onboard service charges, Discretionary Service Charge, and OBC

I am so confused on the terms OnBoard Service Charges and Discretionary Service Charge.

These phrase are used on NCL and it looks like they are using them inter-changeable.

Ultimately the question is, Can I use my OBC toward the daily per day per person charge?

And can you use the OBC in the Casino

I am so confused on the terms OnBoard Service Charges and Discretionary Service Charge.

 

These phrase are used on NCL and it looks like they are using them inter-changeable.

 

Ultimately the question is, Can I use my OBC toward the daily per day per person charge?

 

And can you use the OBC in the Casino

It depends on what kind of OBC you are referring to. Is it the non-refundable OBC that you may have received as a promo perk? If that is what you mean- then no you can not use it for discretionary service charges.

If you purchased OBC to use on board or your travel agent or friends/family gifted you with OBC - then yes, you can use it for whatever you want on the cruise.

Thanks it is the first. Can you use it in the casino, gift shop, room service fee?

Thanks it is the first. Can you use it in the casino, gift shop, room service fee?

NCL Terms & Conditions only state you can’t use this type of OBC for discretionary charges, activities purchased prior to sailing or for foreign exchange transactions. As far as I know things like spa treatments, casino, drinks, gift shop and shore excursions are all good possibilities.

I chatted with my NCL cruise specialist. (if that is what they are called) Here is what I was told.

1. OBC can be used for anything on the ship except, Next Cruise Certificate, and the daily room service charge. In addition if you use it at the Casino you will be charged 3%.

2. Port OBC are per port. If you don't book an excursion for that port then you don't get the OBC. Its a use it or loose it. For those who have purchased the excursion via ncl.com or via phone, you are to go to the excursion desk, explain what happened, and they will provide you a refund in the original payment method.

3. When I asked about the Cruise Next deal, for example: 250 with a credit of 100 OBC. That OBC cannot be used to pay for the Cruise Next. This I have seen so many posts about folks who have done this and yet NCL told me no.

So I am just going to have my hubby do his negotiation while on the cruise ship and see what the 'rules' are all about..

non refundable OBC. Can it be used for Bingo, Deal or No Deal Game and the scratch offs they sell before Shows in the Theatre? these are gambling and if won would be like cash in your pocket. ?? Have some good OBC on cruise next month. Will try to get specific answers from NCL.

non refundable OBC. Can it be used for Bingo, Deal or No Deal Game and the scratch offs they sell before Shows in the Theatre? these are gambling and if won would be like cash in your pocket. ?? Have some good OBC on cruise next month. Will try to get specific answers from NCL.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-T337A using Forums mobile app

You do not choose to use OBC. It is on your shipboard account and will be automatically subtracted according to what you purchase. Non-refundable will be used first but will not be applied to the DSC.

I chatted with my NCL cruise specialist. (if that is what they are called) Here is what I was told.

 

1. OBC can be used for anything on the ship except, Next Cruise Certificate, and the daily room service charge. In addition if you use it at the Casino you will be charged 3%.

 

2. Port OBC are per port. If you don't book an excursion for that port then you don't get the OBC. Its a use it or loose it. For those who have purchased the excursion via ncl.com or via phone, you are to go to the excursion desk, explain what happened, and they will provide you a refund in the original payment method.

 

3. When I asked about the Cruise Next deal, for example: 250 with a credit of 100 OBC. That OBC cannot be used to pay for the Cruise Next. This I have seen so many posts about folks who have done this and yet NCL told me no.

 

So I am just going to have my hubby do his negotiation while on the cruise ship and see what the 'rules' are all about..

As is often the case, the NCL rep told you a whole load of rubbish there.

Whilst I have never used promo OBC to buy cruise next certificates (I have used purchased OBC for that), many people have and I have never heard anyone report that they had a problem with it.

The OBC that you get with a cruise next certificate can absolutely be used against the purchase of those certificates. I know that from personal experience many times.

There is an important lesson to be learned here. Never rely on what you are told my NCL phone reps. They are in a league of their own when it comes to giving out bad info.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Called NCL Concierge Desk today. For what it is worth I was told the ONLY thing the non refundable OBC cannot be use for is the DSC. I specifically asked about Bingo, pull tabs, Deal or no Deal Game and the Casino. told twice yes to those expenses. Know that different employees give different answers. But that's the answer for today.

Just off the Pearl on Oct 21 and I have my statement in front of me. We had $350 in non-refundable onboard credit we were trying to use up. Used a little bit in the casino and were charged the 3%. At the end of the cruise, we used our remaining non-refundable obc to help pay for some Cruise Next Certificates.

So I can say for certain, non-refundable obc can be used in casino (3% charge) and for Cruise Next certificates.

~Denise

I chatted with my NCL cruise specialist. (if that is what they are called) Here is what I was told.

 

 

2. Port OBC are per port. If you don't book an excursion for that port then you don't get the OBC. Its a use it or loose it. For those who have purchased the excursion via ncl.com or via phone, you are to go to the excursion desk, explain what happened, and they will provide you a refund in the original payment method.

.

I'm not sure exactly what the above means but I can tell you our experience. We booked 2 excursions by phone pre-cruise because I read on Cruise Critic that was the way to get our 10% Latitudes excursion discount. When we got on the ship, the tickets were waiting in our cabin and the full excursion prices showed on our folio statement. I went to the excursion desk and he applied the 10% Latitudes discount for us. The correct price immediately showed on our statement.

After we took excursion #1, the $50 credit was applied to our statement.

We attempted to take excursion #2 but it was canceled by NCL half way through because our van was stuck in traffic due to a landslide plus an accident and we couldn't reach our destination. NCL automatically removed the excursion expense from our statement and the $50 per person port credit never showed since we were never charge for the excursion.

~Denise

We have $150 nonrefundable cabin credit to use on our cruise on the sky next month and I just need some clarification... Can we use that credit towards the per day service charge (gratuities)? Thanks!

Sent from my SM-G928V using Forums mobile app

We have $150 nonrefundable cabin credit to use on our cruise on the sky next month and I just need some clarification... Can we use that credit towards the per day service charge (gratuities)? Thanks!

 

Sent from my SM-G928V using Forums mobile app

No. That is the bit you can’t use it for.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Will you be able to see on your on board account if your nonrefundable OBC was used first in the casino (with 3% charge) instead of your credit card. I would hate to have $200 nonrefundable OBC at the end of the cruise thinking it was used in the casino and 200 extra applied to my credit card.

You invoice that you view on the TV, does it show a running total or do they just list the charges?

You invoice that you view on the TV, does it show a running total or do they just list the charges?

Saw all the charges and then the total. I went to get a printed copy from guest services and it matched line for line.

So when I cruised on Carnival I could add OBC to the slot machines direct from my set sail card - no 3%. I know I have to pay 3% and understand (I think) I can use my OBC but does it work the same way - you just put your card in and it gets charged to your account or do you have to go to a cashier or something? My main question, however, is say I put in $100 obc and cash out later that night - is there any reason why I could not do this?

We were told on our Breakaway Cruise two weeks ago that we we could use our OBC to purchase CruiseNext vouchers.

So when I cruised on Carnival I could add OBC to the slot machines direct from my set sail card - no 3%. I know I have to pay 3% and understand (I think) I can use my OBC but does it work the same way - you just put your card in and it gets charged to your account or do you have to go to a cashier or something? My main question, however, is say I put in $100 obc and cash out later that night - is there any reason why I could not do this?

I'd like to have an answer to this as well. I actually just spoke to someone at norwegien in the casino department and he said OBC can be used and I asked about the charge and he said there is no extra charge to use the credit in the casino. So is he wrong? I see in This thread that people are paying 3% and 3% of what? The total amount of the credit you use in the casino?

Sent from my SM-G928V using Forums mobile app

I'd like to have an answer to this as well. I actually just spoke to someone at norwegien in the casino department and he said OBC can be used and I asked about the charge and he said there is no extra charge to use the credit in the casino. So is he wrong? I see in This thread that people are paying 3% and 3% of what? The total amount of the credit you use in the casino?

I mentioned this above... just off a Norwegian cruise and we had $300 non-ref obc from NCL and $50 non-ref obc from our travel agent. Went to a slot machine and downloaded $50. We were charged $50 + $1.50 (3% of the $50) on our statement. It doesn't matter if you then cash out the $50 at the casino cashier and put the money in your pocket, or leave it in the machine and gamble it away. The 3% ($1.50 in this case) still applies.

I mentioned this above... just off a Norwegian cruise and we had $300 non-ref obc from NCL and $50 non-ref obc from our travel agent. Went to a slot machine and downloaded $50. We were charged $50 + $1.50 (3% of the $50) on our statement. It doesn't matter if you then cash out the $50 at the casino cashier and put the money in your pocket, or leave it in the machine and gamble it away. The 3% ($1.50 in this case) still applies.

So using your example, could I download ALL of my non-refundable OBC plus the fee and cash it out? This I could walk out with $350 cash in my pocket and the charge to my account would be $360.50 ($350 + 3%), but $350 of that would be covered by by OBC on my final statement so net cost to me is $10.50?

Just use your OBC to pay for whatever you buy on the ship. Makes no sense to pay to use it as cash. It's "free" money on the ship.

So using your example, could I download ALL of my non-refundable OBC plus the fee and cash it out? This I could walk out with $350 cash in my pocket and the charge to my account would be $360.50 ($350 + 3%), but $350 of that would be covered by by OBC on my final statement so net cost to me is $10.50?

Correct. And that is exactly what we planned to do until we decided to buy Cruise Next certificates at the very end of our cruise.

~Denise

Just use your OBC to pay for whatever you buy on the ship. Makes no sense to pay to use it as cash. It's "free" money on the ship.

Agree with this in theory EXCEPT... in our case we had nothing to buy on the ship. We had a suite which included all the perks (drinking, dining, and enough internet). Not into bingo or gift shop stuff. In the end it went to a little bit of cash, a few over-priced scotches ;) and at the very end of the cruise, the decision to buy the Cruise Next certs.

~Denise