dvcdisney

Thanks everyone for your response.

I just thought that, perhaps, if they get the request while they are restocking it, then it would save them the trouble.

I guess that won't work. I'll just ask them if I see them the first day or leave a note.

I can only imagine how annoying it would be to restock it, only to find out that the next guests wants it emptied. I'm sure they do it all the time, but there's got to be a better way. I read on another thread that they wished they wouldn't bother with the mini bar. I think that would be a good idea. I think it would be easier to have it offered at a store for guests to purchase if they want these items. But there must be enough guests using the mini bars to make this worth the trouble.

Thanks for all your responses. I understand.

I didn't realize that we can do it ourselves. I thought it was locked.

I suppose if I don't see them, I'll just leave a note if it's locked.

I don't want to handle it for fear of being charged for anything missing.

Hi. Another newbie question...

I've only been on 9 cruises (8 DCL, 1 RCL - Allure) and we've never had a stocked fridge. I didn't realize until I was reading some of the posts here that they fully stock the mini fridge. And guest were requesting the Stateroom Hosts to empty it so they can use it.

I also read that, in some instances, they don't re-stock it until embarkation. My question is - Is this something we should request before the cruise so it saves the Stateroom Host the trouble of restocking and emptying it?

I can imagine how much work they have to do in the morning of disembarkation and embarkation, and I would like to save them the trouble. Also, if we don't see them when we get there to request, I'd prefer to not have to search for them to make the request. I'm sure they're busy.

Will they receive the request in time to save them the trouble? Or is the only way to request at embarkation?

Silly question, I know. But any info or suggestion would be appreciated. Thanks.:)

Thanks again to everyone for your posts and helpful info.

If you close your account midweek that shuts down your entire account. You will not be able to order a drink from the UBP, you will not be able to use any UDP dinners and you will not be able to log in to the Internet plan if that was your perk. You will be sent to guest services to fix the account.

I forgot to call my credit card company once and they triggered the fraud alert and my account was shut down and I only found out when I went to order a drink (I had UBP/Casino drink cards).

That would not be a problem for us. We don't have UBP or UDP or internet plan.

All I wanted to do was purchase some OBC, use it for the purchases (ie. souvenirs etc), then near the end of the cruise, go to Guest Services and tell them I will not be charging anymore, I'd like to close my account. And I was hoping that they would give me the remaining OBC (which is purchased by me) as cash or even credit it back to my credit card on the file.

I'm not trying to do anything sinister...just get my money back that I haven't spent.

Just seems so idiotic that they don't have a system in place to refund small amounts in cash or if it's over a certain amount, it would need to be refunded to a credit card. They'll be less people annoyed.

Not that it matters to them because I'm not a big spender, but if I don't have the OBC on my account, I will likely not buy anything. I guess that's good for me.

I can not imagine they would let you close out your account, unless you had a credit card on file. I would not overpay. I wish i had the problem about not spending obc.

I would have a credit card on file, but also OBC. I don't spend that much on the cruise, so if I do put in some OBC, I would likely have some leftover.

The exchange rate for OBC is more favourable than charging it to my credit card, so I was hoping I can use the OBC and nothing would be charged to my credit card. However, it looks like it's more work than it's worth.

The refund back to the "purchasing credit card" has been a hot topic but I cannot find anything that is definitive....

 

There was a thread that asked the question because a couple were getting married and taking a NCL cruise for their honeymoon.... several different family members purchased OBCs as a wedding gift (so multiple credit cards from different people) and they wanted to know how the unused OBC would be refunded. It was an interesting thread because who's credit card would be issued a credit or was it equally spread out over all the credit cards (but what if someone gave more of a gift than someone else but received the same refund) or was it based on when the OBC was purchased that they received more, etc

 

The OP never came back to let CC know.

Thanks for your post. This is probably a better reason for the refund to go directly to the credit card on the cruise account. That way, they get the money even if they didn't spend it. To me, it's virtually cash that these guests are giving to the couple, I don't see why they can't have it if they don't spend it.

will you pre pay the DSC Gratuities? If not they hit the account daily for thats days portion so closing your account early may be an issue. They don't just charge you for all 7 days at one time

Yes, I have prepaid the gratuities. I understand that it would be an issue in that case.

I was hoping that if there's nothing to be charged on the account and I wanted to close it before the big line ups on the last night, I would be one less person to deal with.

I don't mind if they would refund it to the card that's on the cruise account. But I don't really want them to send me the refund. That's really annoying and I've never heard of that before. Of course, I've only been on 9 cruise (8 with DCL and 1 with RCL) and I've never had that issue.

I may just not bother to purchase any OBC if they're going to hold it hostage if I don't spend it. I planned to set an amount and use only what's there. But, I think I'll just keep the amount to what my TA puts in which is only $50.

The last time I asked that question I was told all refunds would be given back to the credit card that purchased the on board credit. That's fine if it is your credit card, not so fine if it gets refunded to your TA

 

 

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Thank you for your post.

In the case of having 2 credit card purchases, wouldn't it be possible to refund it to the credit card that is on the cruise account when you check in?

Okay. Thanks for the info.

If they can't give it to me in cash, can they refund it on the credit card on my account?

Is that even possible?

I don't mind the 3% fee since it's likely going to be less than $100, but I thought that since I purchased the OBC, I would be able to get the cash back.

Hi. I'm very new to NCL. I have an upcoming cruise and was just trying to research some info.

I was wondering if it's possible to close my onboard account before the end of the cruise.

I will be purchasing OBC to use for my account. However, if I don't use up all the OBC, would I be able to go to Guest Services and ask them to close out my account so I can't charge anymore to the account, and get any remaining OBC as cash?

Just to be clear, all will be OBC purchased by me or my travel agent. None will be given by NCL.

I would really appreciate any help. Thank you.

Thanks for the review. It was very detailed and reassuring for us. It will be our first time with NCL this summer. We've cruised before (8DCLs and 1RCL), but did not know what to expect with the Escape especially reading some concerning reviews (ie. about the smoking (we are all non-smokers and do not enjoy being around smoking).

You provided great tips as well!:)

I agree, I am not a fan of paying to use my own money. HOWEVER, I think the OP is mainly trying to avoid having to stand in a long line the last night. If we are talking just a minimal amount ($50 or so) then to me, paying the 3% to not have to stand in line would be well worth it. The $1-2 would well be worth the hassle to me.

 

Just my opinion.

Exactly! I want to close my account on the morning of Day 6...we won't be charging after that. But if they won't let me close it, I was wondering if I can give what's left on the account to the crew. This would just be adding to the already prepaid gratuities. Clarea (always very helpful) had mentioned that there is a form. I'll try to distribute the available credit to the crew using the form to zero my account. Then I won't charge anymore.

I would assume that if the account is $0, then there's no need to do anything at the end of the cruise...Correct?

I've been watching this thread very closely since its beginning. I have $1,200 in OBC and I am planning on cashing out and getting $USD cash.

 

But, I too would like to cash out midway through the cruise. There are a few people who have posted that this only possible if you go to the casino. The casino will charge you 5% fee for taking cash out. I've read from people who have returned recently that they were not able to get cash from customer service desk mid cruise.

 

I have prepaid gratuities. I have prepaid specialty dining. I have prepaid the one ship excursion we are taking, so I doubt I will be able to spend the $1,200 (we don't drink). I will be taking some $US cash with me, but I am counting on taking out some cash for going on shore on port days. I am going to try the customer service desk first, and failing that, will pay the 5% for a few hundred dollars worth.

 

Even exchanging at the casino, it will end up costing me 15%. Still better than the $1.2952 my bank (CIBC) is charging today.

I have prepaid my gratuities as well. But I wanted to use the remainder of the credit to use as a way to add to the gratuities for the crew. A poster had suggested I use the form to add the additional gratuities. I was thinking that I may just go and do it early in the day so that my balance is $0. I would hope that at the end of my cruise, I don't need to go to GS, it will just close the account since it's a $0 balance. I read somewhere here that if you have a cash account (no credit card on file) and you end up with a credit (even $1), you have to go to GS to close the account or they flag your SeaPass and you can't leave the ship. I didn't put even close to the amount people are putting in, I only put what I think we would need and it will likely be a low balance at the end of the cruise and would prefer not to bother lining up but add it to the gratuities for the crew.

I believe you have to wait until the evening on the last night to get OBC back.

What if I go in the morning, allocate the credit to the specific crew members using the form which will put the balance to $0 - will I then be able to close the account? Or at least will the account just close at the end of the cruise and I don't have to go to GS that evening?

I like the idea of a Cash account, so I don't really want to put a credit card down. But at the same time, I don't want to have to go to GS at the end of the cruise when the line is very long.

I think you will have to enter specific amounts on the form.

 

If you have excess refundable OBC, they will automatically credit your credit card.

I have decided on a Cash account so I was told that I would need to go to GS at the end of the cruise (evening of Day 6) to close the account.

I read somewhere that if there is a credit and no credit card on file, they won't close the account and I would need to line up.

If I can close the account earlier in the day, I would be fine, but again, I read somewhere on this forum that I cannot close until the last evening.

It makes sense that I have to put an exact amount, but I was hoping that perhaps they had something in place for what I wanted to do.

You can always cash it out at the casino for a small fee (5%) and then give cash tips as you wish.

 

 

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I should be able to get the money back from GS since most of it will be OBC that I put in myself.

Do you know if I can get it out from GS in the morning of Day 6 so that I can use it to give to the crew?

I believe that Guest Services has a supplemental form you can fill out to give gratuities to various crew.

Thanks!

Would I be able to do this if I don't know the amount?

What I want to do is go to GS and ask them to give the balance of my credit to one or two crew members at the end of my cruise. This would save me from having to line up and get a refund for the credit on my account.

Is that something I can do or is that not possible?

Hope my question makes sense.

I'm not sure if this is even possible, but if I have only a little OBC left on my account at the end of the cruise, would I be able to go to GS and ask them to just add it to my gratuities and specify to whom it should go to - ie. stateroom host or server?

If it makes a difference, I have already prepaid my gratuities. I was wondering if anything left on my OBC can be given to them through GS.

If so, would I be able to go earlier on the cruise and let them know what I would like them to do with what's left of my OBC so that I don't have to line up to close my cash account?

Thanks!

I also called the Crown & Anchor and was able to purchase $1000 US, for $1100 CDN without the hassle i was getting about limits. I printed the Amenity Confirmation letter that states the $1100 CDN, she said i didn't need to get the $1000 US printed on this as it will already be in the system and should have no problems at the Port.

I was wondering if its possible to get the USD, in cash, mid-cruise?

 

Thanks.

I was wondering the same thing because I wanted to use any remaining credit to add to the gratuities. I wanted to avoid the line and close the account during the day on Day 6. I read somewhere here that they tried and you can only do that at the end of the cruise, meaning the last NIGHT.

I called RCCL and they said the same thing. :(

Just to clarify, the kids can not just walk into the arcade, stick their sea pass card into a machine and play a game. They first have to go to a machine, that is usually in the hallway leading into the arcade on the ships that we have been on, and load money onto their sea pass card to play with in the arcade. Your kids sound savvy enough to know, if you have to say how much you are loading onto the card, that they are spending money that they aren't authorized to spend.

 

I am not sure why that machine can be accessed by a card with no charging ability, that makes no sense at all, but it can be.

 

Set the rules up front and define the consequences if the rules aren't followed. We never took charging privileges away from our son's sea pass account. We bought him a soda card at the beginning of the cruise, allowed one "treat" to be charged a day, a visit to Ben and Jerry's or a virgin pina colada, etc. If he wanted something else, he would ask first. He knew if he spent money he shouldn't have, he needed to reimburse us. We checked his account each night on the tv, as we did our own, and he always followed the rules. It was a good lesson in responsibility. Now, if my son was like my nephew, I would have locked his card down and checked hourly.:eek::p

Thank you for clarifying. I didn't realize that they had to load the funds first. I guess in this case, they are not intentionally deceiving them. However, I can see how some children may try to see if they can get credits to play (I have a nephew like yours...lol) even though they know they have no charging on their account and find themselves in trouble.

I still believe that if child has no charging permitted on their SeaPass, then the only way to change it is for the parents/guardians (the one who is taking responsibility for their charges) to change it. That way, if their child overspends, they can't get upset about it.

When you check in you will be asked! You will do it prior to check in, than they will ask you at check in. No need to go a third time. I am sure, the "announcement" is made because of multiple issues and complaints.

Thank you for posting. Now that I'm aware, I'll make sure to check with them if they don't ask. I didn't think I needed to go to the GS if I have already declined charging for them, but when I saw the Teen Compass someone posted, it made me nervous and confused.

I appreciate everyone's replies. :)

Thanks everyone for the info and suggestions!

I really appreciate it!:)

I think you have a good plan. The cabins won't be ready till 1pm or later, so if you check in at 1230 or so you will probably just walk on with no wait and be able to go right to your cabin to drop your things

 

Yes the people waiting got to the port early

Perfect. Thank you!:)

I guess it's just upsetting how RCCL is allowing this to continue. It's deceptive.:mad: If someone here hadn't helpfully mention it, then I wouldn't have known ahead of time. If I told my children that they have no charging privileges and they go to the arcade and found out that they can play if they use their SeaPass card, then why would they assume it would charge them. Their parents told them that they can't charge so, as most children would assume, the arcade must be free since it allowed them to play.

There must be dozens of parents each cruise not aware of this. Of course the parents would be upset with the children for charging, but if they're told they cannot charge, then they won't even think about it.

Anyway, thanks everyone for your replies and info.