Question about restricted vs. non-restricted OBC

[tandrsmom]

I have two cabins booked on the Glory. Due to a price drop, one of my cabins has an OBC of $180.00. Some people have told me this can be applied to gratuities, others have told me it cannot. I am assuming whatever portion we don't use onboard is non-refundable and therefore would be forfeited. Anybody know if this is true? (I'm a non-drinker, so I really wonder if I can manage to use the entire credit if it cannot be applied to gratuities.) I figure I can use it for video game credits for my son who is staying in my cabin. What about using the OBC for my other son, who is staying in the other cabin with his gramma?

Also, I'm supposed to have an OBC for the same cabin from my TA, which I'm assuming is not restricted. Is it possible to specify which OBC I wish to tap into when I use it? For example, if the rate-reduction OBC is not usable for gratuities, but the TA OBC is, can I specify that I want my onboard purchases to come out of the rate reduction OBC, so I can apply the TA OBC to gratuities?

 

Thanks in advance for your help.

[pe4all]

I can definitely help you with the obc question, as we had this happen on our last cruise. Due to price drops, etc., we ended up with a $1300 obc - $600 which was non-refundable. They tap into the non-refundable portion first - can pay gratuities, soda, pictures, casino gambling, excursions booked onboard, basically anything you spend on the ship thru this. When the non-refundable is used up, they begin using the refundable obc. We walked off the cruise with a very nice check for unused obc. As far as your son in grandma's cabin - I think his sign and sail card would be under her cabin/booking #, so any obc that goes thru your cabin/booking # cannot be transferred. I may be wrong on that, but I don't think so. Hope this helps a bit.

[tandrsmom]

That was extremely helpful - thank you. So they did let you use rate reduction OBC to pay gratuities?

[pe4all]

Yes! They just automatically deducted the gratuities from the obc. (the grats are charged pretty much the minute you walk on the ship - LOL!) Check your cabin tv - on most ships your portfolio will come up, which will show the gratuities, obc's, etc. You can really keep tabs on all your charges thru the tv, so you don't have to constantly run to the purser's desk.