on board credit for shore excursions

[kevboy]

Hi all. On our next cruise we have a rather large amount of credit to spend on board. I know we can use it to pay for excursions but I would like to pre book these excursions before they sell out. Is it possible to do this using onboard spends? Previously, once onboard I found that some excursions were already sold out before the cruise began. Going on a wait list didn`t help either. Can anyone advise please ?

kev

[happy v]

1 minute ago, kevboy said:

Hi all. On our next cruise we have a rather large amount of credit to spend on board. I know we can use it to pay for excursions but I would like to pre book these excursions before they sell out. Is it possible to do this using onboard spends? Previously, once onboard I found that some excursions were already sold out before the cruise began. Going on a wait list didn`t help either. Can anyone advise please ?

kev

Short answer, no.

 

[FangedRose]

Long answer.  No!

[jeanlyon]

That;s why it's called "On Board Credit"

[kruzseeka]

Thinking about having to book once on board, can this be done on the App or is it still with the Destination Services team or filling in a form to put in a box?  Can see them being inundated with folk wanting to use obc as soon as they board. 

[Megabear2]

36 minutes ago, kruzseeka said:

Thinking about having to book once on board, can this be done on the App or is it still with the Destination Services team or filling in a form to put in a box?  Can see them being inundated with folk wanting to use obc as soon as they board. 

On Britannia in the app you could apparently see availability for excursions.  In our case the app didn't load on any of our devices - the IT department and reception gave up on day 3 - so we were told to go to Destination Services if we wanted to book anything.  Luckily we had booked in advance as most times we passed there was always a queue during opening hours.

[yorkshirephil]

41 minutes ago, kruzseeka said:

Thinking about having to book once on board, can this be done on the App or is it still with the Destination Services team or filling in a form to put in a box?  Can see them being inundated with folk wanting to use obc as soon as they board. 

When we were on Arcadia in Dec the tour desk was busy at the start of the cruise, we had picked out a couple of tours we wanted to do using OBC. There were quite a few tours added during the cruise as I am assuming that there were wait lists. I think the best thing is to pre book if there is a must do trip and spend the OBC on something else.

[kruzseeka]

17 minutes ago, yorkshirephil said:

When we were on Arcadia in Dec the tour desk was busy at the start of the cruise, we had picked out a couple of tours we wanted to do using OBC. There were quite a few tours added during the cruise as I am assuming that there were wait lists. I think the best thing is to pre book if there is a must do trip and spend the OBC on something else.

I take your point and perhaps if there is a 'must do' excursion we may book ahead but our next cruise carries a lot of obc (it was one those mega generous offers to attract bookings plus Share Holder benefit) which we certainly won't use up on drinks or special meals.  We brought an awful lot of duty free back with us last time to 'mop up' obc at the end of our trip but if it were possible to book at least some trips on board that may be a risk we are prepared to take.

Thanks for the info MB on the (iffy) app - your impression of additional excursions being added during the cruise may help us out.  

[Son of Anarchy]

On Iona last month the excursions area had three of four self-service screens where you could and pay for excursions.

 

Of course, the day we went there to book, none of the screens were working.....

 

A member of staff did pop out to assist people.  He basically told them their cruise card wasn't working, and should get new ones from reception.  Those of us who had given up and were in the queue for the one member of staff, then chipped and told the chap that we had all tried the screens and also failed.  He then tried his own card, and also couldn't get in to the system.  At least after that he went and got another staff member to open up another desk.

[Somerset Cruiser]

On 1/5/2023 at 4:35 PM, jeanlyon said:

That;s why it's called "On Board Credit"

That's not so clever an answer as you think it is Jean, you can book dining before you board and pay for it with your OBC once on board. 

The same could apply to excursions if P&O permitted.m

[happy v]

I do hate it when 'improvements' make things harder. Popping a form in a box was simple 

[Palaceman]

On 1/7/2023 at 12:47 PM, Somerset Cruiser said:

That's not so clever an answer as you think it is Jean, you can book dining before you board and pay for it with your OBC once on board. 

The same could apply to excursions if P&O permitted.m

That's because you only book a table in advance. Some speciality restaurants, Sindu for example, charge for each item separately. And then there are the drinks that need to be paid for. And don't forget, if you use your obc to pay for excursions you do not receive your peninsular discount, whereas you do when you book online before boarding!!

[Bill Y]

Before covid (BC) at 48/72 hours before sailing all excursions were shown as wait listed, you could still select them and go on the wait list, no payment was asked for at that stage. The T&C’s said if you were offered a place you had 24h to confirm and pay for it. In practice you did not hear any more but when you boarded you found the tickets in your cabin and these were charged to your on board account.

 

I don’t know what the procedure is now or if anything can be booked without paying upfront. Also at one time you could not get any peninsular club discount until any OBC had been exhausted.

Edited January 9, 2023 by Bill Y

[yorkshirephil]

3 minutes ago, Bill Y said:

Before covid (BC) at 48/72 hours before sailing all excursions were shown as wait listed, you could still select them and go on the wait list, no payment was asked for at that stage. The T&C’s said if you were offered a place you had 24h to confirm and pay for it. In practice you did not hear any more but when you boarded you found the tickets in your cabin and these were charged to your on board account.

 

I don’t know what the procedure is now or if anything can be booked without paying upfront. Also at one time you could not get any peninsular club discount until any OBC had been exhausted.

You still don't get peninsular club discount until your OBC is exhausted when actually using OBC, however booking and paying up front does get the discount. 

[terrierjohn]

On 1/9/2023 at 1:45 PM, yorkshirephil said:

You still don't get peninsular club discount until your OBC is exhausted when actually using OBC, however booking and paying up front does get the discount. 

I think I would still prefer a free shore excursion from my totally free OBC, rather than one that costs me  90% of the sale price.

[Palaceman]

1 hour ago, terrierjohn said:

I think I would still prefer a free shore excursion from my totally free OBC, rather than one that costs me  90% of the sale price.

That's fine as long as you are prepared to miss out on an excursion because it's sold out before you get on board.