OBC questions

[eaglewar]

I have $200 OBC from booking on my last cruise. I am also an RCL stockholder who receives $200/cruise. Celebrity informed me that $200 is the maximum OBC, BUT, Costco is offering $400 OBC and Celebrity's email

offers up to $1000 OBC.

Has anyone experienced a limit on OBC or am I getting the run around ?

Thanks,

 

Rick

[cruisestitch]

I believe that what Celebrity is telling you is that $200 for that cruise is the most you can receive from them. You can get EITHER the OBC for booking on board a previous cruise OR the OBC for being a stockholder, but not both. This would be on a normal cruise, with no other special promotion being offered.

 

Perhaps on the cruise you are contemplating Celebrity is offering a higher amount of OBC (although if you look, I imagine that this is for only the highest level of stateroom, but I'm not looking at the deal, so I couldn't state that for sure) If this is so, and you qualify under all other terms and conditions of that particular offer, you probably will not be able to ALSO apply either the on-board booking OBC or the shareholder OBC. This is how their deals have been working. You get one OBC from Celebrity, so always should take the highest offered.

 

Recently many of their deals have been for New Bookings Only, so if you already have this cruise booked, you can't get their new offer.

 

As to what some other travel agency might be offering, I can't say.

 

So, yes, there is a limit to OBC, but the limit is not so much a dollar limit, it's a limit based on what you are trying to get from Celebrity -- one offer per booking is the general rule.

[Gonzo70]

The Shareholder OBC may not be combined with OBC for booking a future cruise. It is not that $200 is the maximum OBC allowed, it is just that you have to pick either the Shareholder OBC or the OBC for having booked a future cruise while on a prior cruise - since both amount to $200 the person may have said $200 is the maximum you can receive (for that situation). Generally OBC offered by a travel agent CAN be combined with shareholder or next cruise OBC, but only if the OBC is coming from the travel agent's commission and not if they are passing on OBC coming out of Celebrity's pocket.

[pcur]

Cxxxxx is offering $400 OBC and Celebrity's email

offers up to $1000 OBC.

Has anyone experienced a limit on OBC or am I getting the run around ?

Thanks,

 

Rick

 

I am booked with them, and their obc is in addition to what the cruiseline is offering.

[cruisestitch]

If your travel agency's OBC is directly from them and not a pass through from Celebrity, then you will be able to get either the shareholder $200 or the on-board booking $200, but not both. If it comes from the cruise line, Celebrity will deny your request for OBC from them

[eaglewar]

Thank you for helping clarify ! I was looking at booking with Celebrity and I believe your explanations are probably the correct answer !

Thanks for replying so quickly !

 

Rick

[Wine-O]

Thank you for helping clarify ! I was looking at booking with Celebrity and I believe your explanations are probably the correct answer !

Thanks for replying so quickly !

 

Rick

 

If you book directly with Celebrity, you have up to 60 days in which to transfer your booking to a travel agent who will most likely give you travel agent OBC which can be combined with Celebrity or shareholder OBC.

 

Why would you not want to transfer the booking to a travel agent? It's like giving up free money.

[eaglewar]

If you book directly with Celebrity, you have up to 60 days in which to transfer your booking to a travel agent who will most likely give you travel agent OBC which can be combined with Celebrity or shareholder OBC.

 

Why would you not want to transfer the booking to a travel agent? It's like giving up free money.

 

 

Thanks, I will try and find a TA with the most credit for the same price !

 

Rick

[ariawoman]

If you book directly with Celebrity, you have up to 60 days in which to transfer your booking to a travel agent who will most likely give you travel agent OBC which can be combined with Celebrity or shareholder OBC.

 

Why would you not want to transfer the booking to a travel agent? It's like giving up free money.

 

You got that right! I found a deal where the TA gave me 375 OBC and celebrity is already giving me 300 for the on board booking from before. I'll take it! More to spend on bingo and gift shop! :-) :-) Happy me! And the agent didn't have to do much for me, i contacted him said can i get the obc for transferring, he confirmed it all, and then i faxed the paper over to celebrity. 30 days to spare! lol

 

Of course I fretted - what if i should wait for a "better" deal - but I feel that deal was great so, why not. :-)

[socialworker]

I just experienced this limitation too. I booked through Celebrity using a "future cruise credit" obc and then submitted my stockholder benefit request. Email just arrived asking me whether I want the $300 obc already on my account, or the $250 for the stockholder's benefit. Of course I'll keep the $300 but my loyalty to Celebrity just took a nose dive. I don't see the advantage to booking on-board or being a stockholder anymore.

[cruisestitch]

The advantage to the stockholder credit is that it can be greater than the book-on-board credit, and in the cases where you don't have a Future Cruise Certificate purchased and are sitting at home, spontaneously planning a cruise, with no other credits from Celebrity to apply to the booking, the shareholder credit can kick in.

 

This is happening to friends of mine now. They have just decided to take a cruise in January. They did not purchase any Future Cruise Certificates on their last cruise, so the shareholder will work for them.

 

YMMV

[ariawoman]

The benefit to being a shareholder is that hopefully when you sell, you'll make a profit. :-) All the rest should be considered icing on the cake, and not reason to purchase stock alone. I agree, it stinks that we can't combine it, but unfortunately that's the rule so...what can we do.