Do you have too much OBC?

[oaktreerb]

There are so many ways to gain OBC with shareholder credit, military, teacher, medical worker, AARP, locations, booking, etc.  I already had HIA including gratuities on my 7 day cruise and more than $500 OBC to spend in one week.   Excursions are expensive but we had been to these ports and had no desire to board a bus to a remote location.  Jewelry is always good, but is it worth it?  Trinkets for the relatives?  Booze to take home?  Spa?  Tommy Bahama clothing?  So many choices.  

 

I spent it all until I noticed that I was overcharged for my pedicure.  A trip to the Spa desk got me a refund for the overcharge on the final day before disembarkation so I had nonrefundable OBC unspent.  The guest relations desk kindly sent me a notice that I had unspent nonrefundable OBC.  I was  “shopped out” but it was more than $10 so I remembered  something I had read on CC.  I could go to the guest relations desk and fill out a simple form to donate the excess nonrefundable OBC to the crew gratuity fund.  The amount was confirmed, I signed the form and I had spent the overage on a good cause.  My cruise was completed.  Time to pack!

 

I just got my final statement and the last item shows my final donation to the crew fund.  A small donation but if others did the same it could have a significant impact for those hard working crew members.

[POA1]

You know how Bounty is "The Quicker Picker Upper" for spills? We've found that caviar works the same for OBC.

 

Of course, not everyone likes sturgeon eggs with accoutrements, so I suppose watches or bedazzled sun hats would do in a pinch.

[DaveOKC]

Last cruise we had this issue (unusual for us), so we ended up adding tips to the various server bills (drinks. specialty dining, etc.).  Crew seemed to appreciate it.

[Windsailer]

I did the same. And will do on my next cruise.i try to get it down to nothing. The Dutch Cafe baristas were really happy!

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

19 minutes ago, Windsailer said:

I did the same. And will do on my next cruise.i try to get it down to nothing. The Dutch Cafe baristas were really happy!

Go to one of the pay Rest.

[lcand1923]

I’m glad to hear that HAL will allow you to give extra OBC to the Crew Fund.  I’ve been on several lines that will not allow that and have bought “stuff” that I carry home and then give to Goodwill.

[Iamthesea]

We had so much onboard credit this past cruise that I decided to treat myself and have my hair washed and styled, twice. It was heaven not having to do it by myself, other than once, during the 2 week cruise. 😉  Also, DH had two spa massages, we paid the crew appreciation, had specialty dining two extra nights, and paid for an extra shore excursion.  We also took some cash out to pay extra tips for the crew.   And, after we returned home, we were surprised to see a small refund on our Visa bill for unused OBC.  

 

I think it great that unused, nonrefundable credit can go to the crew.  We will remember that for our cruise next May.  Going to have about the same amount of OBC.

[Banditswife]

I think we will have this problem on a 27 day in 2025.  Our booking shows $800 OBC, Elite HIA, pre paid crew appreciation.  We should gain veteran OBC, stockholder OBC & our TA gives a bit of OBC- so well over $1000 in OBC. We will probably try to book a few shore x while onboard in addition to those included in HIA, the spa sounds good, & giving extra tips to the bar servers sounds good too.  I don't need a bunch of stuff from the shops nor do I want to spend it on jewelry.  My pet peave is that I cannot specify a crew member, with the exception of bar servers & specialty dining servers.  Our cabin stewards have always deserved the extra & sometimes MDR/Lido servers.  Wish we could single them out.  All in all- a nice problem to have

[rafinmd]

That is good to know.  I had planned to do that with my "refundable" OBC (port fee refunds) but did not expect it could happen with the non-refundable.

 

Roy

[kazu]

great reminder for all.  

 

I found myself telling a few people who were afraid they couldn’t use their OBC about it on our last cruise.  It’s a great place for the money to go 🙂 

[POA1]

Well... Don't I feel like a cold and heartless bastich for suggesting caviar.

 

What I meant to type was "caring for orphans." Darn that autocorrect!

[canadianbear]

We just did this same thing on the Eurodam last night.  We had unspent non refundable plus refundable port fees.  Filled out the form and it goes to general crew.  (We couldn’t assign who we wanted it to go to which is fine).  

[DaveOKC]

Recently off the Eurodam.  Had a small amount of non-refundable OBC (we used most of it for tips) and wanted to test if it would be applied to the balance (from our casino visits).  At first (after leaving the ship) HAL did that, but then a couple of days later they reversed it and our final bill was a bit higher.

Thus, HAL is paying attention to the refundable and non-refundable balances, at least on the Eurodam.

 

[oaktreerb]

23 hours ago, POA1 said:

You know how Bounty is "The Quicker Picker Upper" for spills? We've found that caviar works the same for OBC.

.

Save your Bounty.  Enjoy Caviar in the Surf on Seabourn.  Actually enjoy caviar every day on Seabourn.

Edited November 18, 2023 by oaktreerb

[ontheweb]

I once thought we might have too much OBC, but then DW insisted on the most expensive HAL excursion to Anne of Green Gables. And my worries were over. 🤦‍♂️

[RuthC]

I once saw a lovely emerald and diamond bracelet for sale in one of the shops on a HAL ship. 
It cost a mere $95,000. 

Trust me, there is no such thing as 'too much OBC', or that bracelet would be in my jewelry case right now. 

[Banditswife]

13 hours ago, RuthC said:

I once saw a lovely emerald and diamond bracelet for sale in one of the shops on a HAL ship. 
It cost a mere $95,000. 

Trust me, there is no such thing as 'too much OBC', or that bracelet would be in my jewelry case right now. 

I agree, even if I had $2000 unspent OBC, I could not buy that Effy piece I really wanted.  Do cruise lines really think someone would/could buy a $95,000 piece of jewelry?  

[DaveOKC]

2 hours ago, Banditswife said:

I agree, even if I had $2000 unspent OBC, I could not buy that Effy piece I really wanted.  Do cruise lines really think someone would/could buy a $95,000 piece of jewelry?  

Who would spend that kind of money on a cruise ship for jewelry??  Just plan crazy IMO.  What if there is an issue with it, do you have to take another cruise on the same ship to return it?  (just kidding of course).

 

[RuthC]

4 hours ago, DaveOKC said:

Who would spend that kind of money on a cruise ship for jewelry??

I wouldn't spend that kind of money for any piece of jewelry. Anywhere. 
But the word 'covet' does come to mind when I think of that piece. It was to die for. 

[crystalspin]

6 hours ago, Banditswife said:

I agree, even if I had $2000 unspent OBC, I could not buy that Effy piece I really wanted.  Do cruise lines really think someone would/could buy a $95,000 piece of jewelry?  

I think the fine jewelry and watches boutique is not run by the cruiseline itself. Does anyone know which if any shops are? I'm thinking just the line-specific merch-store which may also have the OTC and sundries. But that one may even be outsourced. 

[JennysUncle]

On 11/17/2023 at 2:35 PM, oaktreerb said:

so I remembered  something I had read on CC.  I could go to the guest relations desk and fill out a simple form to donate the excess nonrefundable OBC to the crew gratuity fund.  The amount was confirmed, I signed the form and I had spent the overage on a good cause. 

I tried to do this, I think last year on the Nieuw Statendam.  The front desk stonewalled, said there was no such thing - on two visits, three agents involved.  Told me the only possibility would be to adjust the whole Hotel Service Charge rate, and that that required approval of one of the senior Hotel officers.  I'd be interested if someone could post a copy of the form, to have for future proof.

[canadianbear]

2 hours ago, JennysUncle said:

I tried to do this, I think last year on the Nieuw Statendam.  The front desk stonewalled, said there was no such thing - on two visits, three agents involved.  Told me the only possibility would be to adjust the whole Hotel Service Charge rate, and that that required approval of one of the senior Hotel officers.  I'd be interested if someone could post a copy of the form, to have for future proof.

We just did this and my husband took a screen shot so I’ll attach it here with our info blackened out.  Hope it helps. Of course we had the help of the Neptune concierge so maybe that helped?  She did have to make a phone call & get I think a supervisors approval.  It seems also she had to take my $17.50 a day gratuity and divide the amount I wanted to add over our 10 day cruise. So just watch on the line where you put the amount you want per day.  

 

 

Edited November 19, 2023 by canadianbear
Add info

[JennysUncle]

12 minutes ago, canadianbear said:

We just did this and my husband took a screen shot so I’ll attach it here with our info blackened out.  Hope it helps. Of course we had the help of the Neptune concierge so maybe that helped?  She did have to make a phone call & get I think a supervisors approval.  It seems also she had to take my $17.50 a day gratuity and divide the amount I wanted to add over our 10 day cruise. So just watch on the line where you put the amount you want per day.  

Well, that's what they wanted me to do. Needlessly complicated, adjusting the daily rate over the whole cruise so the total winds up incrementally more. What there should be is a form to put X, over and above, into the Crew Appreciation fund. 

[canadianbear]

1 minute ago, JennysUncle said:

Well, that's what they wanted me to do. Needlessly complicated, adjusting the daily rate over the whole cruise so the total winds up incrementally more. What there should be is a form to put X, over and above, into the Crew Appreciation fund. 

That’s what we said!!!  

[oaktreerb]

14 minutes ago, JennysUncle said:

Well, that's what they wanted me to do. Needlessly complicated, adjusting the daily rate over the whole cruise so the total winds up incrementally more. What there should be is a form to put X, over and above, into the Crew Appreciation fund. 

The form i was given by Guest Relations on the Koningsdam was a very simple 8-1/2 form.  Our gratuities were covered as part of HIA.  The rep looked online at my account, told me what OBC was left, and I wrote the amount in, indicated that it was to be given to crew gratuity fund, and signed with my name and room #.   My statement listed it as Crew Appreciation.

 

 Maybe @Crew News will see this and offer some information on this procedure.

Edited November 19, 2023 by oaktreerb