Wedgie Wedgie Posted June 24 #1 Share Posted June 24 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winifred 22 Posted June 24 #2 Share Posted June 24 Can’t be used for any medical bills either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Pushpit Posted June 24 #3 Share Posted June 24 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exlondoner Posted June 24 #4 Share Posted June 24 (edited) 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 June 24 by exlondoner 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MozzaG Posted June 24 #5 Share Posted June 24 (edited) 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 June 24 by MozzaG 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Victoria2 Posted June 24 #6 Share Posted June 24 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winifred 22 Posted June 24 #7 Share Posted June 24 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winifred 22 Posted June 24 #8 Share Posted June 24 I have always used OBC towards gratuities if I have had any OBC left after paying balance of WiFi and drinks and other expenses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2Oldpeopleinlove Posted June 24 #9 Share Posted June 24 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MozzaG Posted June 24 #10 Share Posted June 24 (edited) 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 June 24 by MozzaG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Pushpit Posted June 24 #11 Share Posted June 24 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare david63 Posted June 24 #12 Share Posted June 24 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wedgie Wedgie Posted June 24 Author #13 Share Posted June 24 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Pushpit Posted June 24 #14 Share Posted June 24 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCC retired Posted June 25 #15 Share Posted June 25 Our OBC from Cunard promo , TA , Group amenity , Shareholder and Military has always been consumed by the daily gratuity charges. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bell Boy Posted June 25 #16 Share Posted June 25 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. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare david63 Posted June 25 #17 Share Posted June 25 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) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare D&N Posted June 25 #18 Share Posted June 25 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. 🍷 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wedgie Wedgie Posted June 25 Author #19 Share Posted June 25 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 3rdGenCunarder Posted June 26 #20 Share Posted June 26 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Jim_Iain Posted June 26 #21 Share Posted June 26 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Windsurfboy Posted June 26 #22 Share Posted June 26 I've always used OBC to pay auto gratuity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wedgie Wedgie Posted June 28 Author #23 Share Posted June 28 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
napria Posted July 2 #24 Share Posted July 2 (edited) Sorry for the stupid question, but isn’t the daily service charge the same as gratuity? I mean, you can tip individuals, but I would use cash for that. And aren’t the individuals you mentioned above being “tipped” with the automatic service charge? Again, sorry if I misunderstood. Edited July 2 by napria Clarity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 3rdGenCunarder Posted July 2 #25 Share Posted July 2 52 minutes ago, napria said: Sorry for the stupid question, but isn’t the daily service charge the same as gratuity? I mean, you can tip individuals, but I would use cash for that. And aren’t the individuals you mentioned above being “tipped” with the automatic service charge? Again, sorry if I misunderstood. Don't apologize for asking this. Yes, the service charge is the gratuity. TheOP had a lot of OBC and wanted to use some of it to give additional tips to specific people. The system doesn't have the capacity to do that. So if you want to tip extra, cash is the way to do it. If you add a tip to a bar bill, for example, that goes into the tip pool, not to the specific waiter. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now