P&O Newbie - OBC query

[Shelley61]

Hello all

 

As my signature shows, we're new to P&O, so feel a little "inexperienced" as cruisers again!

 

We have a fair amount of OBC to use on our trip next year (we booked through a TA if it makes any difference in terms of how it can be used).  If I remember rightly, when we had this with RCI you could book excursions in advance of the cruise and use your OBC.  Our TA suggested that this wasn't the case with P&O?  Can anyone advise please?

We don't see the value in the drinks package, so will pay as we go, which would obviously use some of it, plus we'd want to do a couple of the speciality restaurants.  The prices for these, however, are significantly more reasonable than what we're used to with RCI, so we won't use much.

I might be tempted by a spa treatment maybe...

 

Is there a sneaky way to withdraw it in cash in the casino at the cashiers' desk??

 

What do you use yours for?

 

Thanks in advance! 🙂 

[zoe sproodle]

You’re correct, you can’t use OBC to book excursions in advance but you can use it to pay for them once you’re on board. We’ve never used the casino so can’t help there, although I don’t think you can use OBC - I’m sure someone else can advise on that.  All the other things you mention can be purchased with OBC, plus you can use it in the shops, including duty free. We normally use ours to pay for drinks, the occasional specialty meal and duty free cigarettes.

Hope this helps.

[Shelley61]

Thanks Zoe - that's helpful.  We'll have to decide whether we want to book excursions in advance and use the money elsewhere or take the risk and book them once we're onboard and hope they're not sold out.

 

RCI used to reserve some slots on trips for people to book on board (specifically for those cruisers who might struggle to book online I think).  Do you (or anyone) know if P&O do similar?

 

I'm sure the money won't last as long as I think once we're on board, but I want to make sure we use it, rather than it go to waste.

 

Good to know you can use it in the shops though - worst case scenario we stock up on gin on the last night to use the last of it up!

 

 

[pete14]

5 minutes ago, Shelley61 said:

Thanks Zoe - that's helpful.  We'll have to decide whether we want to book excursions in advance and use the money elsewhere or take the risk and book them once we're onboard and hope they're not sold out.

 

RCI used to reserve some slots on trips for people to book on board (specifically for those cruisers who might struggle to book online I think).  Do you (or anyone) know if P&O do similar?

 

I'm sure the money won't last as long as I think once we're on board, but I want to make sure we use it, rather than it go to waste.

 

Good to know you can use it in the shops though - worst case scenario we stock up on gin on the last night to use the last of it up!

 

 

Booking excursions online prior to the cruise is often a little cheaper than booking onboard. I am sure you won’t have too much difficulty spending OBC. The spa will be only too happy to help you to spend it.

[zoe sproodle]

I perhaps should have added that you can’t pick and choose what OBC goes on - everything you spend on board will come out of it until it’s used up, then they’ll start charging you for real.

[davecttr]

I can confirm that you cannot use OBC in the casino. You can use your cruise card to buy chips etc but it will be added to your onboard account. IIRC everything else you buy with your card will be deducted from your OBC, until it runs out of course.

[Shelley61]

3 hours ago, zoe sproodle said:

I perhaps should have added that you can’t pick and choose what OBC goes on - everything you spend on board will come out of it until it’s used up, then they’ll start charging you for real.

Thanks - makes sense. 
 

We’ll certainly make sure it’s spent one way or another!

[Shelley61]

Just now, davecttr said:

I can confirm that you cannot use OBC in the casino. You can use your cruise card to buy chips etc but it will be added to your onboard account. IIRC everything else you buy with your card will be deducted from your OBC, until it runs out of course.

Also makes sense. Darn they think of all the loopholes! 😂

[TigerB]

Yes, P&O have unfortunately closed the loophole of being able to launder your OBC through the casino. A few years ago we discovered by accident that we could, for example, charge about £80 of our OBC to our casino credit, play the slots for a short while and then get the £70 or so remaining as cash at the desk.

 

You will find that it won't take you long to burn through it; on a recent trip with our three adult kids and their partners, after a couple of meals in speciality restaurants, wine for the table, and late night beverages in the bars, the old man had spent his £460 OBC within five days, whereas the wily kids still had theirs. 🙄

[CaptainPedantic]

15 hours ago, Shelley61 said:

We'll have to decide whether we want to book excursions in advance and use the money elsewhere or take the risk and book them once we're onboard and hope they're not sold out.

 

If there's a particular excursion that you really want to take, it might be worth booking at least that one in advance. We booked our next cruise quite late and two of the excursions we really wanted to book were already sold out.

[Shelley61]

23 minutes ago, clubcardcruiser said:

 

If there's a particular excursion that you really want to take, it might be worth booking at least that one in advance. We booked our next cruise quite late and two of the excursions we really wanted to book were already sold out.

 

Yes, that's a good idea.  I'll take a proper look at the excursions and ports this weekend.  I looked last weekend very briefly and there didn't seem many listed.  I suspect that's because we're still reasonably far out from next July, so they haven't organised everything themselves yet.

 

We tried to book one excursion on RCI but it was sold out, but managed to nab some slots on boarding day as they had kept some spaces open.  On there the key seemed to be getting on board early and going straight to the desk before the masses.  We do have priority boarding, so will try and do this if there's something we really want to do but haven't managed to book online.

 

When you break it down, the OBC comes to the equivalent of around £45 a day for 2 people, which actually doesn't make it sound like very much and could easily be swallowed up, especially if we have a bit of a blitz on formal night!

 

I normally resist glasses of wine on cruises as they don't seem the best value (I stick to gin instead!), but perhaps I'll just treat myself! 😄

 

Thanks everyone!

[wowzz]

4 minutes ago, Shelley61 said:

 

Yes, that's a good idea.  I'll take a proper look at the excursions and ports this weekend.  I looked last weekend very briefly and there didn't seem many listed.  I suspect that's because we're still reasonably far out from next July, so they haven't organised everything themselves yet.

 

We tried to book one excursion on RCI but it was sold out, but managed to nab some slots on boarding day as they had kept some spaces open.  On there the key seemed to be getting on board early and going straight to the desk before the masses.  We do have priority boarding, so will try and do this if there's something we really want to do but haven't managed to book online.

 

When you break it down, the OBC comes to the equivalent of around £45 a day for 2 people, which actually doesn't make it sound like very much and could easily be swallowed up, especially if we have a bit of a blitz on formal night!

 

I normally resist glasses of wine on cruises as they don't seem the best value (I stick to gin instead!), but perhaps I'll just treat myself! 😄

 

Thanks everyone!

£45 is only the equivalent of three gins each per night. It will soon go !