If I gift OBC to myself, can I get it back?

[kevinyork]

Thinking about gifting OBC to myself for our upcoming cruise to cover drinks, internet and excursions. The celebrity exchange rate makes this worthwhile. However, if we dont spend it all,can we get it back?

[vickykay]

You do get it back of from a travel agent and not from Celebrity. I suggest you call Celebrity directly to find out.

[DebbieMacG]

Thinking about gifting OBC to myself for our upcoming cruise to cover drinks, internet and excursions. The celebrity exchange rate makes this worthwhile. However, if we dont spend it all,can we get it back?

 

Yes you do get back OBC you have gifted yourself if you don't spend it all :)

[osborne66]

Thinking about gifting OBC to myself for our upcoming cruise to cover drinks, internet and excursions. The celebrity exchange rate makes this worthwhile. However, if we dont spend it all,can we get it back?

 

Kevinyork,

 

If you say put $500 in OBC from your own bank account direct to your room -once onboard if you spend say $300 you will receive a credit back to your card approximately 3 to 5 days after the cruise is complete - we do it all the time and Miami is quick in crediting back any OBC you set up personally - never been a hassle for us in the 16 years we've sailed on Celebrity

 

Scouser

[cruisestitch]

Keep in mind that there are a couple of "twists" unique to the OP -- who is in England. As I understand it, you will be "buying" onboard credit in dollars, using your British credit card, because of a favorable exchange rate.

 

I believe that this would show on your SeaPass account as OBC-R, meaning refundable.

 

At the end of the cruise, if there is any onboard credit left, how do you get it back -- it's doubtful that you could get cash, and if you did, you would receive US dollars. Maybe that's what you want. But the usual procedure is that it will be credited to your credit card, and there will be the issue of converting the dollars to pounds. I'm not sure how this is done, that's why I'm bringing up the issue. Celebrity will issue the credit in dollars.

 

What you need to find out is how much you might lose in overseas transaction fees, if any. Some credit card companies do charge fees such as these.

 

There would also be the option of taking the excess in cash from the casino, in US dollars, but they will charge you a 5% fee to do this. Would that be better or worse than having it credited back to your credit card?

 

Those in the US who "bank" some OBC by gifting it to themselves and then having it returned to their credit card don't face the same issues as those who do not live in the US and want to do the same thing.

[Islandgirl4242]

I appreciated reading this topic and it brought up a similar question that I have. We live in the states and have Aussie friends taking a Celebrity cruise in September. I want to give them a $500 OBC...I thought this would be a nice thank you for hospitality they showed us while we visited them in Australia and easier/safer than sending them a pre-paid credit card, etc. I just want to make sure that if the entire OBC gift is not used that any balance will be put onto their credit card. I can't imagine them not spending that much, but for their cruise they were able to take advantage of the 123 offers, so drinks and gratuities are already covered. Thanks in advance for any responses to this. ~~Judy

[DebbieMacG]

When I gifted myself OBC using the same credit card that was on my onboard account the amount I did not use was refunded to that card account. I did not incur charges from my bank either buying the OBC (you buy it in £ the ship credits it in $) or when it was refunded. The amount on my shipboard account in $ was converted by the bank to £ and I got a good rate.

 

When I bought OBC using a different card to the one I later used on my shipboard account, I was called down to guest services to have the amount I had left refunded to me in dollars cash. This would also apply if you had someone else buy the OBC for you or it was a gift.

 

When I questioned this I was told they can only refund the amount to the card that was used to buy the OBC and then only if that card is registered on your onboard account if they don't match they refund in cash.

 

This has happened several times on different ships.

[Islandgirl4242]

I appreciated reading this topic and it brought up a similar question that I have. We live in the states and have Aussie friends taking a Celebrity cruise in September. I want to give them a $500 OBC...I thought this would be a nice thank you for hospitality they showed us while we visited them in Australia and easier/safer than sending them a pre-paid credit card, etc. I just want to make sure that if the entire OBC gift is not used that any balance will be put onto their credit card. I can't imagine them not spending that much, but for their cruise they were able to take advantage of the 123 offers, so drinks and gratuities are already covered. Thanks in advance for any responses to this. ~~Judy

[DebbieMacG]

I appreciated reading this topic and it brought up a similar question that I have. We live in the states and have Aussie friends taking a Celebrity cruise in September. I want to give them a $500 OBC...I thought this would be a nice thank you for hospitality they showed us while we visited them in Australia and easier/safer than sending them a pre-paid credit card, etc. I just want to make sure that if the entire OBC gift is not used that any balance will be put onto their credit card. I can't imagine them not spending that much, but for their cruise they were able to take advantage of the 123 offers, so drinks and gratuities are already covered. Thanks in advance for any responses to this. ~~Judy

 

In my experience the money would not go back on their card because they didn't pay for it, they would be refunded in cash. I was told they cannot refund onto a card that hasn't been used to purchase the OBC. Others may have had different experiences though and I know it was something they used to do but had to change,

[welshfamily]

Some of the above posters have made valid points which travellers from the UK need to consider. I have been told by Captains club that any amount left from bought OBC will be refunded however NOT that the money had to go on the same card with which it was purchased. This could be a problem as I have bought OBC with a debit card i.e. cash but will, as requested by Celebrity, register a credit card with our sea passes.

Does anyone know when Celebrity decides to refund any unspent OBC? Do they get in touch in the evening of the last nights sailing. This is important to us as we have an very early morning flight home ( with Celebrity ) and I have bought a generous amount.

[jackdiamond]

What is the advantge in gifting oneself with an OBC as opposed to just charging items on the seapass card?

[cafediem2]

What is the advantge in gifting oneself with an OBC as opposed to just charging items on the seapass card?

 

For those of us in the UK, the advantage is a better exchange rate - I think currently equivalent to USD1.62 per GBP - than paying off account with a debit or credit card at the end. Current tourist exchange rate is more like USD1.49 per GBP.

[kevinyork]

When I worked it out last week, it was an 8% saving.

[Lotus Girl]

We did this in March this year. Bought a lot of OBC for ourselves which we didn't use so went to the casino to withdraw it in dollars (we were on Equinox in the Caribbean) and used it in the ports. As we were Elite, we weren't charged by the casino to withdraw the cash.

[cruisestitch]

I wonder if this is something new -- I have heard of one other person only who wasn't charged the 5% fee and she thought it was a mistake. All the other Elite level cruisers on Eclipse in April and May that I spoke to, including myself, were all charged the fee. If this is a "new" perk for Elites, it's a well-kept secret but it would be a huge benefit.

[DebbieMacG]

Some of the above posters have made valid points which travellers from the UK need to consider. I have been told by Captains club that any amount left from bought OBC will be refunded however NOT that the money had to go on the same card with which it was purchased. This could be a problem as I have bought OBC with a debit card i.e. cash but will, as requested by Celebrity, register a credit card with our sea passes.

Does anyone know when Celebrity decides to refund any unspent OBC? Do they get in touch in the evening of the last nights sailing. This is important to us as we have an very early morning flight home ( with Celebrity ) and I have bought a generous amount.

 

We got a call to our cabin at about 10.30pm on the last night of the cruise, I had previously always used the same card to purchase OBC that was on my sea pass account so was expecting it just to be refunded as normal but guest relations explained they couldn't refund it as it was a different card used to purchase the OBC from the one on my sea pass and I had to have it in cash.

 

Also although it says credit card for a sea pass account you can register your debit card. Most people do not because of the holds placed on amounts spent but if you have a lot of OBC you won't be expecting to use your card so it wouldn't be an issue and any unused OBC would just be refunded to your debit card. Hope this makes sense :)

[welshfamily]

Thanks DebbieMacG.

I have bought a large amount of OBC as we haven't full drinks packages. I have bought premium non- alcoholic packages and put the difference on as OBC as we couldn't get the drinks packages free here in the UK. it will be interesting to see how much we actually spend. I have also added $250 each for ' extras ' and there are 4 of us on our credit card so it is quite a large sum at the moment. I will report back when I review the cruise.

[jackdiamond]

For those of us in the UK, the advantage is a better exchange rate - I think currently equivalent to USD1.62 per GBP - than paying off account with a debit or credit card at the end. Current tourist exchange rate is more like USD1.49 per GBP.

So, I assume that there is no advantage for U.S., folks.

[cruisestitch]

There are a couple of reasons that I can come up with if you live in the US and want to gift yourself some OBC. If, for example, you wanted to build up some points/miles on a credit card because you are close to some goal, you might put some OBC on your account.

[Bluebury]

We have two cruises booked, both with Celebrity. If we gift ourselves some OBC for the first cruise and do not spend it all do you think that they can allocate it to our second cruise?

 

We are from the UK and do not particularly want the dollars in cash.

[cruisestitch]

No, they will not move the OBC from one cruise to another. Even on Back to Back cruises, they cannot do this. They close out each cruise's accounts and start over with the next one. They do not even carry over the credit card numbers for consecutive cruisers, who have to go to Guest Relations early in the second cruise to register their credit cards over again. But if they do give you cash, in dollars, after the first cruise, you can certainly use that money to settle your account on the second cruise.