On Board Credits? - what can they be used for?

[KAJ24]

My hubby and I are sailing on the Regal Princess on Aug 31st. We have a sizeable OBC.  I wanted to use some of it to book a specialty dinner or two (as we have on Holland) but have been given 2 different answers from the princess call centre so now looking to other cruisers for the answer.

I have been told yes you can use the OBC but cannot advance book, only when you board

I have been told no you cannot use OBC for dining

Princess refused to email me a list of what OBC can be used for and I cannot find it on the website. Any clarity would be appreciated 

[TM]

Once onboard you can use any onboard credit for anything you want - gratuities, specialty dinners, drinks, shore excursions and even apply it to a Plus or Premier package if that is what you want.  Or you can even spend it in the casino and shops.

Edited July 4 by TM

[racj846]

OBC, prior to boarding, can only be used to purchase excursions.

Once on board, as TM notes, it is used for anything.

[skynight]

"I have been told yes you can use the OBC but cannot advance book, only when you board"

This is the correct answer for specialty dining. Pre-cruise you can only use posted OBC to book excursions.

Once on board you can use OBC for almost anything you purchase. One exception are Future Cruise Deposits which are charged directly to your credit card. You can charge casino play to your on board account which nets against any credit balance, but you must play and there may be some limits imposed.

[nslatin]

When booking Excursions pre-cruise, does the website give you the option to use OBC or a credit card?  How does this work?

 

Thanks.

[KAJ24]

Not sure as we booked all of our tours privately.  Maybe one of the others can answer.

[arizonaperson]

@KAJ24  Some OBC use to be refundable,some not. I’m not sure on that,but make sure you spend all of it if that applies to you. Can always check at guest services once onboard to see if you have any refundable OBC or it might be listed as such on your documents.

This is from Princess.com FAQ’s:

Once on board, you can use Onboard Credit on shore excursions, specialty dining, spa treatments, beverage packages and more. Purchases will be added to your stateroom folio and your Onboard Credit will be automatically applied before your credit card is charged at the end of your cruise.

Edited July 5 by arizonaperson

[memoak]

32 minutes ago, nslatin said:

When booking Excursions pre-cruise, does the website give you the option to use OBC or a credit card?  How does this work?

 

Thanks.

Yes you can use OBC pre cruise for excursions only or you can bill it to a credit card. Excursions are the only thing you can use OBC for pre cruise 

[arizonaperson]

39 minutes ago, nslatin said:

When booking Excursions pre-cruise, does the website give you the option to use OBC or a credit card?  How does this work?

 

Thanks.

This is from Princess.com:

Before you sail, your Onboard Credit can be used to purchase shore excursions online through Cruise Personalizer. When you check out, we’ll automatically apply your credit to the payment due unless you uncheck the "onboard credit applied" box on the "Reservation Summary" screen.

Once on board, you can use Onboard Credit on shore excursions, specialty dining, spa treatments, beverage packages and more. Purchases will be added to your stateroom folio and your Onboard Credit will be automatically applied before your credit card is charged at the end of your cruise.

[nslatin]

So here's the thing.  I have $100 shareholder credit (non-refundable) and $400 refundable credit.  I went to purchase an excursion that was about $180 and all it would let me apply was the $100 non-refundable credit.  

 

Since we are going to use up all of the $500 eventually, I may just go ahead and book this excursion and then see if it will let me use the other $400.  pre-cruise.

 

I have to say that Princess does things in a strange, and usually inconvenient way.

[skynight]

What is the source of the $400 refundable OBC? Is the refundable OBC posted under the payments section in your account? You can only use OBC which is posted pre-cruise to pre-book excursions. Some OBC isn't posted until you board. One example is some OBC from TAs. Check this out. If it is posted then I don't know why it can not be used to pre-book excursions. 

[Cruisemeister2002]

I must admit having been a regular cruiser on P&O that Princess although part of the Carnival group does things quite differently. One of the differences is definitely OBC, not in the way it can be spent, but the fact that when you book excursions prior to your cruise that the tiered system of discounts isn't applied on the excursion at the time of booking. We for instance are Elite tier, therefore 10% discount. With P&O (unless it's change from last year) when you book your excursion what you pay is the price less the 10%. But Princess apparently still give the 10% but this is in the form of OCB which doesn't get credited until you board the ship. Not that it unduly disturbs me, but does mean that you pay more for the excursion at point of sale and then because OBC means anything you buy onboard is subjected to possibly 40,50 or 60% mark up the OBC isn't to the same value as the 10% off your initial purchase. Also due to an excursion which we booked but now isn't taking place and the price of excursions having changed endlessly I really do not have a clue what my OBC will be. It shows on the website as $300, but like I say doesn't take into account 4 excursions I have booked and their discount. Plus because we were denied two  ports of call Princess also emailed myself stating they were giving me another $100. Therefore I will be looking for around $450 OBC, hopefully ?

[KAJ24]

Agree that Princess has a confusing an difficult system of using on board credits.  Holland lets u use them once the cruise is paid in full.  This was a much more straightforward system and which is why I posted my question as their call centre couldn’t even keep it straight!
 

[reedprincess]

On 7/3/2024 at 8:26 PM, KAJ24 said:

My hubby and I are sailing on the Regal Princess on Aug 31st. We have a sizeable OBC.  I wanted to use some of it to book a specialty dinner or two (as we have on Holland) but have been given 2 different answers from the princess call centre so now looking to other cruisers for the answer.

I have been told yes you can use the OBC but cannot advance book, only when you board

I have been told no you cannot use OBC for dining

Princess refused to email me a list of what OBC can be used for and I cannot find it on the website. Any clarity would be appreciated 

You can use OBC towards anything charged to your Stateroom, once aboard.

 

You don't designate what the OBC is applied to.

You're account starts with a negative balance. Anything charged to your cabin is then applied against it til used up.  Once you've used it, you start accruing a balance due.  Simple credit/debit accounting...

 

You can only use OBC in advance towards excursions, and even then - only OBC that is posted to your account in advance of sailing can be used for excursions in advance.

Some OBC, such as from TAs sometimes or such, doesn't post to your account until you're aboard, and thus can't be used in advance. You can check your travel summary to see what OBC is available already.

 

** OBC cannot be used to purchase Future Cruise Deposits aboard, but then - those are not charged to your Stateroom account. They're charged directly to your CC/DB on file .

 

[nslatin]

So if the OBC is offered as part of a casino offering it is not available to use pre-cruise.

[DallasGuy75219]

18 minutes ago, nslatin said:

So if the OBC is offered as part of a casino offering it is not available to use pre-cruise.

Correct. My "free" casino cruises require a non-refundable $200 deposit which is refunded on the ship as OBC.  I can't use that to pay for excursions in advance, but I can use my shareholder credit and "bonus" credit from the FCC I used.