HermmyGranger Posted June 24 #1 Share Posted June 24 We have a nice OBC package for our next cruise however I hate to wait until we're on the ship to book our excursions. The last cruise I went on, the excursions were basically sold out before the ship left the port. I'd love to use our OBC for the excursions, but I'm not sure how that might be possible? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiserBruce Posted June 24 #2 Share Posted June 24 Not on HAL. It is frequently discussed that you can, once on board, get your excursions switched over to OBC for payment, and the original money refunded. I would worry about having to technically cancel and re-book, encountering a waitlist that takes priority for the re-booking. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Ken the cruiser Posted June 24 #3 Share Posted June 24 If you book your cruise early enough, can't you at least use the OBC that you get with the Have It All booking package to pre-book excursions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruise Junky Posted June 24 #4 Share Posted June 24 7 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said: If you book your cruise early enough, can't you at least use the OBC that you get with the Have It All booking package to pre-book excursions? I don’t think so but you can use the excursion credit online. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Gail & Marty sailing away Posted June 24 #5 Share Posted June 24 32 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said: Not on HAL. It is frequently discussed that you can, once on board, get your excursions switched over to OBC for payment, and the original money refunded. I would worry about having to technically cancel and re-book, encountering a waitlist that takes priority for the re-booking. That is a good idea Except if you really want to do that tour. you are Gambling 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crystalspin Posted June 24 #6 Share Posted June 24 38 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said: It is frequently discussed that you can, once on board, get your excursions switched over to OBC for payment, and the original money refunded. I would worry about having to technically cancel and re-book, encountering a waitlist that takes priority for the re-booking. I think people have said it was done seamlessly without risk of losing one's spots. Speaking from memory, not experience! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Ken the cruiser Posted June 24 #7 Share Posted June 24 8 minutes ago, Cruise Junky said: I don’t think so but you can use the excursion credit online. I think it's the HAL terminology I'm getting confused by. Both my DW and I each got $300 in HIA Early Booking "credits" to be used towards pre-booking excursions on our upcoming 21-day cruise, whereas I'm calling it OBC. Thanks for clarifying it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BermudaBound2014 Posted June 24 #8 Share Posted June 24 You can use your $300 excursion that comes with HIA but that's it. On every other line, you can use OBC as soon as it posts. HAL is lagging behind in this area. PS: Someone will certainly know this, can you book your dinner reservations that come with HIA or must those be booked onboard?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandmaanne7 Posted June 24 #9 Share Posted June 24 21 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said: You can use your $300 excursion that comes with HIA but that's it. On every other line, you can use OBC as soon as it posts. HAL is lagging behind in this area. PS: Someone will certainly know this, can you book your dinner reservations that come with HIA or must those be booked onboard?? I was able to book my HIA dinner reservation prior to boarding. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KBC73 Posted June 24 #10 Share Posted June 24 52 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said: You can use your $300 excursion that comes with HIA but that's it. On every other line, you can use OBC as soon as it posts. HAL is lagging behind in this area. PS: Someone will certainly know this, can you book your dinner reservations that come with HIA or must those be booked onboard?? Book any dining ahead of time because the good time slots fill up fast. Recently we decided to go to the Pinnacle the first night and the only slots available were 5 PM and 8:30 PM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WatchHill Posted June 25 #11 Share Posted June 25 (edited) I've spent all of our Shorex credits for our December cruise; DH has $.15 remaining. I had to run a credit card for the ocean cabana at Amber Cove and two additional shorex. It really bugs me knowing we'll have some $800 in OBC once on the ship: $200 AARP, educator, military and stock holder plus something from HAL and our TA's agency. So to start the relaxing vacation, it's off to Shorex desk to credit back tours to the plastic, and then to guest relations to upgrade a notch for one WiFi and the laundry package. DH is concerned with how many Delft vases I'll order to use up the remaining OBC's. Of course a basic cosmo is above the alotted $11, per beverage ceiling, so lots of small charges on the bill. Yes, I did book the two a la carte restaurants that go along with the HIA package. I had to call ship services for that because the program does not allow me to add another person with a different booking number to the dinner reservation unless I pay for the meal ahead of time. Stupid system when we all have the same package for 2 dinners. We got Pinnacle ok for the second evening at 6:30, but limited booking slots for Canaletto later in the cruise. HAL should do a bit of IT program tweaking with their passenger OBC posting to the accounts and ability to use it effectively before a cruise. Darcy Edited June 25 by WatchHill 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Haljo1935 Posted July 1 #12 Share Posted July 1 (edited) On 6/24/2024 at 3:43 PM, crystalspin said: I think people have said it was done seamlessly without risk of losing one's spots. Speaking from memory, not experience! I do it every cruise 😎 Edited July 1 by Haljo1935 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Haljo1935 Posted July 1 #13 Share Posted July 1 On 6/24/2024 at 4:08 PM, BermudaBound2014 said: You can use your $300 excursion that comes with HIA but that's it. On every other line, you can use OBC as soon as it posts. HAL is lagging behind in this area. PS: Someone will certainly know this, can you book your dinner reservations that come with HIA or must those be booked onboard?? Dinner and excursions that are part of HIA can (and should) be booked prior to boarding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martezz Posted July 1 #14 Share Posted July 1 Beware! If you try to exchange a credit card booking to obc at shore excursions and there has been an increase in the price of the shore excursion, you will have to pay the new price and will just get credit for the original booking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare terrydtx Posted July 1 #15 Share Posted July 1 7 hours ago, Martezz said: Beware! If you try to exchange a credit card booking to obc at shore excursions and there has been an increase in the price of the shore excursion, you will have to pay the new price and will just get credit for the original booking. That has not been our experience. Last November on the Koningsdam we booked our tours ahead of the cruise and paid with a CC. We had a lot of OBC and once onboard we got the payment switched to the OBC got a credit to our CC and there was not any price difference. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Haljo1935 Posted July 1 #16 Share Posted July 1 Just now, terrydtx said: That has not been our experience. Last November on the Koningsdam we booked our tours ahead of the cruise and paid with a CC. We had a lot of OBC and once onboard we got the payment switched to the OBC got a credit to our CC and there was not any price difference. This matches my experience - be sure to have Shore Exc Desk handle it all. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare terrydtx Posted July 1 #17 Share Posted July 1 5 minutes ago, Haljo1935 said: This matches my experience - be sure to have Shore Exc Desk handle it all. Actually on the Koningsdam, we had CO so I used the CO Guest Services line to make the changes to OBC the day we embarked. The shore Exc desk had at least 50 people in line. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shiner6 Posted July 2 #18 Share Posted July 2 I have the HIA package. My August cruise is paid in full. I had made a dinner reservation at the Pinnacle grill over a month ago. Today, when I was checking my itinerary, I saw that they had placed my dinner reservation in my shopping cart and are asking me to pay with my credit card! Just frustrated at this point. Most excursions of any worth have been sold out for a while. I am waitlisted on several. Sorry to be negative, but I am looking forward to relaxing and this is not helping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Hlitner Posted July 3 #19 Share Posted July 3 On 6/24/2024 at 5:08 PM, BermudaBound2014 said: You can use your $300 excursion that comes with HIA but that's it. On every other line, you can use OBC as soon as it posts. HAL is lagging behind in this area. PS: Someone will certainly know this, can you book your dinner reservations that come with HIA or must those be booked onboard?? Princess also has a similar problem which is not surprising since it's a sister CCL company. As long as one is willing to wait in a queue at Guest Services, you have a good chance that you can get any pre-paid (before your cruise) dining payments refunded to your onboard account. You will likely get the usual Guest Services answer which is "we will send an e-mail to the appropriate department" and maybe it gets refunded and maybe not. One other suggestion is that once you are aboard, use the HAL App to send a message (like an e-mail) to Guest Services. On our last HAL cruise, we had 11 overcharges and got tired of waiting in a queue at Guest Services (where Club Orange gets treated better than 5* Mariners). We started sending them messages, via the app, and the results were quite good (they eventually reversed all the overcharges). Hank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ipeeinthepools Posted July 3 #20 Share Posted July 3 On 7/1/2024 at 8:07 AM, terrydtx said: Actually on the Koningsdam, we had CO so I used the CO Guest Services line to make the changes to OBC the day we embarked. The shore Exc desk had at least 50 people in line. I haven't been on the Koningsdam, but the Rotterdam also has a CO line at the shore excursion desk to bypass the regular line. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadow 123 Posted July 3 #21 Share Posted July 3 On 6/24/2024 at 5:08 PM, BermudaBound2014 said: You can use your $300 excursion that comes with HIA but that's it. On every other line, you can use OBC as soon as it posts. HAL is lagging behind in this area. PS: Someone will certainly know this, can you book your dinner reservations that come with HIA or must those be booked onboard?? I was able to book mine already for my cruise coming up for 21 days. I had to call him to do it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Banditswife Posted July 3 #22 Share Posted July 3 It would be nice if HAL would do as Carnival does with OBC. Carnival allows use of OBC pre cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ileneilene123 Posted July 3 #23 Share Posted July 3 (edited) 6 hours ago, Hlitner said: One other suggestion is that once you are aboard, use the HAL App to send a message (like an e-mail) to Guest Services. On our last HAL cruise, we had 11 overcharges and got tired of waiting in a queue at Guest Services (where Club Orange gets treated better than 5* Mariners). We started sending them messages, via the app, and the results were quite good (they eventually reversed all the overcharges). Wow. Which ship & what kind of services or products were being overcharged? Did you learn why it happened 11 times? Any tips to share from your experience that might help us avoid overcharges? Thank you! Edited July 3 by Ileneilene123 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Hlitner Posted July 3 #24 Share Posted July 3 27 minutes ago, Ileneilene123 said: Wow. Which ship & what kind of services or products were being overcharged? Did you learn why it happened 11 times? Any tips to share from your experience that might help us avoid overcharges? Thank you! We posted about it on a live blog. All the overcharges happened with bar tabs when we both had the HIA package. The most common problem was DW likes to get Cosmopolitan's and HAL prices that drink $1 + 18% over their beverage package limit. Accordingly, the drink should be charged $1.18. But on the Westerdam it was routinely charged either the full price or double the full price. This happened despite the bar tenders claiming the drinks were entered properly. One bar tender was so frustrated he simply would ring up the drink as a gimlet...which was fully covered by the drink package. Every time we would go to Guest Services we would get the usual ("we will send an e-mail to beverage manager"). When I suggested they fix their system I got eye rolls. Finally, after a few overcharges and the Guest Services advice to simply keep stopping by to get it fixed, we requested a meeting with the beverage manager and/or Hotel Manager. Neither would meet with us and the overcharges continued several times a week..every week. The errors would only be corrected when we called each and every one to the attention of Guest Services who had to e-mail (each and every time) the beverage manager. The overcharges actually amounted to around $200 over the course of our 6 week cruise. What made this overcharge situation interesting was that several other folks, who were often at the bar, were also being overcharged. It got a few of us wondering how many HAL passengers are routinely overcharged for drinks (when they have the HIA Package) and never notice. A few drinking friends even speculated that it was deliberate and would amount to real money if it was happening across the entire fleet. Hank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare terrydtx Posted July 3 #25 Share Posted July 3 2 hours ago, Banditswife said: It would be nice if HAL would do as Carnival does with OBC. Carnival allows use of OBC pre cruise. as does Celebrity 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