Why can’t I use OBC

[julie3fan]

32 minutes ago, Willwils said:

It's  a shame Princess apparently doesn't allow OBC to go towards gratuities like Royal Caribbean. Anyone have experience with Princess applying remaining OBC towards gratuities at end of cruise?

 

We've been able to use OBC for gratuities in the recent past.  Why are you thinking that's not allowed?

[msmoger]

35 minutes ago, Willwils said:

It's  a shame Princess apparently doesn't allow OBC to go towards gratuities like Royal Caribbean. Anyone have experience with Princess applying remaining OBC towards gratuities at end of cruise?

 

If you are paying for the daily gratuities (now called Crew Appreciation by Princess), as opposed to purchasing the Plus or Premiere package which includes gratuities, you will be charged daily as the cruise proceeds.  Any OBC will be used to pay those charges as well as any other on board charges you incur during the cruise.

 

You cannot pre-pay gratuities using OBC.

Edited July 3, 2023 by msmoger

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, Willwils said:

It's  a shame Princess apparently doesn't allow OBC to go towards gratuities like Royal Caribbean. Anyone have experience with Princess applying remaining OBC towards gratuities at end of cruise?

 

1 hour ago, julie3fan said:

 

We've been able to use OBC for gratuities in the recent past.  Why are you thinking that's not allowed?

 

1 hour ago, msmoger said:

 

If you are paying for the daily gratuities (now called Crew Appreciation by Princess), as opposed to purchasing the Plus or Premiere package which includes gratuities, you will be charged daily as the cruise proceeds.  Any OBC will be used to pay those charges as well as any other on board charges you incur during the cruise.

 

You cannot pre-pay gratuities using OBC.

The poster was talking about contributing additional cash to the tip pool at the end of the voyage using left over OBC balance on account (they already paid the daily Crew Appreciation). 

 

I am not sure if this is possible or not.  Anyone know?  You can always ask GS desk.

[Willwils]

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

 

 

The poster was talking about contributing additional cash to the tip pool at the end of the voyage using left over OBC balance on account (they already paid the daily Crew Appreciation). 

 

I am not sure if this is possible or not.  Anyone know?  You can always ask GS desk.

Thanks for the replies.  Well, I hope I was wrong & can use OBC from my travel agent & Princess booking deals. That since I now read the following when logged-in to my Princess cruise.......

"Onboard Credits are essentially onboard spending money that is applied to your shipboard folio. At the end of your cruise, these credits are applied to your final balance due. You may receive these credits as a result of a special promotion from Princess or your travel agent."

[Willwils]

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

 

 

The poster was talking about contributing additional cash to the tip pool at the end of the voyage using left over OBC balance on account (they already paid the daily Crew Appreciation). 

 

I am not sure if this is possible or not.  Anyone know?  You can always ask GS desk.

Thanks for the replies.  Well, I hope I was wrong & can use OBC from my travel agent & Princess booking deals. That since I now read the following when logged-in to my Princess cruise.......

"Onboard Credits are essentially onboard spending money that is applied to your shipboard folio. At the end of your cruise, these credits are applied to your final balance due. You may receive these credits as a result of a special promotion from Princess or your travel agent."

[Willwils]

I now realize why I thought  OBC couldn't be used towards the crew appreciation or gratuities. That's  because another Princess page pre-selling OBC stated as per ATTACHED.  To be sure I'm waiting  for an email reply from my travel agent. A question to Princess  web chat went unanswered as session was timed out .

 

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, Willwils said:

I now realize why I thought  OBC couldn't be used towards the crew appreciation or gratuities. That's  because another Princess page pre-selling OBC stated as per ATTACHED.  To be sure I'm waiting  for an email reply from my travel agent. A question to Princess  web chat went unanswered as session was timed out .

 

 

OBC you purchase like the above is fully refundable if you don't use it all.  It's your money until you use all of it.

[Cruzbw]

So, while we're on the subject of utilizing our OBC...my OBC is non-rrefundable, military and the Princess offer promotion. I have Standard fare, neither Plus nor Premium. And I'm Platinum. My Crew Incentive will use lots of the OBC.  I will purchase the 4-Device Wifi for the three of us in our cabin.  My understanding is my gross cost is $40 per day, and half ($20 daily) will be posted as OBC in my account.  So I need to add this rebate as an OBC source also.  Am I correct on all this? And I should purchase the Wifi on board, cuz only excursions can be pre-purchased using OBC. 

[racj846]

^^^  No...the 50% discount should be applied to the price when you make the wi-fi purchase thru the app.

[MudderBear]

I just booked an excursion (traveling next spring) and it automatically used up our $200 OBC and then charged the rest to our credit card.

[skynight]

OBC is shown as credits in your on board accounts. If you look at your accounts on the first day you will see this. All on board charges are automatically posted to your on board account as they occur. The charges net against any credit or debit balance. The system uses non-refundable credits first then refundable. It is a simple system. When passenger's accounts are linked together with a single credit card there is a summary account. The summary account nets one account against the others to arrive at a daily summary balance.  A credit balance in one account will net against a debit balance in another. There is one exception. Future Cruise Deposits are charged directly to you credit card. They do not go through the on board accounting system. Believe it is also possible on request to charge large on board shop purchases directly to your credit card, bypassing the on board account system. 

[phabric]

12 hours ago, Willwils said:

I now realize why I thought  OBC couldn't be used towards the crew appreciation or gratuities. That's  because another Princess page pre-selling OBC stated as per ATTACHED.  To be sure I'm waiting  for an email reply from my travel agent. A question to Princess  web chat went unanswered as session was timed out .

 

I had purchased OBC and thought I could use them to purchase excursions in advance and learned that, if you purchase OBC under On Board Services, you could only use these OBC while on the ship, can not be used to purchase excursions in advance. There are refundable and will be added to your cabin account and could be used for anything onboard the ship.  Any OBC leftover will be refunded.  You will receive a card stating that $xx has been added to your account.

Edited July 4, 2023 by phabric

[Willwils]

Thanks for the replies. If in fact, as others have commented, I can use my OBC(supplied as bonus from travel agent + Princess) for crew appreciation(gratuities), then we'll be happy. That way we can pre-order excursions, etc. with our money. This since there have been other cruises where we've been disappointed by waiting until we got on-board to find excursions sold out.