CoSec Posted September 26, 2021 #1 Share Posted September 26, 2021 If anyone is on Ovation or has recently travelled on it, I wonder if they could answer a query for me. If you book excursions before sailing you have to pay in full for them at the time of booking. In the past, i have found that, once onboard, any balance of OBC that one doesn’t otherwise spend during the cruise has been applied towards refunding, via one’s credit card, any amounts previously paid for the excursions booked before boarding. Example: prepaid excursions $500, OBC of $750. If purchases made whilst on board are, say, $400, the balance of $350 is refunded to you on your credit card at the end of your cruise as effectively being used towards offsetting the amount spent on excursions booked before boarding. I am aware of course that unused OBC would otherwise be written off (so, if only $100 paid on excursions before boarding, in the example given, $100 would be refunded and the remaining $250 of otherwise unused OBC would be written off). I recently spoke to Seabourn UK office to check that this was still the practice and initially received conflicting answers, including one saying OBC cannot be used in this way. Eventually, I think I got a final answer: it’s at the discretion of the onboard ship accounting personnel. So, my query is, what is Ovation’s current practice on this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alidor Posted September 26, 2021 #2 Share Posted September 26, 2021 It depends where the OBC. Ones from. If it supplied by Seabourn, it is not refundable. If it was supplied by your travel agent, or someone else, that part is refundable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Hlitner Posted September 26, 2021 #3 Share Posted September 26, 2021 We recently had no problem applying our OBC to booked excursions on the Ovation. It is simply a matter of speaking with the customer service folks (at Seabourn Square) during your cruise and telling them your wishes. They make the appropriate entrees in the computer system and shortly after the end of your cruise your credit card will be credited for the money you had previously paid for excursions (up to the amount of OBC). It did not matter if the OBC was refundable or non-refundable as you were simply doing a swap of your OBC for previously paid excursions. Hank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoSec Posted September 27, 2021 Author #4 Share Posted September 27, 2021 Thanks, Hank. That’s reassuring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare marazul Posted September 27, 2021 #5 Share Posted September 27, 2021 On 9/26/2021 at 8:55 AM, alidor said: It depends where the OBC. Ones from. If it supplied by Seabourn, it is not refundable. If it was supplied by your travel agent, or someone else, that part is refundable. In my experience, they always apply the nonrefundable first to your excursions. On the few occasions we have had some refunded we always got the balance back without any question of what is or is not refundable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfvoyage Posted September 27, 2021 #6 Share Posted September 27, 2021 On 9/26/2021 at 6:00 AM, Hlitner said: We recently had no problem applying our OBC to booked excursions on the Ovation. It is simply a matter of speaking with the customer service folks (at Seabourn Square) Yes, for prepaid shore excursions, it is easy to swap your credit card prepayment with your OBC after your board. Can anyone confirm if the same is true for prepaid & prebooked spa services? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare marazul Posted September 28, 2021 #7 Share Posted September 28, 2021 6 hours ago, sfvoyage said: Yes, for prepaid Can anyone confirm if the same is true for prepaid & prebooked spa services? Yes. Same procedure applies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoSec Posted September 28, 2021 Author #8 Share Posted September 28, 2021 Thanks, Marazul and sfvoyage for your helpful replies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adolfo2 Posted September 28, 2021 #9 Share Posted September 28, 2021 Would be so much easier if Seabourn allowed the use of OBC to book your excursions while still ashore rather than playing this shell game 😌 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoSec Posted September 29, 2021 Author #10 Share Posted September 29, 2021 Absolutely, Adolfo. Last time I sailed Silversea one could book ahead without paying and only be charged once on board if you failed to cancel a booking within the time allowed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
labonnevie Posted October 1, 2021 #11 Share Posted October 1, 2021 Same is true on Regent. It would be a lot easier and less confusing if Seabourn adopted this policy. This is my only complaint about the Seabourn experience. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalliowner Posted October 2, 2021 #12 Share Posted October 2, 2021 I have never found it a problem booking on the first day, it is vary rare for trips to get full that early. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
labonnevie Posted October 2, 2021 #13 Share Posted October 2, 2021 The problem is not getting the tour you want, as you have already booked it months ago and paid for it on your credit card as well. It is that other cruise lines allow you to spend your SBC (often a substantial amount of money) on tour reservations before you board, often up to a year before. Having to go to Seabourn Square, wait inline and have them issue your credit card a credit and then immediately rebook you into the tour using your SBC just seems inefficient and unnecessary. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalliowner Posted October 3, 2021 #14 Share Posted October 3, 2021 If you wait until on board , you can book on the TV or fill a form out and you will not then have to wait at the square. The on board credit will still be there and you will also know when other programs like the beach bbq are or if new ones are available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adolfo2 Posted October 4, 2021 #15 Share Posted October 4, 2021 On 10/3/2021 at 1:45 AM, dalliowner said: If you wait until on board , you can book on the TV or fill a form out and you will not then have to wait at the square. The on board credit will still be there and you will also know when other programs like the beach bbq are or if new ones are available. I would just rather NOT waste my time (In the Square OR in my Stateroom) redoing something which I had already done on land. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiseej Posted October 6, 2021 #16 Share Posted October 6, 2021 On 10/2/2021 at 6:39 PM, labonnevie said: Having to go to Seabourn Square, wait inline and have them issue your credit card a credit and then immediately rebook you into the tour using your SBC just seems inefficient and unnecessary. On 10/4/2021 at 4:23 PM, adolfo2 said: I would just rather NOT waste my time (In the Square OR in my Stateroom) redoing something which I had already done on land. I agree that it would be better if you could book excursions without paying in advance (as Silversea does). That said, I just got off a Seabourn trip where I needed to flip my excursions from prepaid to changed against by onboard credit. Total time involved to accomplish that: one minute. I walked into the Square, said what I was there to do, and I was told they would have the night auditor take care if it. That was it. We didn't have to go through excursion by excursion, or reprint tour tickets (actually, there are no tour tickets any longer). So it's really not much of a waste of time or effort. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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