Booking a shore excursion using OBC before cruise

[DJ Cruisers]

I called the Princess excursion desk today and wanted to book a shore excursion for my husband and I using my husband's OBC for both of us..  He has way more than me.  I  remember doing this pre Covid without a problem.  The person told me it couldn't be done that way.  She left me on hold to make sure and after a long time I was disconnected.  Of course she didn't call me back even though she confirmed my phone # in case we got disconnected.  That was a wasted 45 minutes.

 

Has anyone been able to do this recently?

[milolii]

So, I tired the same thing recently.  Each person in the cabin appears to have their own account for OBC. This may happen onboard as well.  We cashed out the extra OBC in the casino and/or purchased other things in one name.

Edited March 14, 2023 by milolii

[DJ Cruisers]

If they are not allowing us to book an excursion in advance using one person's OBC for both of us this is something new.  I know I couldn't do it myself on their site but I could call Princess and they were able to do it.  On board we have had both our accounts combined into one.

[milolii]

Clarification please:

So are you saying you finally did get someone to process your current request to use your DH’s OBC for both of you?

or

That is the way it worked in the past? 

[Paula_MacFan]

I booked 2 excursions last week online using OBC for both myself and my husband.  Had no problems.  Put the excursions in my cart, clicked pay now, and it took the OBC off and I paid the small remaining amount with my CC.  

[jaycruising]

1 hour ago, Paula_MacFan said:

I booked 2 excursions last week online using OBC for both myself and my husband.  Had no problems.  Put the excursions in my cart, clicked pay now, and it took the OBC off and I paid the small remaining amount with my CC.  

Same result for me a couple weeks ago. 

[Gwendy]

7 hours ago, jaycruising said:

Same result for me a couple weeks ago. 

Same here, no problems.

[dickinson]

So all of you were able to split OBC that was listed for one person?  Example: I have $0 OBC left but dh has $100.  I can book an excursion online that costs $50/person and dh $100 OBC can be used for both of us so I don't need to pay any $?

[coo359a2]

Pre Covid I did this by calling the Excursions extension. They would book the excursions for me by “splitting” the OBC to cover both of our cruises.  Haven’t tried this since the restart 

[DJ Cruisers]

Milolii,

 

I called Princess direct to have them book both mine and my husband's excursion from his OBC since he had over $500 left.  I didn't have enough in my OBC account left to book mine.

 

In the past,  pre Covid, this has been no problem.  Now I was told it couldn't be done.

 

Don't know whether this person at the Princess Excursion phone # just didn't know how to do it or they won't do it anymore.  I was left hanging on the phone while she tried to verify her position and then was disconnected.

[DJ Cruisers]

2 hours ago, coo359a2 said:

Pre Covid I did this by calling the Excursions extension. They would book the excursions for me by “splitting” the OBC to cover both of our cruises.  Haven’t tried this since the restart 

That is exactly what I was trying to do.  I have done it many times pre Covid, no problem.  Guess I will call again and hope to get a different person that gives me an answer.

 

Thanks for everyone's replies.

[dickinson]

1 hour ago, DJ Cruisers said:

 

That is exactly what I was trying to do.  I have done it many times pre Covid, no problem.  Guess I will call again and hope to get a different person that gives me an answer.

 

Thanks for everyone's replies.

Let us know what happens.

[milolii]

That is what what I thought.  $500.00 is a lot. 
 Same here.

What I see when I purchase excursions is that the OBC  comes out of each individual accounts.  We both had enough for one excursion each but only one of us had enough for excursion #2 and could pay all of it.  Website wouldn’t  permit that.  Wanted to collect from second person, while leaving a balance in first person’s account.  

It makes little sense in our case as stockholder’s credit is listed “per cabin”. 
Let us  know what happens.  Good luck. 
 

 

[Scottyren]

This happened to me about a year ago.  Called in and was told that I couldn't pay for an excursion for my travel partner with my OBC.  Once we were onboard, we went up to the excursions desk and paid for both of us using the OBC no problem.  It worked out for us because the excursion wasn't sold out- but I know that's not always the case.

[DJ Cruisers]

1 hour ago, milolii said:

That is what what I thought.  $500.00 is a lot. 
 Same here.

What I see when I purchase excursions is that the OBC  comes out of each individual accounts.  We both had enough for one excursion each but only one of us had enough for excursion #2 and could pay all of it.  Website wouldn’t  permit that.  Wanted to collect from second person, while leaving a balance in first person’s account.  

It makes little sense in our case as stockholder’s credit is listed “per cabin”. 
Let us  know what happens.  Good luck. 

.
 

 

I called a second time, got a different person who knew what she was doing.  She booked the excursions we wanted for both myself and my husband and took the OBC only out of my husband's account.  No problem.  I knew I had done it many times pre Covid.  

 

Thanks for all the replies.

 

Thanksmany times in the past (pre Covid).  At least that hasn't changed.

[marymount]

2 hours ago, DJ Cruisers said:

I called a second time, got a different person who knew what she was doing.  She booked the excursions we wanted for both myself and my husband and took the OBC only out of my husband's account.  No problem.  I knew I had done it many times pre Covid.  

 

Thanks for all the replies.

 

Thanksmany times in the past (pre Covid).  At least that hasn't changed.

That’s exactly what happened to me too, just the other day.. I have more OBC than DH and when I booked a couple excursions, I had leftover and he had none. And had to put the remainder of his on CC. I also thought in the past it was combined. I guess I made the mistake of using their chat service instead of calling direct to ask,  and answer is that since it’s in my name, only I could use it.  I still have a couple more excursions we may book, so I’ll call Princess direct and hope that person knows the answer.

[Mud_Shark]

Sometimes it is the wording that gets the reps confused.

 

rather than asking for the OBC from one account to cover an excursion for another account, I have found far less resistance when I ask to simply purchase two tickets from the one account.  Sounds the same, but it has proved to work for me.

 

 

[Sundiego]

Question...

 

DH and I each have plenty of OBC. I booked an excursion online a few weeks ago for a September cruise. On the Princess site, it shows the excursion as booked and paid. But looking at our OBC, I don't see where it's been deducted. I know it hasn't been paid via credit card. Is this typical?

 

Thanks!

 

~Denise

[ED49404]

4 minutes ago, Sundiego said:

Question...

 

DH and I each have plenty of OBC. I booked an excursion online a few weeks ago for a September cruise. On the Princess site, it shows the excursion as booked and paid. But looking at our OBC, I don't see where it's been deducted. I know it hasn't been paid via credit card. Is this typical?

 

Thanks!

 

~Denise

From our experience, that is normal.  What princess is showing you on the website is the OBC you're entitled to.  You probably will not see anything about your account until you get onboard the ship.

[claudia814]

On 3/14/2023 at 6:31 PM, Paula_MacFan said:

I booked 2 excursions last week online using OBC for both myself and my husband.  Had no problems.  Put the excursions in my cart, clicked pay now, and it took the OBC off and I paid the small remaining amount with my CC.  

I was surprised to be able to book excursions for our April 2024 cruise. I booked online using our onboard credit and as previous poster said, I paid the remaining amount with my credit card. 

[Paula_MacFan]

38 minutes ago, Sundiego said:

Question...

 

DH and I each have plenty of OBC. I booked an excursion online a few weeks ago for a September cruise. On the Princess site, it shows the excursion as booked and paid. But looking at our OBC, I don't see where it's been deducted. I know it hasn't been paid via credit card. Is this typical?

 

Thanks!

 

~Denise

Mine is the same way. Still shows total OBC even though it's been applied to excursions. 

[Rick&Jeannie]

While I have not personally tried this...I would think that if you just log into the website as the other person (hence all of the OBC available) you could then book the excursion(s) wanted and it come out of the account that you originally wanted...

[dreaminofcruisin]

On 3/15/2023 at 7:55 AM, DJ Cruisers said:

Milolii,

 

I called Princess direct to have them book both mine and my husband's excursion from his OBC since he had over $500 left.  I didn't have enough in my OBC account left to book mine.

 

In the past,  pre Covid, this has been no problem.  Now I was told it couldn't be done.

 

Don't know whether this person at the Princess Excursion phone # just didn't know how to do it or they won't do it anymore.  I was left hanging on the phone while she tried to verify her position and then was disconnected.

 

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....This is still happening. I have a lot of OBC. DH doesn't have enough for the excursion. I have so much that I don't want to have to pay for it and end up with OBC leftover. After waiting on hold for quite a while, the contact at Princess said 'each person's OBC is for that person' and refused to use part of mine for DH.  Maybe each person's is their own....but not after you get on the ship....Unfortunately, this excursion is likely to sell out before I get on the ship. 

 

I guess I'll try again in the morning and hope for a different person.....Frustrating.

[DJ Cruisers]

2 hours ago, dreaminofcruisin said:

 

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....This is still happening. I have a lot of OBC. DH doesn't have enough for the excursion. I have so much that I don't want to have to pay for it and end up with OBC leftover. After waiting on hold for quite a while, the contact at Princess said 'each person's OBC is for that person' and refused to use part of mine for DH.  Maybe each person's is their own....but not after you get on the ship....Unfortunately, this excursion is likely to sell out before I get on the ship. 

 

I guess I'll try again in the morning and hope for a different person.....Frustrating.

That is ridiculous.  I definitely suggest you call back.  Same thing happened to me.  I knew I had done this many times in the past.  Called back the next day and got a different person who did it with no problem.  Used my husbands OBC to book both our excursions.  It is frustrating when they tell you with such confidence that it can't be done.  As a matter of fact I just did it again a couple wks ago, no problem.

[ED49404]

59 minutes ago, DJ Cruisers said:

That is ridiculous.  I definitely suggest you call back.  Same thing happened to me.  I knew I had done this many times in the past.  Called back the next day and got a different person who did it with no problem.  Used my husbands OBC to book both our excursions.  It is frustrating when they tell you with such confidence that it can't be done.  As a matter of fact I just did it again a couple wks ago, no problem.

I had the same problem on this cruise.  We have the military benefit and of course it's in my name and our stockholder benefit I have it put in DW name.  For this cruise Princess put both benefits in my name, and we use all our OBC for excursions.  Tried several times via email to get the shareholder OBC put in DW's name to no avail.  Finally called the stockholder benefit to explain what and why what I wanted, and checked the Princess website about an hour later and found it finally was changed over to DW name.  It just a matter who you talk to that matters.