Has anyone on NCL gifted themselves OBC ?

[Jetswdo]

 On Princess and Celebrity, I have "gifted" my self with OBC-- If any money wasn't used, I received a refund of that amount back on my credit card.  If I do this with NCL,  and not use all the money, will I also be refunded the remaining amount? ( I like to do this, as I hate feeling nickled and dimed when on a cruise--)

[GeezerCouple]

24 minutes ago, Jetswdo said:

 On Princess and Celebrity, I have "gifted" my self with OBC-- If any money wasn't used, I received a refund of that amount back on my credit card.  If I do this with NCL,  and not use all the money, will I also be refunded the remaining amount? ( I like to do this, as I hate feeling nickled and dimed when on a cruise--)

 

Huh?  You'd still be paying for those charges of "nickels and dimes".

You can either give NCL your money way ahead of time (!?) by charging that amount and them perhaps get some back, or you could wait until you have spent the amount and then have them charge that exact amount, and no more.

 

Perhaps you mean you don't want to "know about" the nickel and diming?  But wouldn't you know if you are buying something that isn't already covered?  (I surely would keep track of such costs.)  And your final tally would show everything anyway, either way.

 

And if it's a way to "save up" for incidental spending, fine if that's necessary.  But save it up in *your* account somewhere.  Why give it to NCL in advance, especially if you may not even spend it all?  Perhaps put your "spending money" into the account that will be used later to pay the charge card bill if you need to put money in different "buckets" by purpose...?

 

If I give myself a $100 bill with my right hand and take it with my left hand ("gifting myself $100"), what have I gained?

 

GC

[leithbones]

OP- Yes, if you pre-purchase OBC, it's entirely refundable. 

I buy it for two reasons: 1. CN Certificates are ineligible for Non-Refundable OBC (like Stockholder credit), and 2. It's kind of a 'soft' budget for incidentals.  "Here's how much we have allotted ourselves  to spend aboard Honey, don't go over."  Yes-- the credit on our account is more a psychological restraint for us than if we just told ourselves "Spend  X or less" and paid our bill at the end.

I also prepay DSC because I like dis-embarking with a nice $0.00 on my cabin charge.

Tracking my folio  >> how Refundable/non-refundable credits were applied to various shipboard charges is an important daily reconciliation if I don't want a big mess at the end.  It's best to tell each venue WHICH type of credit you want redeemed from your account.  Visit Guest Services immediately to rectify errors.

I agree that the 'nickel & dime' logic seems irrelevant to OP's query.

[laudergayle]

7 minutes ago, leithbones said:  It's best to tell each venue WHICH type of credit you want redeemed from your account. 

How does that work? If I go to Starbucks I can tell the barista to charge on NR OBC?  
 

[dbrown84]

I also do this, and I simply don't put a credit card on file when checking in.  You actually get the money back as cash on the last night, if you choose to.  I always go get the cash, so I'm not sure the process for returning the extra to you if you leave the ship without collecting it

[BirdTravels]

52 minutes ago, laudergayle said:

How does that work? If I go to Starbucks I can tell the barista to charge on NR OBC?  
 

You charge it to your room. NR OBC is used first. Then Refundable OBC. 

[cruiseinfoseeker]

1 hour ago, laudergayle said:

How does that work? If I go to Starbucks I can tell the barista to charge on NR OBC?  
 

and to elaborate further on @BirdTravels post, all charges go to non-refundable first, as long as that particular charge qualifies (Starbucks would) There is no official list (as far as I can find) on NCL giving a specific description of what is and isn't eligible for non-refundable. We know the DSC [daily service charge] is not eligible and generally any additional tipping you might add on to your specialty or latitudes meal, but some have reported that even sometimes qualifying, so YMMV with that.

 

[ddlb]

So if i gift myself money using my credit card does it counts as a purchase and i would earn points on my card?  I could use it in the slot machines.  Cash out if need be. This sounds like an excellent way to get more points on my credit card!  Or am I wrong?

[MoCruiseFan]

8 hours ago, Jetswdo said:

 On Princess and Celebrity, I have "gifted" my self with OBC-- If any money wasn't used, I received a refund of that amount back on my credit card.  If I do this with NCL,  and not use all the money, will I also be refunded the remaining amount? ( I like to do this, as I hate feeling nickled and dimed when on a cruise--)

 

Yes you will get refunded, however how does paying ahead of time v. paying at the end of the cruise change the fact that you pay for what you use (or as you put it, being nickled and dimed)?

[smillerholmes]

7 hours ago, ddlb said:

So if i gift myself money using my credit card does it counts as a purchase and i would earn points on my card?  I could use it in the slot machines.  Cash out if need be. This sounds like an excellent way to get more points on my credit card!  Or am I wrong?

This is correct.  I was able to use this method to both increase my World Points balance as well as avoid the 3% fee for charging directly to my room and "moving" the funds to the slot machine.  However, pre-purchasing OBC is limited to $1000.  Sigh, sadly I have yet to determine if this is a positive or a negative. 😐

[ddlb]

1 hour ago, smillerholmes said:

This is correct.  I was able to use this method to both increase my World Points balance as well as avoid the 3% fee for charging directly to my room and "moving" the funds to the slot machine.  However, pre-purchasing OBC is limited to $1000.  Sigh, sadly I have yet to determine if this is a positive or a negative. 😐

Well I think this is a great idea. I do pay my credit card in full every month!  Wonder why I have never heard of this before.   Just so I don't get carried away on the slot machines. 

[dbrown84]

1 hour ago, ddlb said:

Well I think this is a great idea. I do pay my credit card in full every month!  Wonder why I have never heard of this before.   Just so I don't get carried away on the slot machines. 

I do the same with my discover card, buying a little every month until I hit the amount I want, up to $1000 max.  That way I earn the cash back.  I used to prepay the service charge, but now I buy enough OBC to cover it.  Since I also pay the balance in full every month, there is no cost and I earn cash back 

[EllieinNJ]

So if you purchase $1000 OBC and you only use $100 do you still get $900 back in cash?

[dbrown84]

5 hours ago, EllieinNJ said:

So if you purchase $1000 OBC and you only use $100 do you still get $900 back in cash?

I've never refunded that much, so I don't know if they will give you cash, check, or refund to credit card.  I've gotten back as much as $200 as cash 

[DaCruiseBug]

I don't think I understand. Why would you gift yourself OBC before the cruise? You're giving NCL an interest-free loan for potentially up to many months. Why not just charge it all and it goes to your credit card anyways?

[stki]

We have gifted ourselves the maximum of $1000. Reason being that we are from Australia and the rate worked out better than what we could get if we charged expenses on board to our credit card

 

So the options of taking out cash is using the casino(and pay 3%), or wait till last night and they would give us cash or any unused credit - Is this correct? We also have $250 shareholder credit, which I believe is non refundable

 

Booking via Australia, all our tips are included in our price.(Beverage, restaurants and daily service charge)

 

Thanks

 

Tanya

[RocketMan275]

On 10/31/2022 at 8:32 PM, ddlb said:

So if i gift myself money using my credit card does it counts as a purchase and i would earn points on my card?  I could use it in the slot machines.  Cash out if need be. This sounds like an excellent way to get more points on my credit card!  Or am I wrong?

Wouldn't you get the same points if you just paid the onboard charges with your credit card?

[Jetswdo]

Ok, maybe I didn't word things exactly right with my question.  What I meant with "nickled and dimed"- maybe wrong expression here,  was that I hate going home after a cruise and having additional charges  show up on my credit card from that cruise.   I have been on many cruises, usually with Celebrity and Princess- I have had two with Royal and this would be my third with NCL.   What I have done in the past, is gift myself OBC for  $500---  I prepay all my excursions, Specialty restaurants, wifi, service charges, etc.  figuring that whatever incidentals I purchase on cruise- would just get paid for by the extra cash that was placed on my card.   So on most of my cruises, I have had maybe $100-$150 refunded to my card.  Once I did owe around $20, but that was it.  I just like feeling that I am on an all inclusive vacation.  It has been about 5 years since I have been on a cruise, so I don't know what NCL policy is today with this.  I did call up to ask, (twice) but I have found that the agents frankly weren't very knowledgeable and didn't give me a straight answer.  I just want to know that any gifted OBC is fully refundable after cruise--- I don't want to wait on a line to get the money back in case, just want the refund back on my credit card, which was done in the past without any problems.

 

[ddlb]

I know you can’t use non-refundable onboard credit for the casino or daily service charge. So if I gift myself a thousand dollars refundable credit do they still charge 3 percent if you withdraw it from your  onboard account and put it in the slot machine?  Sorry but I am confused. If so this is not a great idea after all.

[MissRabbit]

On 11/1/2022 at 8:28 PM, stki said:

We have gifted ourselves the maximum of $1000. Reason being that we are from Australia and the rate worked out better than what we could get if we charged expenses on board to our credit card

 

So the options of taking out cash is using the casino(and pay 3%), or wait till last night and they would give us cash or any unused credit - Is this correct? We also have $250 shareholder credit, which I believe is non refundable

 

Booking via Australia, all our tips are included in our price.(Beverage, restaurants and daily service charge)

 

Thanks

 

Tanya

 

same here. If I bought $100 USD in cash right now it would cost me $136 CAD at today’s exchange rate. When I booked my cruise, it was only at $100 USD to $126 CAD.  So by buying OBC, I’m saving myself $10 on every $100. Doesn’t seem like much but when you figure in several hundred bucks, it all adds up! The $1000 limit will save me $100 in the end! 

[DaCruiseBug]

5 hours ago, MissRabbit said:

 

same here. If I bought $100 USD in cash right now it would cost me $136 CAD at today’s exchange rate. When I booked my cruise, it was only at $100 USD to $126 CAD.  So by buying OBC, I’m saving myself $10 on every $100. Doesn’t seem like much but when you figure in several hundred bucks, it all adds up! The $1000 limit will save me $100 in the end! 

 

I mean...that's only because the dollar has gotten stronger. Could have easily gone the other way. So your reasoning to give NCL an interest free loan for MONTHS is because you like the forex market? The last time the USD/CAD exchange was $1.26 was in June and you don't sail until next May. So you're giving NCL an interest free loan for 1 year (or more if you actually did it earlier then that) all in the hopes that the exchange rate gets worse?

 

Again, makes no sense to me. 

[Ladyshopper23]

We're from the UK and I recently bought a $75 onboard credit for our cruise in December. I know we'll be doing a bag of laundry, and my husband will buy some coffees. The exchange rate was much better doing it this way compared to if we put a fee-free credit card on, was about £10 cheaper to buy the OBC.

The exchange rate isn't going to change much between now and then (it's very poor for us poor UK people going to USA or paying in dollars!) so to me it was a no brainer.

[ziggyuk]

2 hours ago, DaCruiseBug said:

 

I mean...that's only because the dollar has gotten stronger. Could have easily gone the other way. So your reasoning to give NCL an interest free loan for MONTHS is because you like the forex market? The last time the USD/CAD exchange was $1.26 was in June and you don't sail until next May. So you're giving NCL an interest free loan for 1 year (or more if you actually did it earlier then that) all in the hopes that the exchange rate gets worse?

 

Again, makes no sense to me. 

 

It does not make sense to you because you are assuming this needs doing months in advance which is incorrect.

Making the purchase a week before sailing is the way to do it meaning an excellent exchange rate and no free loan to NCL, simples!

[GeezerCouple]

4 hours ago, ziggyuk said:

 

It does not make sense to you because you are assuming this needs doing months in advance which is incorrect.

Making the purchase a week before sailing is the way to do it meaning an excellent exchange rate and no free loan to NCL, simples!

 

I was quite dismissive of "giving the cruise line an interest free loan" too, above.

However, IF one can take advantage of a favorable exchange rate, then that does make sense.  (Or if someone got some sort of discount;  it seemed to be suggested that someone might be able to avoid an on-ship surcharge.  If so, that makes sense, too, of course.)

 

As for the argument that the exchange rate may be favorable now, but perhaps not later, I'm not sure how that actually works out once one has already made the transaction; I can't find my abacus.  Or slide rule.  😉

 

However, keep in mind that by the same logic, NOT purchasing OBC in advance is also a "gamble", but in the opposite direction.  Depending upon "which way" the exchange rate changes between "now and then", IF it changes, one either did well or.... not so well...  Each person is likely to have a different opinion of whether/how exchange rates will change between now and <whenever the need for the foreign currency is>, and can make their decisions accordingly.

But at least there is a *reason* that "could" make a real difference in that case.

IF it's "only" to avoid having a credit card charged while on board, that makes less sense.  And it certainly doesn't make sense for many of us to start pre-paying far in advance.

 

IF one wants/needs to budget those expenses before the trip, then do it in *your* account, and not theirs (and even more so now, with interest rates rising).  For one thing, just in case the cruise gets cancelled, regardless of reason, you aren't sitting and waiting - and waiting - for them to refund your money!

 

Then either buy the OBC shortly before the trip, use the accumulated funds to pay the credit card bill after the cruise, or I think one can sometimes (?) put a cash deposit down instead of a charge card number (NOT sure about this, but I think I've read about doing this), and if your on board charges exceed that, they'll just stop your ability to make any purchases.

 

However, we all have our little habits and quirks, and, ahem, I'm just declining to disclose mine right now! 😱  Do what works best for you (the recent "you do you" mantra), but at least try to understand the pros and cons.

 

And most importantly, arrange things so *you* enjoy it all the most possible!

(Humans don't always make "the most logical decision", and different preferences can change the logic!)

 

GC

 

[MissRabbit]

9 hours ago, DaCruiseBug said:

 

I mean...that's only because the dollar has gotten stronger. Could have easily gone the other way. So your reasoning to give NCL an interest free loan for MONTHS is because you like the forex market? The last time the USD/CAD exchange was $1.26 was in June and you don't sail until next May. So you're giving NCL an interest free loan for 1 year (or more if you actually did it earlier then that) all in the hopes that the exchange rate gets worse?

 

Again, makes no sense to me. 

 

Not planning on buying the OBC til it’s nearing the cruise.  I’m still locked in at the 1.26% regardless of when I buy it. 
 

yes, it means that for that brief while NCL has an interest free loan but think of it the other way…. Why would I opt to buy from the bank and pay MORE just to keep NCL from profiting the few weeks they’d have my money? 

Edited November 3, 2022 by MissRabbit
Correction