before boarding. These might be drinks packages, specialty dining and shore excursions. If I booked those whilst onboard, I would assume the cost would be deducted from any onboard credit balance I had. My question is do Carnival allow you to pre book (before embarkation) things like the drinks, excursions and speciality dining from the onboard credit balance? If not would I basically be left with OBC only for the items bought onboard? If that sounds like an odd question, I ask because in the past on a different cruise line, -prebooked things were deducted from my OBC balance first.  I know that some people also prebook things so that they have less of a surprise bill at the end too. 

2) What things onboard cannot be charged against OBC? Does Carnival have a future cruise booking onboard opportunity and if so, could I use OBC as my deposit for instance? 

 

Thanks for your help. If anyone knows where Carnival put any official guidance on this it would be especially appreciated. 

 

[S and D cruisers]

I have used OBC to book excursions before booking in the past.

[S and D cruisers]

On 7/7/2020 at 11:22 AM, Joe817 said:

Matt, believe it or not, that is a fairly often asked question. The answer is simply no....you cannot use your On Board Credit prior to actually boarding. Prior to your cruise, you have no option but to pay for it with credit card, or gift cards(which is fairly common).

 

There is nothing that cannot be charged against OBC, except perhaps, any trip to the infirmary if you get sick or injured while on your cruise. 

 

I cannot answer your last question with certainty.  

 

[S and D cruisers]

You cannot use OBC for medical

[deedle7544]

Is there a way to cash out your onboard credit? Because I have way more than I will use, and I thought I read on here once that you could do it through the casino? I've never had this issue before, so didn't really pay attention to the details 

[coevan]

No, you can not cash it out, it’s “on board” credit, not an ATM

[tinleypark andy]

3 hours ago, deedle7544 said:

Is there a way to cash out your onboard credit? Because I have way more than I will use,

If you are the Panorama's May 8th sailing out of LA, stop on deck 8, where the odd number cabins are located, and yell "hey Andy".

I will be more than glad to help you get rid of some of your OBC.

[deedle7544]

1 hour ago, tinleypark andy said:

If you are the Panorama's May 8th sailing out of LA, stop on deck 8, where the odd number cabins are located, and yell "hey Andy".

I will be more than glad to help you get rid of some of your OBC.

Lol Sensation out of Mobile in January 

[Trueblueky]

You can buy gift cards with your OBC at the candy shop on the ship in amounts of $100 to $1000 and use them to pay for your next cruise.

https://carnival.ourgiftcards.com/faq

[firefly333]

2 hours ago, Trueblueky said:

You can buy gift cards with your OBC at the candy shop on the ship in amounts of $100 to $1000 and use them to pay for your next cruise.

https://carnival.ourgiftcards.com/faq

That's interesting. First time I heard of this. I've had quit a bit of obc but bought watches, a few expensive bottle of good scotch, cigarettes for friends. Used it up. Even the time for my 25th cruise where you get 25% of the cruisefare in obc. I guess I love to spend too much.

[xDisconnections]

10 hours ago, deedle7544 said:

Is there a way to cash out your onboard credit? Because I have way more than I will use, and I thought I read on here once that you could do it through the casino? I've never had this issue before, so didn't really pay attention to the details 

 

6 hours ago, coevan said:

No, you can not cash it out, it’s “on board” credit, not an ATM

Well, I mean, there are several ways to accomplish this. At this time, the onboard credit currently issues a credit against these transactions despite the terms and conditions of most promotional OBC stating they cannot be used for this specific type of transactions. Generally speaking, the restrictions include gratuities, casino and gift cards but the restrictions are not currently enforced.

[xDisconnections]

4 hours ago, Trueblueky said:

You can buy gift cards with your OBC at the candy shop on the ship in amounts of $100 to $1000 and use them to pay for your next cruise.

https://carnival.ourgiftcards.com/faq

 

1 hour ago, firefly333 said:

That's interesting. First time I heard of this. I've had quit a bit of obc but bought watches, a few expensive bottle of good scotch, cigarettes for friends. Used it up. Even the time for my 25th cruise where you get 25% of the cruisefare in obc. I guess I love to spend too much.

An old Carnival legend who happened to enjoy wearing hats was very fond of this method and posted about it quite frequently. 

[MommytoAsquared]

I wasn't aware you are not supposed to be able use it for gratuities.  I never pre-pay my gratuities and that come out of my OBC once I am on the ship.  Then I can just pay for excursions and drink packages at the pre-cruise discounted rate.

 

I might have to re-think my strategy.

[xDisconnections]

2 hours ago, MommytoAsquared said:

I wasn't aware you are not supposed to be able use it for gratuities.  I never pre-pay my gratuities and that come out of my OBC once I am on the ship.  Then I can just pay for excursions and drink packages at the pre-cruise discounted rate.

 

I might have to re-think my strategy.

It’s not supposed to work for gratuities but it does. They just don’t have it coded as an exclusion because, well, if I were to guess — they never had OBC at these levels on the books in the past.

[sparks1093]

On 7/7/2020 at 12:21 PM, teknoge3k said:

1. ON BOARD credit can only be used on board. Only on the ship, nowhere else. It can be used for ANYTHING on the ship. Specialty dining, gratuities, alcohol, casino donations, excursions, fun shop purchases, etc.

 

2. There is no longer a future cruise booking desk on board. The offer that you used to be able to get, is now emailed to you post-cruise. 

As the OP said he has used his ON BOARD credit to purchase things pre-cruise on other cruise lines, so it's not as clear as one would think. I was pleasantly surprised to find this out when we sailed with Royal. 

[S and D cruisers]

9 hours ago, MommytoAsquared said:

I wasn't aware you are not supposed to be able use it for gratuities.  I never pre-pay my gratuities and that come out of my OBC once I am on the ship.  Then I can just pay for excursions and drink packages at the pre-cruise discounted rate.

 

I might have to re-think my strategy.

what i do when i have lots of OBC, is the second the line goes down at the desk, go to them and say, please prepay my gratuities. they will do it right then and there, with your OBC and then let the party begin

[AtomicCruiser]

I feel this is becoming an issue with all the pandemic cancelations, along with some cruise line policy changes. I am Carnival elite, so we stay with them exclusively.  They gave us $600 OBC for each of our 1-week cruises that were canceled (we had several). However, since we have rebooked for later this year, we have found Carnival made some changes that go against your ability to spend these. For example, you previously made reservations for the Specialty Restaurants.  When you then paid onboard, they came out of your OBC.  However, they now require you pay in advance.  Who ever heard of paying for a restaurant 5-6 months in advance?  If you wait until onboard, chances are pretty slim of getting the day and time you want (or even get a spot at all).  Certain other items like liquor in your cabin cannot be purchased after boarding. So, the $600 seems like a lot, but with changes and restrictions on how you spend it, you really need to see if this is actually a deal for you to allow them to keep your cruise payment for a year.

[sailingships]

On 10/14/2020 at 10:14 PM, xDisconnections said:

. Generally speaking, the restrictions include gratuities, casino and gift cards but the restrictions are not currently enforced.

I used the OBC after my 25th for gratuities, and shore excursions at every port. i used it in Alaska. . Anything you can put on the Sail N Sign card. 

[xDisconnections]

1 minute ago, sailingships said:

I used the OBC after my 25th for gratuities, and shore excursions at every port. i used it in Alaska. . Anything you can put on the Sail N Sign card. 

I don’t think you read my post correctly. Then again, I wouldn’t expect you to read the terms and conditions of promotions you agree to.

[sailingships]

4 minutes ago, xDisconnections said:

I don’t think you read my post correctly. Then again, I wouldn’t expect you to read the terms and conditions of promotions you agree to.

When I was a lowly Platinum I was polite to Diamonds. But then that's me.