Excursions using OBC

[casandbliz]

We have OBC and would like to use it to pay for ships excursions. Is this something I can do online with the Princess website, or do I need to call and speak to a representative?

Edited September 27, 2020 by casandbliz

[CC Rider 69]

31 minutes ago, casandbliz said:

We have OBC and would like to use it to pay for ships excursions. Is this something I can do online with the Princess website, or do I need to call and speak to a representative?

You can book them online. After you click your name(s), click add to cart, after that I forget. I did it for many cruises. PCL will use you OBC first, then you have to pony up with the balance.

Good luck

[Potstech]

And you have to pay the balance when reserving the excursion.

[cr8tiv1]

Check your OBC credits for the cruise.  If they are there, you can use them to purchase an excursion.  If they are not to be awarded until you board the ship, you will need to pay for them outright.

 

I just asked this question with a Princess agent.  If I pay for the excursion before I get on board, can I then cancel them and use OBC.  She said it was up to the ship.  

 

Then I thought, why would I want to do that.  If the excursion is refunded while I am on the ship, it will be credited to my account anyway as OBC.  

 

In addition, often times, the excursion price on the ship is slightly higher.

 

[Steelers36]

1 minute ago, cr8tiv1 said:

In addition, often times, the excursion price on the ship is slightly higher.

Excursion prices can increase from the time they are posted for a voyage up to the last day to book them online.

[cr8tiv1]

3 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Excursion prices can increase from the time they are posted for a voyage up to the last day to book them online.

 

That I didn't know.  Had first hand experience with pre-booking and onboard pricing.  Good to know.  Thanks

[caribill]

4 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Check your OBC credits for the cruise.  If they are there, you can use them to purchase an excursion.  If they are not to be awarded until you board the ship, you will need to pay for them outright.

 

I just asked this question with a Princess agent.  If I pay for the excursion before I get on board, can I then cancel them and use OBC.  She said it was up to the ship.  

 

Then I thought, why would I want to do that.  If the excursion is refunded while I am on the ship, it will be credited to my account anyway as OBC.  

 

In addition, often times, the excursion price on the ship is slightly higher.

 

 

Unless the accounting system has changed since last December, even if you pay in advance with your refundable OBC, it turns out you will pay with non-refundable OBC.

 

a) Your on board account will show your refundable and non-refundable OBC. Even though you have paid for excursions with OBC in advance, it will not look that way on the account.

 

b) Then the pre-purchased excursions are charged to the account and the cost taken from OBC.

 

c) But the cost is taken from non-refundable OBC first, so that refundable OBC is not used until all the refundable OBC has been used. Thus any refundable OBC not used is available for other uses or can be refunded after the cruise.

 

Again, this is if the accounting system has not changed.

[skynight]

The on line booking system treats each passenger's OBC individually. With us and many others OBC is not balanced. With on board spending and linked accounts, no problem. When booking excursions on line the program only looks at the individual's OBC, not the combined OBC. Thus one may have sufficient OBC with the other not enough. When this situation happens you have to call Princess to book.

[Steelers36]

6 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

That I didn't know.  Had first hand experience with pre-booking and onboard pricing.  Good to know.  Thanks

On the rare occasion I last booked a Princess tour, our friends booked a few days later and price was up $10/pp.

[paul929207]

when pre-purchasing excursions you can only use OBC that is already credited to your account. 

 

[CC Rider 69]

14 minutes ago, paul929207 said:

when pre-purchasing excursions you can only use OBC that is already credited to your account. 

 

So true, forgot that part. We make sure we use our shareholder and any OBC for pre-purchased excursions. 

[cr8tiv1]

15 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Unless the accounting system has changed since last December, even if you pay in advance with your refundable OBC, it turns out you will pay with non-refundable OBC.

 

a) Your on board account will show your refundable and non-refundable OBC. Even though you have paid for excursions with OBC in advance, it will not look that way on the account.

 

b) Then the pre-purchased excursions are charged to the account and the cost taken from OBC.

 

c) But the cost is taken from non-refundable OBC first, so that refundable OBC is not used until all the refundable OBC has been used. Thus any refundable OBC not used is available for other uses or can be refunded after the cruise.

 

Again, this is if the accounting system has not changed.

 

Momentary cruise memory lapse due to being landlocked for so many months.  Thank you for bringing this to my attention.

 

Glad to know that my excursion charged on my credit card would be returned as refundable OBC credit if:  1) the excursions is still available upon boarding and 2)  Excursion desk on board will cancel and reissue the same excursion for the same price.  

 

Still working out the cobwebs.  It's been a really long time since I've set foot on a non-cancelled cruise.  

[caribill]

57 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

Momentary cruise memory lapse due to being landlocked for so many months.  Thank you for bringing this to my attention.

 

Glad to know that my excursion charged on my credit card would be returned as refundable OBC credit if:  1) the excursions is still available upon boarding and 2)  Excursion desk on board will cancel and reissue the same excursion for the same price.  

 

Still working out the cobwebs.  It's been a really long time since I've set foot on a non-cancelled cruise.  

 

My point was that, if the accounting system works the same, you do not have to do anything. No canceling and rebooking. The system will automatically pretend nothing has been charged yet and then automatically proceed to put the charges on your account using NR OBC first.

 

Just get a copy of your onboard statement the first evening and see how much NR and R OBC remain after the excursions are processed.

[cr8tiv1]

25 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

My point was that, if the accounting system works the same, you do not have to do anything. No canceling and rebooking. The system will automatically pretend nothing has been charged yet and then automatically proceed to put the charges on your account using NR OBC first.

 

Just get a copy of your onboard statement the first evening and see how much NR and R OBC remain after the excursions are processed.

 

That's even better yet.  But I don't understand.  If I book my excursion and charge it to my credit card, does it not get processed until I get on the ship?  Or do I get charged immediately?  How will it work if I reserve the same excursion for my cabin mate?  Will her account charged once we are on board?  

 

As you can see, I haven't taken many Princess excursions (oops)  Thanks

 

 

[caribill]

2 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

That's even better yet.  But I don't understand.  If I book my excursion and charge it to my credit card, does it not get processed until I get on the ship?  Or do I get charged immediately?  How will it work if I reserve the same excursion for my cabin mate?  Will her account charged once we are on board?  

 

 

 

Yes, your charge to the charge card gets posted immediately.

 

What happens on board is they know you have booked and paid for the excursion in advance, but it had not been entered yet into the ship's accounting system.

 

Thus the ship's accounting system pretends your paid for excursions are OBC (no matter how you prepaid for them) and then processes the onboard charges for them, using NR OBC first.

 

Again, that is how it worked last year. No promises for the future.

[cr8tiv1]

14 hours ago, paul929207 said:

when pre-purchasing excursions you can only use OBC that is already credited to your account. 

 

 

Unfortunately, I want to lock in the excursion before they credit my shareholders and loyalty OBC.  No problem if they will "exchange" my paid excursion with OBC once I board.

[caribill]

1 hour ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

Unfortunately, I want to lock in the excursion before they credit my shareholders and loyalty OBC.  No problem if they will "exchange" my paid excursion with OBC once I board.

 

Loyalty OBC is only available once on the ship. Shareholders OBC may be applied for any time after you have booked the cruise.

[cr8tiv1]

53 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

Loyalty OBC is only available once on the ship. Shareholders OBC may be applied for any time after you have booked the cruise.

 

I thought it wasn't valid before 90 days...just in case you "sell" it.  

[caribill]

1 hour ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

I thought it wasn't valid before 90 days...just in case you "sell" it.  

 

That is the way it used to be.

 

Back then Princess allowed you to pre-reserve excursions but not pay for them until the end of the cruise. Many people liked this because OBC could then be used on the cruise to help pay for the excursions.

 

When Princess changed to requiring payment at the time of pre-reserving excursions, people complained enough that Princess allowed excursions to be paid in advance applying posted OBC. Since many people used the shareholder OBC to do this, Princess started to allow the stockholder OBC to be posted once a booking had been made.

 

The forms to apply for stockholder OBC do not reflect this reality.

[Roger88]

Its better to purchase the excursions beforehand because you never know whether it will be available at the time of booking. If the excursion involves visiting certain museums or places which are very hard to reach, its always better to book those excursions beforehand