OBC direct gratuity- NOPE

[Wedgie Wedgie]

I’ve seen it mentioned here before that OBC could be used for gratuities.

 

I’m on board the QE and just left the purser's desk. I was told I could not use it for grats or in the casino.

 

Essentially it can only be used for on board purchases and excursions.

[Winifred 22]

Can’t be used for any medical bills either. 

[Pushpit]

Well, not quite. If you order a coffee, $5, it comes with a service charge, 15%, and if you ask for a chit, there's a line where you can add a gratuity. And that ends up on OBC. If you said "I want to give a tip to Mr / Ms X from OBC" then I would expect that not to work.

[exlondoner]

What exactly are we talking about? Last month the auto gratuity used up most of my obc and showed as such on my bill. Previously when I was once unable to spend an unusually large amount of obc, I was able to add the residue to the tip pool, but not for particularly individuals. But that has changed perhaps?

Edited Monday at 07:38 PM by exlondoner

[MozzaG]

In that case, just cancel the gratuities altogether. How ridiculous! You are using it onboard and it's onboard credit otherwise gratuities would be included in the fare or prepaid?

Edited Monday at 07:57 PM by MozzaG

[Victoria2]

33 minutes ago, Wedgie Wedgie said:

I’ve seen it mentioned here before that OBC could be used for gratuities.

 

I’m on board the QE and just left the purser's desk. I was told I could not use it for grats or in the casino.

 

Essentially it can only be used for on board purchases and excursions.

Am I misunderstanding here as we use obc for grats., or service charge as we call it.

[Winifred 22]

5 minutes ago, MozzaG said:

In that case, just cancel the gratuities altogether. How ridiculous! You are using it onboard and it's onboard credit otherwise gratuities would be included in the fare or prepaid?

That then deprives the crew of their extra money. 

[Winifred 22]

I have always used OBC towards gratuities if I have had any OBC left after paying balance of WiFi and drinks and other expenses. 

[2Oldpeopleinlove]

I really don’t know the answer to the basic question, mostly because we generally have free gratuities. However, your experience is not a one-off and could be the result of a poorly trained or uninformed purser’s desk worker. We received very bad information there on our most recent QE voyage.

 

In short, ask again, just not with the same person.

[MozzaG]

1 hour ago, Winifred 22 said:

That then deprives the crew of their extra money. 

That's as maybe but if the OBC is what you had budgetted for the gratuities then you have to make a decision based on your circumstances.

Edited Monday at 09:06 PM by MozzaG

[Pushpit]

22 minutes ago, MozzaG said:

That's as maybe but if the OBC is what you had budgetted for the gratuities then you have to make a decision based on your circumstances.

It's somewhat unclear what precisely the OP was trying to do with their OBC, hopefully they will clarify. But in terms of what you have budgeted, the following is known to come from OBC:

 

a) The daily Hotel Service Charge - the voluntary / default charge for all but German guests (who have to opt in rather than opt out, as per German law). $16 per night, $18 for Grill passengers.

b) Voluntary increase to the above, so you go to the Pursers desk and say "I think I should give $x a night / one-off instead of the default".

c) Gratuity for drinks and services where signed for - you can give zero or $x, that ends up on OBC.

[david63]

One point to bear in mind is that most Cunard OBC is actually your money that you have paid in advance for spending onboard - that is not always the case with other cruise lines.

[Wedgie Wedgie]

The bartender in the QG told me if I put a tip on her chit it goes to a pool with 17 other bartenders.

 

However, if I tip on a chit from our sommelier it goes to him only.

 

Our daily service charge was included in our deal along with $800 obc. After internet and theater box we still have $575. It would have nice if I could have tipped out butler, asst butler, m’d and servers with direct grats.

[Pushpit]

1 minute ago, Wedgie Wedgie said:

It would have nice if I could have tipped out butler, asst butler, m’d and servers with direct grats.

I'm not sure of the split rules here, but I'd imagine if you ordered an Irish coffee or something similar, there would be a way of adding a tip where the tip is shared within the Grill restaurant. A quiet word with the m'd may help here, I imagine they have seen this before many times. But the other option is just to up your Hotel Service Charge, even though the net would go more widely.

[MCC retired]

Our OBC from Cunard promo , TA , Group amenity , Shareholder and Military  has always been consumed by the daily gratuity charges.

 

 

[Bell Boy]

The OP has been given incorrect information , whilst OBC cannot be used for 'Casino or Medical' , however, Cunard promo OBC and my shareholder OBC benefit has always been used partly towards the Auto gratuities.  

[david63]

Just re-reading the title and I am wondering if the OP wanted to give a specific amount to a specific person and pay for it with OBC - which if is the case then I would probably agree that you cannot use OBC for that, in the same way that you cannot "cash out" OBC (or at least you cannot with Cunard but you can with Princess as they have refundable and non refundable OBC)

[D&N]

13 hours ago, Wedgie Wedgie said:

After internet and theater box we still have $575.

I'd be inclined to have a Château Clerc Milon, Pauillac, 5ème Cru Classé 2018 and a Château Giscours, Margaux, 3ème Cru Classé 2014. 🍷

[Wedgie Wedgie]

5 hours ago, D&N said:

I'd be inclined to have a Château Clerc Milon, Pauillac, 5ème Cru Classé 2018 and a Château Giscours, Margaux, 3ème Cru Classé 2014. 🍷

Leaning that way. 
 

[3rdGenCunarder]

It's always been true about not using OBC at the casino, but I've always been able to use it for the gratuity/service charge. As someone said above, that charge consumed most of my OBC right away, and that was a few weeks ago.

 

I think that was a wrong answer. @Wedgie Wedgie, ask again. Or check your onboard account to see if the OBC is being used for the grats. 

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

I'm curious if the OP was referencing using OBC for Additional Gratuities at end of the cruise vs those charged daily to ones room.

[Windsurfboy]

I've always used OBC to pay auto gratuity 

[Wedgie Wedgie]

Our daily service charge was included when we booked.

 

I hoped to use it to tip out the butler, asst butler, grills bartender, head waiter, regular waiters, m’d.