Obc?

What can you use OBC for?

My friendly MSC rep said "Not for tips. Not for excursions."

DH and I do excursions and I donate to the casino. Neither of us drink or buy "extra food".

Can you use OBC in the shops? Can you cash out thru the casino? Do they refund the excess (if any) at the end of the cruise?

I just don't want to get all excited about "OBC" and then force myself to buy myself slices of cake and gelato.

Thanks

You can use OBC to pay towards anything that goes on your onboard account (apart from the casino but I'm not even 100% that is excluded - better minds than me can tell you)

If all you have on your account is the daily service charge then they'll offset it against your OBC.

I've never heard of them refunding unspent OBC.

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My understanding was the same as Moomoo's, it gets offset against your account expenditure.

I'm fairly sure if you don't use it all you lose it. I've never been in a position where my onboard account charges didn't exceed any OBC considerably though. I don't book excursions, so can't confirm that it would have been offset against that. I do hVe drink charges (my Allegrissimo package cost), usually spa charges, service charge and wifi charges.

What can you use OBC for?

My friendly MSC rep said "Not for tips. Not for excursions."

 

DH and I do excursions and I donate to the casino. Neither of us drink or buy "extra food".

 

Can you use OBC in the shops? Can you cash out thru the casino? Do they refund the excess (if any) at the end of the cruise?

 

I just don't want to get all excited about "OBC" and then force myself to buy myself slices of cake and gelato.

 

Thanks

My OBC was just an entry at the top of my account paper work and was used to pay for excursions, shopping , gratuities, It was basicaly subtracted from any spend you entered on your account. As we had the AI pcakage we didn't have any drinks spend on our account

We were also told by the MSC club rep on board "Use it, or, Lose it"

Pete

My OBC was just an entry at the top of my account paper work and was used to pay for excursions, shopping , gratuities, It was basicaly subtracted from any spend you entered on your account.S we had the AI pcakage we didn't have any drinks spend on our account.

 

We were also told by the MSC club rep on board "Use it, or, Lose it"

 

Pete

Yet another MSC Club question Pete,,,if you have, let's say $200.00 of OBC, do you get a point if you spend all of it onboard??

Yet another MSC Club question Pete,,,if you have, let's say $200.00 of OBC, do you get a point if you spend all of it onboard??

No; you get the points on the final balance, so if you have $200 OBC and "spend" $200 your final balance is $0 and "nil point" as they say on the "Eurovision song contest"

Pete

No; you get the points on the final balance, so if you have $200 OBC and "spend" $200 your final balance is $0 and "nil point" as they say on the "Eurovision song contest"

 

Pete

Thanks Pete!!,,That perfectly explains how the OBC works now.

As has been said, any OBC CAN be used for anything that goes to your ship account, even gratuities, drinks, shopping and excursions.

As far as getting cash for OBC, a friend told us about this and it worked on a Carnival cruise, so why not MSC.

On this particular Carnival cruise we had about $400 in OBC. We were told you CAN get cash by doing this and it does work. First you need to go to the casino and set up some sort of account. When you get to a slot machine, it will ask you how much you want to deposit to play. We put the entire $400 in it. We played for 10 minutes, lost $10 and then went to the casino to cash out. We collected $390 IN CASH. The cashier doesn't know if you won it or not.

Again, I cannot say this trick will work on MSC or other cruise lines, but it did work on Carnival and I don't see why it wouldn't work anywhere else.

Cheers

Len

Thanks....

I asked 2 reps at MSC....and both told me I couldn't use the credit for gratuities or excursions. Shows what they know..

According to people on this board (and I may be wrong)....you put cash in the slots and get tickets out. Your casino balance may not be reflected on your card.

Thanks....

 

I asked 2 reps at MSC....and both told me I couldn't use the credit for gratuities or excursions. Shows what they know..

 

According to people on this board (and I may be wrong)....you put cash in the slots and get tickets out. Your casino balance may not be reflected on your card.

Here we go documentry proof

my bill showing OBC as the 1st entry and excursions as the 2nd and 3rd entries, and gratuties (service charge) 6th-9th entries

The OBC is subracted from the total spend to give a final balance

Pete

On the above invoice 30 of the 40 debit entries are either excursion or service charges (includuing the UNICEF donation)

Pete

Yes, we too have used OBC for gratuities etc. I was under the impression it was the total spend not the actual cost that was used for points, but I am absolutely sure skier will be correct and I am wrong.

It's the actual cost not the total spend.

I've found that to my cost on the Armonia repo when I had a total spend of 804 Euros and expected 4 MSC points to be added to my account. I'd even craftily took my spend just over 800 to make sure.

I was very disappointed to get only two points as my actual spend was 498 euros. The difference was paid for by my OBC so wasn't valid. And the 68 euros I spent on tat round the ship on the final night was for naught.

So beware. It's COST not SPEND.

So I talked with my PVC today regarding one of our future cruises and had asked him jokingly if my points had shown up in my account yet. Seven points for the nights I sailed had shown up, and I had remarked that I wished my losses in the casino counted toward my loyalty points,,and he paused and then stated that they do!!!! I said "WHAT???", he put me on hold, and then came back and said if you use your room key to buy chips at the table, and then you lose those chips, that is considered an onboard purchase and will count toward your loyalty points. I am still a bit skeptical about this, so please don't take this as 100% accurate. I'll wait a couple of weeks to check my points again and see if I get more than the 2 more I should be receiving from our last sailing.

So I talked with my PVC today regarding one of our future cruises and had asked him jokingly if my points had shown up in my account yet. Seven points for the nights I sailed had shown up, and I had remarked that I wished my losses in the casino counted toward my loyalty points,,and he paused and then stated that they do!!!! I said "WHAT???", he put me on hold, and then came back and said if you use your room key to buy chips at the table, and then you lose those chips, that is considered an onboard purchase and will count toward your loyalty points. I am still a bit skeptical about this, so please don't take this as 100% accurate. I'll wait a couple of weeks to check my points again and see if I get more than the 2 more I should be receiving from our last sailing.

What odds do you get on him being wrong?

I'll have some of that bet, Yes Please!!

even if it's an evens bet, I'd double my money; so if I put the balance of my next cruise on that i could get 2 for the price of 1 :D:D:D

A little knowledge of the T&Cs and their billing system goes a long way

it'll have the 4 digit casino code in the LOCATION COLUMN and the "computer says NO" :D:D

See the invoice above

From the T&Cs

2. MSC CLUB POINTS SYSTEM

.

.

.

2.2 You will gain 1 point for every night actually spent on board an MSC Cruises

ship and 1 point for every 200 euros/dollars spent on board (excluding casino

expenses). Applicable for cruises beginning on or after 15 October 2008.

Pete

BUT I COULD BE WRONG !!!!!!

What odds do you get on him being wrong?

 

I'll have some of that bet, Yes Please!!

 

even if it's an evens bet, I'd double my money; so if I put the balance of my next cruise on that i could get 2 for the price of 1 :D:D:D

 

A little knowledge of the T&Cs and their billing system goes a long way

 

it'll have the 4 digit casino code in the LOCATION COLUMN and the "computer says NO" :D:D

 

 

See the invoice above

 

 

 

From the T&Cs

2. MSC CLUB POINTS SYSTEM

.

.

.

2.2 You will gain 1 point for every night actually spent on board an MSC Cruises

ship and 1 point for every 200 euros/dollars spent on board (excluding casino

expenses). Applicable for cruises beginning on or after 15 October 2008.

 

Pete

 

BUT I COULD BE WRONG !!!!!!

I was hoping you would see this post Pete!!! I asked him,," So, If I purchase $400.00 of chips at the blackjack table using my room key,,and I lose those $400.00 in chips, I get 2 loyalty points??" his response "YES",,we shall see in a couple of weeks if what he told me is true or not.

Thanks for the clarification. I have never checked myself, but have read my version somewhere. Definitely not in the t & c though, as I never go there :)

I was hoping you would see this post Pete!!! I asked him,," So, If I purchase $400.00 of chips at the blackjack table using my room key,,and I lose those $400.00 in chips, I get 2 loyalty points??" his response "YES",,we shall see in a couple of weeks if what he told me is true or not.

I'd be delighted for you if I was wrong, and the "computer is having a laff and saying:- YES" and you get the extra points

i'm can't wait for the answer you get, though I suspect it will be more than two weeks.

of course you'll get your two points at the expense of my two cruises, well in my dreams i put the bet on :D:D:D

Pete

I'd be delighted for you if I was wrong, and the "computer is having a laff and saying:- YES" and you get the extra points

i'm can't wait for the answer you get, though I suspect it will be more than two weeks.

 

of course you'll get your two points at the expense of my two cruises, well in my dreams i put the bet on :D:D:D

 

Pete

Well Pete,,my invoice shows Location 7000(Entertainment),,,I'm hoping my PVC was right,,,I could use 2 or 3 extra points,,and you're probably right,,,more like 3 -4 weeks I'm thinking as well.

Well Pete,,my invoice shows Location 7000(Entertainment),,,I'm hoping my PVC was right,,,I could use 2 or 3 extra points,,and you're probably right,,,more like 3 -4 weeks I'm thinking as well.

What's a PVC?

As an Organic Chemist by profession it means ..PolyVinylChloride.... to me

I'll hazard a guess at ............Personal Vacation Consultant............., what we call a TA...Travel Agent . which can mean a shop/business (highstreet or online) where you purchase holidays ,or. the person who gives the advice and books the holiday for you in the shop.

Pete

What's a PVC?

As an Organic Chemist by profession it means ..PolyVinylChloride.... to me

 

 

I'll hazard a guess at ............Personal Vacation Consultant............., what we call a TA...Travel Agent . which can mean a shop/business (highstreet or online) where you purchase holidays ,or. the person who gives the advice and books the holiday for you in the shop.

 

 

Pete

Haaaaa!!!! Personal Vacation Consultant

I was hoping you would see this post Pete!!! I asked him,," So, If I purchase $400.00 of chips at the blackjack table using my room key,,and I lose those $400.00 in chips, I get 2 loyalty points??" his response "YES",,we shall see in a couple of weeks if what he told me is true or not.

I've just come off the Preziosa. The casino technician was a guy from the Philippines whom we'd befriended on our May trip. He told me about a new system whereby, if you played €10 with your cruise card in a slot you received €10 free play. If you cashed out, the machine gave you back 2 vouchers, 1 indicated "playable only", meaning it couldn't be cashed - this was your free play. I didn't use my cruise card other than the 1 €10 matchplay (plus DH's card for another free €10 play). My onboard account showed €20 spend in total but there was nothing to indicate that it would be excluded from calculable spend towards points. It's something I'll be checking more into for onboard spend in the future as I've lost enough in their machines that I should have a Black Card at this stage LOL It would seem only fair that it count as onboard spend - after all that's exactly what it is if it's going into MSC pockets.

I've just come off the Preziosa. The casino technician was a guy from the Philippines whom we'd befriended on our May trip. He told me about a new system whereby, if you played €10 with your cruise card in a slot you received €10 free play. If you cashed out, the machine gave you back 2 vouchers, 1 indicated "playable only", meaning it couldn't be cashed - this was your free play. I didn't use my cruise card other than the 1 €10 matchplay (plus DH's card for another free €10 play). My onboard account showed €20 spend in total but there was nothing to indicate that it would be excluded from calculable spend towards points. It's something I'll be checking more into for onboard spend in the future as I've lost enough in their machines that I should have a Black Card at this stage LOL It would seem only fair that it count as onboard spend - after all that's exactly what it is if it's going into MSC pockets.

I hope so to Beam!!! Welcome home btw!!! Is there a review in the future???

I hope so to Beam!!! Welcome home btw!!! Is there a review in the future???

Thanks Mike.

I've never written a review before - I don't think I've ever even started a thread:rolleyes: but, for this trip, I don't think I'd do justice to the experience we've had. Words alone could not express what a week we've had. It was THE most fantastic cruise EVER and, believe me, I don't do hyperbole. It takes a lot to blow me away. Don't get me wrong, I always have a great time and don't depend on others to make my fun for me but this trip became extra special all because an anniversary cake didn't arrive at the table on the arranged night which was the Monday night. As a result, the staff pulled out all the stops from then on and forgot to put them back in again :D:D:D

I'm checking out the finances tomorrow to see if we can stretch to Divina YC in Sept 2015!!!

Thanks Mike.

 

I've never written a review before - I don't think I've ever even started a thread:rolleyes: but, for this trip, I don't think I'd do justice to the experience we've had. Words alone could not express what a week we've had. It was THE most fantastic cruise EVER and, believe me, I don't do hyperbole. It takes a lot to blow me away. Don't get me wrong, I always have a great time and don't depend on others to make my fun for me but this trip became extra special all because an anniversary cake didn't arrive at the table on the arranged night which was the Monday night. As a result, the staff pulled out all the stops from then on and forgot to put them back in again :D:D:D

I'm checking out the finances tomorrow to see if we can stretch to Divina YC in Sept 2015!!!

You need to sail Yacht Club with us in October 2015 Beam on the TA from Genoa to Miami!!!:D:D