On board credit from travel agent and prebooking

[njdealguy]

Hi, total cruise newbie here and going with family on very first cruise ever in couple weeks on the Allure of the Seas in crown loft suite.  

 

The travel agent we used (found through *****) issued us a $400 on board credit plus champagne bottle for the 4 day cruise.  Would like to use it to either prebook specialty restaurants or spa treatments where its showing decent discounted rates if reserve a time now, but its forcing a credit card to be entered to make the reservation (meaning were charged now?).   Is there a way to prebook stuff and pay for it using the on board credit?   If the on board credit only shows up after we start the cruise, that means we would have to wait for whatever reservation times are available then and lose the pre-cruise discount?   

 

Thanks and apologies if same questions were covered million times on this forum!

Edited October 21, 2023 by njdealguy
typo

[not-enough-cruising]

4 minutes ago, njdealguy said:

Hi, total cruise newbie here and going with family on very first cruise ever in couple weeks on the Allure of the Seas in crown loft suite.  

 

The travel agent we used (found through *****) issued us a $400 on board credit plus champagne bottle for the 4 day cruise.  Would like to use it to either prebook specialty restaurants or spa treatments where its showing decent discounted rates if reserve a time now, but its forcing a credit card to be entered to make the reservation (meaning were charged now?).   Is there a way to prebook stuff and pay for it using the on board credit?   If the on board credit only shows up after we start the cruise, that means we would have to wait for whatever reservation times are available then and lose the pre-cruise discount?   

 

Thanks and apologies if same questions were covered million times on this forum!

Travel agent OBC is not available for use until on board the ship

[smokeybandit]

14 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Travel agent OBC is not available for use until on board the ship

And it may not appear until Day 2.

[not-enough-cruising]

2 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

And it may not appear until Day 2.

Agreed

[njdealguy]

54 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Agreed

Thanks, seems fine for any charges that will be settled end of cruise, but for any prebookings seems to be forcing full payment ahead of time.  If there were away to somehow charge against the on board account and pay later for prebookings this could've worked.

[Tudy]

You might want to try booking the reservation now and then cancelling when you are onboard and rebooking.

 

However, the OBC that I get from my travel agent is refundable while the OBC from Royal is not. Ask your travel agent. If the TA's OBC is refundable, any unspent  OBC will be credited to your credit card after the cruise.

Edited October 21, 2023 by Tudy
spelling

[firefly333]

44 minutes ago, njdealguy said:

Thanks, seems fine for any charges that will be settled end of cruise, but for any prebookings seems to be forcing full payment ahead of time.  If there were away to somehow charge against the on board account and pay later for prebookings this could've worked.

Any obc from rcl shows up now to be used now.

 

I have obc from rcl groups and from owning 100 shares of stock. Maybe buy 100 shares of stock, dont need to hold it long, apply for obc and then you can use that obc before your cruise. 

 

They are saying to you only TA obc doesnt show up ahead of time.

[not-enough-cruising]

1 hour ago, njdealguy said:

Thanks, seems fine for any charges that will be settled end of cruise, but for any prebookings seems to be forcing full payment ahead of time.  If there were away to somehow charge against the on board account and pay later for prebookings this could've worked.

No, any pre-bookings require payment in full at time of purchase. 
When you get onboard, you can go to any specialty restaurant and ask that your reservation be refunded and rebooked with your OBC; however you may pay more onboard. 

[Tree_skier]

My OBC from my TA is showing up pre-cruise now and available in the cruise planner.

 

 

I just booked this this week.

Edited October 21, 2023 by Tree_skier

[firefly333]

7 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

My OBC from my TA is showing up pre-cruise now and available in the cruise planner.

 

 

I just booked this this week.

Or it could be booking obc from rcl is why it shows up, not some obc your ta took out of his commission. Or group obc. I'd guess group?

 

I have several of those at $50, and a few of the $100 variety. Did you know if you booked a inside rather than a balcony you would probably get $100 instead of $50. The $50 early booking bonus isnt combinable with your balcony discount, you get one or the other. .. or so my ta said. 

[OCSC Mike]

1 minute ago, firefly333 said:

Or it could be booking obc from rcl is why it shows up, not some obc your ta took out of his commission. Or group obc. I'd guess group?

 

Pretty sure it's something like this. I have cruises with say $150 in OBC where $100 is already showing and my TA has told me the other $50 will show up onboard on day 2 (as mentioned earlier).

[Ourusualbeach]

54 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

My OBC from my TA is showing up pre-cruise now and available in the cruise planner.

 

 

I just booked this this week.

That's a different type of OBC.  While technically it is from the TA (as it is not offered by Royal if you book direct) it is really a pass through OBC that is really the group OBC or the early booking OBC in most cases.  OBC that the TA is offering out of their commission shows up day 2 on board

 

 

[Ourusualbeach]

47 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Or group obc. I'd guess group?

Group or early booking

[Tree_skier]

1 minute ago, Ourusualbeach said:

That's a different type of OBC.  While technically it is from the TA (as it is not offered by Royal if you book direct) it is really a pass through OBC that is really the group OBC or the early booking OBC in most cases.  OBC that the TA is offering out of their commission shows up day 2 on board

 

 

Thanks

[Biker19]

4 hours ago, njdealguy said:

If there were away to somehow charge against the on board account and pay later for prebookings this could've worked.

You can buy in the planner (to get the better pricing) on your credit card and then cash in the OBC once you get on board (via the slot machine). 

[nelblu]

4 hours ago, Tudy said:

You might want to try booking the reservation now and then cancelling when you are onboard and rebooking.

 

However, the OBC that I get from my travel agent is refundable while the OBC from Royal is not. Ask your travel agent. If the TA's OBC is refundable, any unspent  OBC will be credited to your credit card after the cruise.

However, on board bookings get re-priced at a higher price.

[nelblu]

46 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

You can buy in the planner (to get the better pricing) on your credit card and then cash in the OBC once you get on board (via the slot machine). 

If its refundable, GS will give you the cash equivalent.  I use any OBC towards grats. and any on board expenses.

[firefly333]

11 minutes ago, nelblu said:

If its refundable, GS will give you the cash equivalent.  I use any OBC towards grats. and any on board expenses.

I came back from grandeur so loaded up with stuff to use my obc on I finally had to just say STOP. Last I got the most expensive bottle of aged tequila. I got 2 sets of towels, aqua that say grandeur, 2 sets that say royal. And i remember a kinda sweat shirt that says grandeur. Some more stuff. I couldnt pack it i had 4 legs with obc. And it covered my tips. It was grand in that way. 

 

Couldnt do izumi for bogo only chops and I didnt want italian...so I tried to spend in the shops. 

[HappyTexan44]

One idea.  Don't prepay for gratuities.   Buy whatever reservations you'd like now.    Use the credit to partially pay for the gratuities.   

[c-leg5]

31 minutes ago, HappyTexan44 said:

One idea.  Don't prepay for gratuities.   Buy whatever reservations you'd like now.    Use the credit to partially pay for the gratuities.   

Why would you pre-pay gratuities, unless an increase was announced that you wanted to avoid, or it was a TA perk? We always use our OBC towards it.

[not-enough-cruising]

14 minutes ago, c-leg5 said:

Why would you pre-pay gratuities, unless an increase was announced that you wanted to avoid, or it was a TA perk? We always use our OBC towards it.

LOTS of people pay their gratuities at the time of booking; I agree, that makes no sense

[c-leg5]

8 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

LOTS of people pay their gratuities at the time of booking; I agree, that makes no sense

 May be a hangover from MTD days when it was required.