What is the on board credit good for?

[VMax1700]

3 hours ago, cruisemover said:

American Express says the credit cannot be used for gratuities, but "Crew Appreciation" is no longer a "gratuity" according the Holland America...

Different words, same meaning and intention! 

Edited November 28, 2021 by VMax1700

[MTAK]

Be careful...I noticed the OBC provided with the current Mariner Early Booking Bonus excludes gratuities.  I have not sailed HAL as long as some, but this is first I've seen any OBC not eligible for gratuities.

[kazu]

41 minutes ago, MTAK said:

Be careful...I noticed the OBC provided with the current Mariner Early Booking Bonus excludes gratuities.  I have not sailed HAL as long as some, but this is first I've seen any OBC not eligible for gratuities.

 

In all honestly, I’m pretty sure that wording has been there in the past and the HSC (back then) was applied.  But back then, the casino was technically not allowed either and could be used.  Now, HAL seems to have improved their technology for the casino so who knows about the crew incentive (old HSC)?  

[MTAK]

3 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

In all honestly, I’m pretty sure that wording has been there in the past and the HSC (back then) was applied.  But back then, the casino was technically not allowed either and could be used.  Now, HAL seems to have improved their technology for the casino so who knows about the crew incentive (old HSC)?  

Could be...I haven't seen that wording on any of my prior OBC. One thing that seems apparent is some policies and procedures are changing.  Maybe this is another example. Sure would be disappointing to discover after the fact that 'Crew Incentive' was not covered by OBC.

[HAL4NOW]

55 minutes ago, MTAK said:

Be careful...I noticed the OBC provided with the current Mariner Early Booking Bonus excludes gratuities.  I have not sailed HAL as long as some, but this is first I've seen any OBC not eligible for gratuities.

We had a lot of OBC on our last cruise to Alaska in September. I asked the Neptune concierge if I could put OBC toward the crew incentives and was told that we could not.

[kazu]

5 minutes ago, HAL4NOW said:

We had a lot of OBC on our last cruise to Alaska in September. I asked the Neptune concierge if I could put OBC toward the crew incentives and was told that we could not.

Wow! And thanks.  Glad I have my TA OBC then 😉 No limit on that for application.  That’s a shame as I can see some people removing it if they are unhappy with that 😔 

[Cruise Suzy]

 

32 minutes ago, HAL4NOW said:

We had a lot of OBC on our last cruise to Alaska in September. I asked the Neptune concierge if I could put OBC toward the crew incentives and was told that we could not.

 

My Shareholders' Benefit OBC has always included this statement: This benefit is not transferable, cannot be exchanged for cash and, cannot be used for casino credits/charges and gratuities charged to your onboard account. The Early Pay bonus also had a similar disclaimer.

 

In the past, I have been able to use it for whatever term HAL was using for gratuities. The same was true on last week's Nieuw Amsterdam cruise. In my onboard account, all the OBC was listed as Promo Credits (Not Valid For Casino Or Cash) - and the Crew Appreciation amount was subtracted from it daily.

[Jersey42]

We were on the Nieuw Amsterdam last week and our OBC was applied to Gratuities/Crew Incentive/Crew Appreciation.

 

The Onboard Credits we received from HAL and Carnival Shareholder Benefits were labeled "Promo Credits (Not Valid For Casino Or Cash)". The Onboard Credit we received from our TA was labeled differently and could be used or anything including cash. Both type of OBCs were applied to the daily item labeled "Crew Appreciation". 

Edited November 29, 2021 by Jersey42

[HAL4NOW]

39 minutes ago, Cruise Suzy said:

In the past, I have been able to use it for whatever term HAL was using for gratuities. The same was true on last week's Nieuw Amsterdam cruise. In my onboard account, all the OBC was listed as Promo Credits (Not Valid For Casino Or Cash) - and the Crew Appreciation amount was subtracted from it daily.

Our gratuities (HSC, Crew Appreciation, etc.) were included with the HIA promotion when we booked. I was attempting to use OBC as an addition to the daily charges. I have never had trouble using OBC to cover Hotel Service Charges in the past, Pre-Covid.

[MTAK]

42 minutes ago, Cruise Suzy said:

 

 

My Shareholders' Benefit OBC has always included this statement: This benefit is not transferable, cannot be exchanged for cash and, cannot be used for casino credits/charges and gratuities charged to your onboard account. The Early Pay bonus also had a similar disclaimer.

 

In the past, I have been able to use it for whatever term HAL was using for gratuities. The same was true on last week's Nieuw Amsterdam cruise. In my onboard account, all the OBC was listed as Promo Credits (Not Valid For Casino Or Cash) - and the Crew Appreciation amount was subtracted from it daily.

Interesting, the Early Pay bonus I got in January 2021 did not say that - only not to be used in the casino.

Pay-Early-Bonus-Flyer_1-1-21.pdf

[cruisemover]

Are OBCs per person or per stateroom? I made a booking through the Amex Cruise Privileges Program and the TA says the 3-guest reservation gets $100 per person for only the first 2 guests. Is this accurate or can the OBC be used by the 3rd guest too?

[VMax1700]

4 hours ago, cruisemover said:

Are OBCs per person or per stateroom? I made a booking through the Amex Cruise Privileges Program and the TA says the 3-guest reservation gets $100 per person for only the first 2 guests. Is this accurate or can the OBC be used by the 3rd guest too?

OBC can be per stateroom or per guest ( and usually only for the first two guests occupying the room).  So if the program says first two guests then it means first two guests. 

Having said all that, to answer your question as to whether the OBC can be used by the third guest, if all three guests are on one shipboard folio, then the third guest's charges will accrue against the OBC's. 

Edited January 5, 2022 by VMax1700

[DaveOKC]

I think the confusion over the usage of OBC is due to the different SOURCES of the OBC.  On our Dec cruise, we had OBC due to a casino promotion (we paid in $200 pp as part of the promotion) and it was applied to both Crew Incentives and Casino charges.

 

Now if the source of your OBC is from something like stockholder credit, future cruise deposits, TA promotions or booking promotion, this might not be the case.  If people who had OBC rejected, I hope they report here the source of the OBC so that we might be better able to understand how it works now,

 

All the more reason to avoid OBC if you have the option, IMO.

 

[kazu]

3 hours ago, DaveOKC said:

Now if the source of your OBC is from something like stockholder credit, future cruise deposits, TA promotions or booking promotion, this might not be the case.

 

Most OBC from TA’s is fully refundable and can be applied to casino, cruise incentive, whatever you see fit 🙂  (some exceptions apply for special promos, I think but I have not experienced them).

Stockholder  credit,  FCD OBC are all HAL obc’s and are non refundable and cannot be used in the casino.  On my last sailing (pre-covid) they were applied to crew incentive though.  It is stated quite clearly on the on board account which OBC’s have restrictions (ie - not for use in the casino).

[ontheweb]

4 hours ago, kazu said:

 

Most OBC from TA’s is fully refundable and can be applied to casino, cruise incentive, whatever you see fit 🙂  (some exceptions apply for special promos, I think but I have not experienced them).

Stockholder  credit,  FCD OBC are all HAL obc’s and are non refundable and cannot be used in the casino.  On my last sailing (pre-covid) they were applied to crew incentive though.  It is stated quite clearly on the on board account which OBC’s have restrictions (ie - not for use in the casino).

It should be noted that the non-refundable OBC gets used first.

[cruisemover]

20 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

OBC can be per stateroom or per guest ( and usually only for the first two guests occupying the room).  So if the program says first two guests then it means first two guests. 

Having said all that, to answer your question as to whether the OBC can be used by the third guest, if all three guests are on one shipboard folio, then the third guest's charges will accrue against the OBC's. 

Thanks @VMax1700 for the information. If all 3 guests are in the same stateroom and booking, do they all share the same shipboard folio?

[kazu]

1 hour ago, cruisemover said:

Thanks @VMax1700 for the information. If all 3 guests are in the same stateroom and booking, do they all share the same shipboard folio?

 

If the same credit card is being used for all 3, they will be on the same ship folio. 😉 

[VMax1700]

3 hours ago, cruisemover said:

Thanks @VMax1700 for the information. If all 3 guests are in the same stateroom and booking, do they all share the same shipboard folio?

 

1 hour ago, kazu said:

 

If the same credit card is being used for all 3, they will be on the same ship folio. 😉 

When you complete the online check in you are asked for credit card details for each person on the booking.  Just give the one credit card details for all 3 pax.

[cruisemover]

21 hours ago, kazu said:

 

If the same credit card is being used for all 3, they will be on the same ship folio. 😉 

 

19 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

 

When you complete the online check in you are asked for credit card details for each person on the booking.  Just give the one credit card details for all 3 pax.

 

Seems easy enough. Thank you for that! Now hopefully the OBC can be applied to Crew Appreciation too. 😊

[victory2020]

You can also use OBC for Groove for St Jude or whatever it's called to do the walk (or not) & donate to St Judes - or at least you could 2 years ago. 

[zelker]

41 minutes ago, victory2020 said:

You can also use OBC for Groove for St Jude or whatever it's called to do the walk (or not) & donate to St Judes - or at least you could 2 years ago. 

Holland America sponsors the Susan B Komen On Deck for the Cure walk. 

[ontheweb]

16 minutes ago, zelker said:

Holland America sponsors the Susan B Komen On Deck for the Cure walk. 

🤞 DW did that walk on the last HAL cruise we sailed. (And she has the tee shirt to prove it.)

[victory2020]

I believe the person who asked about OBC for gratuities got that answer because they are instructed to say that. Has anyone actually not been able to use OBC for tips? I am contemplating changing reservation to include wifi instead of tips because you get $100pp OBC which would about cover the $108.50. I have 1 day to decide.

[DaveOKC]

1 hour ago, victory2020 said:

I believe the person who asked about OBC for gratuities got that answer because they are instructed to say that. Has anyone actually not been able to use OBC for tips? I am contemplating changing reservation to include wifi instead of tips because you get $100pp OBC which would about cover the $108.50. I have 1 day to decide.

We used it in Dec abaord the NS to cover the Crew Incentive and even our casino play.  On other cruises some have not allowed casino play and some have, but we did not find out for certain until final billing.

 

[victory2020]

1 minute ago, DaveOKC said:

We used it in Dec abaord the NS to cover the Crew Incentive and even our casino play.  On other cruises some have not allowed casino play and some have, but we did not find out for certain until final billing.

 

Thanks. the last time I did a test with $10 in the casino & it was not allowed. I ended up having $10 non refundable OBC that i left for the tip pool. Maybe I;ll try again this next time.