Spa pass questions

[3rdGenCunarder]

I just saw that for my cruise next winter, the spa pass is available to buy in advance. That's the first time I've seen that. It always seems to work out that when I have HIA I also have a lot of OBC. Grats will use up some of it. I had planned to use the rest of my OBC to buy the spa pass, but now I'm concerned that it could sell out in advance. Has anyone had that happen?

 

I know for tours you can cancel and rebook onboard to use OBC, but I don't think that will work with the spa because it's run by an outside vendor. 

[kirkc]

OBC is just that. It can’t be used until you are on the ship. To my knowledge there is no limit to the number of passes sold on any voyage, but hey…I could be wrong.

[3rdGenCunarder]

25 minutes ago, kirkc said:

OBC is just that. It can’t be used until you are on the ship. To my knowledge there is no limit to the number of passes sold on any voyage, but hey…I could be wrong.

 

Yes, I know that HAL doesn't allow OBC to be used before the cruise. My "problem" (and talk about a first-world problem!) is that I have OBC and not much to spend it on because of HIA. Many people have said that they book tours before the cruise, then when on board cancel the tours and re-book to use their OBC. I was asking if anyone has done this with the spa. 

 

Interesting that HAL is not selling day passes in advance, just the full pass. It says limited availability, but who knows what the limit is...

[Haljo1935]

I get a Thermalpass every cruise; some I buy in advance, some I wait and buy onboard depending on amount of OBC. I've never been denied a pass, but it is always my 1st stop once onboard.

Correct, day passes are only available onboard (as recently as my last cruise Jan '24) while full-cruise passes can be bought in advance. There is no discount for buying in advance, so the issues are exactly as you stated - can you prepay then have the charges moved to OBC once onboard & is there a danger of passes being sold out?

I always prepay excursions & have them moved over, but I've never tried w/spa services and don't have confidence you'll get a proper answer if you called in to ask. They say there are a limited number of passes for sale, so technically they could sell out, but no idea what that number is (likely varies per ship & itinerary due to spa capacity). As mentioned, I've never been denied a pass, but it's the 1st stop after dropping my bags, so maybe people wanting to buy later in the cruise may not be able to buy🤷‍♀️

I would wait and buy onboard, but if you do prepay and are successful in having charge moved to OBC, will you come back and let us know? That would be awesome and change the way I book spa services in the future.

[3rdGenCunarder]

51 minutes ago, Haljo1935 said:

I get a Thermalpass every cruise; some I buy in advance, some I wait and buy onboard depending on amount of OBC. I've never been denied a pass, but it is always my 1st stop once onboard.

Correct, day passes are only available onboard (as recently as my last cruise Jan '24) while full-cruise passes can be bought in advance. There is no discount for buying in advance, so the issues are exactly as you stated - can you prepay then have the charges moved to OBC once onboard & is there a danger of passes being sold out?

I always prepay excursions & have them moved over, but I've never tried w/spa services and don't have confidence you'll get a proper answer if you called in to ask. They say there are a limited number of passes for sale, so technically they could sell out, but no idea what that number is (likely varies per ship & itinerary due to spa capacity). As mentioned, I've never been denied a pass, but it's the 1st stop after dropping my bags, so maybe people wanting to buy later in the cruise may not be able to buy🤷‍♀️

I would wait and buy onboard, but if you do prepay and are successful in having charge moved to OBC, will you come back and let us know? That would be awesome and change the way I book spa services in the future.

 

Buying the spa pass is usually my second stop (lunch first!), so I've never worried about it. Because the spa is an important part of my cruise, I probably will buy it in advance. If I do, I'll ask about the cancel/rebook possibility onboard and report back.

 

The last time I had excess OBC I sent myself flowers and did more than the minimum contribution to On Deck for a Cause. 

[swoodard7]

How much do spa passes for the day run currently? 

[Haljo1935]

31 minutes ago, swoodard7 said:

How much do spa passes for the day run currently? 

$50. You can have that deducted from the cost of the full cruise pass if you decide to upgrade.