Using OBC for accessible shore excursion (Celebrity)

We were planning on booking a couple of accessible shore excursions while on the Celebrity Silhouette later this month so we can use our (nonrefundable) OBC. We were just told by Celebrity's accessible department that an OBC cannot be used to pay for an accessible shore excursion.

This is the first we've ever heard of not being able to use our OBC to book an (accessible) shore excursion and wonder if anyone else has had experience doing this with Celebrity.

We have used OBC to book shore conversions that were accessible while onboard. I'm hoping they meant you can't arrange your own outside of the celebrity desk and use onboard credit for them. You also cannot book them ahead of time. You must wait until your "on board". We were on the reflection in November when we did this. And I have done it on every celebrity cruise I have been on. I will admit their selection is extremely limited. There are many ports that there are no accessible options.

We were planning on booking a couple of accessible shore excursions while on the Celebrity Silhouette later this month so we can use our (nonrefundable) OBC. We were just told by Celebrity's accessible department that an OBC cannot be used to pay for an accessible shore excursion.

 

This is the first we've ever heard of not being able to use our OBC to book an (accessible) shore excursion and wonder if anyone else has had experience doing this with Celebrity.

That is certainly our experience we have always had to pre-pay them when we booked before the cruise, and waiting until you are on board is likely to mean that all accessible excursions are fully booked.

We have only been successful once when we were able to book a tour in Alesund which had wheelchair access, but on what was essentially a small service bus with a ramp to load a W/c, and we were the only W/c passengers on board. In this particular case it would have come out of OBC, if we had not spent beyond that level.

For RCCL and Celebrity the policy is if you want to pre-book any excursion on-line or directly through the excursion dept. in advance of the cruise ,whether accessible or not ,than it has to be charged to your credit. OBC can only be used if you book the excursions once on board the ship.

For RCCL and Celebrity the policy is if you want to pre-book any excursion on-line or directly through the excursion dept. in advance of the cruise ,whether accessible or not ,than it has to be charged to your credit. OBC can only be used if you book the excursions once on board the ship.

This was my understanding, also, and we had intended using our OBC to book the excursions once on board. However, this is the response from Celebrity's accessible shore excursion dept: "Please kindly note we are unable to accept on board credits for payment on Accessible Shore Excursions."

So I guess my question was whether people had been able to use their OBC for booking accessible shore excursions once on board, since what the accessible shore excursion dept is saying is the opposite.

This was my understanding, also, and we had intended using our OBC to book the excursions once on board. However, this is the response from Celebrity's accessible shore excursion dept: "Please kindly note we are unable to accept on board credits for payment on Accessible Shore Excursions."

So I guess my question was whether people had been able to use their OBC for booking accessible shore excursions once on board, since what the accessible shore excursion dept is saying is the opposite.

Checked with my TA that does group cruises with RCCL and Celebrity for people with special needs and this is what she told me. If it's an excursion clearly published on it's website for your specific cruise which states it can accommodate wheelchairs than you should be able to book on board using OBC. If it's a tour that is non-published which Celebrity is having to secure an accessible vehicle with a lift only for you than that has to be prepaid in advance of the cruise and cannot be booked on board. Therefore resulting in OBC not able to be used.

Personally I'd call back and request to speak to a Supervisor since there seems to be varying information posted on this thread.

As an update, we are currently on the Celebrity Silhouette and had no problem using our OBC to book accessible shore excursions.

As an update, we are currently on the Celebrity Silhouette and had no problem using our OBC to book accessible shore excursions.

Being that you booked the excursions on while on board the ship using OBC was never the issue. The problem was that you originally wanted to book the excursions in advance of embarking on the cruise using OBC which is not allowed by Celebrity.

Thanks for the update anyway.