Spending Shipboard Credit at Royal Princess

[webj]

Hello Fellow Cruisers,

We have some Shipboard Credit from Princess cruise for our Cruise from Rome to Athens on Royal Princess in August 2017. We are wondering how to spend that Shipboard Credit, and would like your suggestions.

 

We were looking at Shore Excursions offered by Princess and they are not that great. We are able to find better priced excursions outside. So please suggest how we can use our Shipboard Credit.

 

They do mention that we lose the credit if we do not use it during our trip.

 

Thanks

[sunsetbeachgal]

If you do not have gratuity included then shipboard credit can go toward the daily gratuity charge . Also gift shop, spa services, alcoholic beverages just to name a few. You will be surprised how quickly it goes!

 

 

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[Thrak]

Ours is generally eaten up by the daily gratuity. Any left over would go to the bar bill. I know some folks have crazy amounts of OBC but we don't have that "problem".

[easyboy]

Your shipboard credit will be applied to charges on your folio. You have plenty of time to spend them on specialty dinner, drink packages/orders and boutique items, if there are any left when gratuities are applied.

 

 

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[skynight]

You don't specifically spend OBC, it's just a credit posted to your on board accounts. Your accounts begin with a credit balance. Each day as you incur on board expenses they are added to your accounts and your accounts then have a net balance. These expenses include the daily hotel charge also called the auto tip which is $13.50/pp/day with mini suites and full suites more. The hotel charge uses up OBC quickly. Other on board expenses include, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, casino, spa, gift shops, specialty dining, spa services, bingo, art purchases, and excursions which you know about.

[webj]

Thanks for the all the responses. In my ticket contract, I have the following mentioned about gratuities

"Gratuities: It is customary to extend gratuities to the shipboard staff for their services. Princess Cruise Lines will automatically add a $13.50 per person per day gratuity for standard stateroom accommodations (Inside, Ocean View, & Balcony) and $14.50 per person per day for Mini Suites and Club Class, and $15.50 per person per day for Suites. This gratuity will be shared amongst those staff who help provide and support your cruise experience, including all wait staff, stateroom stewards, buffet stewards, and housekeeping staff. All gratuity amounts reflect the current suggested amount by the cruise line and are subject to change without notice. Please note gratuities will be deemed undisputed unless a request to modify is received prior to disembarking the ship."

This is a little confusing. Does it mean that they have already charged me for gratuities? Or are they going to charge me once I board the ship? Thanks

[diane.in.ny]

You will be charged once on board ship. Every day a Hotel Charge is added to your account. So total up the number of days of your cruise and multiply by your cabin category tip amount. Double that if traveling with your spouse or anyone else on your account.

 

Subtract that from the total OBC you and your traveling companion have and that is how much OBC you have leftover to worry about spending.

[webj]

Ok, so does not look like I have much OBC left after Gratuities. Just enough for paying for drinks and other stuff :)

 

I have this mentioned on some of my tickets - "Complimentary specialty dining experience (valid for guests 1 through 4 per stateroom)"

I thought food is always there and free. So what is "complimentary specialty dining experience"?

[JF - retired RRT]

If you have an insane amount of OBC that won't be eaten up by daily gratuities, drinks, excursions, etc., just go to the casino a couple of times, add a couple of hundred OBC to your casino account, play slots (or any other game that strikes your fancy) until you win a little (or a lot:o) or lose a little (or a lot:o), then cash out. When you cash out, you're paid in cash at the cashier's cage. You will then have less OBC in your account.

One nice thing that can happen is you MIGHT get a "casino offer" for a very nice discount on any upcoming cruises that you book. It happened to us and we booked 5 cruises at substantial discounts.:D

[CineGraphic]

I thought food is always there and free. So what is "complimentary specialty dining experience"?

 

Yes, you can eat for free your entire cruise, but each ship has "specialty restaurants" that incur a cover charge. On the Royal, it's Sabatini's and Crown Grill.

 

http://www.princess.com/ships-and-experience/ships/rp-royal-princess/

[skynight]

Ok, so does not look like I have much OBC left after Gratuities. Just enough for paying for drinks and other stuff :)

 

I have this mentioned on some of my tickets - "Complimentary specialty dining experience (valid for guests 1 through 4 per stateroom)"

I thought food is always there and free. So what is "complimentary specialty dining experience"?

Food and dining on the Royal Princess is at no extra charge in the Main dining Rooms, Alfredo's, Horizon Ct. & Horizon Bistro, International Cafe, Trident Grill, Prego Pizza, Room Service, Pub Lunch in the Crown Grill. Some specialty restaurants & dining experiences have a surcharge as follows: Crown Grill Steak & Chops, Sabatini's Italian, Crab Shack*, Fondues*. These have a surcharge of $29/pp. With your booking** you apparently have a complimentary dining in one of these restaurants. Make reservations once on board.

*Note the Crab Shack is held some evenings in a seating section of the buffet. Fondues is also held in a seating section of the buffet on the last evening.

**Booking a full suite comes with complimentary specialty dining in either Sabatini's or the Crown Grill on the first evening of the cruise.

[Colo Cruiser]

 

I have this mentioned on some of my tickets - "Complimentary specialty dining experience (valid for guests 1 through 4 per stateroom)"

 

 

Looks like you have 1 free dinner for each of you in one of the designated pay restaurant's on the Royal.

Best to head to the Crown Grill or Sabatinis right after boarding to set up a time/date reservation for this.

If you wait you may be very limited as to when you can use it. ;)

[MTNestr]

If you have an insane amount of OBC that won't be eaten up by daily gratuities, drinks, excursions, etc., just go to the casino a couple of times, add a couple of hundred OBC to your casino account, play slots (or any other game that strikes your fancy) until you win a little (or a lot:o) or lose a little (or a lot:o), then cash out. When you cash out, you're paid in cash at the cashier's cage. You will then have less OBC in your account.

One nice thing that can happen is you MIGHT get a "casino offer" for a very nice discount on any upcoming cruises that you book. It happened to us and we booked 5 cruises at substantial discounts.:D

 

How do you set up a casino account and the add money to it. You can tell that I don't spend much time in the casino but I thought you just used your cruise card in the casino and didn't have to setup a casino account.

[EllieinNJ]

How do you set up a casino account and the add money to it. You can tell that I don't spend much time in the casino but I thought you just used your cruise card in the casino and didn't have to setup a casino account.

I would like to know this too. I have $200 in non-refundable OBC that I hope to cash out in the casino.

[LeeW]

How do you set up a casino account and the add money to it. You can tell that I don't spend much time in the casino but I thought you just used your cruise card in the casino and didn't have to setup a casino account.

 

When you sit down at a slot machine you insert your cruise card. They will have you enter your birthdate and a pin number. You now have a casino account. At a machine you can either use cash or transfer money from your room account. Play. If you win, you cash out by transferring the winnings to your casino account (yes, you can go to the cage and add money to this account if you want to).

 

At any time during the cruise you get ,pmeu from this casino account at the cage. You MUST do this before the casino closes on the last night since they won't be open when you get off the ship. You cannot transfer money to your onboard account from the casino (but you could take the cash to the hotel Guest Services and pay down your onboard account).

 

So, money can move from your onboard account to the casino account but not the other way.

 

It is also possible to play table games, but for these you have to go to the cage and get chips from your onboard account. They charge a fee to do this. No charge if you do it at a machine.

[MTNestr]

If you do a B2B Cruise will your account rollover to the second cruise?

[Lucky TGO]

The best way to spend all your SBC is to take my wife on the cruise. She knows just how to do it. I NEVER have this problem :o :o :o.

Tony