Will HAL refund unused OBC at the end of your cruise

[Don_In_AZ]

I was thinking of "gifting myself" some OBC to cover tips, laundry and misc. and was wondering if it's a "use it or lose it" policy or if you can have any unused OBC credited back to your card at the end of the cruise???

I figure the promotional OBC you may get from a travel agent is NOT redeemable for cash so I'm only talking about OBC you purchase through the HAL website.

Thanks,
Don

[Mary Ellen]

I had unused OBC on my last cruise. I had expected that it would have been credited to my on-file CC. Nope - I was one of 'those' paged to the front desk the last morning. I was given cash back.

[Typhoon1]

I had a $10.00 credit on the final day of the cruise after a gift from my TA. I just stopped at the front desk on the final day and picked up my $10.00.

I recall several years ago, on Carnival, a check in the amount of the credit was delivered to the room, with my final statement.

[Don_In_AZ]

Apparently HAL has a "use it or lose it" policy with regard to OBC. That's too bad as I would like to have just had an amount that I knew was more than I'd use and have a $0.00 balance at the end of the cruise... Too bad for HAL cause' I probably would have spent more money onboard that way. Now I will be more conscious of my "tab" which I don't like!

This is the 2nd thing with regard to HALs OBC system I'm dissatisfied with. The other is their rediculous $60/day/person hold they put on your card ($1800 for 2 people on a 2wk cruise).

[serendipity1499]

Apparently HAL has a "use it or lose it" policy with regard to OBC. That's too bad as I would like to have just had an amount that I knew was more than I'd use and have a $0.00 balance at the end of the cruise... Too bad for HAL cause' I probably would have spent more money onboard that way. Now I will be more conscious of my "tab" which I don't like!

This is the 2nd thing with regard to HALs OBC system I'm dissatisfied with. The other is their rediculous $60/day/person hold they put on your card ($1800 for 2 people on a 2wk cruise).

If I were you I would double check that...Suggest you call again & ask to speak to a Supervisor..

I've never heard of the fact that if you pre-purchase OBC before your cruise & not use it all, they would not refund the balance..That's ludicrous!:(

Think you talked to the wrong person at HAL or perhaps the HAL Agent mis-understood you..

Better yet, you might want to send them an e-mail..

JMO..

Betty

[mancunian]

Can unused OBC go towards gratuities or is that kept separate.

[richwmn]

Last October I "gifted myself" with enough cash to almost cover my $60/day hold. When I boarded I was not required to put up any extra to fully cover the hold. At the end of the cruise I went to the front office and retrieved about $200 to spend on my way home. Money you are "gifted" (not part of promotion, stockholder, or HAL provided due to problems) is yours and will be refunded. They seem to take out of the promotion money first.

Rich
ps - just noticed mancunian - the obc seems to be totally handled as just a credit to your account. Any charges come out of the total of any stockholder/promotion/gift credits. It really does not seem to matter where the funds came from. Gratuities are just like any other charge to your account and do come out of the total.

Rich

[Krazy Kruizers]

When we did a Hawaiian cruise a couple of years ago, several of our pre-booked tours (which were quite pricey) were cancelled because of bad weather.

We had quite a bit of shipboard credit left at the end of the cruise -- it went back on our credit card.

[jtl513]

Apparently HAL has a "use it or lose it" policy with regard to OBC.You will get back any excess funds that you have paid. You may not get the value of OBCs given to you by HAL or a TA, and that is probably what the person that you spoke to at HAL was talking about. If you don't have any of that kind of OBC, then you won't have any problem getting your money back.

[Don_In_AZ]

Actually got the same person, Meagan, who was very nice and very proffesional BTW... After carefully explaining, that I was talking about OBC that I purchase and not OBC that is given as a promotion, she still gave me the same answer that it was non-refundable, then (after I reported what all of you had said), she agreed to check with her supervisor to find out for sure and here is the bottom line:

Unused Promotional OBC is NOT refundable.
Unused OBC that you purchased yourself is fully refundable.

This I think IS fair... So I retract my crital comment above!

This seems to jive with what everyone here is reporting and again, thank you to all for helping me get this straightened out.

...And thank you to Meagan for not being afraid to say "Hey, I might be wrong...let me check".

Don

[sail7seas]

And Thank YOU for posting. It is helpful for all of us.

Especially that Megan was willing to verify she was giving you correct info.

[northern dancer 37]

Several shore excursions were cancelled on the Veendam Panama Canal trip because of dropping several ports of call, and those who prepaid were advised that they would receive an OBC for the cancelled excursions. The advise also included a "warning" that passengers should use up their OBC by puchasing spa treatments or other services, even if they did not want/need them.

Some passengers received significant OBC's because of stateroom problems, and one couple I talked to were afraid of losing the OBC since they were not using many services. They found a way around their dilemma.

In a nutshell, I think that HAL should make a clear, WRITTEN statement about refunding OBC for the benefit of all passengers. Informed passengers are more likely to be happy passengers

[Typhoon1]

You will get back any excess funds that you have paid. You may not get the value of OBCs given to you by HAL or a TA,

Funds from a TA are also refundable.